KID'S KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - KULL THE CONQUEROR #1

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

Before CONAN, there was KULL, who first appeared in

CREATURES On The LOOSE #10, before eventually being

awarded his own magazine, which you can see above.  Incidentally,

I'm proud of myself - I managed to resist the compulsion to type

KULL The KONQUEROR as the title to this post.

KID'S KLASSIC (KIRBY) KOMIC KOVERS - THE FOREVER PEOPLE #1...

Image copyright DC COMICS

"KIRBY'S HERE!" screamed the cover blurb, but it was mainly

AL PLASTINO's SUPERMAN and JIMMY OLSEN inside the

magazine, as their faces (and Superman's figure) were mostly redrawn

to render them more 'on-model' than JK had drawn them.  I sometimes

suspect that the only reason DC lured Jack away from 'The House Of

Ideas' was more to do with them thinking it would damage MARVEL in

some way, rather than because they really wanted him.  Why else would

they seemingly seek to sabotage his work by diluting the full 'Kosmic

Kirby' effect?  It's like hiring MICHELANGELO and then getting

him to creosote your garden fence.  Despite the interference, Jack

managed to shine during his tenure at DC, but nowhere near as

brightly as he had shone at Marvel, alas.    

KID'S KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - CAPTAIN ACTION #1...

Image copyright DC COMICS

H'mm, a guy with a panther pushing SUPERMAN out of the

way?  Well, I suppose with his 'coins of power', it was possible

for the comicbook incarnation of CAPTAIN ACTION to do so,

but he bore little relation to the concept of the  IDEAL toy figure

he was based on.  Hardly surprising, seeing that the articulated fig-

ure was little more than a clothes horse for various superhero

outfits, not all of which DC held the copyright on - hence the
different approach with CA's five issue comicbook run.

PART TWO OF DETECTIVE COMICS COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright DC COMICS

Part one of this DETECTIVE COMICS cover gallery had 11

covers, this part has 13, so why didn't I do 12 covers each?  Simple!

I wanted to keep the issues where BATMAN operated on his own

separate from the ones with ROBIN The BOY WONDER.

I'm not really into sidekicks, to be honest.  The only one that

ever worked (initially anyway) was RICK JONES (seeing as he

was the catalyst for The HULK's origin), but even he soon wore out

his welcome.  In the case of Batman, I always thought that he worked

better on his own, which is why I loved the early '70s tales where

Robin went to college and disappeared from the scene - apart

from his own back-up tales that is.

Anyway, that's enough prattling preamble from me - enjoy

these 13 classic covers from The DARK KNIGHT's earliest

days. (And be sure to let me know which ones you prefer.)

YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE...

...unless you have howfin halitosis and bowfin

B.O.  The message on the video isn't mine, but I do

wonder if the person for whom it was intended ever

got to see it.  Anyway, here's k.d. lang - who isn't

a bad little chanter at all.  Give it a listen.

BABE OF THE DAY - RAQUEL WELCH...

The ravishing RAQUEL WELCH is your

Babe of the Day, fellas.  Don't say I'm not

good to you or I'll confiscate your drool

cups and tummy wipes.

KID'S KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1...

Image copyright the ROBERT E. HOWARD Estate

I remember one day back around 1971, sitting on the back step

of a pal's house and reading this comic - given to my pal by his next

door neighbour amongst a pile of other comics.  The sequence with

the astronaut seemed a bit out of place to me, and many years later

(and only a few years ago) I read ROY THOMAS say that he sort

of felt the same and that he'd probably omit that panel if he was

doing it today for the first time.  See?  So I was right all along.

PART FOUR OF PLAYMATES FROM FAR-AWAY PLACES...

Image copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

Still with us?  Here's another back cover from LITTLE STAR,

published by DCT back in 1972.  Did you know how to pronounce

Chihuahua?  I always thought the 'ch' was pronounced like in 'Chitty'

so just goes to show what I know.  Only 8 more pages to go - I've

started so I'll finish (you'll doubtless be glad to know).

BEAR OF THE DAY - RUPERT BEAR (AND THE FROG SONG)...

RUPERT BEAR, no definite article, is a bit of

a wuss in the world of bears, I suppose, in that he's

a polite, well-spoken lad of a bear as opposed to the

fast-talking, quick-thinking, greedy rebel that YOGI is.

Nevertheless, he's still a bona fide legend and worthy

of our respect.  PAUL McCARTNEY showed him

that respect in the following video from 1985.

KID'S KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - E-MAN #1...

E-MAN #1 - I remember my father buying me this comic

one dark and drizzly evening in a dingy newsagents just 'round

the corner from the famous BARROWLAND market.  That

was in the early '70s, and I never read (or even saw) another

ish 'til FIRST COMICS reprinted them in the early '80s.

KID'S KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - THE SPECTRE #1...

