PHIL The FLUTER - IS THERE SUCH A THING?

Copyright relevant owner

Who remembers The MAGIC BOOMERANG, an Australian TV show which was also shown in the U.K. back in the '60s?  It was about a lad who could stop time by throwing his boomerang, though time only stood still while the boomerang remained airborne.

THUNDER comic's PHIL The FLUTER had the same concept, except Phil only had to play his musical instrument to halt time, not throw it into the air and wait for it to return to him.  Actually, the strip should more accurately have been titled PHIL The FLAUTIST - or FLUTIST would've passed muster - but 'Fluter' arguably had a bit more of a ring to it - or so the editor seemed to think at least.

Anyway, the following strip from the 1971 LION & THUNDER Holiday Special is typical of the kind of escapades in which young Phil usually found himself involved, and should give you a good idea of why comic readers enjoyed it back in the '70s.

  

THE 'GOOFY' LETTERS...

Mr. TOM TIERNEY and granddaughter STACEY

In November 1965, my family moved into a new neighbourhood - new to us, as well as being only two years 'new' itself.  I can no longer state with any certainty whether it was on the first or subsequent evening that my brother and myself met the other local kids, but I do recall one of them introducing the group to us.  "Hi, I'm Tony and this is my brother Kenny" said one of them.  Tony was TONY TIERNEY, and it should come as no surprise to you to learn that his wee brother shared the same surname.  (This was the '60s remember, when siblings tended to have the same parents.)

There were others there too, to whom Tony introduced us in turn, but I no longer recollect the precise roll call.  Probably ROBERT FORTUNE and GRAHAM BROWN, along with GUS MARTIN and KENNY McLEOD maybe, but I do seem to remember there being around four or five in total.  I ran into Gus in Glasgow a few weeks back, and Kenny called in today to deliver the pics you see in this post.  Which brings me to the point.

Daughter GERALDINE and her dad

Kenny's father, TOM (who I always referred to as Mr. Tierney) was a regular letter writer to the local newspaper (and others).  He wrote under the nom de plume of 'GOOFY' and his missives offered an often whimsical view of life in general, and also opinions on issues relating specifically to events occurring in and around the town.  His alter-ego enjoyed a certain amount of celebrity status among a loyal group of readers, whose daily lives were cheered by exposure to his latest thoughts, theories and fancies.  If he were alive today, he'd doubtless have a blog of his own.

Tom's wife, ALICE.  (Or Mrs. Tierney to me.)  Blackpool 1977

I mentioned him in another post a few years ago, and Kenny was much touched by the fact, and, I believe, derived a certain pleasure from seeing his father's literary contributions receiving public recognition, even on such a low-key outlet as this blog.  I asked him to provide a photograph or two of his dad so I could add one to the other post (which I have), but I thought I'd do another one specifically on Mr. Tierney, as he was such a fixture of the neighbourhood for so many years.

I have extremely fond memories of living in that neighbourhood -  for nearly seven of the most formative years of my life.  Most of the friends I know today, I first met back then, and it's been a source of some surprise to me over the years to learn just how many of them thought I still lived there many years after having moved away, so strongly did they associate me with the place.  Of course, the fact that I was often back in the area probably helped cement that idea in their minds.

A slightly blurred screen-grab of Mr. Tierney's 'scooter' in his back garden, shot from my
bedroom window in a video I made of my old house in 1991 - 19 years after I'd moved

There are quite a few folk who yet remind me of the area, but none moreso, I guess, than Mr. Tierney.  No doubt he's driving about on his little scooter in a finer place than this one, mentally composing his next letter to The Heavenly Times.  And I'll bet they're enjoyed up there every bit as much as they were down here.  In fact, he's probably been promoted to editor by now.  So here's to 'Goofy' - he may be gone, but he'll definitely never be forgotten.

Mr. Tierney, with  KENNY & TONY

BIFF! IT'S SAM...

Copyright REBELLION

Here's BIFF from WHAM!, masquerading under the name of SAM from THUNDER.  Drawn, I believe, by LEO BAXENDALE.  Not one of his best strips under either name, it has to be said, but still well worth a look.  Probably wouldn't be allowed today for being too violent.

