JIM REEVES FOUND GUILTY...

...of being the smoothest balladeer of the 20th century - in my view anyway.  Seeing as you're here, why not have a listen and judge for yourself?  Go on.

BABE Of The DAY - HALLE BERRY...

HALLE BERRY should go down

a Storm with all you captivated Crivs -

she simply oozes X appeal.  (Did you see

 what I did there?  I'm so clever.)

COLOUR TEST FOOTAGE FOR BORIS KARLOFF IN SON OF FRANKENSTEIN...

Here's something that not everyone will have seen

before - colour test footage of BORIS KARLOFF as the

FRANKENSTEIN monster.  UNIVERSAL's make-up

artist JACK PIERCE is at the end of the clip.

PANEL-BY-PANEL - STEADFAST McSTAUNCH...

STEADFAST McSTAUNCH was originally a dog in KNOCK-OUT comic back in the 1950s.  Then, in 1969, BOB PAYNTER, the editor of the embryonic WHIZZER & CHIPS, asked DENIS GIFFORD to revive the character - but as a human.  "Children don't like animals in comics" Denis once claimed Bob had told him as the reason for the species-change, though that doesn't quite explain SLIPPY or GINGER'S TUM in the same comic.

I assume Bob must've meant only that kids weren't keen on strips with animals dressed as humans, otherwise MOWSER, DESERT FOX, MOOSE, The CROWS, and a host of other strips wouldn't have graced IPC/FLEETWAY periodicals for decades.  However, let's not forget that GUS GORILLA dressed like a human and was quite popular with readers. 

(And that's not counting characters like BIFFO The BEAR, KORKY The CAT, The 3 BEARS, BIG EGGO, and loads more in the best-selling D.C. THOMSON titles.)

Steadfast survived in his own strip for the first 11 issues of W&C, before becoming the host of a joke page, something I always regretted as the little jester was a firm favourite of mine.  Anyway, here's the last strip from the pages of Whizzer & Chips #11, December 27th 1969.

Update: Reader GEORGE SHIERS originally allowed me to use the published page from W&C #11 on his site devoted to the comic (here), but I've now replaced the strip with a scan from my own personal copy of the issue, having finally managed to track one down.

BABE Of The DAY - HELEN FLANAGAN...

Who needs words with a pic like

this one?  If this is a woman, then my

last girlfriend was a navvy.  (Sob!)

ADAM WARLOCK COVER & IMAGE GALLERY - PART ONE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Accurate creator credits are difficult at the best of times, but to whom do you ascribe credit for creating the character of ADAM WARLOCK?  Is it STAN LEE and JACK KIRBY who deserve that distinction, or is it ROY THOMAS and GIL KANE, who, in the pages of MARVEL PREMIERE, significantly revamped the being known as HIM?  After all, they're meant to be the exact same person.

While you're trying to work that one out, take a loving look at the covers and splash pages (plus a few other full-page images) from the four issues of STRANGE TALES which featured Warlock in his own series, as written and drawn by JIM STARLIN.  If you've got any ideas about who really deserves the creator credit for this cosmic character, the captivating comments section awaits.

And don't forget to come back for Part Two.

PANEL-BY-PANEL - BAD PENNY...

Copyright relevant owner

Time now for some more original art, in this instance BAD PENNY by LEO BAXENDALE, from the back page of SMASH! #156, January 25th 1969.  I've scanned the first two panels as one, as they have a caption running across both of them.  And, although you can enlarge the panels by clicking on them, I've repeated the last one in two bigger halves for greater visual impact.  The strip has been drawn on two thin sheets of card, extended on the right-hand side, then stuck down on a thicker piece of art board.  To give you all an idea of how poorly these pages were treated in storage, this one has footprints on the back, indicating that it was lying face down on the floor at some stage and walked over.  (Or perhaps lay on top of a pile of art used as a step to reach something on a high shelf.)  Shameful, eh?

And look at the street name in the panel below.  Is this what you'd describe as a Nightmare on Elm Street?

And here's the published page as readers would have seen it back in 1969.

BEHOLD - GUARDIANS Of The GALAXY...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY looks like it's going to be the blockbuster hit of the Summer, so I thought you might like to see where they got their start.  Behold the cover and a few pages from MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #18, dated January 1969 (on sale from around October '68), which is when they made their debut.  There's no real point in telling you anything about it, because (going by the stills I've seen) I very much doubt that the movie bears more than a superficial resemblance to the comicbook which inspired it.  (Also, I'm far too lazy to be bothered reading up on it.)

So, don't worry about the details, just sit back and enjoy Genial GENE COLAN's awesome art.

BONUS: The Guardians popped up again as an ongoing series in MARVEL PRESENTS #3 (dated February 1976, but on sale in November '75). Here's the cover and a few pages to please and appease your popping peepers!