FRYING TONIGHT - PONDERINGS ON WHAT MIGHT'VE BEEN...

The house with the lit-up windows and dark door was mine

I was in a local chip shop earlier tonight, waiting on a fish being freshly fried, and the woman serving me lives in the very same neighbourhood that my family moved to from Glasgow back in 1960.  She's been there since 1959 - 60 years, even though she's younger than me.  My family stayed there for about 4 years, before moving down the road to another street, and then we moved to another neighbourhood around 15 months later.  The assistant and me fell to mentioning a few names that used to live in 'our' street, and there's a couple who still inhabit the same house as they did back then, though their kids flew the nest years ago.

That set me thinking to what it must be like for grown up children to visit the family home where they grew up and from which their parents have never moved, and it made me a little envious.  It must surely be like revisiting the past, seeing familiar ornaments and pictures, etc.  My history in my current house only goes back 47 years (but seems nowhere near as long as that), and I began to wonder (as I've done before) what it would've been like had we never flitted in 1964 and I was yet living in that first house instead of my present one.  My pre-teenage childhood is spread over three houses, but what would it have been like if it had only ever been one?

Would my perceptions be different because every toy and comic I ever bought growing up would be associated with one house and neighbourhood as opposed to three?  (And same goes for TV programmes.)  As I've said before in another post, it somehow seems that I had three childhoods instead of just one, and though I'd be loath to have to relinquish that feeling (and the memories of the accompanying experiences, as well as friends I might never have met), the idea of one single childhood appeals to me in some indefinable way.

Is it because that, as a mere five year-old child, I thought I'd live in that first house forever (which, in my youthful ignorance, is what I unconsciously assumed) and resented being prematurely plucked from it?  Could it be a desire to finally fulfil a then-unfolding fate that was denied to me by moving, or is it something else entirely?  Is it because I want to again set my step upon 'the road not taken' due to detours in other directions cropping up along the way and leading me off-track?  Did my life unfold the way it was intended to (for those who believe in predestination), or was it flung to the winds, to fall where it will?

Who can say?  Not me, as I have difficulty even articulating my nebulous thoughts in a precise way, but hopefully I've managed to convey at least a sense of what I was aiming for.  Got any thoughts on the matter, fellow Crivs?  Ever wonder how your life might've turned out had you never moved elsewhere as a kid, or changed schools, or this or that had never happened - or something else had?  Express yourselves in the comments section.

******

Incidentally, the assistant told me her family had moved into the house when she was only around 3 months old, the scheme having been then only recently completed, so it's likely that my family were also the first tenants in our house.  It gives me a good feeling to know that we were the first family to live in what was our first house in a New Town, having lived in a tenement in Glasgow's West End prior to that, and I feel even more 'connected' to the house than previously.  Every other house - bar the one we lived in from 1983-'87, where we were also the first residents - we were the second family to live there.  (Not that I feel they were any less 'mine' for that.)

ASTONISHING TALES #29 - MINE, MINE, MINE! (Updated)

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Above is the seller's photo of a comic I've just purchased on eBay for a very reasonable price.  It seems to be going for silly money these days, mainly on account of some dealers being seemingly unaware (or not caring) that it's a 1975 reprint of the 1968/'69 debut of the GUARDIANS Of The GALAXY from MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #18.  I actually have the MSH #18 original, obtained between 25 to 35 years ago, but I had the AT reprint back in the '70s and recently decided I wanted to own it again.  No doubt I'll have fun comparing both versions for any differences*, but it's also nice to welcome a former acquisition back into the fold.

(*The main difference is that the 22 page story has been cut by 4 down to only 18.  Unfortunately, they forgot to delete the corner page numbers, which gives the game away.)

Anyway, working on the principle that 'interactive' posts are more likely (hopefully) to attract a response from regular readers, here's a question for all of you.  Is there a US comic you had back in the '70s that you'd dearly like to have again, but the price is currently too prohibitive to justify you forking out for it?  What does the comic represent to you, and do you hope to one day be able to pick up a copy at a more reasonable figure than it currently sells for?  In fact, what's the most you'd be prepared to shell out for a comic from your past?  Tell all in the comments section.

