GERRY ANDERSON'S TV CENTURY 21 COVER GALLERY - PART FIVE...

Characters copyright relevant owners

I reckon it's time for another ten covers of Britain's best-ever comic of the '60s - TV CENTURY 21.  With a headline that's topical for today, issue 46 features a photo of one of the fantasy females of my childhood - ATLANTA SHORE.  (Fancying a puppet - I was a right little perv and no mistake!)  I'm sure that most of you will know that LOIS MAXWELL, alias MISS MONEYPENNY from the JAMES BOND films, was the voice of hoverchair-bound COMMANDER SAM SHORE'S daughter - and if you didn't, you do now!

I wish that someone would publish deluxe, actual-size omnibus collections of at least the first 104 issues of TV21 (when it had The DALEKS), as it would be good to have sturdy, high-quality volumes of this classic comic from 100 years in the future.  It's increasingly unlikely it will happen, as the 'nostalgia market' target audience it would appeal to is dwindling with every passing year.  If I ever win the Lottery, I'd publish them myself - even at a loss -  simply because it would be good to preserve such a treasure for future generations.

Anyway, enjoy the covers on offer, and if you'd like to share any reminiscences relating to them, feel perfectly free to do so.

This was either the last issue bought while in the house we'd lived in for only 15 months, or the first one
bought in the house we moved to.  My uncertainty is because TV21 seems to have gone on sale only three
days before the cover date, whereas most British comics traditionally came out the week before

DETECTIVE COMICS #27...

Images copyright DC COMICS

DETECTIVE COMICS #27 is the first of The NEW 52 series that I've actually bothered reading and, for the most part, I actually enjoyed it.  I bought a few early issues of the relaunched titles when they first came out, but after browsing through them, felt less then compelled to devote any serious attention to them.  (And this from a guy who loves comics and wants to read them.)  They just seemed so pretentious - and underwhelming.

However, I liked this issue's cover, so I brought it home from a local Glasgow comicbook store several weeks back and have just got 'round to reading it recently.  The mag celebrates The BATMAN's history and contains 7 stories, the first of which is called - aw, you guessed - "The CASE Of The CHEMICAL SYNDICATE!"  There are several pin-ups from various creators which are worth seeing, so if you're lucky, your local comics shop might yet have an odd copy or two lingering on the shelves.

You know what?  I may even buy #28 & 29, as one of the stories is a three-part tale.  It's a long time since I've felt like that about a modern comic, that's for sure.

GOING ONCE - GOING TWICE - GONE! (AND NOT COMING BACK EITHER)...

Marx Yogi Bear toy.  He'll be with me 'til I croak

As I sit in my cavernous Kid-Cave, luxuriating in all my tremendous treasures - toys, books, comics, records, etc. - I sometimes wonder what will happen to them all when I'm no longer around to cherish and protect them.  I'd like to think I'll have established a museum of childhood of the 1960s & '70s by then, but if I were to drop off the twig tomorrow, they could end up in a skip or charity shop - and, to be perfectly truthful, I'm uncertain as to which of these options is the greater evil.

When LEWIS CARROLL (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, to give him his real name) died, his possessions were auctioned off, leading one of his friends, Frederick York Powell, to pen the following poem in despair at how his comrade's beloved belongings were disposed of.

At a Certain Auction...

                                         Poor playthings of the man that's gone,

                                         Surely we would not have them thrown,

                                         Like wreckage on a barren strand,

                                         The prey of every greedy hand.

                                         Fast ride the dead!  Perhaps 'tis well!

                                         He shall not know, what none would tell,

                                         That gambling salesmen bargain'd o'er

                                         The books he read, the clothes he wore,

                                         The desk he stood at day by day

                                         In patient toil or earnest play,

                                         The pictures that he loved to see,

                                         Faint echoes of his fantasy.

                                         He shall not know.  And yet, and yet,

                                         One would not quite so soon forget

                                         The dead man's whims, or let gain riot

                                         Among the toys he loved in quiet:

                                         Better by far the Northman's pyre,

                                         That burnt in one sky-soaring fire

                                         The man with all he held most dear.

                                         'He that hath ears, now let him hear.'

