CRIVENS! COMICS & STUFF!
A cascading cornucopia of cool comics, crazy cartoons & classic collectables - plus other completely captivating & occasionally controversial content! With nostalgic notions, sentimental sighings, wistful wonderings, rueful reflections, remorseful ruminations, melancholy musings, poignant ponderings & yearnings for yesteryear! (To say nothing of a few profound perplexities & puzzling paradoxes thrown in for good measure.) Plus a bevy of beautiful, bedazzling, buxom Babes!
Saturday 16 March 2024
BABE Of The DAY - LYNDA CARTER...
Friday 15 March 2024
The MAN With FOUR SKELETONS...
Airfix skeletons, that is. I've got more than that if I count ones by other makers, but Airfix ones will do for now. (After all, I have to keep something in reserve for future posts.) The first one was bought around the late-'60s, from newsagent's R.S. McColl's in the shops across the road from me. The manager was Mr. Smith, who'd been manager of a newsagent's called Chamber's in a previous neighbourhood in which I'd lived. 'Twas he from whom I'd purchased my TV21s in the mid-'60s, and 'twas also he from whom, a few years later in my then-current area, I'd bought Countdown, containing reprints of some of the same strips from TV21.
But that's by-the-by. The second skeleton I bought (again from McColl's) came in a longer box as it included a metal rod by which the wall mount could be transformed into a display stand for Skelly to hang upon while resting his feet as he did so. The first box had been smaller and mostly black, but the second version was longer and largely blue-ish, with a different illustration of 'Mr. Bones'. I must've had 3 or 4 skeletons at different times over the next few years, but they each eventually vanished as most childhood playthings do - sometimes without you even realising they've gone until much later. (The last one I had as a kid was in 1969.)
I bought a replacement skeleton in the late '80s or early '90s, which I've still got, but I couldn't resist the allure of them and have bought another couple in the last few years, each one being the longer box version. Today, at Castel Crivens, a replacement arrived for the very first one I owned, the smaller black box kit, renewing my memories of when I obtained my first one. If my powers of recollection yet serve, it was on a day when my mother, with me in tow, visited a sort of jumble sale in the Murray Hall, held by my grandparents' Darby & Joan club, of which they were members, though not in attendance that day.
'Twas there I also received a certificate for some flower bulbs I'd planted, as well as buying several unboxed Marx Dalek Rolykins, which I stored in Skelly's box until we returned home. First, though, we visited my nearby grandparents to show off my certificate, which I still have to this day. The photo heading this post is of my late '80s/early '90s skeleton, which is the only one I've built - the others remain unassembled in their boxes. The other photos I've culled from the Internet to save me having to scan my own boxes, as I'm a lazy b*gg*h who prefers taking the easy option whenever possible.
After all, there's no guarantee that any of you will actually read this post, so why should I knock myself out preparing it?* So, did any of you have an Airfix skeleton when you were kids? If so, share your reminiscences of building your bony friend with the rest of us. ("It's alive!")
(*To which you could reply why should you bother reading it if I don't knock myself out preparing it, eh? Oh, I'm a fool to myself, giving you the ammunition with which to shoot me down!)
Thursday 14 March 2024
JOE KUBERT/NESTOR REDONDO - The BIBLE...
Copyright DC COMICS and, more importantly, GOD |
(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - DIANA RIGG...
Wednesday 13 March 2024
DO YOU DARE BUY THE HAYNES SPACE FLEET OPERATIONS MANUAL, DAN...?
Above is a nice little book that I imagine all fans of Dan Dare would like (and will probably already have). Got it for a mere £5.99 (RRP £16.99) mail order and it's a nice 'companion piece' for the Fireball XL5 volume I acquired recently. It came out in 2013, but my copy is brand-new and unread, and though I'm not a massive Dan Dare fan, it's the sort of book I'll enjoy having a browse-through from time-to-time. And look at that cracking colour illustration below by Don Harley - great, innit?
The Mekon, Dan Dare, and Frank Hampson |
IN COLOUR - DR. WHO & THE DALEKS...
