FANTASTIC POWER-HOUSE PENNANTS...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

When FANTASTIC #1 hit the shops 50 years ago, its free gift was a pennant that could hold pictures cut from the backs of the POWER PACK comics - at that time only four, as TERRIFIC hadn't yet been released.  So here's the paper pennant pictures, plus the pennant itself.

Maybe you could make a facsimile pennant using the pics shown here?  Then you could attach it to your car's aerial and drive around your neighbourhood looking like a proper lord.  Right, get started then - I've given you everything you need to do the job.  Don't let me down.

BABE Of The DAY - KIM KARDASHIAN...

I don't care what people say - I

think KIM KARDASHIAN is an

absolute honey.  (And she thinks

 I'm a real manly-man, 'natch.)

A RESTFUL INTERMISSION - TESTING, TESTING... (Updated)

Remember the BBC 2 'intermission' card?  Let's take a little look at it for old time's sake.  (That girl's probably a pensioner now.  And the clown will most likely be dead!)

Oh, wait a minute - it was the photo used in the 'test' card, which was used when there was an intermission between broadcasts - so it was an intermission and a test card. 

And above is Carole Hersee & Bubbles in 2008.  See AM's comment in (where else?) the comments section and click on his link for further details and another photo.

The THREE WISE UNCLES...

Image copyright U.N.C.L.E.  (Tee-hee!)

I wonder if ROBERT VAUGHN was ever p*ssed off by DAVID McCALLUM stealing the spotlight in NBC's The MAN From U.N.C.L.E. ?  Vaughn was meant to be the star, but McCallum got most of the fan mail - and his part was intended to be nixed for the series by an executive after viewing the pilot (in which McCallum didn't feature much, it has to be said), but they got rid of the wrong actor by mistake. Executives, eh?  (And don't you think those three 'autographs' look as though they're written by the same hand trying to make them look different?)

BATMAN GOES WEST...

A great little painting of ADAM WEST,

alias BATMAN, that I thought you'd like.

Tell me I wasn't wrong.  (Or was I?)

I NEED A NUMBER TWO...

I don't really have any reason for showing this, other than

I want to.  Okay?  Oh, and it keeps my U.N.C.L.E. happy!

SPOT The DIFFERENCE: TALES To ASTONISH/SUB-MARINER #1...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

I've always liked this JOHN BUSCEMA cover, but never had the original issue of SUB-MARINER #1.  I've got a reprint of it though, in a MASTERWORKS edition, but there's nothing quite like having an actual comic, is there, so I tracked down the much cheaper reprint in TALES To ASTONISH (2nd series) #1 on eBay for a paltry few pounds, and it arrived this morning.  It was only then I realised that the cover art had been 'flipped', but so good an artist was Big John, it doesn't look in the slightest bit awkward.  (As I'm sure you all know, when a piece of art is reversed, it often doesn't look 'quite right'.)

The other thing I notice about the above ish is that three pages have been edited out, but it's done so skilfully that, unless one has the full strip to compare it to, it's not at all obvious and remains a smooth read.  I'm glad to have a comic with that iconic cover in my collection at last.  Y'know, it's just like looking at a picture of myself, as NAMOR's physique is remarkably similar to my own mighty bod.  (Hey, why are you all laughing?)

Feel free to sing JB's praise in the comments section.

PULSATING PIN-UPS PART SIX: BATMAN & ROBIN...

Image copyright DC COMICS

One thing that always bothered me about sidekicks is that it sort of gave away a hero's secret identity.  Take CAPTAIN AMERICA for example, and his teen sidekick BUCKY - which also 'happened' to be the name of STEVE ROGERS' sidekick (and Camp mascot).  Okay, in ROBIN's case, his hero name was different from his real one, but an older man kicking about with a teenager is a bit of a giveaway, right?  At the very least, it's liable to get him talked about - in a reputation-damaging way.

That said, however, this is a great pin-up by BRIAN BOLLAND, so let's put all these nasty thoughts out of our mind.  You listening, FREDRIC WERTHAM?

BABE Of The DAY - LESLIE BIANCHINI...

LESLIE sips her drink and eyes

me seductively as I relax on the sofa with

a cool glass of milk, laughing uproariously at

this week's BEANO (this is fantasy, remember)

while unconsciously emanating mega-masculine

pheromones which most gals find absolutely

impossible to resist.  Ain't I lucky, eh?!

Shame about the rest of you.

PULSATING PIN-UPS PART SIX: SUPERMAN...

Image copyright DC COMICS

Time for another PULSATING PIN-UP from the

SUPERMAN GALLERY mag, Criv-ite chums.  This

one's by MIKE ZECK, and isn't it a stoater?  Have you

got a favourite out of the pin-ups I've shown you so far?

