The EXPLOITS Of SPIDER-MAN COVER & IMAGE GALLERY - PART THREE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Well now, lookee here - another cataclysmic clutch of colourful comics covers and images from The EXPLOITS Of SPIDER-MAN, published by MARVEL U.K. back in the early '90s.  As related in our first instalment, it took me over 21 years to acquire #5, which seems to be quite rare.  Not only didn't I see it back in '93, but I've only ever seen it available on eBay on two occasions in all the time I've been specifically hunting it.  A BBC children's programme called 'TAKE TWO', hosted by SARAH GREENE, filmed the production of number 5 and broadcast it to the nation (as related in the issue itself), so maybe that accounts for why it was so difficult to get back in the day - perhaps  it sold out with all the heightened awareness that the programme generated, or the free MARY JANE poster was a 'must have' for teenage readers.

Guess I'll never know for sure - not that it matters much now that I finally have the issue (and poster) in my collection.  So join me in celebration of the happy union and paste your peepers on all these pulse-pounding pages.  Just think - a 100 page, full-colour monthly mag for only £1.99 - wouldn't it be great if they could do that now?!

Remember to come back for part four - coming soon!  (Or whenever I find the time to get around to it.)

CHERILEA BATMAN - MINE, MINE, MINE!

You're looking at a CHERILEA BATMAN figure that I recently bought on eBay and which will shortly be winging its way to me.  It was originally sold (only?) in WOOLWORTH'S at the time of the Bat-craze that swept the country (and maybe even the world) back in the 1960s, and there was also a ROBIN figure.  So powerful is the association of this item with the time and place in which I first purchased my original (one of a few) that I'm overwhelmed with images of the living-room of my old house to such an extent that it seems that I'm still living there.

Remember those little glass-phial HUMBROL paints that Woolworth's also sold?  Because of the waxy surface of the figure, the paint used to chip off very easily, and I used to repaint the Caped Crusader and his crime-fighting chum with those little gloss enamels in an attempt to restore them to their pristine beauty.  Isn't it strange the things that remain in your head after so many years?  Now all I have to do is keep an eye out for a Robin companion figure.  In the meantime, here's a photo 'borrowed' from SUPER STUFF In The BRONZE AGE Blog which shows the Dynamic Duo together.

Although I remember these figures from childhood, - the colours, their stance, the bases - I don't seem to recall them being so 'distorted', with short, stumpy legs and football-shaped heads.  In my mind, they both seemed to be perfectly proportioned - which just goes to show, I guess, that no one has an infallible memory - not even me.  Or perhaps such details are beyond the concern of kids and therefore make little impression on their young minds.

Do you remember these figures?  If so, feel free to reminisce to your heart's content in our ever-lovin' Criv-ites comments section.  Who's first?

BABE Of The DAY - CINDY CRAWFORD...

CINDY CRAWFORD - simply

because she's stunning.  Agree?

BORN AGAIN - FRANK MILLER & DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI'S DAREDEVIL - PART ONE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

When DAREDEVIL #227 hit the newsagents' spinner-racks and comicbook shelves back in 1986, readers sat up and took notice.  Over the course of seven issues, the story of MATT MURDOCH's complete professional and psychological disintegration at the scheming hands of The KINGPIN unfolded in a taut, suspenseful superhero action thriller that demonstrated just how comics of this kind should be written - and that FRANK MILLER was just the man to write them.

DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI's art was moody and magnificent, and is a perfect example of the heroic heights that the medium of sequential art is capable of attaining.  Apparently, there have been a couple of attempts to raise interest in a movie adaptation of this classic series, but nothing ever materialised and the film rights have now reverted back to MARVEL STUDIOS.  We can all only live in hope that a blockbuster movie of this epic adventure will one day reach cinema screens and be a massive hit like The AVENGERS.

In the meantime, you'll have to console yourselves with our two part cover and image gallery scanned from the original comics.  The series was released in a collected edition back in 1987 and again only a few short years ago, so you should yet be able to pick up a copy from your local comicbook store - or eBay, even.  If you don't have these classics in your collection, then you're really missing out, man - do something about it today!

See you in Part Two!

STAN LEE MEETS - COVER & SPLASH PAGE GALLERY...