Update: Before you do, though - take a look at the poor condition copy below that another eBay seller is currently asking £90 for.  Beyond belief, isn't it?

Update 2: The seller has now amended his price to £6 - after an eBay message from me.

The FOX MEETS The HOUND As The PAST BECOMES The PRESENT...

Here's an interesting (I hope) tale of how dreams can bridge the gulf between the past and the present, as experienced by myself several nights ago.  Let me set the scene.  Having a large back garden, local foxes tend to use it as a playground, sitting up on the bench and sunning themselves (when it's sunny), and sleeping under the bushes.  I feel sorry for them, and sometimes put out a little bit of dog food so that they don't starve, even though I no longer have a dog.  Now, before continuing, I first have to take a small detour which will seem unrelated, but trust me - it's relevant to the theme of this story.

I have an old YOGI BEAR squeaky toy (bought via eBay) whose squeaker didn't work, so I purchased a couple of squeaky pet toys from a local pound shop and removed both squeakers from them.  I then put one into Yogi, who, I'm sure you'll be overjoyed to know, now works as good as new.  (No?  What's wrong with you lot?)  Then I threw the squeaker-less dumbbell shaped toys out in the back garden for three young fox cubs to play with.  (This was in the summer.)  One toy soon disappeared, but the other remained under a bush where a fox had taken it to gnaw on, and it's still there as I type.  (The toy, not the fox.)  I see it when I'm out filling the bird feeders, and sometimes wonder where the other one got to. 

So, a few nights ago, I had this dream where my dog ZARA is running about the back garden, when a fox appears.  Zara chases the fox through a hole in the fence (which, as in 'real life', is in a state of disrepair) into the garden of the flats at the back of my house, then the fox chases her back - they're actually playing, not fighting, so I have no concerns.  Then the fox runs back through the fence and sticks its nose into the side of a wooden pallet lying in the flats' garden, and pulls out - guess what?  It's the other squeakerless pet toy, the twin of the one still in my back garden.  "So that's where it got to" I think.

I must've awoken then because I don't remember anything past that point, but I was amazed that, if only in my dream, I'd resolved a current minor mystery, though in reality there is no pallet in the other garden and I still don't know where that second toy disappeared to.  In the dream however, my dog who died 21 years ago, was playing with a present-day fox who retrieved a missing toy purchased only a few months back.  And thus the past and the present merged, and for a short while at least, Zara once again played in the garden where her ashes were scattered four years after she expired over two decades ago.

Well, I find that amazing, how about the rest of you?  No?  Ach, you're a hard-hearted lot, so you are!  Why not squeak up and voice your underwhelmed reaction in the comments section?  Or better yet, if you've ever dreamt of anyone/anything from your past as if they/it were still part of the present, then let's hear all about it.   

GIANT-SIZE DEFENDERS #3 FACSIMILE EDITION...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

I received this facsimile edition of GIANT-SIZE DEFENDERS #3 today, which is a comic I never had the original of when it first came out, so I'm looking forward to reading it.  See?  It's not just comic mags I already have (or used to) that I collect - sometimes it's a complete 'newbie' to me.  (It it was ever reprinted in a UK mag I don't remember seeing it, but it may not have been.)

As in one of the previous issues in the series, one of the ad pages is reproduced too large in relation to the others, but that minor glitch aside, it's good to see this comic from the '70s and experience (or remember) how things were done in comics-land back then.  Nice to see that they've left the COMICS CODE stamp in place this time. (D'ya think MARVEL have been reading Crivens?)

As well as the main tale, the original 1950s BILL EVERETT SUB-MARINER and '60s STEVE DITKO Dr. STRANGE back-up stories are also included.

I AM A NUMBER - AND ALSO A FREE MAN...

I was probably the last person in my age group out of everyone I knew (and likely also everyone I didn't) to get a mobile 'phone - and then only because someone gave one to me.  I could never remember my own number (and, having changed providers two or three times, my number changed with them), and it never really bothered me because I didn't consider the number important.  If anyone asked me for it, I got them to give me theirs then called it so that they would have mine.