Then feel free to tell me which one in the CS.  (That's

comments section in case you hadn't guessed.)

THIS POST IS MERELY ORNAMENTAL...

The event I'm now about to relate probably happened around 25-odd years ago.  I came home one evening to find one of a pair of ornaments (above) missing from its accustomed place.  When I asked where it was, my mother said she'd accidentally broken it and it was now in the bin out the back.

I looked in the bin and, wrapped up in a newspaper, were the pieces of the broken ornament.  I took them back inside and set about reuniting them.  I'm quite handy at that sort of thing, and before too long, it was looking much like its old self again, and happily resumed its place alongside its pal.

You can see one ornament on the windowsill,
with the edge of the other just in sight

My earliest memory of these two items is from 1972, and only because they appear in the above photograph, which has the date on the back.  We'd only lived in our (then) new house for around a month, but it's a certainty that we had them in our previous house, and very probably our previous two houses before that.  I'm therefore immensely surprised that I don't consciously remember ever having seen them before mid-1972.

The ornament below I do remember seeing in previous houses, right back to our first one in our new town.  It was likewise one of a pair, but its partner was broken when my brother knocked it off the mantlepiece when he stumbled against it (after a wee shove from me) in the late '60s or start of the '70s.  Sadly, it was beyond my ability to repair back then and there was no way to salvage it.

However, in the late '80s, when my mother broke the lone survivor, I rose to the challenge and restored it, gluing all the pieces together again and repainting the finished item.  One day I hope to find a replacement partner for it in a charity shop or jumble sale and have a pair again.  (In my sentimental madness I sometimes wonder if it ever pines for its missing companion.)

Anyway, I freely confess that I wrote this post more for my benefit than yours, but maybe you can relate to it in some way.  So do you have a long-cherished ornament you'd never part with, or is there one you recall from your childhood that you'd dearly like to own again?  If so, tell us all about it in the comments section.

Here's how the pair would've looked.  I remember them
as being mirror opposites, but I could be mistaken

PART FIFTY-FOUR Of FAVOURITE COMICS Of The PAST - FANTASTIC FOUR #57-60...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

In the interests of historical accuracy, it behoves me to say that I'm unsure whether or not I actually owned the above issue of The FANTASTIC FOUR (#57) back in the 1960s, but I definitely had the next three.  I purchased #59 mainly for the piccie of SUSAN STORM (I refuse to recognise her marriage to REED RICHARDS), but I was soon caught up in the drama within.

FF #58 was my entry point into this adventure, and it was the first time I'd seen JACK KIRBY's 'evolved' style of art compared to his earlier version of the foursome, when his figures were leaner and taller-looking.  The colouring gave the pages a mood and atmosphere that was lacking from the black and white reprints I was used to, and I recall the impression the issue made on me.  (My mother was ironing as I perused Jack's power-packed pages.)

As I said, it was the picture of Susie that was the clincher in making up my mind to buy the issue below, but I was glad I did.  I think this was the first time I'd seen BLACK BOLT and The INHUMANS, but I was  more interested in the main plot involving the FF and The SILVER SURFER.  In fact, come to think of it, it was likely the first time I'd ever seen the Surfer, although I know I had the earlier issue of FF #55, but perhaps I bought that one out of sequence after reading these issues.

The next one is 'odd-man-out', because I found a damp coverless copy of it at the side of a bus-shelter while waiting on a bus (no surprise there) to go shopping with my mother one day.  I no longer recall exactly how long it was after reading the previous two issues, but it was satisfying to find out just how the story had concluded, and the fate of the Surfer.

Anyway, years later (and many years ago), I purchased replacements for all four issues to add to my collection, and, as I've said before about loads of other comics, one glance returns me to an earlier point in time with such clarity that I feel as if I'm back there and a mere lad again.  It's an illusion of course, but sometimes illusions are the only things we have - and often the best.

Any memories of these mags, chums?  Let's hear 'em. 

JIM ED BROWN - WHEN I DREAM...

Here's an older JIM ED BROWN with a nice

little tune I'm sure you'll all enjoy.  No refunds if

 you don't though - just sayin'.  Click that arrow.

BABE Of The DAY - TIA CARRERE...

The terrific TIA CARRERE looks

at me enticingly in the hope of seducing

me and enjoying my manly-man physique.

She's not the only woman entertaining that

ambition, but maybe I'll move her right

 to the front of the queue.

GEOFFREY BAYLDON IS The DOCTOR. 'WHO' DID YOU SAY...?

