KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - VALIANT #1...

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Looking back now, VALIANT's 14 years of existence feels like no time at all.  It had seemingly been around forever when I was a kid, and I'm surprised to learn that it wasn't.  Of course, if you happen to be a teenager, 14 years seems like eternity, but to decrepit old farts like myself, it's insignificant.

The weekly comic featured several popular strips throughout its run, including classics like CAPTAIN HURRICANE, The STEEL CLAW, The HOUSE Of DOLMANN, The WILD WONDERS, and KELLY'S EYE.  Difficult as it may be to believe, Britain has now been Valiant- free for 39 years, and to me, in my dotage, that also feels like no time at all  - a mere couple of blinks away in fact.

I only started buying the weekly periodical once SMASH! was merged with it (and then TV21), but I'd read a few issues belonging to a friend of my brother in the mid to late '60s, so I was well-aware of the comic and its contents before it became a regular feature of my comics-buying practice.

Do you remember Valiant?  Got any memories associated with it that you'd care to air and share?  Good!  Straight over to the comments section with you then - we're all waiting.

BABE Of The DAY - ANGIE DICKINSON...

I could 'pepper' this post with

info about ANGIE DICKINSON,

star of the POLICE WOMAN TV

series from the '70s, but why bother

when one picture speaks a thousand

words?  And they all say the same

 thing: she's an absolute Babe!

GIT ALONG, LITTLE DOGGIE...

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Time for another page from TV EXPRESS WEEKLY, featuring HUCKLEBERRY HOUND and YOGI BEAR.  The comic eventually merged with TV COMIC, in which some of the full page Yogi strips were reprinted in black and white quite a number of years later.  Whether any of the other HANNA-BARBERA strips likewise made a re-appearance, I couldn't say.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN COVER, SPLASH PAGE & IMAGE GALLERY - PART ELEVEN...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

As I've said a million times (at least) before, it's amazing how our perception of time seems different at various stages through our lives.  Case in point:  The above periodical came out a mere four years, eight months after my purchase of The FANTASTIC FOUR #126 on Friday 6th October 1972.  Nowadays, to me, such a period passes (yes, here it comes) faster than a fart from The FLASH, but back in 1977, a huge gulf seemed to exist between the two dates.

The reason why FF #126 now springs to mind is because the first part of the tale was reprinted in CAPTAIN BRITAIN #35, and extremely glad I was to see it again, even if only in black and white.  I've now got three pristine replacements of that classic FF mag, but CB's reprint of it resonates in my memory just as much as its original printing.

Anyway, I'm sure you don't visit this blog to read the piffle that I write (though feel free to disagree and tell me you hang on my every word), so I'll give my typing finger a rest and let you now consume the cataclysmic covers and comic pages that lay before you.  If any fond memories of your distant youth resurface as you peruse these pulsating panels, feel free to share them in the comments section.

After all, what's the point in keeping them to yourself?

BABE Of The DAY - CHRISTA SPECK...

Here's a honey from halcyon days of

yore - CHRISTA SPECK.  I first saw her in

a pal's 'girlie' mag in 1973 and never forgot her

name, or her captivating charms.  What a total

beauty!  And she thinks I'm wonderful too!

(Though that part might just be a lie.)

The MARVEL-LOUS WORLD Of MIGHTY (CLOSE ENOUGH)...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

In five days time (September 30th) it will be 43 years since The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL #1 first went on sale.  Today I picked up the latest issue of the current incarnation of the title, and was pleased to see a page referring to the origin of The FANTASTIC FOUR, which was one of the three tales in the weekly comic all those years ago in 1972.

Happy 43rd birthday, MWOM.  It seems like only yesterday - how time flies.  No doubt the next 43 years will, too.

PART TWO Of TV EXPRESS COVER GALLERY...

Characters copyright relevant and respective owners

Some lovely RON EMBLETON artwork from before his days on TV CENTURY 21.  Who'd ever have thought that BIGGLES would be the cover star on a comic, eh?  Anyway, I'll leave you to admire the pretty piccies - don't forget to come back for part three.

FINAL PART (TWELVE) Of PLAYMATES From FAR-AWAY PLACES...

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

At last!  The final 'playmates' page from LITTLE STAR comic. TONTO the TOUCAN seems to be the star of this entry, despite ROSA getting star billing - and that's how it should be.   So sod off, Rosa, you're not wanted here.  It's drinks all round for everyone else - and guess what, Crivvies?  Tonto's taking care of the bill!  (Nah, that 'joke' works better with ducks or geese, doesn't it?  Oh well, I tried.)

******

(Though the word 'bill' does also apply to perching birds.)

MORE YOGI & HUCK...

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From the pages of TV EXPRESS WEEKLY (or one of its name variants), comes another couple of strips featuring HUCKLEBERRY HOUND and YOGI BEAR.  I'd guess that not too many American readers will have ever seen these before as I believe they were produced in Britain, rather than being mere reprints of U.S. material.   If you know different, let me know in the comments section, HB fans.

The BLUE DOG & The BROWN BEAR...

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Again, from TV EXPRESS WEEKLY, comes a page (in two halves) featuring HUCK & YOGI in their very own strips.  This likely won't interest you one tiny bit, but there was a boy (ROBERT or ROBIN GOLDIE) in my class in primary school who was the double of Huck - as was his sister.  No, they didn't have blue skin or tails, but the pair of them had the exact same expression.  Every time I see Huck I think of them.  Strange but true.

BABE Of The DAY - JANE RUSSELL...

Here's a Babe who's no 'plain-Jane',

even though her name is actually Jane -

JANE RUSSELL, to be precise.  It looks

like her dress could do with some buttons

and bows, but who's going to complain

 about that?  Certainly not me!

PLAYMATES From FAR-AWAY PLACES - PART ELEVEN...

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

They should have made the dolphin that week's playmate, I think.  Far more interesting than that little grandstander CANDY, who's doing her upmost to upstage the magnificent mammal (who we'll call DOLLY) by simply holding a fish out to grab.  What's so clever about that?  It's Dolly who's doing all the work.

Just as well I wasn't there.  I'd have grabbed Candy by the ankle and dangled her over the pool for Dolly the dolphin to do some devastating damage to the dim and dizzy little damsel - like eat her.  Or do you think that's a bit harsh?  Sounds like a good plan to me.  Save the fish - feed a child to a dolphin today!

Hooray!  Only one more playmate page to go!

******

(Danny or Dolly?  Confused?  See the comments section.)

TV EXPRESS WEEKLY COVER GALLERY - PART ONE...

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This popular periodical had several title variations over its nearly 7 and a half year run.  The first was JUNIOR EXPRESS, then JUNIOR EXPRESS WEEKLY, followed by EXPRESS WEEKLY, then TV EXPRESS WEEKLY, and finally simply TV EXPRESS.  It started life as a newspaper for children in 1954, changing to a comic not too long after.  'TV' was later added to the title when it started to publish strips based on popular television shows of the time.

Back in the mid-'80s, an IPC editor gave me a stack of file copies of the comic, which I kept for around 25 years or so.  I'd never seen the comic as a child so I eventually parted with them so that others could appreciate them the way they deserve to be. First though, I scanned the HANNA-BARBERA strips and the covers of the smaller issues, photographing the larger ones.

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the first part of this gallery and decide to come back for the other posts in the series.

And below is an issue from the title's earlier incarnation.