RECOMMENDED READING: KAMANDI CHALLENGE SPECIAL #1...

Image copyright DC COMICS

As a 'taster' for an upcoming 12 part round-robin series, DC COMICS have just published KAMANDI CHALLENGE SPECIAL #1, with reprints of two JACK KIRBY stories, plus two 'previously unpublished (which isn't quite true, but take it up with DC) classics'.  The cover comes from Kamandi #32 (a 'Giant' issue) and is a neat little item for Kirby fans.

BABE Of The DAY - ABIGAIL RATCHFORD...

Don't look so distressed, ABIGAIL.

Just 'cos I cancelled our hot date tonight as

I'm washing my hair doesn't mean we can't

go out another night, so don't despair, gal.

(Women - they're so insecure.)

TEENAGE TALES: HOSPITAL HIJINKS...

The long-vanished hospital shop of my childhood, teenage years
and young adulthood.  Demolished sometime back in the '90s 

I've a nagging suspicion that I may've told this tale before.  Or perhaps I intended to tell it but then forgot.  Either way, I can't find it on the blog or remember which of those two possibilities is the right one, so I may as well tell it now - or again - whichever is the case.

When I was a teenager, me and my pals were quite adventurous in our, er, adventures.  We explored places we had no right to be, convinced in our fevered imaginations that we were agents of U.N.C.L.E., or The Three Investigators, or 007 - or any fictional characters with whom one associates 'living on the edge'.

We explored building sites, office blocks, the local Civic Centre - before, during and after working hours.  We investigated hotels, restaurants, churches - even the local hospital and surrounding out-buildings.  You name it, any place we shouldn't have been, we were all over it like a rash.  For we were - The Adventurers!  (Seriously, that's what we called ourselves.  Or maybe it was just what I called ourselves and the others merely humoured me, but hey - still counts in my book.)

Let's just pause for a moment while I savour the thrill of what I deludedly (but willingly) like to believe was my exciting everyday life as a teenager, but (sadly) know I'm likely romanticising just a bit.  But we had our moments, and one such moment was this.

Sometimes there were three of us, but on this particular evening, there were only two - my good self and a friend who, for the purpose of this tale, we'll call Adam Cowie.  We'd just been into the local hospital shop so that I could check to see if it had any U.S. comics or black and white mags that, for some reason, weren't regularly or readily available from other newsagents.

There used to be more trees here, but they were felled to make
way for car parking areas.  Again, none of this exists today

The shop had nothing to offer, alas, so we then decided to investigate a ground-level out-building partially concealed by a wooded area.  It was one of several annexes once used as wards (I think), though at the time of this tale, used mainly for storing medical supplies and maybe also by administration staff.  We gained entry through the door, which yielded (undamaged) under the slightest pressure from our inquisitive selves.

We wandered the corridor, exploring the various rooms, and I happened to notice that all the windows were tightly secured with string, tied around the handles to prevent them from being opened.  My pal had just examined a bag containing a variety of medical implements and put it down again, when we were suddenly aware of what sounded like soft, slow footsteps, stealthily making their way along the corridor.

Discovery meant trouble, for who'd ever believe we were merely indulging our over-developed sense of curiosity by doing a bit of exploring without criminal intent?  My friend (as usual) sh*t a brick, but I was made of cooler stuff.  I'd noticed a pair of small surgical scissors in the bag my pal had been looking at, so I extracted them and quietly cut the string around the handle, replaced the scissors, then we both made a rapid escape through the open window frame and vanished in a cloud of dust over the horizon to freedom.

Phew! It had been a near miss, but once again we had evaded capture by the combined agents of S.M.E.R.S.H., S.P.E.C.T.R.E., T.H.R.U.S.H. and HYDRA, and were free to fight yet another day.  Well, that's how things seemed to my fertile imagination, but then again, I always was a bit of a nutter.

Ah, those were the days.  

BABE Of The DAY - ABIGAIL RATCHFORD...

What can be said about angel

ABIGAIL RATCHFORD that isn't

redundant?  You can see what a honey

she is for yourselves - and she's forever

'phoning me and begging me for a date.

(What's that, doctor?  It's time for my

coloured 'Smarties'?  I really like red

 ones, give me a red one please.)

SPECTACULAR SPLASH PAGES #18...

