CALVIN & HOBBES - 'NUFF SAID!

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One word will suffice - and that word is "enjoy"!

MAKE YOURS MARVEL!

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Four great MARVEL mags.  Try one today!

MARVEL FAN? SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE...

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Want to save money?  Who doesn't!  Read the screed and

subscribe today!  6 issues for a mere £12 - what's not to like?

The INCREDIBLE TRI-MAN - PART SEVEN...

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"Shout - hoo-ray!  And let each one of the crowd try and shout it very loud, in honour of a comic strip of which you're justly proud, for it's TRI-MAN's - great - day!"  (Thanks to Kenneth Grahame's Mr. Toad for the use of that line, and humble apologies for ruining the meter.)  Yup, another four pages of JOHNNY SMALL's superhero alter-ego to thrill and astound you, o panting panelologists!  Get reading!

MARVEL SPOTLIGHT: WHAT'S ON SALE OR COMING UP...

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Looking for your MARVEL fix?  Then you're bound to

find something in the above list.  Grab at least one today!

AND DOOM COMES CALLING...

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Psst!  Wanna know a secret?  The latest SECRET WARS

saga is now being played out in PANINI's line of MARVEL

Collecters' Edition mags.  Keep your eyes peeled for 'em.

RECOMMENDED READING: MWOM #26...

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On sale now - The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL #26.

Worth £3.50 of anyone's money for the great cover alone.  Pick

up your own copy in WHS or any good newsagent today.  (And

don't forget to pay for it.  You'll feel good for being virtuous.)

PRIDE GOES BEFORE A FALL...

Here's JIM REEVES in fine voice, singing PRIDE GOES BEFORE A FALL.  And you know what?  It usually does.

KNOCKOUT BOOKMARK...

Looking for a bookmark, Crivvies?  Well, here's one that was given away in a weekly issue of KNOCKOUT back in the 1970s.  All you have to do is print it out and it's yours.  (Isn't that good of me?)  Then you can use it to mark your place in any books you're reading when you take a break.  Not that I really had to explain that as I'm sure you all know what a bookmark is for.

GOOD MORNING SELF...

Here's JIMBO with a nice little song from

 the 1966 DISTANT DRUMS album.  Enjoy.

KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - MARVEL SUPERHEROES #1 (353)...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL had three incarnations throughout the 1970s.  First as MWOM, which then morphed into MARVEL COMIC with #330, and finally as MARVEL SUPERHEROES, a monthly mag which bore little resemblance to the weekly it had sprung from.  In 1983, MWOM returned for 17 monthly issues, then dropped out of sight until 2003 when it made a triumphant return in a full-colour monthly that's still around today.

"Make Mine Marvel!"

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - MADELINE SMITH...

Interesting outfit, MADDIE.

Not as interesting as who's wearing

 it though.  "I'll give it foive!"

BABE Of The DAY - SALMA HAYEK...

Here's the simply stunning SALMA

HAYEK, waving to me and saying "Kid, I

love you - you're the handsomest, sexiest

man I've ever seen!"  She's one smart cookie

is Salma, and would never tell a lie.  (Not one

as big as that anyway, so it must be true.

There's no point arguing about it.)

KLASSIC KIRBY KOMIC KOVERS: FANTASTIC FOUR #12...

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The first time The THING fought The HULK, but certainly not the last.  Note that Hulkie has only four fingers (including his thumb) and three toes on each hand and foot, something that JACK KIRBY wasn't always consistent with.  (Didn't he have four toes sometimes?)  The fact that the Green Goliath was grey in his first appearance was ignored for well-over 20 years before being retroactively adopted into his continuity, so I wonder if the same thing will eventually happen as regards the number of digits on each extremity?

Only time will tell I suppose.  (Or has it told already?)

SUPERMAN By WAYNE BORING...

Image copyright DC COMICS

This drawing (or its double) was originally used as the splash page of SECRET ORIGINS #1 (mid-'80s), but WAYNE BORING later redrew the 'S' as the Earth 1 emblem, as the published issue had the Earth 2 SUPERMAN symbol.  It may've been ROY THOMAS (or perhaps JOHN MORROW) who commissioned the change from Wayne, but you can be sure I'll let you know exactly who it was when one of you cavortin' Criv-ites tells me.

Nice art though, innit?

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - MADELINE SMITH...

H'mm - MADELINE SMITH,

doing what the gal does best - looking

amazing.  Let's all give Madeline a big

 hand, lads.  It's the least we can do.

PART SIX Of The INCREDIBLE TRI-MAN...

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We're now halfway through The INCREDIBLE TRI-MAN's awesome adventures as far as page-count goes.  You'll notice that the quality of reproduction is variable in places, as SMASH! was printed on cheap paper and sometimes the art was faded or smudged.

I've tidied them up as best I can without labouring too long over them, but at least they're readable and should serve to rekindle a few memories for all those who are old enough to have read these stories back in the day.  (That means you, JP.)