It's strange to realise that I regarded the number so casually, because some numbers are very significant to me, especially my landline 'phone number, which has been in the family since 1960, and which has been in every New Town house I've ever lived in.  At the beginning of November, I changed my provider from TalkTalk to BT and lost my 59 year old number.  After nine days I've now got it back, and that sense of continuity leading right the way back to 1960 is extremely meaningful to me.

Odd as it may sound, being deprived of my number was like losing part of my identity (and a piece of my personal history), and I felt bereft - like a loved one had suddenly died.  It was originally a GPO one, then a BT one, then went through a couple of other providers until it ended up at TalkTalk.  Listen - if you want a major headache every month querying your bill and talking to foreign TalkTalk agents on the 'phone or in 'Live Chat' on the Internet for up to three hours at a time, and being no further forward at the end than you were at the beginning, TalkTalk's the provider for you.

That's my sarcastic way of saying that if you value your sanity, avoid TalkTalk like the plague.  I'm quite prepared to accept that when/if everything works smoothly then they're fine, but the trouble is that things seldom seem to work smoothly with them.  You might get a few extra features for free that you pay for with other providers, but they're just not worth the hassle you get along with them.

Are you attached to your 'phone number, or wouldn't it bother you if you suddenly lost it and were given another?  Which, I suppose, is my way of trying to find out if I'm the only person in the world who thinks like I do when it comes to things that supply a sense of continuity and a link to the past, which my 59 year old number provides.  Or, out of all the weird posts I've written over the years, is this one just too weird for you?

MIGHTY MARVEL COLLECTORS' EDITIONS CHECKLIST - ON SALE NOW!

DEADPOOL UNLEASHED #8

Copyright MARVEL COMICS.  Published by PANINI

76 pages of Marvel’s hottest hero!  Three great stories!

It's our Christmas special!  How are we celebrating?  With a death-match between Deadpool and Santa Claus, of course!  By Skottie Young & Nic Klein!

Deadpool infiltrates the sinister Gorgon organisation in ‘Secret Agent Deadpool’!  By Christopher Hastings & Salva Espin!

Are you ready for Dogpool?!  By Victor Gischler & Phillip Bond!

Featuring material first printed in Deadpool #7, Prelude to Deadpool Corps #3 & Secret Agent Deadpool #4.

On sale NOW!

£4.99.

******

ESSENTIAL X-MEN #22

76 pages of mutant mayhem!  Two awesome tales!

Magneto has travelled to the future and seen the desolation his actions have caused – but the X-Men have no intention of letting him return to his own time!  By Cullen Bunn & Marcus To!

Storm returns to her village in Kenya to face the dreaded Uovu!  But is he a god of evil – or the saviour of humanity?  By Marc Guggenheim & Michelle Bandini!

Featuring material first printed in X-Men: Gold #33-34 & X-Men: Blue #34-35.

On sale NOW!

£4.99.

BABE Of The DAY - NICHELLE NICHOLS...

"KLINGONS on the starboard bow, Captain!  Should I increase our speed to warp factor seven and take the ENTERPRISE out of danger?"

"Don't bother me now, SULU - I'm ogling UHURA in her civvies while she's on shore-leave on planet KRAK-OFF!"

BATMAN HAND PUPPET FROM THE '60s...

Copyright DC COMICS

Here's the way I remember it (today anyway).  I was in the playground of my second primary school and saw a fellow pupil by the name of IAN ROBBIE holding a BATMAN hand puppet the same as above.  It was made of polythene and had recently contained the most disgusting 'confectionery' ever invented, but it was Batman merchandise and I coveted it.  A deal was soon struck, and in exchange for 3d and a pack of KP salted peanuts (maybe two packs), Batman became mine.

However, there's more.  Being made of mere polythene, Batman was prone to the ravages of handling and soon became crimped and worn in places.  Perhaps a few weeks later, my family was in Glasgow's KELVIN HALL for some event, and the selfsame Batman hand puppets were on sale.  I bought one immediately (and just as immediately deposited the nauseating contents into the nearest bin), and if I recall correctly, my brother also bought one.

(To be honest, it could've been the other way around, but I think I've got both events in the correct sequence.)