"Any spare change, guv'nor?"  The above character would sure give you a fright if you chanced to encounter him in a bright alley, never mind a dark one.  Not quite sure how MARVEL got away with this one, as zombies and the undead (or are they both the same thing?) weren't supposed to be allowed by the COMICS CODE, but it gave Big JOHN BUSCEMA the chance to turn in a spectacular splash page.  And hey - that's what this series is all about! 

Updated: F-TOYS THUNDERBIRDS...

The most accurate TB2 model I've seen

Okay, I've dusted down my THUNDERBIRDS models and taken a few new photos, so here's the results.  TB1 was difficult to do justice to, because the silvery surface tends to reflect the light (the daylight that is, I didn't use my camera flash), so this is the best I can do with this one for the moment.  Enjoy.

The wings pull out.  It looks far better than the photo suggests 

Third up is TB4.  I'll show 3 and 5 another time

BABE Of The DAY - KATE UPTON...

For the life of me, I can't think of a

thing to say that does KATE UPTON's

beauty proper justice.  Apart, perhaps,

from... "Schwiiiiiiiiiiiiinng!!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POW! ODHAMS PRESS POWER COMICS FIRST ISSUES COVER GALLERY (A RAMBLING REPOST)...

Images copyright relevant owners

As it's the 50th Anniversary year since POW! first went on sale in 1967, it's the perfect excuse for me to take the lazy route by reprinting a post which includes not only the cover of #1, but also the debut covers of the other four Power Comics.  And guess what?  I've even thrown in the very first instalment of The CLOAK!  How's that for generosity?

******

The first two didn't begin life as 'POWER COMICS' - that happened somewhere along the way after they'd started reprinting MARVEL strips, but the next three began their runs with the big bold Power badge emblazoned on their covers.  For a while, all five weeklies were published concurrently, but eventually WHAM! merged with POW!, TERRIFIC with FANTASTIC, then Pow! with SMASH! and, finally, Fantastic also merged with Smash!, which became the sole surviving Power comic until it was revamped and relaunched (without Marvel reprints) in March of 1969.

Here then are all five first issue covers for you to drool over.

THE CLOAK first appeared in POW! #18 on May 13th (cover-dated 20th) 1967, drawn by Birmingham-based artist MIKE HIGGS.  It had a different look to other strips in the comic and, given its spy/mystery/horror-themed stories (albeit in a comedy vein), proved popular enough to last nearly two years.  It started in Pow!, continued in POW! & WHAM!, then SMASH! & POW!, and finally ended in SMASH! (Incorporating FANTASTIC) #162, March 1st (dated 8th) 1969.  I remember the strip mainly because I fancied LADY SHADY, the Cloak's EMMA PEEL-style sometimes sidekick.  (Wotta bod!  Makes me want to marry a drawing.)

Anyway, for all you Cloak fans out there, here's his first appearance  from the swingin' '60s.  He's turned up at least a couple of times in recent years - first in the back of a self-published comic by a former assistant of Mike Higg's, and then in the pages of CRIKEY!, a (now defunct) mag devoted to British comics and their creators.

Art by MIKE HIGGS

Something I noticed only recently is that a panel from the very first appearance of The CLOAK (POW! #18, cover-dated May 13th 1967) was clearly based on the front cover of MAD #1 (cover-dated October-November 1952).  Or could it be no more than mere coincidence?  Doubt it, but as it took me nigh on 50 years to spot it, I don't suppose I'll be receiving a BLUE PETER badge for my keen observational skills anytime soon.

Art by HARVEY KURTZMAN  

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

It was magnificent MARGARET NOLAN's

gold-painted, undulating body in the opening credits

of GOLDFINGER, not SHIRLEY EATON's.  Credit

 where credit is due - especially in the credits, eh?

IT'S ALL A MATTER Of MODERATION. Or: 'CHANGE' ISN'T ALWAYS CHANGE...

Copyright relevant owner

A couple or so years ago I became, for a brief time, a member of a British comics forum.  The forum had an 'edit' option on its comments page, which meant that, however careful the writer had  been during composition, any errors in spelling, punctuation or grammar he'd missed could be corrected after submission. Naturally, it would be stated that the comment had been edited, and precisely when.