CAN YOU SPOT THE CLUE WITH ZIP NOLAN...?

Copyright REBELLION

I can't help but feel that with a name like ZIP NOLAN, he should've been a spaceman like DAN DARE.  Having said that though, I always enjoyed whatever tales I read of ol' Zip, and I'd buy a collected edition of them if someone was prepared to publish one.  Let's hope the copyright owners (whoever they are) are reading, eh?

Guess what?  This is from the 1971 LION & THUNDER Holiday Special.  Whaddya mean you knew?  (Sheesh! I must be getting more predictable with each passing day.)

ANOTHER BABE Of The DAY - SALMA HAYEK...

SALMA HAYEK has obviously heard

I'm a BERYL The PERIL fan, and is trying

to impress me by wearing a stripey top.  Wrong

colour, love, so try again!  (Treat 'em mean and

keep 'em keen is my motto, though I'm not

 sure it works, to be honest.)

MORE MOWSER...

Copyright REBELLION

From the back page of the 1971 LION & THUNDER Holiday Special (and the interior of a 1960s issue of Lion weekly before that), comes the magnificent moggy, MOWSER the priceless puss.  REG PARLETT is the priceless cartoonist who had the knack of imbuing his drawings with a joyful humour that permeated every panel.   (Just look at Mowser's expression - priceless indeed!)  Reg was definitely one of the greats of British comics and they could do with him today, that's for sure.

BABE Of The DAY - TYRA BANKS...

But where?  TSB?  RSB?  The

HALIFAX?  LLOYDS?  We need

to know such things.  As you can see,

TYRA is topless - as in the top of her

head has been cut off in the photo.

(I wonder if that hurts?)

BY THUNDER! IT'S ADAM ETERNO...

Copyright relevant owner

Amazing!  His name's ADAM ETERNO and he's immortal.  Lucky coincidence, eh?  Okay, so he did drink an alchemist's elixir, which sort of helps, but it's almost as if he was predestined to live up to his name.  Oh, I forgot - he's just a fictional character dreamt up by a writer, but even then, the thing with the name is pushing credibility a bit, eh?  Never mind, we'll just have to roll with it, I suppose.

He's also invulnerable - unless struck a fatal blow by a weapon made of solid gold.  You wouldn't think there'd be too many of them lying around, would you, but, hey - you'd be surprised.  And he's also a time traveller.  Crom, is there no end to the man's talents?  Anyway, that's enough preamble from me - let's now enjoy one of his adventures from the 1971 LION & THUNDER Holiday Special.

A PHOENIX From The ASHES? NEEDS SET ALIGHT, IS WHAT I SAY...

Will this cover be remembered in 60 years?  I doubt it!  'The Weakly story comic' would be more apt

I'd like to say something positive about The PHOENIX, I really would, but the words just won't come.  I noticed the other day that it's now on sale in WHS and browsed through an issue, but aside from a few nicely illustrated pages, I was singularly unimpressed.  One particular artist's style dominated the issue, making it look like an amateur publication for infants by infants, and even the lettering on the few good pages is, in the main, not up to snuff, with some very dodgy balloon shapes.

Wait a minute, you cry - kids love it and it's now been around for over 200 issues, so it must be doing something right.  All I can say is that when people are starving, I guess they'll eat just about anything and the same goes for what they read.  Kids are hardly spoilt for choice when it comes to weekly comic strip reading material, so the mag no doubt fills a void to certain extent, but I can't help but feel that, on the evidence of the issue I looked at, today's kids are being short-changed for their £2.99.

Wouldn't I be better just shutting up if I don't like something, instead of being negative?  I know that's what some people think, but I've got a blog to fill and you never know - perhaps if someone punctures the bubble of complacency (if not outright smugness) surrounding the periodical, it might improve.  Believe me, in the opinion of someone steeped in over half a century of comics reading and collecting, it could certainly stand improving.  When I was a kid, when it came to comics, my generation were fortunate to feast on 'steak' - today's kids snack on 'Spam'.  If only they knew, eh?

So you can say what you like, but I'll take reprints of KEN REID's and LEO BAXENDALE's magnificent art over someone like SAMIE JART's any day.  The decline continues, alas!