I wish I still had mine, but he's just a memory, alas.  However, at least I've got this photo 'borrowed' from eBay, which will tide me over until the time an actual replacement should come my way - if one ever does of course.  Do you remember this collectable item from the '60s, fellow Crivvies?  Then share your recollections in the comments section and spread the joy.

CRIVENS FINISHED? BURGER OFF!

Crivens is back!  No doubt a few of my critics will think I was disconnected from the Internet for not paying the bill, but such is not the case.  No, I changed providers, but because I had two 'phone lines in my house, it led to problems.  I changed one number to one provider, emphasizing that it was only one number I was switching to them because I was going to move the other number to a different provider, but they misunderstood and cancelled the second number - the one with Broadband.

What's more, the number that was cancelled is one that's been in the family for 59 years, which I took over around 27 years ago.  The new provider is currently working to restore it to me, but they sent me a mini-hub on temporary loan so that I have Internet access until I get my number back, which should be, touch wood (taps head), around a week at the most.

The photo above?  Just grabbed the first one I saw in my files to save time looking for something more relevant.  (Don't worry, it's one I took myself.)  This is an eatery in the Old Village area of a Scottish New Town, and when this burger place was being fitted and the old sign from the previous traders was removed, the original CO-OP hand-painted sign from at least the '50s or '60s was revealed.  I guess they've decided just to leave it as it is.  (History, innit?)  Funnily enough, there are only about four (maybe five) shops in this row, and the one on the other end is - The Co-Op.

Anyway, hopefully things are now back to normal around here (barring any unforeseen occurrences), so I'll see you all in the next post.

TEMPORARILY (?) OUT OF BUSINESS...

Sorry to all commenters who I haven't replied to.  I switched Broadband providers and have been lost in Limbo.  I'm using my neighbour's computer to do this post, and will be unable to respond to any comments or emails until I have this problem sorted out.  Please visit old posts to help keep the blog alive.

IT'S The TOM & SYLVESTER SHOW - And I'M NOT TALKING PUSSY CATS, MELVIN...

Copyright REBELLION

Y'know, for many years I assumed that TURVILLE'S TOUCHSTONE (later renamed The SPELLBINDER) was already a longstanding strip when I saw it in the first combined number of LION & THUNDER in 1971.  Imagine my surprise then, when I recently acquired the first merged issue of LION & EAGLE and found it contained the debut story of TOM TURVILLE and the ancient alchemist SYLVESTER.  That means the strip was less than two years old when I first saw it, but I had a notion it was far older than that.  Okay, that might've been a later impression, but for many years, possibly after the fact, I had the idea that the strip had originated long before 1969.  Just shows what I know, eh?

Anyway, the above preamble is just my sly way of paving the way for the strip you're now about to read, because I'm sure you lot don't give two hoots for any mistaken impressions or assumptions of mine.  Here, just for you pantin' Crivs, is the very first episode of a true classic of British comics, drawn by GEOFF CAMPION.  I'll tell you what - should REBELLION ever decide to publish a reprint collection of this supernatural series, I'd definitely buy a copy.

And just in case you didn't see it the first time round in a previous post, here's the cover again so that you know what it looks like.  Do you have this comic?  Then get in touch through the comments section, because my copy has four missing pages and I'm looking for scans so that I can complete it.  Can you help?  (Update: Now got a new copy.)

ODDBALL OATES...

Copyright relevant owner

I may previously have heard the name of ODDBALL OATES from commenters on the blog, but I don't remember ever seeing it prior to recently acquiring the first combined issue of LION & EAGLE in which the strip made its debut.  Semi-regular reader McScotty will be pleased, because I believe it's one his favourite strips from his youth.  Disappointingly, my copy of the comic had four missing pages (don't worry, I got a full refund), so if you have this issue and can help me out with scans of them, then let me know in the comments section.  (Update: Replaced the missing pages with facsimiles, then later managed to buy another, complete copy.)

TWO SHORT AT THE TABLE...

I received a text message from a pal almost a week ago, telling me that someone we both knew had died.  He'd had cancer, but at only 58 he was taken far too soon.  He was one of a group who used to hang around with me on occasion, either all together or in smaller divisions.  There were six of them in all, and one of me, so I suppose, had I been clever enough to think of it at the time, I would probably have considered us my town's equivalent of The Magnificent Seven.

