BABE Of The DAY - MARILYN MONROE...

Here she is, Crivs - the babe

you've surely all been waiting for...

MARILYN MONROE!

CAPTAIN KIRK Versus The GORN - TRAILER...

I saw this YouTube clip over on FLASHBACK UNIVERSE Blog and thought all you Tekkies (or is it Trekkers these days?) would enjoy a good laugh.  You've got to hand it to WILLIAM SHATNER - he's certainly not afraid to send himself up.  (No doubt the money helps.)  Anyway, take a look and enjoy.

KELLY'S EYE From VALIANT ANNUAL 1974...

Copyright relevant owner

In the mid-1980s, the original artboard for the above Annual cover used to sit in the office of BATTLE ACTION FORCE in KING'S REACH TOWER, the (former) headquarters of IPC Magazines Ltd.  I used to see it when I was collecting or returning work on my weekly visits to London when I was a full-time freelance lettering artist more years ago than I care to recall.  I didn't own the Annual then - it was a later acquisition, and it was likely the familiarity of the cover that made me buy it, but it's a nice book to have on its own merits.

KELLY'S EYE was a long-running strip that took on aspects of Dr. WHO at some point down the line.  It was an interesting premise: TIM KELLY was invulnerable as long as he wore the mystical EYE Of ZOLTEC, capable of withstanding the full explosive power of an actual nuclear bomb.  The strip first appeared in KNOCKOUT, switching over to VALIANT when the former merged into the latter in February 1963.  Tim Kelly returned as a guest in the UNIVERSAL SOLDIER strip in the pulse-pounding pages of 2000 A.D. (1987), but it's for the Valiant strips that the character is best-remembered by readers of a certain age.

One of the more ridiculous aspects of the original strip was the way Tim repeatedly announced to both friends and foes alike that the jewel was the source of his powers, something you'd think he'd keep to himself.  True, his statements were really directed at readers, to remind them of just how he accomplished his amazing feats (in case, presumably, they forgot the intro box immediately after reading it), but these proclamations were rather too frequent and conspicuous to seem entirely natural.  (Even less so than normal comics' dialogue, that is.) 

Anyway, just for you, here's a complete 7 page full-colour adventure from the above Annual, released in August/September 1973.  The weekly comic managed to survive until it was eventually subsumed by BATTLE PICTURE WEEKLY in April 1976.  And thus came to an end the glorious 13-and-a-half-year run of one of this country's finest weekly periodicals for boys.

YOGI BEAR - GOING TO WAIST...

Copyright HANNA-BARBERA Productions, Inc

As regular readers will know, I'm a big fan of YOGI BEAR and have been ever since I was a small kid.  Back in 1989 I bought the above HANNA-BARBERA FUN BOOK, which contains a variety of H-B characters in a mixture of colour and black and white tales.  I thought you'd all enjoy this clever little three-pager starring the bold bruin and his little chum BOO BOO.  If you're a fan of such stuff, it might be worth hunting this thick volume down on eBay - it'd make a nice addition to your bookshelf.

DANNY & BRETT - The PERSUADERS...

Images copyright relevant owner.  Art by FRANK LANGFORD

And now another story from the 1972 PERSUADERS Holiday Special.  I'll say this for POLYSTYLE PUBLICATIONS - they sure used good artists on their adventure strips (and their humour ones too, of course).  Had the TV show lasted more than one series of 24 episodes, there would doubtless have been further Persuaders Holiday Specials, but as far as I can determine, there was only the one - and what a one it was.  ROGER MOORE went on to star in seven JAMES BOND movies and TONY CURTIS didn't really do much of note afterwards, but, after all, he was a bona-fide Hollywood legend and could afford to rest on his laurels.

"Yonder lies de castle of my fadder."

I now return to you to our regularly scheduled comic strip.

  

AM I LOSING YOU?