Now this is what I call a cover!

A LITTLE BIT OF PUSSY IS PRICELESS...

Copyright relevant owner

But then again, MOWSER the puss is always priceless when it comes to raising laughs, mirth, and merriment.  Illustrated by REG PARLETT, Mowser was one of the comedy stalwarts from LION comic, this page being from the - yup, you guessed it - LION & THUNDER Holiday Special from 1971.  As you can see, the panels have been extended in height, revealing the strip to be a reprint from an earlier weekly edition of a few years before.

What's that you say?  You thought the post's title was a little bit suggestive?  Hey, I'm as pure as the driven snow - you're writing your own jokes, you smutty-minded bunch, so don't blame me.

BLACK MAX From LION & THUNDER 1971 HOLIDAY SPECIAL...

Copyright REBELLION

One of the more bizarre strips ever to appear in UK comics was BLACK MAX, which first saw the light of day in THUNDER in 1970.  It featured BARON VON KLORR, a WWI German air ace who had a giant killer bat, with which he waged war against the British forces.  Not having read any of the strips (illustrated by ALFONSO FONT) in years, I have the impression that he at first had a battalion of bats, but I mainly recall just a single giant 'pet'.  (I really should do some research before I write these posts, eh?)  If anyone remembers, please let me know.

(Update: Having since bought Vol. 1 of the REBELLION collected edition, I see that Max had quite a number of giant bats.  Also, it was ERIC BRADBURY who illustrated the very first episode.)

I wonder if this was one of the strips that was originally produced for BLACKJACK, a proposed comic for which CURSITOR DOOM and The PILLATER PERIL were intended, before ending up in the revamped SMASH! of 1969 when Blackjack plans were abandoned?  If anyone knows, you can let me know about that as well.

In the meantime, let's read about a man who truly does have bats in his belfry.  (Hey, I'm writing this at half-three in the morning - it's the best I can do.  If you're not happy, write your own bad puns!)

    

BATMAN ANNIVERSARY ISSUES...

Images copyright DC COMICS

Going through some comics, I discovered these two BATMAN Anniversary issues - 25th and 30th.  Seeing as how I recently posted some DETECTIVE COMICS Anni-versary issues, I thought these two would nicely round off the theme.  I've doubtless got a few others, but my collection is in some disarray at the moment.

Will post more as and when I find them, Devoted Criv-ites.

  

BABE Of The DAY - LESLEY ANN WARREN...

No puns about 'warren' and 'bunny'

(you know what I'm talking about) - here's

 LESLEY ANN WARREN.  'Nuff said.

BONUS - DOUBLE DOUBLE COMICS INTERLUDE...

Images copyright DC COMICS

Whilst I try and find the time for scanning the splash pages inside my few remaining DOUBLE DOUBLE COMICS, here are the covers of some I don't have - yet.  I wonder if the same contents sometimes appeared under different covers?  Anyone know?  Spill the beans in the comments section, comics lovers!

KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - BATMAN'S DETECTIVE COMICS ANNIVERSARY ISSUES...

Images copyright DC COMICS

Don't you just love Anniversary issues?  I know I do!  So here are some DETECTIVE COMICS covers for you to appreciate just because they were close to hand.  Look at #572, fourth image down (not counting the one above), which came out in December 1986.  Difficult to believe I first read it 29 years ago - and it's still in the same condition as when I bought it back then.  And check out #627 - bringing things nicely full circle.

Got a favourite?  Then tell us which one, effendi!

SPOT THE CLUE WITH ZIP NOLAN...

Copyright relevant owner

I never really bought LION comic (occasional issues apart, maybe) 'til THUNDER weekly was merged with it, but I'd certainly read a few issues belonging to pals as I was aware of its most popular strips.  (ROBOT ARCHIE, The STEEL CLAW, The SPIDER, and of course, ZIP NOLAN.  (I'd better give MOWSER a mention as well, 'cos you know how temperamental he is.)

This strip appeared in the 1971 LION & THUNDER Holiday Special, but is undoubtedly a reprint from a '60s ish of Lion weekly.  Not that it matters, because if you haven't seen it before, it's new to you.  Well, can you spot the clue before it's revealed?