BABE Of The DAY - IMOGEN HASSALL...

Here's lovely IMOGEN HASSALL - just

seconds before she grabbed her guitar and started

serenading me with a song.  If I only knew why I'm

so irresistible, I'd sell the secret to all you plain-

looking guys out there and make a fortune.

JIM REEVES STAGES A COMEBACK (SORT OF)...

Copyright relevant owner

Let me ask you something.  Are you a JIM REEVES fan?  No?  Then what the hell's wrong with you, Melvin?  Get with the programme.  One of the top ten best-selling singers of all time, with a voice like velvet, his albums are still being issued today, 53 years after he died in a 'plane crash.  Only a few short years ago, his 'Best Of' album was number 7 in the British charts.  If you are a fan, then you know all that already, but what you may not know is that BGO Records have reissued eight albums on two sets of double CDs.  If you buy them in HMV, they'll cost you £12.99 each - but if you order them direct from BGO, they only cost £9.99 each - post free (at time of typing).

If you've got a few gaps in your JR album collection, then now's the time to fill them.  You can visit the BGO site by simply clicking on this link which I've very thoughtfully provided for you: www.bgo-records.com - and it's not just Jim's albums they sell, but also a variety of other artists as well.  Pay it a visit today.

PART FOURTEEN Of KIRBY 'KOCK-UPS' - THESE BOOTS WERE MADE For - VANISHING...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

JACK KIRBY, bless his little cotton socks, wasn't entirely consistent from page-to-page (or even panel-to-panel) when drawing the spectacular comicbooks for which he's so justly famed.  Now and again, a little visual error would creep into his pulsating panels, and that fact is what this little series of mine is based on.

Today's entry concerns FANTASTIC FOUR #8, wherein the cosmic quartet battle The PUPPET MASTER.  Foiling a jail break, The THING swings into action, and although he's hitherto been barefoot throughout the story (except when he's in his civvies), in the last panel of page 18, he suddenly sprouts a pair of boots.  The colourist has rendered them orange in order to disguise them, and they disappear again on the next page (below), but there's no denying that Jack slipped up here.

A trivial 'KOCK-UP' to be sure, but if I didn't point it out, this blog would have nothing to offer you at this precise moment.  And you Crivvies wouldn't want that, would you?

BLAST From My PAST: The PAN BOOK Of HORROR STORIES...

Copyright relevant owner

Behold!  A battered 1963 edition of a 1959 book that I read around 1972 or '73.  I no longer recall where it came from; whether it was bought by my father or brother, or whether I got it from a jumble sale, but I remember taking it into secondary school one day to read during the breaks.  At some stage afterwards, at home, it got spattered with paint flecks when some decorating was in progress, and it lost a corner (which I replaced), but it's held up pretty well for a 54 year old paperback.  Regular commenter JP mentioned horror books recently, and I said I'd dig this copy out and post it on the blog - consider it done, JP.  Now I might actually re-read it after going to the effort of emptying half a cupboard to find it. 

And below, after hours of painstaking work, is a digitally cleaned up presentation of the cover.  I don't think I'll bother doing the same with the back cover - not for a good while at least.  Far too time-consuming.  Must confess though, I did a good job - even if I say so myself.

KID GOES TO KINGHORN...

Our hut overlooked the beach from a cliff-top, so this photo may well have
been taken from near the very spot where we stayed

Memories.  It must've (don't you find yourself irked when ignorant people write or say "must of"?) been in the summer of 1966 that my family holidayed in Kinghorn.  We stayed in what can only be described as a hut, though not of the common or garden shed variety.  No, it was a holiday hut, which accommodated all the mod-cons of the age.  It belonged to my paternal grandmother, and I recall a small (3 inches high perhaps) stone grey bust of Churchill (not the dog) sitting atop a dressing table in the bedroom.  I don't know for how long she'd owned this hut, or exactly when she relinquished ownership of it, but the last time I remember visiting her in her ground floor flat back home was in January 1973, and I was surprised to see that same small grey bust of Churchill there.  It had only been 7 years since I'd first and last laid eyes on it, but as I'd not long turned 14, that was half my life away and seemed an inordinately long time ago.