It's a handy thing having such a facility, and I've never tried to hide the fact that, on this very blog of mine, I continually edit and revise my posts - not only for the sake of clarity and conciseness, but also to make the overall shapes of paragraphs more aesthetically-pleasing to the eye.  In fact, I've seen myself revising a sentence and thereby reshaping a paragraph, more because it makes the result look better than because it makes it read better.

Most changes are mainly of style rather than of content.  When it comes to corrections, it varies.  If I notice a mistake, I usually just amend the text, rather than adding an updated footnote.  This is simply because any future readers might bail out halfway through, taking the error with them as fact.  If anyone draws my attention to an inaccuracy, I'll fix it, and acknowledge the contribution in the comments section.  I've even been known to do all those things:  fix the goof, add a footnote saying I've fixed it - and mention it in the comments section.

So back to the afore-mentioned comics forum.  If I spotted a typo or grammatical error in one of my comments, or just saw a way of saying the same thing in a clearer, shorter way, I'd sometimes 'edit' my comment.  Not to alter the meaning, but to polish the presentation.  I'm sure I wasn't the only one.  There was one lengthy comment I kept refining as, no sooner did I think it finished than something else occurred to me to say.  However, as it was in the early hours of the morning, it was unlikely to have been read (and it certainly hadn't been replied to),  so I continued to sculpt and to mould it 'til I was satisfied.  However, I didn't alter its tone or intent - no back-pedalling.

Now, as I was later advised by the site-owner, one of the moderators (one ANDY BOAL) had never wanted me to be allowed to join in the first place, and was prejudiced against me.  He suspended the edit facility for every member, then tipped off another member he'd done so because of me, scurrilously suggesting I was retroactively altering the meaning of some of my comments, not just fine-tuning my phraseology.  When I enquired about the missing edit facility, the favoured member jumped in to say it was because I 'kept changing my comments', thus demonstrating that he had inside (though inaccurate) information.  The site owner later conceded it appeared obvious that the individual was being privately supplied with internal info.

Regular readers will know what eventually happened next, so I'll skip past all that to avoid repeating myself.  (Details can be found here.)  No doubt you'll be wondering why I'm airing the topic again.  Well, about a year or so ago, I received an email from a comics-blogger who'd once been an editor at a prominent publishing company.  He explained that he objected to something I'd written and had taken the 'precaution' of taking a screen-grab, as I was 'well-known' for 'rewriting' my blog posts - 'something we all do', he later stated, seemingly unaware of the glaring absurdity of his inconsistent double-standards.

When I challenged him to provide even one example in support of his claim, he recanted and apologised, though his subsequent attitude caused me to doubt the sincerity of his apology.  However, I was left to wonder whether there was a link between his mistaken perception I altered my posts for the unethical purpose of misdirection or deception, and the malicious mis-information promulgated by a disgruntled, disingenuous moderator on that other comics forum.   

So, I freely admit (and always have) that, in my fruitless quest for 'perfection', I edit, revise, correct, update and polish my blog posts, to make them as factual, informative, entertaining, and as visually appealing as they can possibly be, but I don't alter them to say the opposite of what I'd originally published in order to escape any potential embarrassment, consequence, or legal penalty which might ensue from anything I'd written.

And yes, I may well edit this post - if it occurs to me how to convey the exact same 'content' in a better, smarter, funnier (and shorter) way than I have.  However, the purpose of the post and the message contained therein will remain intact.  Improvement of expression is no bad thing - so long as the original spirit or intention isn't compromised.  Some people would do well to bear that in mind before making unfounded accusations.

******

(And indeed, I've now pruned it, as there was too much repetition of details provided in the link.) 

AGAIN! BEST OF BRITISH - FACEACHE...

Image copyright REBELLION

KEN REID was among the cream of the crop of British cartoonists, and, looking at the above strip, all the exquisite detailing for which he was justly renowned is still evident.  However, although this is a lovely page, I think I see a hint of the beginning of the later decline in Ken's art, in that the panel compositions are mainly 'side-on', making the characters appear one-dimensional.  The inevitable result, alas, of being drawn mostly in profile.  As I said though, still a lovely page.

RAMBLING REPOST: BOND AND BEYOND - '77 STYLE...

