Monday 20 January 2014

My adventures in DIY - and Giant-Size Marvel canvas prints.

Incredible Hulk, King-Size Special #1, Jim Steranko

Giant-Size X-Men #1, Dave Cockrum and Gil Kane

 To be honest, despite being an internationally reputed blogger, I don't get much excitement in my life. I always wanted to be an explorer but quickly realised that everywhere on Earth had already been discovered - and that anywhere that hadn't, probably didn't have a nice hotel.

But sometimes, excitement enters even my life.

And today was one such day.

For, today, I went to well-known DIY superstore B&Q to look at fence posts, buy a fancy new LED light bulb and one of those little screw-caps you put on the bottom of your boiler to make sure it shall never drip all over your kitchen floor.

I thought this would be the limit of my excitement on such a visit.

But I was wrong.

Why?

Because, barely had I walked in though the door than I noticed something. For £19.98, they're selling walloping big canvases that reproduce classic Marvel covers.

Amongst others, they had Jim Steranko's cover for Giant-Size Hulk #1, Dave Cockrum and Gil Kane's cover for Giant-Size X-Men #1, a Captain America cover and a montage featuring a zillion and one other covers. Truly they were the most magnificent things I have ever seen in my life.

Suddenly I was torn. Should I buy five fence posts or should I spend the money instead on three of those canvases?

In the end, I bought neither. Nor did I buy a light bulb. Nor did I buy a little screw-cap for my boiler. Instead, I popped across the road and bought a packet of Clubs.

When I say, "Clubs," I of course mean the well-known brand of biscuits, not the things you use for beating seals to death. I must confess there are few seals choose to live round my way and, even if they did, I doubt I'd beat them to death, as they have happy smiley little faces, like babies.

Anyway, there you are. If you desire to have giant canvas reproductions of classic Marvel covers on your walls, you know where to go.

Here's a photo of the montage canvas, which I've purloined from B&Q's Pinterest page. As I'm giving them a plug - and possibly boosting their trade - I assume they won't mind me borrowing it.

B&Q wall canvas, Marvel Comics montage.

10 comments:

Doug said...

That last image would be totally swell... if the last two rows were not on the canvas.

I can imagine, however, your unbridled excitement upon eyeballing this extravaganza of images from our misspent youths. I am always one to quickly part with a dollar for such things!

Doug

Anonymous said...

My local Tesco sells pencil cases featuring classic Marvel covers, not quite so impressive! I first saw that Hulk cover on the front of MWOM in 1975, it's certainly a striking image.

Steve W. said...

That's where I first saw that Hulk cover too, Colin.

Michael Hordern said...

So much more exciting than a standard trip to B&Q!

However, they aren't featuring these on DIY.com, so are they exclusive to your local store? Where might that be?

I'll have to check out my local at the weekend....

Simon B said...

My son's actually got a poster version of that bottom image on his bedroom wall. It's very cool, indeed. But, echoing Doug's comment above, I have been tempted to take the scissors to the lower part of the poster...

I'd love to have the Hulk canvas print... but that would mean going to bloody B&Q. The horror!
:-)

Comicsfan said...

If I had any more wall space, I'd probably put together more comics-based DIY work and get it matted for display. It's a lot of fun, and there are several that already come to mind. I guess I'll have to move to a loft if I want to indulge myself. :)

Yankeejetsfan said...

I wish I could find a place that sells those canvas prints here in America. Very nice.

Steve W. said...

Michael, I can't find them on DIY.com either. My local store's the one in Sheffield but I doubt they're exclusive to it, as I assume all B&Q branches stock the same kinds of things. It's probably best to pop into your local store and see if you can find any. There were certainly plenty when I went in.

Unknown said...

I need all 3 of theses bad boys !!

Michael Hordern said...

So, my local B&Q (Abingdon, Oxfordshire) does have these: Hulk, Thor, Cap, X-Men, Marvel covers, and DC covers. There were plenty in stock yesterday and they are £19.98.

However, standing there in front of them (incidentally wearing a Hulk Annual no. 1 t-shirt), I couldn't quite bring myself to part with £20. There's nothing really wrong with them but it just didn't feel right.

Sorry guys. Maybe you'll be more spontaneous than me next time you're in B&Q....