Nope, dunno who the guy is, but our hut was vaguely similar to the one in the
background of this picture.  Our hut sat among quite a few, though there were
none in front of ours, so we had a view of the sea

I remember that holiday in Kinghorn for other reasons also.  That was where (I think) my brother bought his Man From U.N.C.L.E. invisible ink pen, and where I got a Marx Rolykin Dalek and a Tomy wind-up robot.  I also found a lead 'disc' (a bit larger than a crown) on the beach, and assumed it to be some form of ancient coin.  It had a cross etched into it, and I recall being disappointed several years later to find my father had sawn it in two to use one half as a weight attached to an ornament in his tropical fish tank.  Who knows - it might well have been worth a small fortune.  Another thing I recall from Kinghorn was hearing Chim-chim-Cheree from Mary Poppins being played on a neighbour's radio as I sat outside our hut.  I doubt if I knew of the movie at the time, but whenever I see it now and hear that song, I'm back in Kinghorn faster than a fart from The Flash.  (Yes, I've got my very own catchphrase.)

The one I bought on holiday was blue with grey legs.  The arms were
either red or grey, can't quite remember.  It was also a slightly larger
model than this version, but exactly the same in every other detail.
I did later get a red one though from somewhere else - Largs I think

Up at the top of a slight hill away from the group of holiday huts, sat a little wooden newsagent's kiosk.  I remember being in there once and taking a quick look through some comics as I tried to find one I might like.  In one comic was a strip called Old McDonald's Farm, and I recalled forever-after the verse at the top of the page - 'Old MacDonald had a farm, ee-i-ee-i-oh.  And on that farm he had some ducks - read about them below!'  (To be absolutely truthful, I no longer remember if it was ducks, pigs, or hens, but I never forgot the rest of it.)  Research tells me that the comic was Bimbo, and it was many years later that I discovered the rhyming intro was a recurring feature of the strip, week after week, and not a one-off as I'd have subconsciously assumed.  It was either on this holiday or the previous year's one in Rothesay that my father made an ashtray from shells found on the beach, which he then painted with those glass-phial Humbrol paints (remember them?).  I've never smoked, but that ashtray still sits in my living-room today. 

Could this have been the very comic I looked at?  Who can say?

I also recollect that my father found an injured sparrow, which we put in a cardboard box back at the hut.  I remember checking on it from time to time throughout the night, but, strangely, I no longer recall its fate.  Anyway, one more thing before you return to your lives in search of real adventure.  I stubbed one of my small toes getting out of bed to go to the toilet (or check on the sparrow) one night, and I've had a problem with the nail on that toe to this day.  Nothing major, but it just doesn't seem to grow the same as the one on the other foot.  Every time I'm cutting my toenails, when I get to that one, I invariably think of Kinghorn again.  As far as I know, I was only ever there once, so it's kind of funny how I've never quite forgotten the place (or that bust of Winston).

Not the same bust, but similar

Any holidays you remember with fondness to the present day?  Then don't be selfish - share your memories with the rest of us.        

BABE Of The DAY - LINDA THORSON...

LINDA THORSON - looking lovely.  What more

could any man ask for?  Apart from her 'phone number

and a date.  (Don't get any ideas - it's me she's looking

at and don't you dare forget it, Charlie - got it?!)

STEVE DITKO ART In FANTASTIC FOUR #3...?

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

Funny how we can be so familiar with some images that we stop really 'seeing' them after a while.  Case in point is FF #3, which I first read in the pages of WHAM! in 1966.  I read it again a year or so later in an issue of MARVEL COLLECTORS' ITEM CLASSICS, and again in The MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL in 1972.  I've now got various reprints of the story in different publications, but I only noticed something for the very first time while re-reading the story in a MASTERWORKS volume a couple of nights back.  Can you spot what I'm referring to?

Look at the figure of REED RICHARDS in the above panel.  That sure looks a lot like a STEVE DITKO drawing to me.  Could Steve have retouched the figure at STAN LEE's request when SD was in the Bullpen one day, or maybe even redrawn it?  Or is it just a totally coincidental resemblance to his style?  What think the rest of you?  Could I be right, or am I just talking my usual load of old pants?  Let rip in the comments section, why don'tcha?!

******

(Admittedly, Reed's hands don't look Ditko-ish in the slightest, but the face and sleeve definitely do.  Maybe we'll find out for sure one day.)

KIRBY 'KOCK-UPS' PART THIRTEEN - GOING DOWN - HOW...?

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Cop a look at the above panel from FF #12.  See what's wrong with it?  RICK JONES's arms are tied, so how did he manage to climb down the 'ladder' that the baddie, KARL KORT (he had to be a baddie with a name like that) is in the process of descending?  I'd venture that it's impossible.  Chalk it up to yet another 'KIRBY KOCK-UP'!

MARVEL POSTERS OF THE '70S...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

As I've 'regurgitated' the MARVEL posters from the '60s, thought I might as well go the whole hog and show again the '70s posters by sensational Spanish artist LOPEZ ESPI.  These six posters were available to U.K. readers through the British Marvel weeklies, but though I meant to send off for them, I never managed to get around to it.  Ironic, seeing as how I'd suggested to Marvel that they release these great images as a set of posters after seeing four of them in the form of mini-transfers, given away as a free gift in the U.K. AVENGERS #1.