Any comments you'd like to make, you know the drill.

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - MADELINE SMITH (AGAIN)...

Go on then, seeing as how you

insist.  Another pic of mesmerizing

MADELINE SMITH.  (It's me she

 wants, not any of you uglies.)

THE 'OUTSIDER'...

I was looking at a photo of where I used to live back in the mid-'60s and early '70s, comparing the field where I used to play across from my house with how it looks today (see here) and a memory jumped into my mind.  Which was that, on the evening of the flitting, after settling into our new home, I made my way back along to that field.

It was almost an instinct.  After all, I didn't yet know anyone in our new neighbourhood, so it felt only natural to continue the habit of nearly seven years and seek out the environs that were familiar to me.  As I entered the field, a group of local kids sitting in a far corner, turned and saw me approaching them.  "What are you doing here?" one of them asked in an unwelcoming tone.

Back then I didn't understand their sullen coldness towards me, but I think I do now.  We hadn't informed any of our neighbours of our intention to move, so it would have been a surprise to them on the day.  Maybe our moving was regarded as a betrayal of sorts, an abandonment of the area and those who lived there - as if we'd thought we were too good for the place and turned our backs on it.

In only a few short hours the local kids now viewed me as no longer belonging there, but it was yet far too early for me to feel part of our new neighbourhood - leaving me in a kind of limbo as far as 'district identity' goes.  Luckily, I didn't feel too displaced, as our new residence sat atop a hill just as our old one had done, so the general impression of the topography was similar in some ways, which doubtless helped me adjust to the new locale.

I've never quite forgotten just how quick people can be to shut others out of a group at the drop of a hat and consider them 'outsiders'.  Luckily, I've never had a 'gang' mentality, so it didn't much bother me that I was no longer regarded as one of 'the lads' (if I ever had been).  Still, like I said - I've never quite forgotten. 

PART EIGHT OF TOPPS 1966 BATMAN CARDS...

Images copyright DC COMICS & TOPPS

Seven TOPPS BATMAN cards this time around instead of the usual six, as that leaves a half-dozen in the first series of 55 cards to complete the set.  Whether I get around to showing the remaining two series is entirely down to you, Criv-ites, so if you want to see 'em, say so in the comments section.

Did you have these cards as a kid?  Any memories of them, feel free to share, o bombastic Bat-fans.

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - MADELINE SMITH...

MADELINE SMITH thinks Saintly

ROGER MOORE is incredibly handsome,

so just wait until the lass cops a gander at me!

(Well, me and big Rog could almost be twins,

what with my gleaming halo and good looks.

 The resemblance is truly uncanny.)

The INCREDIBLE TRI-MAN - PART FIVE...

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Things are still hotting up for our hero in these two titanic episodes, SMASH! fans. Most of you will recognize certain elements borrowed from MARVEL's SPIDER-MAN, but if you're going to copy a teenage superhero, you might as well imitate an 'A' lister.  Is anyone else looking at these strips apart from JP, McScotty, TC, and me?  If so, leave a comment to reassure me that I'm not wasting everybody's time.

BABE Of The DAY - JORDAN CARVER...

JORDAN CARVER feels

a little 'tyred' today.  (I've waited

ages to use that pun - wish I hadn't

now.)  Never mind though, just

 look at those long pins.

POPEYE POPS IN FOR A POST...

Back around the mid-1970s, I found a bendy POPEYE toy and took it home with me.  I was famous for drawing the spinach-chomping sailor in school, so I had sort of an affinity with the character.  I can no longer remember what happened to my little flexible friend, alas, but umpteen years later (in the 21st century), I acquired a similar-sized, poseable plastic figure of the mighty mariner.

No, that's not him in the photo, that's a larger scale, fabric-clothed Popeye (which I bought later) produced by the same company, but I was tidying up my room earlier in preparation for decorating, and 'Pops' was hanging on the wall.  I think it's a great collectable item and decided to show him off on the blog to cheer up all you comics-lovin', cavortin' Criv-ites.

So consider yourselves cheered.

RECOMMENDED READING: DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH #1...

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Well, something had to be done, and DC COMICS have now decided to do it.  What the result of that something will be yet remains to be seen, as DC has a history of making changes to their universe that succeeds only in turning off readers in droves.

Some elements of the first CRISIS weren't that bad, but all subsequent tinkerings have left many long-time fans feeling confused and angry.  The NEW 52 was a pile of poo, and now DC are in full 'back-pedal' mode as they seemingly seek to distance themselves from that step in the wrong direction.

This issue is intriguing and shows promise, but only the final result will tell whether this 'rebirth' of the DC Universe is alive and kicking or sadly stillborn.  There's talk of new costumes, which suggests that DC still don't quite realize that part of the problem is the absence of the original, iconic outfits, with which most people are familiar.

Any Criv-ites read the above ish?  Thoughts, theories and observations are most welcome, so get typing.