EXCLUSIVE! MY CHEQUE ISN'T IN THE POST...

Guess what, fellow Criv-ites?  A certain Scottish publisher is wanting to pay me me for the first of several submissions which was published last week in one of their famous weekly periodicals.  I've politely declined their kind offer of payment and informed them that they can publish the other items I submitted completely free of charge, if they so wish.  I'm just that sort of a guy - happy to see the fruits of my labour in print.

I'm not going to reveal anything about what it was or which publication it was for, but it's nice to know that it was considered worthy of public perusal in the paper periodical it appeared in.  I'll maybe tell you the full story one day, but, for now, I'm keeping the details to myself.  After all, I have to keep something for a rainy day - other than an umbrella and a sou'wester I mean.

    

Any developments, I'll keep you posted - eventually.

BABE Of The DAY - VICTORIA VETRI...

Here's lovely VICTORIA VETRI taking a

dip.  I think it's well-past time I learned to swim.

Where'd I put my trunks?  Hang on, Victoria!

The TV21 DALEKS LIVE AGAIN...

Here's a great DALEK image from over on

http://www.cosmicbento.com/daleks.html -

check it out for more great pictures.  This one's inspired

by the cover of the very first 1960s book, but there are

also Dalek strips based on the continuity created by

the writers and artists of TV CENTURY 21.

(Update: Link no longer active.)

BEANO WORLD RECORD COLLECTORS' ISSUE...

Image copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

I'm not quite sure why the word "collector's" is rendered in the singular as if there's only one of them in the universe, but I've made it plural in the title of this post.  So The BEANO is now the longest-running weekly comic in the world, but DC's monthly DETECTIVE COMICS came out first - even before the now deceased DANDY, in fact.  For the most part, it's pretty well drawn, though there are still one or two inferior-looking strips that would be more at home in a comic for infants and toddlers, and which let the side down.

I bought this yesterday in my local SAINSBURY'S, priced £2.20.  Why not buy a copy for a niece or nephew today and try and keep the old comic going for a while longer, eh?

PANTHERS & ELEPHANTS - NOW THERE'S AN ODD MIX...

How the memories come flooding back on sight of this record cover.  I bought mine in a chemist's shop in the Westwood Square shopping precinct around either 1976 or '77.  I'd bought the PINK PANTHER Holiday Special for '76 when it first came out (might have been the same year, might not), and I remember reading it while listening to the record.  I seem to recall the one I had being in red or orange plastic, but my recent replacement is the usual black pressing for a 45rpm.  I also seem to recollect that there were two tunes on the B side, the other perhaps being Theme From HATARI, but I could be mistaken about that.

Ah, the '70s.  I thought I was going to live forever, and summer days seemed to last for far longer than they do now.  My parents were out that night, and I have an idea they may actually have been away on a fortnight's holiday, so, either way, the sense of freedom was palpable.  Only myself, my brother, and our dog TARA were in residence on that summer evening of around 40 years ago, and looking back now, I wish I could have those days back again in all their halcyon glory.  Why doesn't life come with a rewind button?   Now wouldn't that be something?!

(Incidentally, I still have my original PP Holiday Special.  Here's a piccie of it for you to feast your eyes on.)

Looking at the date on the back of the record cover makes me wonder.  In 1971, I lived across the road from the shops where I purchased this 45 (we moved in June '72), and it's entirely possible that the single sat in the spinner-rack, waiting for me to buy it in '76 or '77.  If so, I could've owned it four or five years earlier.  Maybe it was inevitable that one day it would be mine, eh?  Cue TWILIGHT ZONE theme.

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN IN THE NEXT FOUR PAGES...

Copyright relevant owner

From the pages of the TV CENTURY 21 SUMMER EXTRA for 1966, comes this four page STINGRAY tale.  You know what though?  I first saw Stingray in black and white (didn't get a colour TV until sometime in the '70s), but because of the colour strip in the weekly TV21 (and much later colour screenings), it now seems like I saw it that way back in the '60s.  False memory syndrome?  However, the point I'm making is that because of that, seeing Stingray in a b&w strip somehow seems odd to me.  Anyway, that's enough self-indulgent twaddle from me - I'll now let you get into the action.  After all, it's what you're here for!

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

Copyright relevant owner

It's a funny thing, but when I look at these covers of TV CENTURY 21, I tend to think of the house I lived in when the comic first came out in 1965.  However, I moved from that house to another after only 42 or 43 issues, so you'd think I'd associate them with my new abode rather than my old one.