Copyright BBC TV and the estate of TERRY NATION |
I already own many early episodes of Doctor Who on DVD, including the first serial featuring The Daleks, but when I saw this colourised, 75 minutes-long edited version on sale, I snapped it up. Haven't watched the main feature yet, but took a look at the 'making of' documentary and found it interesting. The colour seems to me more like an old MGM movie than a contemporary colour TV show, though that's merely an observation, not a criticism.
I'd have thought that the best way to edit the original seven 25 minute episodes down to 75 minutes in total would be to follow the template of the Dr. Who And The Daleks movie from the '60s, so it'll be interesting to see if that's what the BBC have done when I finally view the 'film', or have they gone in another direction? Time (most apt in the case of the Doctor) will tell.
In the meantime, here are some screen-grabs until I can tell you what I think of the newest addition to the Doctor Who legend. Incidentally, I know 'silver' is the correct colour for The Daleks' 'waist bands', but does anyone else wish they'd rendered them gold as they were in TV Century 21 and other '60s representations (Dalek Annuals and toys), or is it just me?
Who else thinks that Carole Ann Ford looks like Valerie Singleton? |
Saturday 9 March 2024
THREE NEW DC FACSIMILE EDITIONS...
Next, above, is Green Lantern/Green Arrow #87, which is where John Stewart made his debut as a new addition to the Green Lantern Corp. I wish the facsimile had retained the sideways spine banner declaring the comic's 'bigger & better' status, but for some reason DC opted to omit it. Why they do such things to what is supposed to be a 'facsimile' is beyond me. (Unless it was omitted for a previous reprinting.)
In the first two mags, the reproduction of the ads are of a mixed quality; some are crisp and clear, others are obviously scanned from published original issues and are not quite as bright and colourful as the strips themselves. However, in The New Teen Titans #1 facsimile, above, there are no such problems, as every page is presented with crystal clarity, just the way you'd expect in such an iconic number.
******
One of the good things about the DC facsimiles is that they've now started placing the barcode boxes on the back covers in an unobtrusive manner. This, along with the fact that they print the interior pages on non-glossy paper, makes them handsome additions to anyone's collection. Below, are the splash pages to the above issues.
The indicia appears on the inside cover of the facsimile, not under the splash page. I don't have the original to compare, but it looks like the bottom of the page has been extended |
Monday 4 March 2024
BABE Of The DAY - LYNDA CARTER... (Or Is It?)
AMAZING WORLD OF SUPERMAN... (Updated)
Copyright DC COMICS |
And here's the coloured splash page from subsequent reprintings |
VENUS OF THE STARS...
Copyright relevant owner |
Saturday 2 March 2024
EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW ABOUT SPIDER-MAN IS WRONG...
Copyright MARVEL COMICS |
Friday 1 March 2024
BETCHA WISH YOU HAD THIS FRAMED POSTER...
You'll remember me showing you some A3 cover enlargements I'd framed back in November 2022 (see here), and mentioning that there was one picture I couldn't photograph because the Christmas tree was blocking sight of it. I said that once my decorations were back up in the loft, I'd show a snap of the pic (a poster) and now, after my decorations being in my living-room for more than a full year, they're now all safely ensconced back in the attic.
So - here's the pic - though, unfortunately due to where it was positioned (on the side of a display cabinet), I couldn't get a good shot of it without the clear plastic within the frame reflecting the camera flash, as well as the wall (and other things) the picture is next to. So I moved the pic to another wall (temporarily) and took another snap, which is slightly better.
Anyway, I said I would and I have, so here it is. Don't say I'm not a man of my word (though I'll admit it does sometimes take an inordinately long time for me to fulfil it).
Incidentally, I used another browser to access my blog, which is how I was able to add the above image. The previous post yet applies.
ANYONE ELSE GOT THIS ANNOYING PROBLEM? (Update)
Suddenly, whenever I try to add a photo to a new post, I get an 'error occurred' message and I can't add any images. Any other bloggers finding the same thing or is it only me for some unaccountable reason?
Upon checking, it only seems to be happening when I use Microsoft Browser.
Update: I've fiddled about with things, reset settings to their default values, and it now seems to be working again. However, I've no idea as to what caused the problem to begin with. Strange, eh? I've now added the 'offending' image to the post.
THE OFFICIAL UK SUPERMAN ANNUAL 1983...
Copyright DC COMICS |