There was me, Stuart, Alex (or Alec), Dougie, Tony, Laurie, and Ricky (aka 'Britt'), and I was odd man out I suppose, in that they all knew one another (four of them being two sets of brothers, so it wasn't hard) before I arrived on the scene.  In a previous post, I recounted the story of how I acquired the nickname of 'Kid' as a teenager (which you can read by clicking here), and three, perhaps four of the lads alluded to in that post were from the above-mentioned group.

Because I was a year or two older than the others, they tended to regard me as the 'leader', which wasn't a position I aspired to, but it usually just naturally falls on the shoulders of 'the elder of the tribe', doesn't it?  Nowadays they'd probably laugh at the very idea of such a thing, perhaps even deny it, but when a trio of neds started a fight with three or four of us one night, I was the one expected to defend the group's honour, while they stood quite a distance behind me.  It fell on me to take the blows and return them, though actually I was only hit once before I swung into action.

Anyway, 'Britt' died a good number of years ago, and I only learned of it long after the event a handful or so years back, and Tony died on Friday or Saturday.  There's only a couple of the guys I'm still pally with, but as one of them lives in England somewhere, I haven't seen or heard from him in years.  It's sad to see the ranks diminish, even when they've moved on, married, had kids, and left their old lives behind.  Nothing in my life has really changed in 35 years, so I sometimes feel frozen in time, while everyone else has climbed several other rungs up the ladder of life.

It all seems like only yesterday to me, so clear and fresh are the escapades we got up to and the happy times we shared as teenagers.  Hard to believe that the old group is now two members short at the table, and I can't help but morbidly wonder who might be next.  Is it wrong to hope that it isn't me?  Do you ever think of departed friends and keep their memory alive in your mind, or have they faded over time like the scent of summer carried off on the evening breeze?    

MIGHTY MARVEL COLLECTED EDITIONS CHECKLIST - ON SALE NOW!

WOLVERINE AND DEADPOOL #7

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

76 pages of Marvel’s toughest heroes!  Three great stories!

Logan discovers a deadly web of deceit in Alaska – and starts slicing through it! ‘The Long Night’ continues, by Benjamin Percy & Marico Takara!

Plus: X-23 and Gabby face a new challenge: ‘The X-Assassin’!  A new story begins by Mariko Tamaki & Diego Olortegui!

Also: ‘Night of the Living Deadpool’ continues as Wade Wilson fights to survive a zombie apocalypse! By Cullen Bunn & Ramon Rosanas!

Featuring material first printed in Wolverine: The Long Night #3, X-23 #7 and Night of the Living Deadpool #2.

On sale NOW!

£4.99.

******

AVENGERS UNIVERSE #7

76 pages of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!

The team-up you never thought you'd see is here – the Avengers travel back to the Hyborian Age and meet the legendary Conan the Barbarian!!!  Don't miss the shocks as the awesome ‘No Road Home’ saga continues!  By Al Ewing, Jim Zub, Mark Waid & Paco Medina!

Featuring material first printed in Avengers: No Road Home #6-8.

On sale NOW!

£4.99.

BABE Of The DAY - JEAN GRAY...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

I remember buying X-MEN #49

(below) as a kid and being fascinated by

the figure of JEAN GRAY on the cover.

Although The ANGEL is arguably far more

prominent, I still find my gaze being drawn

exclusively to Jean.  Now she's what I call

a babe.  So the cover-cutie is today's gift

 of womanly wonder - enjoy!

EXTRA! EXTRA! JANUS STARK ESCAPES FROM THE TREASURY VAULTS...

Copyright REBELLION

My JANUS STARK book from REBELLION's TREASURY Of BRITISH COMICS arrived today and it's a very nice product indeed, with crisp, clear reproduction that is likely superior to the content's original printing in SMASH! comic back in the '60s.  It's a slim volume, being more a 'bookazine' than an actual book, so perhaps Rebellion are testing the water to see if it sells before committing themselves to the expense of producing a more substantial tome.

