T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS REVISITED...

Images copyright relevant owner

Many moons back, long before the actual event came about, I was firmly of the opinion that JERRY ORDWAY would be the most obvious choice of artist on WALLY WOOD's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS should the characters ever be revived.  His style had always reminded me of Wally's so it was a natural conclusion to make as far as I was concerned - and, luckily, DAVID M. SINGER was of the same opinion.

In 1984, DELUXE COMICS secured the superlative services of Jerry (as well as those of GEORGE PEREZ, MURPHY ANDERSON, DAVE COCKRUM, STEVE DITKO and others) for their new series of the TOWER COMICS classic characters, before the title fell foul of copyright problems and suspended publication.  As far as I can discern, there were only five issues, so here is a selection of covers and interior pages by various artists to whet your appetite.

Click here for Part Two!

SUPER SUNDAY SPECIAL SELECTION: JOHNNY FUTURE - PART EIGHT...

Copyright REBELLION

Important Notice:

Remember, all you faithful followers and frantic fans of fabulous FANTASTIC's fearsome fighter of feckless foes (that's JOHNNY FUTURE, in case you'd forgotten) - there are only three further epic episodes of this superb superhero strip from the sensational '60s to go before we finally finish our nostalgic journey through the complete run of awesomely illustrated (by LUIS BERMEJO) comic strip adventures of Britain's very own Man of Tomorrow!  (Who I rather ingeniously speculated could possibly be SUPERMANs father in part two of this cataclysmic and classic confrontation.)

  

So - don't miss 'em!

The SUB-MARINER - In TRIPLICATE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Staying with Subby, let's now take a quick look at an earlier, 1968 issue of his own mag, plus a couple of reprints.  Above is the original cover of PRINCE NAMOR, The SUB-MARINER #8, in which ol' wing-feet goes toe-to-toe with bashful BEN GRIMM, The THING.  Below is the eighth issue of volume two of TALES To ASTONISH, in which the original black background has been replaced with a green one.  (And the interior tale is abridged by a couple of pages.)

Next up (below) is a 1994 second printing of the first version, the interiors of which were reproduced from the '68 negs and are actually clearer and brighter than the original.  It has new ads, but, that apart, is a faithful facsimile of the first printing, including the indicia, Bullpen Bulletins and letters pages.  The cover is obviously sourced from a stat of the original art, taken before the highlights around Namor's outline (to make him stand out better from the black background) were added. 

Note also that the figures in covers two and three have motion lines around them which the first one lacks, showing that they were removed before it was sent to the printers.  Isn't it interesting to see all the little revisions that covers go through in the stages leading up to the published result?

"BURN, NAMOR... BURN!" FAVOURITE COMICS Of The PAST - PART TWENTY-SEVEN...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

The sky was a bright blue, with cotton wool clouds floating far overhead, when I purchased PRINCE NAMOR, The SUB-MARINER #14 from CORSON'S (a local shop that, at the time of typing, still exists in the same place today) that summer's day in 1969 or '70.  I remember arriving back home and reading it on my front doorstep, so eager was I to plumb its titanic treasures and immerse myself in all its MARVEL-lous delights.  This was the very first Subby comic I ever bought, but, though I enjoyed it, it would be two or three years before I purchased another.  (The first Annual of the series.)

Interestingly, long before I acquired the replacement for #14 you see above, I bought a reprint of it in TALES To ASTONISH #14 from a shop in Southsea or Portsmouth back in '81.  One glance at the cover instantly transported me to the front doorstep of my old home, eleven or twelve years before.  Strange how the same image can conjure up a different set of memories, isn't it?  Nowadays, when I look at the TTA reprint, I think of the street I stayed in Southsea first, before recalling the memory it summoned back then.  Although, when I look at Subby's original issue, my mind jumps straight back to that front doorstep so very long ago.

The reprint, as well as having it's own set of recollections, also points back to earlier memories of the original, which has only its own.  You'd think it would work both ways equally, no?  You know, I'd look at the Sub-Mariner mag and be reminded of the TTA reprint, in the same way that it works in reverse?  But no, the process only operates in one direction.  It's a bit of a mystery - or is it?  Perhaps it's only natural that some things remind us of past memories, but not 'future' ones (if you know what I mean).

However, here's a bona fide mystery: Why on earth do I get so absorbed in pondering such inconsequential matters as if they were profoundly significant in some way?  That's one I'll probably never be able to solve, but at least it keeps my mind occupied.  Anyway, below is the cover to the reprint, the contents of which were recoloured, but followed the colour scheme of the original pretty faithfully. Marvel had increased their comics' page count at this time, so also included are the 'filler' pin-ups from the back of the mag.

  

And here's a side-by-side comparison of the covers:

The SILVER SURFER SOARS The SEEMINGLY STARLESS SPACEWAYS In An ANIMATED STATE...

You're looking at a copy of an animation cell from either a FANTASTIC FOUR or SILVER SURFER cartoon series from the early '90s.  I seem to recall I sent some coupon or card which came with a comic off to an address in the States, and this is what eventually turned up in the mail.  I received two for some reason, but I think I gave the spare one away to someone a good while back.  Just thought you might like to see it.

MORE DOUBLE HELPINGS Of JOHNNY FUTURE - PART SEVEN...