(Why do we say 'free' gift?  Surely the definition of a 'gift' is that it's free?  I'll lie awake all night wondering about that now.)

Anyway, not many readers revisit old posts, so hopefully you'll all enjoy seeing these Marvel Masterpieces again.  I know I did!

MARVELMANIA POSTERS Of The '60s...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Okay, peeps, I've shown them all before (in two parts), but can you blame me for reposting them?  Produced, I think, for MARVELMANIA, these pulsating posters are highly sought-after collectors' items - and here you have all eight of them for absolutely nothing.  I spoil you Crivvies, I really do.  Got a favourite?  Then let's hear you wax lyrical as to why in our scintillating comments section.

BABE Of The DAY - ALEX KINGSTON...

ALEX KINGSTON played RIVER

SONG in Dr. WHO.  She was very aptly

named, as I'm crying a river 'cos she's way

out of my league.  Though I could always

'slum' it, I suppose - after all, there's no

point in being snobbish, is there?

ME AND DAVID BOWIE...

Behave yourselves - of course I never met the man.  However, I did once present a prize of a DAVID BOWIE LP to a lucky raffle winner (who, as you can see, is clearly utterly enthralled by my 'electrifying' manly-man charisma) at some musical charity night at a local hotel back in November 1986.  This came about because my town's newspaper had recently published an article about me freelancing for 2000 A.D., and the organiser considered me a close enough approximation of a minor local celebrity for him to invite me to present a prize.  Yes, he was clearly scraping the bottom of the barrel.  (I said it first.)

Also present were footballer ALLY McCOIST, and a couple of glamorous models, one whose name was, I think, CATRINA GARRITY, though I may be wrong about that.  I've included the models anyway, 'cos I know you'd all rather see two leggy burds than make yourselves jealous looking at my hirsute handsomeness.  (The blonde woman was part of hotel management, but I don't know her name.)

Hell's bells - that was over 30 years ago, yet it seems like only last week to me.  Wish my beard was that colour nowadays when I let it grow, and I wish my stomach was as flat as it was back then.  Ain't getting old a bitch?!

   

The HITMAN And HER...

Bloke goes into the pub one night, looking glum.  After a while, the barman says "What's up, mate?  You look really miserable."  The bloke looks at the barman and says "Ach, it's the wife.  She's been playing away from home - I wish she was dead!"  Barman thinks he's joking and laughs, then notices that the bloke isn't laughing with him.  "Maybe I shouldn't tell you this," he says, "but the guy sitting over in the corner - his name's Artie - is a hitman.  If you're really serious about the wife, have a word with him."  "Thanks," says the bloke, "I'll do that right now."

So the bloke strolls over to Artie and says "Your name Artie?"  "Yup," says Artie.  Bloke says "You a hitman?"  "Yup," says Artie.  Bloke says "How much would you take to kill the wife?"  Artie thinks for a moment, then replies "£1."  Well, the bloke is astounded, but it turns out that Artie is a hitman more for the love of it than the money, so the deal is struck.  Artie then proceeds to discreetly follow the bloke's wife for the next couple of weeks to get an idea of her routine, and to determine the best moment to strike.  He notes that she does her shopping in her local Tesco every Wednesday morning when the place is usually deserted, so he decides to top her on the very next Wednesday.

On the day, Artie strolls into Tesco and casually throttles the bloke's wife.  As he's making his way to the door, however, he sees another customer that he hadn't previously noticed, so he throttles her as well.  Then he thinks "Better do the till assistant, just in case she remembers my face," so he throttles her too.  As he's strolling up the road, a passing policeman, seeing three dead bodies through the shop window, and having noticed that Artie has just left the premises, gives chase.  Artie legs it, but is nabbed.

Next day in the paper, the headline reads:

"ARTIE CHOKES THREE FOR A £1 AT TESCO!" 

BABE Of The DAY - LINDA THORSON...

LINDA THORSON stands beside the

'phone, trying to make up her mind whether

to call me or not.  Yes, no, yes, no - she's trying

her hardest to resist.  However, so potent is my

manly-man sex appeal, she's sure to cave in and

call me.  And there's my 'phone ringing now -

 what did I tell you?  She loves me to bits.

SQUID'S IN...