So I suppose that's another option open to me - just get everything cremated with me, but it's not one I'm too keen on.  I'd like my treasures to survive my passing, and, as long as I knew they would be looked after, other people would get to see and enjoy them as I once did.  And if they knew that all these wonderful things had once belonged to me, that would be the icing on the cake.

Ah, I can see it now.  The Kid Robson Museum of Childhood.  (No children permitted, of course.  They'd only break something.)

However, here's a question for all of you:  What would you like to happen to your most treasured material possessions when you're pushing up the daises?  Why not share your hopes with your fellow Criv-ites in the comments section.  And no cheating - none of that "I don't care, I'll be dead!" cop-out nonsense. 

FLIPPIN' 'ECK! IT'S FREAKY FRANKIE STEIN...

Copyright REBELLION

As a special treat (seeing as how you've all been behaving yourselves this last little while), here's an episode of FRANKIE STEIN from WHAM! #43, cover-dated April 10th 1965.  That means it more than likely came out on or around the 3rd, so you can argue amongst yourselves as to whether I'm early or late with it, seeing as how this is the 9th.  (Though considering it's 49 years old, it's certainly late regarding the year, even if not the month.)

Another KEN REID strip from when he was at the top of his game, I'm sure you'll agree.  Feel free to express your immense gratitude in the Criv-ites comments section.

The FIRST-EVER MARVEL COMIC...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

In 1990, MARVEL released a hardback reprint of MARVEL COMICS #1.  Truth to tell, it wasn't up to much, due to the fact that restoration of old comicbook pages from published comics was very much still in its infancy.  (Technology has come on in leaps and bounds since then.)  If you compare the second SUB-MARINER page below with the first, you'll notice that a lot of the detail was lost in whatever process was used to 'bleach' out the colour, and the finished result was less than satisfactory.  (Particularly obvious in panel 2.)

Scan of photo of printed page from actual issue of Marvel Comics #1

Scan of page from 1990 reprint volume

Scan from 2009 70th Anniversary edition

Marvel had another go in 2009 with a 70th Anniversary edition, this time in comicbook format.  The reproduction was of a far superior quality (as you can see from the page directly above), and the modern colouring techniques gave it a whole new dimension.  Sadly, it didn't include the two text pages reproduced in the 1990 volume, but I've posted them here for your perusal.

Now examine the HUMAN TORCH and KA-ZAR pages below.  Frankly, I'd be more than a little surprised if anyone actually preferred the 1990 reprints to the 2009 versions, which have their predecessors beat all hollow, in my famously humble opinion.  Still, I'd be interested to read the views of anyone who's less than impressed by them, so do feel free to comment.

Finally, the cover to the 2009 comicbook - a 'painted-over' version of the original 1939 illustration, I believe.  Looks great to my eyes.  However, for those not satisfied, the issue was also released with an alternate, modern take on the cover.

So how do I top that?  Well, how about this STAN LEE autographed page from the 1990 hardback edition?  That sure  is a hard act to follow, don't you think?  And it's mine!  (The whole book, not just the page.)

 

SUPERMAN'S DAD - PART TWO Of JOHNNY FUTURE...

Copyright REBELLION

It's really a rather obvious connection to make when you think about it.  The clue is in the names - JOHNNY FUTURE and The MAN Of TOMORROW!  So - what's the 'missing link' between the two awesome appellations?  SUPERMAN!  Here's how it happened in the fevered depths of my imagination.

JOR-EL, concerned about the impending demise of his home-world KRYPTON, has been observing our Earth through a space-time warp for many months.  It seems like the best choice of planets to which he can send his infant son - if and when he perfects the hyper-drive of the spaceship he's working on.  He's already built a prototype, but needs to test it before he can risk using it as a space ark for little KAL-EL.

So, donning a replica suit of 20th century Earth-style clothes, he rockets to our planet with the intention of confirming that it would be a suitable environment for his young son.  He crash-lands in the African jungle, but although uninjured, a small radiation leak from the ship's hyper-drive power unit transforms him into a hulking brute of incredible strength and limited intellect, who comes to be known as The MISSING LINK.  Exposed once more to leaking radiation from a nuclear power plant, he returns to normal, but with no recollection of who he is.

