THROUGH The HEAVENS' MIGHTY RAGE...

Copyright relevant owner

Supercar is the earliest Gerry Anderson puppet show I remember seeing back in the early '60s.  If I saw any of his previous programmes, time has dimmed the memory of watching them almost to the point of amnesia.  (Love the theme tune, along with Fireball XL5 and Stingray.)  I never had any of the Supercar Annuals when I was younger, though I think they're contained in a PDF on my boxed set of DVDs.  Whether they are or not though, I always prefer to have the actual items themselves, as opposed to mere digital reproductions, and that's why I recently bought the very first Supercar book.

It arrived today, and I was surprised to see that it was smaller and thinner than expected, as I'd thought it would be of the same dimensions as the four Fireball XL5 Annuals by the same publisher (Collins).  However, it's in excellent condition, was inexpensive, and having it now, I feel like I've returned to 1961/'62 and 'expanded' my childhood by fitting in something I never owned at the time, but would surely have wanted had I known about it back then.  Now, through the power of imagination and suggestion, it feels as though it's part of my memories stretching all the way back to when the show was on TV.

The cover and interior art is by Brian Lewis, and the stories are written by Sylvia Anderson.  There were at least three Annuals in all, which are all currently available on eBay, though none of the remaining ones are in a condition which is acceptable to me, so I'll be giving them a miss for now.  If they ever turn up in better shape, I'll probably add them to my collection.  Anyway, if you're of a certain 'vintage', I thought you might like to see my most recent acquisition.  Amazing to think that this book first appeared 60 years ago.

If you had this Annual as a kid, please share your memories of it with the rest of us in the comments section - if you'd be so good.

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The middle page below, with circular 'panels' containing the characters' names and faces is similar to the splash page of The Fantastic Four #1.  Sylvia Anderson and Stan Lee knew one another later on in life, so it's an interesting coincidence that the same idea was used in both debut strips, though it's unclear whether Stan or Jack Kirby was responsible for deciding on the 'introductory' spheres in the FF's first issue.  It's also interesting to note the similarity (in concept) between Captain Scarlet's Cloudbase and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Heli-carrier - was one a rip-off of the other (and if so, which one), or just a coincidence?

 

Thought you might like to see the seller's photos compared to my own after I gave the spine a colour touch-up (oo-er, missus) with acrylic ink which I mixed to match the original.  

Seller's photo.  (Not as in Peter)

Seller's photo

Incidentally, the line you can see on the spine in the first photo below is the reflection of the flash, not a colour crease.

Buyer's photo.  (That's me, folks!)

Ditto.  Doesn't the spine look nice?

And again

Click on below to hear both versions of the Supercar theme.

POST From The PAST: The INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES Of JANUS STARK...

Copyright REBELLION

Let's now journey back to the Summer of 1970, when British comic fans would have first become aware of the SMASH! HOLIDAY SPECIAL on sale in newsagents.  In that year's bumper number, readers were spoiled by the Victorian escapologist JANUS STARK's strip, as it was drawn by J. G. QUIROS and not the regular artist SOLANO LOPEZ, who drew it for the weekly periodical.  As great as Lopez was, Quiros was undoubtedly better.  Just look at the terrific detail in the following pages - truly a master at work.  I believe he also drew for other British weekly comics such as TV21 and LOOK-IN, which is ironic, as the late ALAN FENNELL was editor on both comics in their early days.

However, that's enough waffle from me.  Time to let these truly astounding pages speak for themselves.

And for the completists amongst you, here's the cover to the magazine itself.  Time to get cracking on eBay, I'd suggest.  It's definitely one to have in your collection.

POST From The PAST: CLASSIC U.K. COMICS (& MAGAZINE) COVERS Of The '60s & '70s...

Images copyright relevant & respective owners

Missing the comics of your youth?  Longing for the happy, innocent, carefree days they represent of a 'timeless' time in your life?  Then here's the post for you!  By no means comprehensive, but with enough covers of famous first issues from the past to allow you to relive those halcyon days of your childhood and bask in the glorious, golden glow of yesteryear!

Just how many did you have, and what memories to they stir in your heart?  Go on, tell us about it in the comments section.  Your nose will fall off if you don't.  (And I'd never I lie to you about something like that.)

   

BABE Of The DAY - PAIGE SPIRANAC...

Yes, you're right, sensational Paige

Spiranac wouldn't look twice at a bloke

like me, but I've a plan to change that.  First,

I'll buy myself a Lottery ticket, then, if I get the

winning numbers, I'll become totally irresistible

to women everywhere.  (Well, my millions of

pounds winnings'll be irresistible, but it's

 the same thing at the end of the day.)

POST From The PAST: FREAKY FRANKIE FIGURE IS FINALLY FOUND - NOT FAR OFF FORTY FLIPPIN' YEARS AFTER THE FACT...

Copyright relevant owner

Look at the above ad, published on the back of various DC comicbooks in the early 1970s.  I'd have first seen this around '71 or early '72, and so impressed was I with the idea of a pocket-sized FRANKENSTEIN that I customized an old MAJOR MATT MASON figure to fit the role.  First, I cut up a black polythene bag to make a sombre suit, and then used a BIC biro to administer some scars and the familiar Frankie fringe.  In his black outfit and complement of facial disfigurements, ol' Matt cut quite a dash as a suitable stand-in for Boris.