In the inside back page are brief bios of TOM TULLY (writer) and FRANSISCO SOLANO LOPEZ (artist), but Tom's bio claims that his portfolio of work spans over 'forty decades'.  If so, he must be ancient, so that should obviously rather read 'forty years' or 'four decades', an oversight that should have been caught at the proofreading stage.  Also, most of  the comic titles that the two men worked for are rendered in bold, with the exception of SCORE 'N' ROAR, so chalk up another error, admittedly a minor one.

Surprisingly, other artists - TOM KERR being one - aren't credited, perhaps because Lopez is the primary one, but it would've been nice to see them get a mention.

Unfortunately, I can't open the booklet wide enough to scan without a risk of creasing the cover and pages, but trust me, it's well-worth having.  It comes wrapped in a flimsy Polyethylene envelope, so if you're a collector who prefers a pristine copy, it might just be worth mentioning it to Rebellion.  Luckily, mine arrived with no major impairment, only some minor faults I can sort myself, but I have long experience of receiving inadequately wrapped and badly blemished comics and books obtained via eBay, so this 'free-from-significant-damage' occasion was a miraculous exception.

Order your copy today (if you haven't already) from this link. 

DAREDEVIL #181 FACSIMILE EDITION...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

I'll say one thing for MARVEL's Facsimile Editions - despite the shiny paper instead of newsprint, their reproductions of the original ads are usually first class, unlike the ones in DC COMICS equivalents.  The ones in the above issue of DAREDEVIL #181 look as fresh and as sharp as the day they first appeared, and if DC could attain the same standard, I'd be a very happy chappie as theirs look washed out and faded.  Obviously some computer technology is at work, so DC should send a spy into the Marvel camp to find out what the process is, as they'd benefit from the knowledge.  Anyway, this one's a belter, so get around to your local comics shop right away and buy one.  Or if you're lazy like me and have a mattress stuffed full of cash, get one on eBay.

VALIANT JOINS VULCAN - IN A JOURNEY INTO OBLIVION...

Copyright relevant owner

You'd have thought IPC's VULCAN would've been much more successful, emulating, as it did, a style very similar to that of American comics, but the national edition of Vulcan ran for only 28 issues.  However, as it had tallied up another 30 in a trial run in Scotland six months previously, if I'm not mistaken (and knowing me, I very well could be), the total count (remember to be extremely careful in your pronunciation of that when speaking to someone) was 58.  It also had a Holiday Special and an Annual, the latter usually being listed on eBay as 'rare', despite it popping up for sale extremely regularly.  (For 'rare', read 'more expensive than it should be'.)

When its time came, it was merged into VALIANT as a 'mini-mag', which, as far as I know, was the only time this was done to an absorbed title.  I'm not sure it was successful, as it meant some adventure strips were given only one page, and The TRIGAN EMPIRE's colour art didn't reprint too well in black and white.  A mere six months later, Valiant was swallowed by BATTLE and I can't help but wonder if it was the awful typeface lettering that was being used in IPC comics at the time which led to circulation dropping on so many titles.  I won't even bother showing you any examples, because they're so bad it's painful to look at them, but the overall effect was, to use the Glasgow technical term, pure pish.

Sure, D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd used typeface lettering in their comics too, but it was done with more finesse that IPC could manage.  When a comic looks dreadful, it surely doesn't help it retain a loyal following.  It's mere speculation on my part, of course, but maybe there's something in it.  Anyway, here's the Vulcan Mini-Mag #1 and some humour pages (hand-lettered thankfully, so they're most likely reprints) to give you a small taste of a comic weekly that had only around six months to live.  Shame really.  Still, that said, Valiant's 14-year lifespan is hardly to be sniffed at.

BABE Of The DAY - SYBIL DANNING...

Here's sexy and sophisticated

SYBIL DANNING to kick-start our

pulses this morning, Crivvies.  Just one

look at Sybil and I remember life is worth

living - and I'm certain she feels the exact

same thing about me.  (Er, hold on...

 why are you all laughing?)

A LOAD OF OLD BULL...