Copyright relevant owner

It was the long, hot Summer of 1977.  (Ever noticed how all Summers seem long and hot in the hallowed halls of memory?)  40 years ago, but (astonishingly) as fresh and alive in my mind as a lover's whispered goodbye.  Myself and two friends were making our way to the local YMCA, into which one of them was moving for a few months before relocating to Cornwall to begin his training for a (short-lived) career in the Royal Navy.  The sun beat down upon us, a gentle breeze caressed our heated brows, and, from the speaker of a small radio one of us carried, came the 45 rpm version of BOND '77 by MARVIN HAMLISCH, who had written the soundtrack of the soon-to-be-released blockbuster biggie, The SPY Who LOVED ME.

I purchased the single (which I still have) that same day, from the record department of my local BOOTS The CHEMIST (the shop whose employ I'd left only a few months before), and my next acquisition was the original soundtrack LP the instant it became available.  At the appointed time, I also dutifully trotted along to the local cinema (called, unsurprisingly and unimaginatively, 'The CINEMA', which had the largest screen in Scotland) to see the 10th JAMES BOND movie in the 15 year-old series which had started in 1962.

Back then, in the days before home video had become the latest 'must have' possession, the only way to see a movie more than once (not counting repeats on TV) was to trot back to the cinema for another screening, which I usually did - again and again and again - though only with movies I'd enjoyed, obviously.  I no longer recall exactly how many times I went to see The Spy Who Loved Me, but I know I saw MOONRAKER four times two years later, and, in between, I'd seen SUPERMAN The MOVIE a staggering seven times (five in the ABC in Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street, twice in my local cinema) before I was fully sated.

Bond girl Caroline Munro

Anyway, on my last visit to see The Spy Who Loved Me, I spied (no pun intended) the manager, Mr. BOB JOHNSTONE, in the foyer as I made my way out.  On a spur-of-the moment whim (and what other kind is there?), I approached him and politely asked if I could have the poster as the movie was at the end of its run.  Much to my surprise he acquiesced, and duly set about taking it from its display case before pressing it into my eager  hands.  I still have it to this day, though, sadly, Mr. Johnstone has 'retired' to that great cinema club in the sky and 'The Cinema' is now a Bingo hall (and has been for longer than its 20 years as a cinema).

So, here's to the Summer of '77 - long since vanished into history, but the spirit of which yet lingers and is only a thought and sometimes merely a dream (or even just a movie) away.

BABE Of The DAY - MICHELLE KEEGAN...

MICHELLE KEEGAN smoulders in

her slinky black dress, looking sultry as all

get-out.  Now that's what I call style!

DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE TRAVELS BACK IN TIME TO THE SIZZLING 1970s...

Dr. WHO copyright BBC TV

There's a great free gift magazine available with the February issue of DOCTOR WHO MONTHLY (#508) - a complete adventure of the good Doctor, first published in weekly instalments back in 1972.  The mag also contains an extremely interesting and entertaining interview with TERRENCE DICKS, script editor during perhaps the most popular decade in the BBC TV show's history.

  

Was it really 45 years ago I read these stories in the pages of COUNTDOWN?  I guess so, but it only seems like a couple or so years ago at most.  I've read them since then of course, in MARVEL U.K.'s DOCTOR WHO CLASSIC COMICS, published monthly in the 1990s.  In this new reprinting, they're described as being 'cleaned up', but whether it was done for this outing or the previous one isn't stated.  The pages do look good, but, oddly, the original spine crease is still visible in the magazine's centrespread.

A minor oversight however, and don't let it put you off purchasing this ish and reliving one of The Doctor's greatest comic strip adventures featuring his greatest foes - The DALEKS!  Available now in WHS, and all good newsagents.

KLASSIC KOMICS - STARLIN'S SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION...

Images copyright DC COMICS

I tend to think of  JIM STARLIN as a MARVEL artist, probably because I first saw his artwork on the cover of The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL #2, and, with an occasional exception, it's been mainly Marvel mags I've seen his art in ever since.  However, here's a 1978 DC comic I picked up just a few weeks back which features Jaunty Jim's take on SUPERBOY And The LEGION Of SUPER-HEROES. 

The cover is by MIKE GRELL & JOSEF RUBINSTEIN, but below is a trio of pages by Jim Starlin himself.  I'm bound to say that the cover masthead is the most boring I can recall ever seeing on a DC mag - or, in fact, any mag by any U.S. publisher.  Anyone think I'm being too harsh?

Anyway - on to the pretty piccies...

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.)