There are a few covers (not pictured here) that I associate with my new home (#53 being one of them), but they tend to be the exception rather than the rule.  However, fascinating as that is to me, I'm sure that you don't give a rat's @rse, so let's talk about the actual comic itself.

The DALEKS appeared on the back page (on any page in fact) for the last time with ish #104, and I have to say I think it was a mistake to let them go.  I thought the comic was never quite the same again in their absence.  I assume that perhaps it was a cost-cutting exercise, as the BBC must've charged a fair bit for the use of the scions of Skaro.

Anyway, that's enough padding from me - time to unleash you upon the covers themselves.  As usual, if you have any personal memories you'd care to share with the rest of us, the comments section awaits.

1989 BATMAN MOVIE TRAILER...

Ten years after seeing SUPERMAN The Movie in the ABC in Glasgow, I viewed

TIM BURTON's BATMAN film in the same darkened halls.  Have to say, I absolutely

loved it.  Tell you what - let's watch the trailer together and relive old memories, eh?

BATMAN COLOURING BOOK...

Image copyright DC COMICS

For no other reason than because I like it.  Did you have any BATMAN colouring books when you were a kid?  Feel free to share any reminiscences you may have in our captivating comments section.  (It's nothing without you!)

BABE Of The DAY - MARVEL GIRL...

Lovely!  Sensational

JEAN GREY in her skimpy

mini-skirted MARVEL GIRL

costume.  That should knock all

those evil super-villains (and

heroes) for six!  Yowza!

The 1972 MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL POSTER...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

Before the SPIDEY poster seen in the previous post, there was this one by Big JOHN BUSCEMA.  I'm uncertain as to whether both were originally produced for a Stateside audience and then pressed into service for British readers, or we got them first before they were made available to U.S. Marvelites, but I'm sure I saw them advertised in the American mags at some stage.  Anyone know for sure?

"It's bigger than a bread-box!"

The 1973 SPIDER-MAN POSTER...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

This is perhaps the first poster to feature a 'real' SPIDEY (as in someone dressed up as him).  It was given away through SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY back in 1973, in exchange for eight tokens that readers clipped out, one at a time, every week, which they then submitted to the Marvel offices in return for their very own poster.  Although I have the poster, it's too big for scanning, so here's the preview pic printed in the comic to show Marvelites what they were actually getting.  Hey, it looked great back in the day, but I was only 14 then, remember.  Incidentally, I have two copies of this issue, and in the other one (if memory serves), the discoloured area on the right side of Spidey's costume is the correct blue, so go figure.

KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS: The AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #5...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

I've always loved this cover - ever since I first saw it on POW! #10 in March of 1967.  Don't ask me to explain why - there's just something about it that appeals to me in some strange, indefinable way.  Several years ago, I bought a small DOCTOR DOOM figure, which somehow reminds me more of STEVE DITKO's version of the character as seen in this ish than it does of JACK KIRBY's.

And look - I've even included a couple of photos to show you what I'm talking about.  You don't get extras like this on other blogs, let me tell you.  I think I deserve some kind of award.

BABE Of The DAY - COTE DE PABLO...

"I don't think much of this

new toilet design," thinks COTE

DE PABLO - "There's no hole in

the seat or any plumbing to flush it

all away."  Not that it matters as she's

forgotten to drop her kecks anyway.

Wash 'em out as soon as you can,

 luv, before they turn crispy.

KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - FANTASTIC #54

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

This was the third merged issue of FANTASTIC & TERRIFIC, and the reason it stands out in my memory is because I remember seeing it lying on a newsagent's counter in the local shopping area of the neighbourhood next to mine.  I don't think I bought it then, but acquired it later, probably in a bunch of Fantastics that a friend gave to me.

Whenever I look at this cover today, I'm back in that dingy, old-fashioned newsagent's where I bought many a comic in the days of my youth, way back in the swinging '60s.  I visit there often, but only in memory, alas.  What memories, if any, does this particular cover summon forth for you?  Reveal all in the comments section.

KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - STAR WARS WEEKLY #1

Copyright relevant owner

STAR WARS - the comic that saved MARVEL.  Not the British edition you see above, but the American one.  Apparently, Marvel's fortunes were on the wane and if it hadn't been for them acquiring the rights to GEORGE LUCAS's space fantasy epic,  they may not have been around for DISNEY to acquire a few years back.

Funny how these things work out, eh?  The Marvel U.K. weekly didn't have quite the impact as the U.S. monthly, but I think we can safely assume that it did okay for itself.  The Force was with it!

BABE Of The DAY - CINDY CRAWFORD...