My family lived in the house prior to the one in which I currently reside between November 1965 and June 1972 (when we flitted), but because I still attended the secondary school across the road and hung out with pals in the evenings at the neighbourhood shops a stone's throw away, I didn't really miss it (didn't have a chance to I guess) until around a dozen or so years later, after we had again moved to yet another house in 1983.

Hold on a minute, you say.  If we moved to another house in 1983, how can I yet be living in the one we were in prior to moving?  Easy - we moved back (sans brother) just over four years later, as regular readers will doubtless be sick fed up reading by now.  However, I still knew a few people in the area of my '65-'72 house, and during the '90s would occasionally visit one of my old boyhood pals, who'd lived two rows behind me when we stayed there.  He'd left the family home for a few years, but returned when a relationship ended, living there with his father and sister.

In 1997, upon the death of his father, he and his sister had to move, but a couple or so weeks before, he'd given me an ornament of a Highland bull, I think.  (Judge for yourselves from the photo above - excuse the dust.)  Its horns were broken, so I took it home and repaired and repainted them.  My father had recently had two or three spells in hospital, but on one of his returns home (not that he knew it would prove temporary) as he cast his eye around the room taking in familiar objects, he spotted the bull sitting atop a display cabinet where I'd placed it.

"Where did that bull come from?" I heard him ask my mother while I was in the kitchen, who informed him I'd brought it in.  I think he was only back in the house a few days, maybe a week, when he was again hospitalised for the final time, never making it home again.  I appreciated my pal giving me the bull, as it was a link to my old neighbourhood, likely having sat in his living-room while I yet lived in the area as a child - it connected me to the place in a tangible way.

Now it has another significance, in that it was the last 'new' household item my father ever laid eyes upon before he passed away.  I doubt that he would've viewed it in the same way as me, as a link to the past, and though I never got to explain to him where it had come from, I'm glad he got to see it and sort of 'welcome' it into the house before he himself left it for the final time.

So I look at that old bull now and again and it reminds me of my old house, my old neighbourhood, my old pal (and his old house), and my old dad.  Funny the significance an ornament can have, isn't it?  Do you have any old ornaments or items that hold any special significance or associations for you, Crivvie chums?  Feel free to share in the comments section.

******

For another nostalgic tale involving this boyhood friend and my old neighbourhood mentioned above, click here.  And you may also find this tale interesting.    

CRIVEN'S CLASSIC COMIC COVERS: THE EAGLE HAS LANDED... WELL, MORE LIKE BEEN BROUGHT DOWN TO EARTH...

Copyright relevant owner

Above is the cover of the first combined issue of LION & EAGLE, dated 3rd May 1969.  The week before had seen Eagle's final solo issue, though there seems to be some ambiguity as to precisely what number it was - either 987 or 991.  You'd think the 'powers-that-be' would've let it reach it's 1,000th issue, eh?  Alas, 'twas not to be, and after a long run of just over 19 years*, Eagle was no more, relegated to a supporting act (with second billing) to the comic that had been created to directly compete with it.  

Lion may have won that particular circulation battle, but ultimately it lost the war when, a mere 5 years later, it was subsumed by VALIANT, which compared to Eagle and Lion, was a relative newcomer, having first appeared in 1962.  Valiant didn't have long to go itself, being merged into BATTLE in 1976, thus breaking the last link in the chain connecting back to MARCUS MORRIS's and FRANK HAMPSON's vanished dream.

A new version of Eagle took flight in 1982, but although it managed to survive (barely) into 1994, it was never the comic that its predecessor had been.

(*Strange to think that WHIZZER & CHIPS [launched in October '69] surpassed Eagle's run by two years, but doesn't seem to be regarded with the same iconic reverence as DAN DARE's weekly home.)

ONE For SORROW, TWO For JOY - THREE For A 'FULL' SET...

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One thing I've noticed as I've grown older is that things that didn't particularly mean anything to me when I was younger have now taken on a significance I couldn't possibly have foreseen.  For example, the kids TV show MAGPIE was one that I watched occasionally (probably to drool over SUSAN STRANKS and, later JENNY HANLEY), but I'd hardly describe it as classic television.  The BBC's BLUE PETER on the other hand, sometimes could be, and with the likes of a full-size, real-life ACTION MAN in the form of JOHN NOAKES risking life and limb for our entertainment, it was certainly superior to its THAMES TV rival, which was naught but a pale imitation.