Image copyright DC COMICS

Here's the cover to the first issue of The SPECTRE's

own magazine in 1967- feel free to 'in-spectre' it.  (Surely

a shoe-in for the worst joke of the year award.)

BABE OF THE DAY - CARLA GUGINO...

Put some clothes on, luv - you'll catch a cold.

Gentlemen, the gorgeous CARLA GUGINO!

KIMBERLEY JIM...

Did you know that JIM REEVES was once a

member of The ROLLING STONES?  What's

that?  You don't believe me?  Well, listen to this

clip and hear him say it for himself.

DETECTIVE COMICS COVER GALLERY - PART ONE...

Images copyright DC COMICS

The BAT-MAN (as he was referred to inside the actual comic,

although his name was rendered un-hyphenated on the cover) first

appeared in DETECTIVE COMICS #27, cover-dated May 1939,

(which means it probably went on sale in February) and almost im-

mediately became one of the top two 'long-underwear' characters

of the 20th century.  (And he shows no sign of relinquishing his

superstar status anytime soon in the 21st.)

Like SUPERMAN in ACTION COMICS, Batman didn't

feature on the cover of every issue in his first few appearances,

but this was an oversight that was soon corrected when his popu-

larity with readers was recognized.  ROBIN The BOY WONDER

was added in issue #38, and thus began the long tradition of boy

sidekicks so that the main hero wasn't talking to himself all

the time.  (Personally, I hate sidekicks - ban 'em all!)

Anyway, here are 11 covers of Detective Comics for

you to gaze at in wide-eyed wonder at how it all began!

    

BABE OF THE DAY - CINDY CRAWFORD...

Well, you asked to see more of CINDY

CRAWFORD - wish granted!

BEAR OF THE DAY - PADDINGTON BEAR (DOES 'SINGING IN THE RAIN')...

Back in the mid-'70s, one of my favourite TV shows

was PADDINGTON BEAR.  Why?  'Cos it was very

funny, and if you haven't seen this 'SINGING In The

RAIN' homage before, then you're in for a rare treat.

(You'll believe a bear can dance!  Well, sort of.)

GEE WHIZ! PART TWO OF SHAZAM! WITH ONE MAGIC WORD...

Images copyright DC COMICS

Cop a gander at WHIZ COMICS #9, below - "Captain Marvel

on the job!" it says  - and feeling a little 'horny' too, by the look of it.

Okay, cheap (and obvious) joke out of the way, CM looks remarkably

like SUPERMAN in this illustration, which could be what prompted

NATIONAL to sue FAWCETT for copyright infringement.

However, it's interesting to speculate as to whether they'd have

bothered if CAPTAIN MARVEL wasn't outselling Superman at the

time.  Was the lawsuit born more out of resentment that ol' Supes was

coming in second in the circulation stakes than a genuine belief that

young BILLY BATSON's other (adult) self was nothing more

than a blatant rip-off of CLARK KENT's alter-ego?

Who can say for sure?  Perhaps we'll never know, but at least we

can enjoy these covers from a time when Captain Marvel was indeed

"The World's Mightiest Mortal!"

So, who do you prefer - the Big Red Cheese or the Last Son of

Krypton?  Get those fingers typing, frantic ones - and vote now!

A NOBEL CAUSE...

You'll no doubt recall me reminiscing recently about the

NOBEL 200 car that my parents had back in the '60s.  Well,

I miss it so much that I decided to buy one - so here it is.

(Okay, so it's only a 1.43 scale model, but it's all I could get.)

SHAZAM! WITH ONE MAGIC WORD - PART ONE...

Images copyright DC COMICS

CAPTAIN THUNDER was his original name, but by the time

he appeared in WHIZZ COMICS #2 (there was no #1), this had

been changed to CAPTAIN MARVEL.  A couple of ashcan editions

were produced to secure copyright, but similarly-titled periodicals

by rival publishers meant a change of name for the good Captain's

premiere issue in 1939/'40.

Captain Marvel outsold SUPERMAN for a while, prompting

NATIONAL (DC) to launch a plagiarism suit against FAWCETT, 

but the initial decision fell in the latter's favour.  National appealed

and won - and although Captain Marvel himself wasn't found to be a

copyright infringement, it was felt that certain storylines and situ-

ations might be, requiring a re-trial to determine the facts.

However, because of the preceding seven years of litigation -

plus a decline in circulation of CM titles over that time - Fawcett

decided it wasn't worth prolonging the battle and threw in the towel.

They discontinued their comics line and paid National $400,000

in damages - which indicates that their legal costs must have been

enormous if paying such an astronomical sum to their rival was

considered the least expensive option.

National licensed the character from Fawcett for a revival

in 1972, and finally acquired the rights to the Marvel Family line

in 1991.  Of course, there's still the  MARVELMAN/MIRACLE-

MAN situation to consider, but I'll leave that for somebody else

to explore as, frankly, I can't generate either the energy or the

enthusiasm to go into it.

Let's just look at the pictures, okay?