Copyright REBELLION

Never one to rest on my laurels, I've decided to strike while the iron is hot!  And they don't come any hotter than LUIS BERMEJO's astounding artwork on JOHNNY FUTURE, from the pages of one of Britain's premier papers for boys in the swinging 1960s - FANTASTIC! And once again, I'm serving up a big double-helping - seven and a half pages - of this amazing comic strip to satisfy your appetite for one of the most fondly remembered superheroes of yesteryear.

And remember - only four more servings to go!

CRYING IS MY FAVOURITE MOOD...

Here's another JIM REEVES classic to soothe

your shattered senses.  This is an overdubbed demo

recording, but the RHAPSODY IN BLUE type piano

outro, present on the demo and a more recent overdub,

seems to have been shortened.  Still, it's a great song

that I'm sure lovers of good music will enjoy.

BATMAN - From The '30s To The '70s...

Images copyright DC COMICS

Towards the end of 1972, two new publications appeared in my favourite bookshop, W. & R. HOLMES.  They were the SUPERMAN and BATMAN collections, From The '30s To The '70s (though they had the apostrophes in the wrong place).  I bought the Superman edition right away, but I didn't buy the Batman one until 1979, when it was re-issued along with its companion volume in the wake of the 1978 Superman movie starring CHRISTOPHER REEVE.

A good many years back, I managed to acquire first editions of each tome to sit alongside the '79 reissues, but though I've showcased the Superman book on this blog, I don't recall ever featuring the Batman one.  I can remedy that oversight right now by showing you the front and back covers, but not the interior pages, alas, without risking damage to the spine.  (Unfortunately, there's some dust under the protective cover, but I can't be bothered taking it off to clean.)

Although I didn't buy the book in '72, I thumbed through its pages many times whenever I was in the shop, so whenever I look at it nowadays, it evokes memories in me of the early '70s when I was still a young teenager with a larger slice of life ahead of me than behind me - the reverse of which is now the case.

Funny how happy memories are often accompanied by the shadow of sadness, don't you think?

JIM LOVES YOU MORE...

Time for yet another song from MR VELVET,
otherwise known as JIM REEVES.  This one's called
I LOVE YOU MORE, which is a nice sentiment, but
not exactly something anybody would ever say to me.
That's because nobody loves me more than myself.
(But you'd already guessed that anyway, right?)

POWER RECORDS PRESENTS : The FANTASTIC FOUR - "The WAY IT BEGAN!"...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Around the mid '70s, either in the countdown to me leaving school or not too long after having started work, I bought a book and record set advertised in the pages of the British MARVEL weeklies.  Power Records Presents - "The WAY IT BEGAN!", which was a reprint of The FANTASTIC FOUR #126 with an audio dramatization on a 7 inch 45 RPM single of the comic's content.  I'd bought #126 back in October 6th 1972, but no longer had it, so I jumped at the chance to own it again in some form (I now have several copies of  the mag).

The text was abridged and altered in some places for the reprint, but it was a great idea to give the comic a little 'life' by having actors (or perhaps just one actor doing different voices and either speeding them up or slowing them down) perform the parts of the various characters - and, in the main do them just as readers had doubtless imagined them to sound like.  At least, I certainly thought so!  (The MOLE MAN in particular was spot on.)

So here's what the reprint and record looked like, and if you're interested in hearing how the single sounded, click on the links at the bottom of the post.  Happy listening!

JOHN BYRNE MARVEL PIN-UP PAGE...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

Just had to show this simply because it's brilliant.  JOHN BYRNE  is one of the few artists who can re-create the 'flavour' of '60s Marvel with seeming ease.  I well-remember the JACK KIRBY page from FF #9 on which this pin-up is based, and it encapsulates my memories of re-reading the classic tale in an issue of MARVEL COLLECTORS' ITEM CLASSICS back in 1969.  The pin-up first appeared in SUB-MARINER Annual #3, 1993.

JOHN BYRNE'S FANTASTIC FOUR COVER GALLERY - PART SEVEN...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Well, okay - mainly JOHN BYRNE's FF cover gallery.  There are a few by other artists here also, just to round up the numbers and see JB's dangling plot threads 'tied up' in the Anniversary issue.  Though, having said that, his ideas for issue #296 seem to have been jettisoned by plotter JIM SHOOTER when Byrne-Boy jumped ship over to DC COMICS.  It's a shame that he didn't get to finish the run, as going by an interview given in 1986, his proposed plans for the issue sounded quite spectacular.  What we ended up with was something far less than that, despite Mr. MARVEL himself, STAN LEE, scripting the entire mag.  I'd love to see a Byrne special issue, wherein he's allowed to produce #296 the way he'd originally planned.

Anyway, here endeth the series of John Byrne FF cover galleries.  Be sure to check out the extra bonus section at the foot of the post.

Cover art by Jerry Ordway

Cover art by Jerry Ordway

Cover art by Barry Windsor Smith

Back cover art by John Buscema & Joe Sinnott

Cover art by Kerry Gammill & Joe Sinnott

EXTRA SPECIAL BONUS SECTION...

Back in 1984, the very first FF Annual was reprinted in a special edition, with a new five-page section written and drawn by Byrne, replacing (and expanding on) page 18 by LEE, KIRBY & AYERS.  Sporting a new wraparound cover by JB, the mag also included five new retro-style pin-ups, which are included here for you to 'Marvel' at.