So I surprised myself when I saw a Magpie Annual several years back and promptly bought it.  It was the second Annual in the series, and as the years passed, I found myself wanting to obtain the first and third to sort of complete the 'trilogy'.  Not that there were only three (11, I think), but I have this habit of wanting at least the first three of a series, even when I know I'm not going to continue with it.  It's an offshoot to me of the first three issues of a new comic traditionally being free gift issues (which I'd always buy), and I've tended to apply that to Annuals too - even though they're usually 'giftless'.  (There have been exceptions in recent years.)

Anyway, at the beginning of the week I bought the first and third Magpie Annuals from eBay, which arrived yesterday (Saturday morning) so my collection of them is now complete as I doubt I'll ever purchase any of the subsequent ones.  One of the later presenters was a fellow called MICK ROBERTSON, and I note that he's listed as a researcher in Books 2 & 3, which at least meant he had a foot in the door when a new presenter was required.  Reminds me a bit of ALIAS SMITH & JONES in that, when actor PETE DUEL committed suicide, ROGER DAVIS, who voiced the show's intro, replaced him in the role of HANNIBAL HEYES.

Anyway, if you'd like to see what sort of contents these Annuals contained, click here, and you'll be taken to "one I made earlier" (to nick one of rival BP's 'catchphrases'), but in the meantime, you'll have to content yourselves with the first three covers.  Even though I was never a regular viewer of Magpie (which was broadcast from 1968-1980, only 12 years), I now derive a poignant pleasure in owning these books, as they remind me of (and connect me to) a far earlier, more carefree time in my life.  Is it the same for you with anything?  Do tell.

PSST! WANNA BUY SOME DRUGS? THESE DC FACSIMILE EDITIONS ARE ADDICTIVE...

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The latest DC Facsimile Edition arrived at Castel Crivens this morning, thus adding yet another classic title from yesteryear to my vast collection.  The interiors are scanned from an actual published issue of the original comic, and the colours are therefore muted and occasionally slightly out of sync as per the 1971 edition.  Shame they couldn't print from brand-spanking new proofs, but it's better than nothing.

So, as a slice of the past, it serves its purpose adequately, and semi-regular reader McScotty revealed that he also acquired this replica reprint as his original '70s copy is falling to bits.  It's printed on newsprint paper inside (unlike DC's new line of Dollar Comics, which have that shiny paper that MARVEL also uses), which helps capture the mood of the period in which the mag first appeared, 48 years ago.  (I suddenly feel very old.)

The 1962 GREEN LANTERN back-up story is complete, but the main tale is continued, so it'll be interesting to see whether DC do a facsimile edition of the follow-up issue.  Let's hope so!

CRIVENS - WHERE THE ACTION IS...

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Here's my other LOOT CRATE facsimile edition - ACTION COMICS #1.  It's almost the same as the US POSTAL SERVICE's facsimile from back around 1997, except that the interiors are on newsprint paper as opposed to the glossy stuff used on the USPS issue.  Unfortunately, the 10 cents price box is missing, having been removed for earlier facsimile reprints, but I wish that DC had restored it.  Curiously, the price was left on The BRAVE And The BOLD #28 edition, even though it was removed from previous reprints.  (Spare proofs must've been retained with the price intact.) 

I've seen the same thing happen before; on the three volume NEAL ADAMS BATMAN collection, most covers still had the price, except for a few where it had been deleted for single issue reprints.  You might think I'm nit-picking seeing as how this reprint isn't exactly the same size as the original 1938 comic (which was wider, like all comics of the time), so what does it matter if the price is missing?  I just think it helps recapture the era in which it was first printed.  That's why I wish MARVEL would leave the COMICS CODE stamp on their facsimiles (which they've removed from recent ones), as it helps retain the spirit of the period.

Anyway, although I've got several reprints of this same issue, it's nice to have yet another to add to the collection.  You'll find this (and the previous one I showed earlier) on eBay, should you be interested in acquiring them.  And should you want to see some other reprints of this iconic comic, click here.