Okay, you've had more than

enough time to comment on my art,

so given the meagre response it's had,

most of you clearly think it's cr*p!  So

cop a gander at a pic you won't turn up

your noses at - the cracking CINDY

CRAWFORD!  (Turn and face the

 camera, you big tease.)

NOT JUST A LETTERER...

'Homage' to cover of IRON MAN #150.  Hand drawn, no tracing or graph
paper or projectors involved.  Characters copyright MARVEL COMICS

It's not generally known, but although I was primarily a lettering artist throughout my 15 year career in comics, my original 'ambition' was to be an adventure comic strip artist.  I started lettering simply to get my size 9s in the door, but when I saw I could earn more as a letterer than as an artist (on account of being faster at the former than the latter), I stuck mainly with the lettering.

However, I did a bit of drawing as well, adding to panels when re-sizing IPC comic libraries, and doing occasional spot illos when the opportunity presented itself.  I also worked as a restoration artist on some MARVEL MASTERWORK volumes, re-inking and even re-creating JACK KIRBY art, which was a huge thrill for me.

However, my frank and forthright views on this blog on the current state of the British comics 'industry' (hah!) has brought me in for criticism from some quarters, with a few disgruntled individuals dismissing me as "only a letterer" and a "Kirby tracer".  Thing is, I got my first paying gig as a cartoonist when I was still a schoolboy, and have produced artwork for publication (and for which I was actually paid) since even before (during and after) I started freelancing for IPC/FLEETWAY, MARVEL COMICS (and others).

So here are a few examples of pencil and ink artwork ranging from my teenage years right up to adulthood.  Quite a few are professional pieces I was paid for, some were freebies for people I know, and the remainder were done simply for my own amusement.  I've shown them all before on the blog at various times, but it can't hurt to remind people I'm certainly more than "only a letterer".  Funny how some people who work in comics mistakenly imagine it's the only legitimate outlet for an artist's work, eh?

******

Wow!  This is one of the fastest visited posts in my blog's history - and quite a number of them via proxy servers and 'detour' routes too.  (Must be from people who don't want me to know they've looked.)  And yet, no comments so far.  Don't be shy now; tickle my ego by telling me what I know already - some of these images ain't half bad at all!

Pencil caricature (using my pseudonym) done as a gift for someone

"As you dislike a certain cartoonist's version of DESPERATE DAN, then why not do it
yourself?" someone dared.  So I did!  Characters copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

B&W copy of colour ad for local restaurant.  Fee was £100, but decided not to sell in the end

2000 A.D. pin-up.  I was paid for it, but don't know if it was ever
published.  Characters copyright REBELLION PUBLISHING

Pencil sample which led to ltg work from IPC.  Characters copyright MARVEL COMICS

Set of four cartoon illustrations (sans captions) for Equestrian event programme

Cartoon illustration for local business

Acrylic ink caricature of a friend's son

Pencil caricature done as a gift for someone

Parody of AMAZING FANTASY #15 splash page

Cartoon strip for local business

Proposed strip (at the request of BOB PAYNTER) for OINK! while at the preparation
stage.  Never got any feedback, but a similar character appeared a few months later

WILLIAM HARTNELL 'DOCTOR' and TARDIS drawn in 1983, background completed in 2013

Acrylic ink portrait done as a gift for someone.
Yeah, you can see my heart wasn't really  in it

Drawing done as a gift for someone.  Copyright KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, Inc

Newspaper ad drawn as a teenager for local business

Photocopy of pencil drawing done for my own amusement around 1981

Instruction leaflet for local business's delivery drivers

Newspaper ad for Glasgow hairdressers

Acrylic ink caricature done as a gift for someone

Logo for The ILLUSTRATED COMIC JOURNAL

Drawing done as a gift for someone

Pair of flyers for local business

Proposed logo for Glasgow Con.  Don't know if it was used or not

Cartoons (sans captions) for two camping posters done in my late teens/early 20s

Logo for local business

Acrylic ink caricature done as a gift for someone

Quick caricature done as a gift for someone

Fun & Activity booklet produced for local business

Acrylic ink caricature done as a gift for someone

Unfinished pencil caricature

Comic strip drawn for The BOOTS NEWS when I was 17.  Coloured decades later

Pencil drawing done as a teenager

Unpublished strip for local paper.  Others were published though

Cartoon strip drawn for my own amusement

Character copyright DC COMICS

And finally - a couple of pages of JK artwork I inked.  The FF one appeared in an issue
of The JACK KIRBY Collector.  Characters copyright MARVEL COMICS