MORE BEST OF BRITISH - BONEHEAD...

From the same issue of BUSTER & JET as last time, here's

another strip drawn by REG PARLETT, who was a superlative

cartoonist.  Everything he drew looked funny!  Remember to

watch out for more comic antics soon, Criv-ite chums!

BABE Of The DAY - CANDY LOVING...

Now isn't that a face to wake up to?

And the rest of her ain't too bad either!

Okay, CANDY, go and get me a cuppa,

there's a good gal.  (What?  Me sexist

 and condescending?  Never!)

BEST OF BRITISH - RENT-A-GHOST LTD. ...

Copyright REBELLION

I'm sitting here feeling miserable 'cos I've fallen victim to another cold, not too long after having just got over one.  Can't stop sneezing, and my nose is running like a hosepipe that can't be turned off.  What I need is a chuckle or two to try and cheer myself up, so with that in mind, here's a strip from BUSTER & JET, published almost 44 years ago in September 1973.  It's RENT-A-GHOST Ltd. (not the TV show), drawn by REG PARLETT.  You can read it too, 'cos I like to share.  Enjoy!

(And no, I've never heard of ghosts who eat real food  either, but I guess anything can happen in a comic.)

BABE Of The DAY - JORDAN CARVER...

I've told these women before - they

don't need a gun.  A nice, home-cooked meal

will suffice, ladies.  Anyway, here's JORDAN

CARVER fancying her chances.

ANYONE REMEMBER THE MICROTEE 'T-SQUARE' FOR PAPER...?

My original Microtee T-square bought in 1985

You've no doubt read me wittering on before about the passage of time and how the quickness of it surprises me.  32 years ago, I sat in a Portsmouth cafe with one of my pals, Dougie, and examined a Microtee non-drawing board T-square I'd newly bought from a bookshop and stationers just around the corner.  I was at the start of my freelance career and staying in Southsea (well, Fratton in fact), and Dougie had accompanied me for the first week of my few months' stay to try and take his mind off the then-recent break up of his first marriage.

My 'new' Microtee T-square bought in 2017

The Microtee slid down the side of a sheet of paper, helping the user draw parallel guidelines without the need for a drawing board and T-square, and was quite a neat idea, although I never fully exploited its potential and merely used it as a standard ruler.  I suppose I was more interested in the novelty of the design than its actual usefulness.  I still have it to this day, although it's showing its age after 32 years.  One look at it and I'm back in that Portsmouth cafe in 1985.  (I recently acquired a slightly 'fresher' one from eBay, as my original one has a couple of hairline cracks that could curtail its lifespan if I'm not moderately careful with it.)

Anyway, seeing as how I'm thinking about Southsea and Portsmouth, I decided to show some photos of myself and Dougie from our time in Pompey.  And no need to worry about the bold Dougie - he 'copped off' with a gal he met while I was seeing him off at Victoria Coach Station, thereby restoring his waning confidence in his ability to pull the 'burds'.  He's now been happily married (to a different lady) for the last 27 or so years, and, whenever we happen to meet up (as we did just last month), we enjoy reminiscing about our time in the home of HMS VICTORY back in the mid-'80s.

Now, if you're anything like me and enjoy poking about in other people's photo albums, then you might find this post interesting.  If not, there must be some wet paint somewhere that you can watch dry and thereby pass a bit of time.  (Hey, where'd everybody go?  Fair weather friends indeed!)  But I digress.  Did anyone else ever have a Microtee T-square and do you know if they're still made today?

And, in the unlikely event that you were wondering how we've both weathered the passing years, above is how Dougie and myself looked about a month ago.

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - MARGARET NOLAN...

Delectable MARGARET NOLAN

graces any wall she leans against.  Think

I'll wear my brick wall costume and hang

out at the foot of her street.  You never

 can tell - I just might get lucky.

KID KLASSICS: "TIME, GENTLEMEN, PLEASE..."

Dr. WHO copyright BBC TV

When I was a mere lad back in the 1960s, my brother one day acquired from somewhere the very first paperback adventure of Dr. WHO - in an exciting adventure with The DALEKS no less.  The grim and moody illustration of WILLIAM HARTNELL's Doctor looking out at the reader from the cover transfixed me - and set the pattern for how I think the character should be portrayed.  To me, The Doctor should be an enigmatic, mysterious figure that nobody is quite sure of.  Is he good or bad?  Where does he come from?  Who is he?  I rue the day when the powers that be at the BBC decided he should be a babbling idiot who looks like he's having heaps of fun in whatever adventure he currently happens to be explaining aloud as he runs from one darkened corridor into another.