However, it was the second ad (above) that prompted me to scour the back streets of BLACKPOOL (in '73 or '74) in a vain search for this elusive figure.  British holiday resorts were great places for being able to obtain obscure items that never seemed to reach other parts of the U.K.  I'd been able to buy pristine condition copies of various MARVEL mags (FF and SILVER SURFER) from the '60s, straight off the spinner-racks in newsagents at cover price (this was in '73 or '74, remember), so it was hardly outwith the bounds of possibility that older toys and model kits were likewise available from the same outlets.  (And some were.)

Sadly, in the case of this particular Frankie kit, it was not to be, and I had to wait nearly 40 years until MOEBIUS reissued this model (a couple or so *good many* years back now) to finally get my hands on this collectors' item classic.  Guess what though?  Not too long after acquiring this figure, an original AURORA one found its way into my possession, a gift from a generous benefactor.  Guess it must be true what they say - "All things come to he who waits."

I certainly hope so.  You see, the sensational SALMA HAYEK is also on my wants-list of coveted prizes, and it surely can't hurt to be optimistic.

POST From The PAST: The 'SECOND' SPECTRE...

Images copyright relevant and respective owners

The SPECTRE, as you're surely all aware, was created by JERRY SIEGEL and BERNARD BAILEY in 1940 for MORE FUN COMICS #52.  (Fun?  The adventures of a dead guy?  Yeah, I can't stop laughing.)  Tough policeman JIM CORRIGAN is murdered by some hoodlums, but his spirit wreaks vengeance on his killers in a grisly, supernatural fashion.  An entity known as 'The Voice' (whom the reader presumes to be GOD, though is never specifically identified as such) then charges him with the task of eliminating all evil on Earth.  That's basically all you need to know about him, if you didn't know it already.

 

However, did you know there was another Spectre, a British one, who appeared in a comic called SMASH! back in the 1960s?  If you're American, the chances are you didn't.  JIM JORDAN was a newspaper reporter for the DAILY GLOBE, who had apparently been killed whilst in pursuit of a story.  However, he survived, and, operating from a secret hideout under his memorial statue in an old cemetery (similar to WILL EISNER's The SPIRIT), he fought crime using a variety of gadgets and a bulletproof vest which helped foster the illusion that "At Night Stalks... The Spectre!"

The strip started in Smash! #144 and lasted for nineteen weekly issues, ending in #162 when the comic jettisoned its MARVEL reprints (in 1969) and was relaunched as a more 'traditional' periodical for boys in much the same mould as VALIANT, a comic which had been on the go since 1962.

******

(Something I've never understood is why Americans usually spell the word as 'specter', but, in the case of the DC COMICS character, use the British spelling.  Can anyone enlighten me?)

POST From The PAST: PRESENTING A PERSONAL PERUSAL Of A 'POWER PACK' PUBLICATION...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS, except The MISSING LINK

One of my very favourite comics from the past is one that regular readers of this humble blog will likely have noticed me mention before - FANTASTIC.  This worthy weekly was published by ODHAMS PRESS, the debut issue being cover-dated February 18th, 1967.  At the time of its release, I was too busy lusting over the womanly charms of SUSAN STORM in the pages of WHAM! to pay much heed to the arrival of this new mag, but my mother bought me a later issue from a newsagent's kiosk on our way home from the shops one afternoon.

The issue in question was #7 (cover-dated April 1st) - and from there on I was hooked!  How could I not be, with simply stunning stories like THOR - "The THUNDER GOD And The THUG!", X-MEN - "TRAPPED: ONE X-MAN!", IRON MAN - "Versus KALA, QUEEN Of The NETHERWORLD!", alongside the superb adventures of The MISSING LINK for good measure?  I soon acquired the earlier issues, and it wasn't too long before I became a POWER COMICS junkie, buying all five weekly publications regularly.  (Wham!, SMASH!, POW!, Fantastic, and TERRIFIC.)

Fantastic had 40 pages per issue, but not even that could accommodate the above tales in their entirety, so only the first halves of the Thor and X-Men stories were presented, the remainder of these particular adventures being completed the following week.  The three featured classic LEE/KIRBY/HECK MARVEL epics were printed in black and white, but that - and the fact that some characters' names were changed from their American originals - didn't seem to spoil the readers' enjoyment one whit.

For example, the nubile BLACK WIDOW's name of NATASHA was altered to NATASIA (though I think that both are pronounced the same way) and The RED GHOST's moniker was changed (for reasons that later became obvious to me) to The APE MASTER.  I can still remember my astonishment in a shop (CORSON'S) one day at seeing this same FF story in COLLECTORS' ITEM CLASSICS #6 after I had already read it in WHAM! and being bewildered at the altered appellation of the baddie.  How was it possible, I wondered?

Nowadays, of course, I can see that the amended lettering in the British reprints is readily discernible, though it wasn't quite so apparent to me back when I was a lickle kidlet.  (Okay, I was 8 - but that's still 'lickle' in my book.)  Anyway, I have very fond memories of Fantastic #7, so I thought I'd kindly share a few pages with you here.  Remember, if you enjoy them half as much as me, then I'll have enjoyed them twice as much as you.  (Profound, or what?)  Doh!