GEOFFREY BAYLDON died on Wednesday, which is a shame not only for his family & friends, but also for fans of his portrayal of CATWEAZLE.  Apparently, he was offered the role of DOCTOR WHO twice; the first time in 1963 when they were looking for someone to play the part that eventually went to WILLIAM HARTNELL, and the second time when Hartnell left the show in '66.  Had he accepted, it's interesting to wonder whether he'd have continued as the first Doctor, or another version entirely.  'What ifs' are always fascinating, eh? 

When an actor is so established in a role from the beginning, it's always difficult (if not impossible) to later imagine anyone else in the part who would be as effective in the same way, but there are two exceptions to that in my mind, the second of which I only just remembered as I type this.  Let's deal with the second one first, eh?  I think actor STANLEY BAKER could probably have played JAMES BOND as effectively as SEAN CONNERY.  At least, I imagine he could've, and it's not often you can say that about a role so dominated by another. 

Baker... Stanley Baker...

Baker's widow said that he had been offered the role of Bond in 1961, but didn't want to commit to a 3-movie deal.  Imagine it for yourself: it's surprisingly easy to 'see' Stan B in any of Connery's Bond films.  However, I digress.  The other instance is the very first one I thought of - Geoffrey Bayldon as Doctor Who.  I have absolutely no difficulty in envisioning him in all the Hartnell episodes, a fact which makes me feel somewhat disloyal as I'm a huge fan of Bill Hartnell's portrayal.  Had Bayldon played The Doctor however, we'd have had the same character, but without the fluffed lines that WH was prone to (due to illness it has to be said, so not his fault).

What about the rest of you faithful Criv-ites who were around at the 'Dawn of The Doctor'?  Can you too see Geoffrey in the part of the time-travelling titan, or am I spouting my usual load of old pants?  Feel free to give me a piece of your mind (but only if you can spare it) should you disagree with my 'retroactive recasting' of the role of the Guardian from Gallifrey.  Go on, join in and let's have some fun around here, chums!  (Before The DALEKS exterminate the lot of us.)

(H'mm, Geoffrey from Gallifrey has a nice ring to it.  Maybe that's the Doctor's real name.)  

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED READING: VWORP VWORP! VOLUME THREE...

DOCTOR WHO copyright BBC TV.  DALEKS copyright
BBC TV and the Estate of TERRY NATION

It's been around five and a half years since volume two of VWORP VWORP! came out, so was the latest issue worth the wait?  A resounding YES!!!  If you're a DOCTOR WHO or DALEKS fan, this professionally produced fanzine will ring your bell to SKARO and back.  It's almost a crime to refer to it as a fanzine as there's nothing amateurish about it.

There are three covers, one a 'homage' to TV CENTURY 21, and it comes with a vinyl record very much in the mould of the CENTURY 21 Mini-Albums that were available in the '60s.  Or you can have it on CD if you get either of the other two cover variants.  There's no point me wittering on about the contents, as you can see what's inside from the accompanying images, reproduced by kind permission of the publishers.

It's chock-full of interesting and informative articles and interviews, and well-worth twice its £9.99 price for the seven page full-colour DALEKS strip alone, drawn by RON TURNER and LEE SULLIVAN.  There are other comic strips as well, and I believe I can confidently state there's nothing about this excellent 210 page publication that will disappoint.  It's not actually a magazine, more of a book - you'll love it.  Buy one now!

You can get your copy of VWORP VWORP! here.  Should also be on sale in your nearest comicbook store, so you're spoilt for choice now, aren't you?

The vinyl record cover

A lucky randomised few may get this cover as well

The CD cover

Nice to see the real Doctor again

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS - ALL THREE OF THEM...

Great song, great singers, great big hankies

at the ready at the end of it.  Take it away, JIM

ED BROWN and his two sisters.  (This song has

two names - The Three Bells or The Jimmy

Brown Song - take yer pick.)

TROUBLE IN THE AMEN CORNER...

I think I might have posted this track before, but

the mighty JIM REEVES is always worth listening

to again (and again).  So, Crivs - listen and enjoy.

BABE Of The DAY - MICHELLE KEEGAN...

MICHELLE KEEGAN leaves

the gym after her daily workout.  Now

she's rushing straight over to my house,

though I refuse to say whether another

workout is on the cards.  (Or perhaps

 I might just be dreaming again.)

ACTION COMICS #1 REPRINTS... (Updated)

Copyright DC COMICS.  1974

There've been several separate reprints of ACTION COMICS #1 over the years, and I have eight of them.  You often see them on eBay being offered at various prices, but some of them are, frankly, ridiculous.  The issue below is listed as high as £865.90 (will it ever sell at that price?), and the ish below that is listed as high as £263.42.  I bought around a dozen of the '88 reprint when it came out and have given away several over the years for nothing, so basically, I've being giving away money.

It'd be great to have an original 1938 issue, eh?

1976

1988

1992

1998

2000

2017

2022

Oh, go on then - here's the original.

1938