In a seafood restaurant is a water tank with various forms of aquatic life, so that the customers can choose exactly which delicacy they want to eat.  Fish, eels, prawn, lobster, squid, whatever - they're all in the tank awaiting their fate as some punter's dinner.  In the corner of the tank sits a little green squid, as meek, mild and limp as all get out.  Punter comes in one day and says "I'll have that thing in the corner of the tank - and hurry it up, I'm starving!"  Gervais, the head waiter replies "Certainly sir," and uses a net to fish Squidly out of the tank.

He takes it into the kitchen, lays it on the chopping board, lifts his cleaver - and looks into the eyes of the limp, little green creature staring inoffensively up at him.  "It's no use, I can't do it," he says.  He turns around and spots Hans, the dish washer, standing over at the sink.  "Hans, I just don't know what's come over me.  Customer at table number 7 wants this squid for his lunch, but I don't have the heart to kill it.  Will you do it for me?"

"Sure thing," says Hans, walking over to the chopping board and picking up the cleaver.  Little Squidly sits limply staring up at him, and Han's resolve crumbles.  "Nah, I can't do it either," he says to Gervais, not quite understanding why he can't kill the little thing.  However, I know the reason, and am about to tell you now.

For Hans that does dishes is as soft as Gervais, with mild, green, fairly limp squid.

******

(If you're British and know the old Fairy Liquid ad, you should find that funny.  If not, you'll be scratching your head.)     

SIMON TEMPLAR - DEBONAIR, SOPHISTICATED - AND GAY...?

Here's WARREN MITCHELL (before his days as ALF GARNETT) and ROGER MOORE (plus some burd) in an overdubbed clip from The SAINT.  (Very funny.)  RORY BREMNER does the voice of ST.  

(To now see this clip, you'll have to jump over to YouTube to view it there.  Well-worth it.)

KLASSIC KIRBY KOMIC KOVERS: BLACK PANTHER #16...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

Okay, so it started out as the splash page of FANTASTIC FOUR #52, but it's a (variant) cover now.  I still say that The THING is too small, looking almost like a pygmy, but that apart (and The PANTHER's ridiculous ears), it's an effective image by JACK (King) KIRBY.  You should still be able to buy this mag at any good comicbook store, but if you can't think of one, pop into GREGGS instead and buy a cheese & onion pasty.

KLASSIC KARTOON KOLLECTABLES - YOGI BEAR...

Since he first appeared in The HUCKLEBERRY HOUND Show back in the late '50s, YOGI BEAR has been present on shop shelves in some form of merchandise in every decade right up to the present.  That's quite an achievement when you think about it.  I now have more items of '60s merchandise than I had back then, and I'm always on the lookout to add to my collection.  Three items I had in the '60s yet elude me, those being a pair of Yogi slippers, a Hallowe'en mask, and an inflatable 'Punch' Yogi.  Maybe one day, eh?  (Update: Now got the mask.)

In the meantime, here's a couple of items I acquired only recently - a Yogi toothbrush holder from the '60s, and a Yogi bubble bath from the mid-'90s.  That bear's going to take over the world someday - trust me.

CUTE KITTENS COMPILATION...

Like kittens?  Then you'll love this.

RECOMMENDED EATING: SAUSAGE ROLL...

Had a delicious sausage roll the other day, which hit the spot nicely.  Where did I buy this meaty morsel you're no doubt wondering?  Why, GREGGS, of course.  If you're out at the shops today, then pop in and buy one and fill that empty space in your tummy.  You'll be glad you did - or my name isn't Handsome Gordie.  (Well, it is in my house.)

AVENGERS KING-SIZE SPECIAL MINI COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

As I gad about the streets of Glasgow, spreading joy and merriment among all those I encounter, I'm often asked "What's your next blog post going to be about, Kid, O wisest and kindest of men?"  Truth to tell, although I do sometimes plan my posts ahead, most of the time they're spontaneous, which is a nicer way of saying I just make them up as I go along.  This is one such instance, where I decided - off the top of my head - to show you the covers of the first four AVENGERS King-Size Specials.  (And they're all mine too.)  Enjoy!

Incidentally, I first read the story in the above comic when it was reprinted in the last few issues of FANTASTIC back in 1968.

Don't blame me for this one - the cover's bound this way on the comic

A CRAZY KIND Of LOVE - MINI COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright GUSSONI-YOE STUDIO, Inc.

Well, more weird than crazy as a matter of fact - though the two words are not entirely different in this case.  Here's half a dozen covers from WEIRD LOVE, which someone gave me a few weeks back.  These covers are slightly misleading, as they give the impression that the stories within might be quite lurid and shocking, but they seem to be moral-driven tales, written with the intention of setting a good example to teenagers and young couples.  I've only read a couple so far, but they're an entertaining way of passing the time.