Here's the mighty JIM REEVES singing live on TV.  Grab yourself a cuppa,

sit back, put your feet up, and enjoy some easy-listening music at its finest.

BABE Of The DAY - BRIGITTE BARDOT...

Two words are all that's

necessary - and those two words

 are BRIGITTE BARDOT!

PART FOUR Of The COMPLETE FANTASTIC FOUR COVER & IMAGE GALLERY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

"Oh, good!" I hear you cry.  "Another batch of COMPLETE FF covers and images for us all to feast on."  Yes, your generous host has caved in to popular demand (he lied) and served up another helping of one of MARVEL U.K.'s better comics from the 1970s.  I was totally delighted when this comic first came out because I hadn't kept my early MWOMs and this mag gave me another chance to collect the classic FANTASTIC FOUR adventures.

Years later, of course, I re-acquired all the paper covered issues of Marvel's first foray into U.K. publishing, but I still kept my Complete FFs, as they had their own charm about them.  It's just a shame that PANINI's FF monthly was discontinued a year or two back, as I was looking forward to seeing JOHN BYRNE's tales of the cosmic quartet in uncut, full colour reprints in a U.K. magazine.

Anyway, until part five in this sensational series, enjoy the pulse-pounding pages on view before you - on this, the best blog you've ever read in the history of an alternate universe somewhere.  (I hear it's popular on the BIZARRO World.)

  

BABE Of The DAY - JANE RUSSELL...

JANE RUSSELL again.  What

can I say?  My only excuse is that I

fancy her madly.  So sue me.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS To MIKE NOBLE...

Copyright relevant owner

One of Britain's greatest-ever adventure strip artists, MIKE NOBLE is 84 today, so let's all wish him a very Happy Birthday for making countless childhoods a far richer and much happier experience with his spectacular artwork on FIREBALL XL5, FOLLYFOOT, CAPTAIN SCARLET, The LONE RANGER, BLACK BEAUTY and a whole host of other classic comic strips over the years. 

For the first part of one of Mike's best-remembered Fireball stories, click here - and re-immerse yourself in yesteryear.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!

BABE Of The DAY - ADRIENNE BARBEAU - AGAIN...

ADRIENNE BARBEAU went

down well when she first appeared

in our 'Babe of the Day' spot - so for

all those who liked her then, here

 she is again.  (I spoil you.)

THE MARTIAN HAS LANDED...

Copyright relevant owner

MY FAVOURITE MARTIAN was a TV show that lasted for three series (or seasons, as our U.S. readers refer to them) between 1963-'66 on American TV.  It must also have aired in Britain to be one of the strips in TV CENTURY 21, but Scotland seems to have missed out in that regard.  Not only have I never seen an episode, I don't know anyone in my neck of the woods who's seen one either.

The TV show (starring RAY WALSTON and BILL BIXBY) may have been inspired by the 1960 JERRY LEWIS movie VISIT To A SMALL PLANET, which had a similar premise, but it seems to have been specifically created to cash in on the popularity of sitcoms featuring unusual characters with extraordinary abilities.  (BEWITCHED and I DREAM Of JEANNIE spring immediately to mind.)

Oddly, even though I've never seen the show, My Favourite Martian (and particularly Ray Walston's image) remains one of the fondly-recalled memories of my childhood, due primarily to the strip's presence in probably Britain's premier periodical of the time.  BILL TITCOMBE drew most of the strips, I believe, and demonstrated the artistic skill and versatility for which he is so justly renowned.

Want to see more?  Let me know, pilgrims.

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

Images copyright relevant owner

Oh, all right then, you've talked me into it, you smooth-talking devils.  Presented for your perusal are another ten covers from perhaps Britain's greatest-ever comic - TV CENTURY 21.  Editor ALAN FENNELL was still in charge at this stage and the comic was still selling well, but that state of affairs wasn't destined to last forever, alas!  However, that was still to come - for the meantime let's just enjoy how things used to be when TV21 was still a force to be reckoned with.