The paperback contains 6 illustrations

A few years ago, I managed to obtain a replacement for the 1965 ARMADA paperback I'd owned as a kid.  Due to insufficient packaging it was severely damaged in the post, which meant I had to completely re-glue the spine and repair the cover.  (Don't worry - the spine work is virtually undetectable.  You'd never know unless I told you - which I just did.)  I could have returned it, but these books tend not to turn up too often so I decided to hold onto it in case I never got the chance of one again.  It's enough for me that the mood of the cover is intact and that one glance is enough to return me to an earlier time.  (Rather apt, considering we're discussing Dr. Who.)

The hardback contains 12 illustrations

The hardback was first published by FREDERICK MULLER in 1964, but it's the paperback edition issued the following year that, to me, is the definitive edition - cover-wise at least.  When TARGET reprinted the paperback in the '70s, they ignored the interior illustrations by PETER ARCHER from the Armada edition and instead opted for the original ARNOLD SCHWARTZMAN ones from the Frederick Muller hardback.  And guess what?  This 'exciting adventure' is still available from BBC BOOKS.  It's well-worth reading.

(Update: I later managed to obtain an undamaged copy of the Armada paperback, but retained the other one.  [Yes, Melvin, that means I now have two of them.]  The scans of its covers in this post are from the undamaged book.)

PART FOUR Of SECRET ORIGINS COVER & IMAGE GALLERY...

Images copyright DC COMICS

With this instalment in our SECRET ORIGINS series, I'm cutting the number of internal pages on show and restricting them mainly to splashes. Why? Simply because it's getting more difficult to find truly outstanding (or even interesting) images that are worth scanning.  The pages seem to consist primarily of talking heads, and even though they're competently drawn, I have to be honest and say most of them are pretty boring.

However, when there's a page I think is worth looking at, I'll include it for you, so that you don't feel I'm depriving you of anything purely out of laziness.  I have all 50 issues in the run, but I've only ever read the first few, presumably because I wasn't particularly enthused by them when I first got them back in the day.  Maybe I'll get around to remedying that before I fall off the twig, but it's still satisfying to have a complete set of these mags - even though they're mostly unread.

Perhaps you disagree with my lacklustre assessment?  If so, then fight your corner in the comments section.

BABE Of The DAY - MICHELLE KEEGAN...

I reckon if they ever remake The

AVENGERS, MICHELLE KEEGAN

would be perfect for the role of EMMA

PEEL.  And I'd be a fantastic JOHN

 STEED.  (A man can dream.)

THE 'MYSTERY' OF THE MISSING 'IF'...

Dr. WHO copyright BBC TV

'It seemed to me as I were speaking perfectly naturally...'

What's wrong with that sentence?  Well, obviously, the word 'if' is missing - it should more correctly read: 'It seemed to me as if I were speaking perfectly naturally...'  It's a line from the fifth chapter of David Whitaker's book, DOCTOR WHO in an Exciting Adventure with the DALEKS, first published in 1964.  However, ever since the book was reprinted in the 1970s, right up to the present day, every new edition has rendered the line with the word missing.  I don't know about you, but such carelessness annoys me.  Anyway, should you ever decide to read (or re-read) this book, but don't possess an original 1964 hardback edition or 1965 paperback, when you get to this line, add in that little missing 'if', eh?  Just for me.  (And, of course, David Whitaker.  He used it for a reason.)

******

('It seemed to me as though I were speaking perfectly naturally...' would also have been equally acceptable.)

RECOMMENDED READING: BATMAN & The BEANO - TOGETHER...

BATMAN images copyright DC COMICS

Okay, so they were only together in my carrier bag yesterday, but having reeled you in with that devious deception, you may as well stick around and read the rest of the post.  First up is TALES Of The BATMAN, featuring the stories of writer ALAN BRENNERT and illustrated by a host of artists.  It's a slim volume, containing all of Alan's work for DC COMICS, and is available from all good comics shops and bookstores.  Buy one today!