If you've been following the Johnny Future strips I've been featuring here from time to time (or read them in FANTASTIC back in the '60s), then you already know the rest.  However, what you didn't know (until now) is that, after his 'career' as a superhero on Earth for many months, Jor-El's memory returns and he makes his way back to the jungle to repair his ship and return to Krypton mere seconds after he left.  (Due to that ol' space-time warp, remember?)  The rest, as they say, is history.

However, there's more.  Writer JERRY SIEGEL originally envisioned Superman being rocketed to Earth, not from Krypton, but from a doomed Earth far in the future.  Similarly, in my version of events, Earth is Krypton (having evolved over thousands of years and - due to an ever-expanding universe - now occupying a different place in the heavens than it used to).  The globe has been renamed and our once bright yellow sun has succumbed to the second law of thermodynamics (entropy) and is now a fiery red, affecting the gravitational pull of the planet.

So - Earth's first 'superman' is actually Superman's father.  Johnny Future sired The Man of Tomorrow!

Anyway, that's how it happened in my little world.  Bear it in mind as you read the latest instalment of this fondly-recalled strip illustrated by the astounding LUIS BERMEJO - it may make you view the character just a little bit differently.

WAS JACK KIRBY A LOSER? OUR FIGHTING FORCES COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright DC COMICS.  Cover by JOE KUBERT

Well, not exactly, but you can bet he drew upon his own war-time experiences when he took over The LOSERS strip in DC COMICS' Our FIGHTING FORCES mag in the '70s.  KIRBY nearly lost his legs during the Second World War due to frostbite, and he saw plenty of action as a scout, having to enter enemy-occupied territory to draw reconnaissance maps for Company F of the 11th Infantry Regiment.  As has been noted by those who knew him, these tales contain more of a personal dimension than just about any others that Kirby ever produced, which is why they can still strike a chord even with those who are fortunate enough never to have been actual participants in the bloody field of battle.

Here, then, are the covers to the dozen issues of Our Fighting Forces that Jack wrote and drew for DC in 1974/'75.

   

Cover by JACK KIRBY & MIKE ROYER

Cover by JACK KIRBY & D. BRUCE BERRY

Cover by JACK KIRBY & D. BRUCE BERRY

Cover by JACK KIRBY & D. BRUCE BERRY

Cover by JACK KIRBY & MIKE ROYER

Cover by JACK KIRBY & MIKE ROYER

Cover by JACK KIRBY & MIKE ROYER

Cover by JACK KIRBY & MIKE ROYER

Cover by JOE KUBERT

Cover by JOE KUBERT

Cover by ERNIE CHAN (as CHUA)

BRITAIN'S FANTASTIC MAN Of TOMORROW Is BACK! PART ONE...

Copyright REBELLION

From the pages of Britain's FANTASTIC, we now enter the home run in re-presenting the adventures of former MISSING LINK, the incredible JOHNNY FUTURE!  Illustrated by Spanish artist LUIS BERMEJO, the final episode appeared in Fantastic #51, the week before it subsumed ODHAMS' companion POWER COMIC title, TERRIFIC.  A victim of having to make way for MARVEL reprints in the combined weekly, Johnny is nonetheless still fondly-remembered to this very day.  Now you can see why!

Only 12 more episodes to go - don't miss 'em!

Extra Bonus:  Below is a patch that was pasted over the original head on this episode's first page.  That means whoever now owns the art for these pages is missing the 'published' head.  It came into my possession when I acquired the original boards for the subsequent episode nearly 30 years ago.

SMASH! COVER GALLERY - PART FIVE...

Copyright REBELLION

I'd imagine that American readers aren't much interested in U.K. comics they've never read (or even heard of), but British readers of a certain age are bound to get a big thrill at seeing the covers of one of the fondly-remembered comics of their childhood - SMASH!  Looking again at these covers takes me back to an earlier era, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds himself recalling days of long ago as though they were only yesterday upon sight of these images from the 1960s. 

At 40 pages per weekly issue, with each page containing twice the content of a U.S. comicbook, Smash! was certainly great value for money at a mere 7d  (about 3 and a half pence in decimal currency).  If only such days could come again, and Great Britain could once more revel in a thriving comics industry, as opposed to the rather lacklustre remnant we have today.

If you've any thoughts on the matter, or any personal reminiscences about Smash! (like wistful recollections of a specific cover), then the Criv-ites comments section is waiting to hear from you.  Come on now - don't be shy!