All images copyright Marvel Comics

STAN LEE and MARVEL are inextricably linked in the minds of most comicbook readers of a certain age.  Hard to believe, then, that Stan's Soapbox (which started in 1967) disappeared from the pages of Marvel mags around 14 years ago, as did the tagline 'Stan Lee Presents'.  Apparently, Marvel was trying to disassociate itself from its leader, who, along with JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, DON HECK and others, was responsible for laying the foundations for the 'House of Ideas' back in the early '60s.

It was therefore refreshing to see Marvel embrace Stan to its bosom again in 2006, when a series of five special mags entitled STAN LEE MEETS was issued to the comics-buying public, "commemorating 65 years of Stan Lee at Marvel".  Each issue featured Stan meeting a different Marvel character (written by himself), various back-up stories in a similar vein (written by others), plus a collectors' item classic from Marvel's back-catalogue.

Here, then, is a cataclysmic cover and splash page gallery of the first and last tale in each magazine.  A hardback collected edition was later issued, containing the complete five issues, so if you have a bit of dosh to spare, you might want to consider treating yourself or a loved one to a copy.  After all, Christmas isn't too far away - and Stan is 'The Man'.  All together now - "Hang Loose, Face Front, Excelsior"   (Not forgetting " 'Nuff Said!")

      

MAN IN A SUITCASE...

One of my favourite programmes as a kid was

MAN IN A SUITCASE, so I thought I'd give you the

opporchancity to hear the theme tune.  I think the show

was retitled Man With A Suitcase for American TV -

can anybody confirm whether this was so or not?

BABE Of The DAY - ELIZABETH TAYLOR...

A few years ago, I'd arranged to

meet a young lady named Elizabeth in

a Glasgow cafe one afternoon.  We were

getting on fine until I called her 'Liz' (as I do

another lass of the same name whom I know).

"My name is Elizabeth!" she scolded in a frosty

tone.  "And my name's outta here, along with the

rest of me!" I replied, heading for the door.  So,

ladies, "Know your place!"  ELIZABETH

TAYLOR would never have spoken to me

like that - if only 'cos she'd never have

 spoken to me.  That's life, alas.

PART TWO Of The EXPLOITS Of SPIDER-MAN COVER & IMAGE GALLERY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

As mentioned in part one, The EXPLOITS Of SPIDER-MAN lasted for forty 100-page monthly issues.  I've got the first twenty-nine, plus the last one, so should I ever decide to complete the set, I only need ten to do so.  Don't think I'll ever bother to be honest, as I only bought it for the LEE/DITKO tales and the free posters of classic MARVEL #1s.  Once they stopped, so did I, as strips like SPIDER-MAN 2099 didn't really ring my bell, and I'd previously bought a good number of the original U.S. editions of the other strips featured in the mag.

In fact, I didn't even need to buy it for the '60s stories, because I already had them all in issues of MARVEL TALES and volumes of MARVEL MASTERWORKS, so I guess I was merely buying them out of habit and as a throwback to my early teenage years when I used to faithfully purchase SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY in the early '70s.  You see, even then I was trying to re-live my past, as I've done from about the age of 5 up to the present day.  Now, you may think that's kind of sad, but actually everybody indulges in the same thing to a greater or lesser degree, and let me explain just what I mean.

Ever seen those guys old enough to know better (adults I'm talking about) who hang about underpasses in groups drinking their carry-outs?  They're trying to re-create that moment when they had their first alcoholic drink in the company of their pals, many moons before.  Even many of those who regularly frequent pubs are, without ever realizing it, trying to recapture the heady feeling they first had when they managed to pass themselves off as old enough to buy a pint in their local.  Or someone else's local, in fact, where there was less chance of being spotted by someone who knew that they weren't of legal age to be served.

Many of our pursuits are attempts at re-experiencing earlier moments in our lives - usually in conjunction with other factors, admittedly, and perhaps even subconsciously.  However, most of us are trying to re-live the past to some extent, the only real difference being that I'm aware of it and others might not be.  If you like something, it's entirely natural to want to perpetuate it, not only for its own sake, but also because of the echo of a half-forgotten memory of pleasant times from so very long ago.

However, that's enough of my philosophical ramblings - I now unleash upon you some sensational Spidey shenanigans for your leisurely reading pleasure.  'Nuff said!