BEANO images copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

Next up is BEANO Annual 2017, available, if you're lucky, from WH SMITH for only £1.99, depending on whether your local shop has any left, obviously.  However, the branch I was in yesterday had around a dozen copies, so yours may be similarly stocked.  I decided to purchase it because it's the first Annual with the new masthead (without the article), so it's sort of a collectors' item.  Buy one if you can.

  

H'mm, just noticed that the cover design seems to be based on MARVEL's GIANT SUPERHERO HOLIDAY GRAB-BAG from 1974.

BABE Of The DAY - DREW BARRYMORE...

CHARLIE was right- DREW BARRYMORE

is an Angel.  Well, you've gotta admit - she sure has a

'heavenly body'.  (Ouch!)  As do I, incidentally.  (In

that it gave up the ghost quite some time back.)

CHILDHOOD CAPERS - CHAPTER FOUR: CHEEKY & JOEY...

Have you ever met someone and become friends, only to learn much later that, when younger, they lived near to you or even attended the same school in a previous neighbourhood?  If you're anything like me (I'd imagine that not many people are), you can't help but wonder if your paths might've crossed before without either of you knowing or remembering.  Y'know, like standing in the same queue in a local shop, or in the same bus shelter or whatever.  So, with that in mind, "I wanna tell you a story."

(Cue wavy lines as we indulge in a flashback.)  My father once had a pair of budgies, Cheeky and Joey.  For some unstated reason, he eventually decided to part with them, though I suspect it may've been because he'd read an article saying that budgies carry diseases and so decided it was better to be safe than sorry.  I remember as I was leaving for primary school one day, my parents saying:  "You'd better say goodbye to the budgies - they won't be here when you get back."

I simply shrugged, but on reaching the back gate I was overwhelmed by a sudden wave of sadness and hurried back in to bid Cheeky and Joey au revoir.  Cut to many, many years later, and me and my pal Moonmando (whom you've seen comment on the blog) were in that former neighbourhood and I pointed out my old house to him.  You can imagine my astonishment when he informed me that he and one of his brothers had once collected a pair of budgies in a cage from that very house.

I didn't meet Moony 'til around 2nd or 3rd year in secondary school, so to discover he'd actually been in my (by then) former house without me knowing was quite a surprise.  What's more, his brother had been in my class at primary school at some stage, though I never knew him then, or even remembered him.  In fact, it wasn't until I was looking at an old school photo (which you can see here) in adulthood that I recognised his brother - as, by this time, I had known them both for quite a number of years.  (Though learning they'd both once been in my old residence to collect our budgies came later.)

What's more, the realisation that I'd later visited their house many times without ever knowing it was the very domicile to which Cheeky and Joey had 'retired', was likewise a source of amazement to me.  This was a connection of which we'd all been previously unaware.  It goes without saying that Moony isn't anywhere near as impressed with this incident as I am (or at all in fact), but to me, it's one of those 'Astounding Tales' that makes life so interesting.  (Then again, I always was easily impressed.)

So, anything like that ever happen to you?  Do tell!  

"GREAT CAESAR'S GHOST! I FANCY ANOTHER PIZZA!"

Images copyright DC COMICS

As promised, here's the 1977 PIZZA HUT reprint of SUPER-

MAN #113, first published in 1957.  As with #97 a couple of posts

back, the only pages I've omitted are the text-story pages, of which

there were a couple (to qualify for 2nd class mailing privileges).  Now

you should have a fairly good idea of what DC comicbooks were like

back in the '50s, which makes the exercise of scanning these pages

worthwhile.  Feel free to express your gratitude with a comment.

BABE Of The DAY - SALMA HAYEK...

Thanks, SALMA - you've just reminded

me I meant to post  a letter, so I'd better buy

a stamp.  (Wotta beauty she is, eh?)

"BY KRYPTON! I FEEL LIKE A PIZZA!"

Images copyright DC COMICS

Back in 1977, PIZZA HUT had some kind of promotion which offered two reprints each of SUPERMAN, BATMAN, and WONDER WOMAN comicbooks - six in all.  I possess the two Superman issues (#s 96 & 113), which are almost identical to the originals, apart from the paid advertising and size of the mags, which were the same as then-modern comics and not the size of the 1950s mags they were reprinted from.

I don't know the details of how customers obtained the mags (whether they had to send away for them or got them in store), but they're nice little items and I thought you might like a 'taste' of them.  Here's #97, I'll post #113 later today. Anyone got the Batman and Wonder Woman issues?