And that means April 1969 was the most awesomest month ever, as it was the month in which the banana-seated, high-handlebarred vehicle was launched upon the world, from a factory in Nottingham.
This means the first half of 1969 saw the introduction of both the Chopper bike and the Space Hopper. Truly, the future had arrived with a vengeance.
And there were other sci-fi vehicles making the news as well because April 1969 saw the unveiling of the very first plans for the Space Shuttle, and saw the Harrier jump jet enter military service for the first time.
Elsewhere, Skamania County, Washington, made it illegal to shoot Bigfoot.
So law-abiding are the people of Skamania County that, since that law was passed, fifty years ago, not one Bigfoot has been shot by them.
But it wasn't all good news for Bigfoot. If he got too close to that glowing box in the corner of his living room, he was in serious trouble. For, in that month, Americans were warned, by their government, to stay more than six feet away from their colour TVs at all times, after one-in-five sets tested in Suffolk County, New York, had been found to be emitting above-legal levels of radiation.
It's the tale no comic fan will ever forget, as Hawkeye randomly decides to become the new Goliath and, by an incredible coincidence, his first adventure in that guise leads to him having to fight a giant monster.
The first time I ever encountered the Clint Barton Goliath was in that Avengers/Hulk tale in which Psyklop kidnaps Bruce Banner's more robust alter-ego. It left me highly confused, as I couldn't understand why Hank Pym was suddenly talking like the Thing.
Hooray! Cap's book surprises us all by retelling his origin!
I believe this is the issue after he decides to fake his own death, in order to get away from Rick Jones.
At least, I think that's his motivation. It's straight after the tale in which Rick foists himself upon Cap, as the new Bucky, so I assume that must be the reason.
The cover boasts that it's an, "Album issue." I don't have a clue what that means. As far as I can remember, it's just a standard format comic book.
It's another job for Barry Smith when DD battles a robot and then discovers he's dying from radiation poisoning.
Clearly, he's been standing too close to his colour TV.
The Sandman teams up with the Mandarin in yet another attempt to beat up the Hulk.
Needless to say, the attempt fails.
I really don't recall anything much about this tale. Is it the one in which Sandy falls into a vat and gets turned into glass?
It's the first appearance of my favourite Iron Man villain, as the Controller decides to take over his local town, and then the world.
I'm going to be controversial here and say George Tuska is my favourite Iron Man artist.
Abandoned by Magneto, Quicksilver decides to seek out the aid of the Avengers but ends up fighting Spider-Man instead.
What should be an easy victory for a man who can hit Spidey before he even knows he's there is a complete disaster, thanks to Quicksilver forgetting he can't run through solid objects.
The X-Men are still up against the Living Pharaoh but, more importantly, we get the revelation that Alec Summers is a mutant.
We also get the second part of the origin of the Angel.
I do believe this issue's big, shock revelation is that the mystery villain who's captured a chunk of New York is none other than that nefarious lord of Hades, Pluto.
Admittedly, the shock's somewhat diluted by the fact that he's on the cover.
I do believe this story sees the second ever appearance of Warlock who's having a nap in a building which Pluto and his mutates from the future are occupying.
The FF are still trapped in Latveria and have been brainwashed into thinking their super-powers don't work.
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My first encounter with Clint-Goliath was the Psyklop/ Hulk kidnapping story arch also, Steve.
I thought Pym had finally sucumumed to all the pills & gasses he's subjected himself to over the years, till I found out it was Hawkeye.
Far be it from me to correct the thinking man's comic blog Steve, but Captain America does not retell his origin in that issue - probably because that was done in #109 - rather, it retells his career and revisits greatest hits like fighting the Red Skull, Zemo, Modok, AIM, Batroc ze Leapair and..er, Paste Pot Pete.
And its mostly through the eyes of Iron Man (I think), nothing to do Rick Jones.
Probably its an "album issue" because theres no real story and quite a few splash pages - basically, #111 ended on a cliffhanger and Steranko was late with the next one (or, he wasn't trusted not to be*), so Kirby did it fast to fill-in
*To be fair to Steranko, I believe he says he was never late at Marvel, but rather bought his work in at last minute, so there wasn't time for editorial to make any changes to it.
-sean
I see from that FF cover Jack Kirby predicted the invention of personal stereos like the Sony walkperson. What a visionary.
-sean
Wasn't there a cartoon in the UK during the early 80's called Banana Man? Rick Jones would have been the perfect sidekick for him.
He gets pretty bruised-up by you bunch. Lol!
Well, even though it's 73 degrees in my area, it's time to go inside. Thunder storms are rolling in.
Time for pizza, beer and...
DAMNATION ALLEY & FLESH GORDON DOUBLE FEATURE!!!
Thanks for the Cap correction, Sean. I do feel vaguely cheated that Marvel spurned the chance to retell his origin. Did they not know they have a duty to do it at least ten times a year?
KD, there was indeed a cartoon called Banana Man. Thinking about it, I don't think I ever watched it, even though it was pretty high profile.
That's an interesting point Sean makes.
It absolutely kills me to admit it, but he's right about Kirby envisioning current portable technology when he came up with the "Mother Box".
Who the heck else saw that coming? Kirby was also talking about cloning and genetic engineering at a time when maybe only scientists were seriously discussing it.
Arnim Zola is right around the corner.
My brother is convinced realistic robot women are also just right around the corner, but I told him we were born about fifty years too early.
But he's saving his paychecks anyway, on the off-chance a technological breakthrough is imminent.
M.P.
Your Raleigh Chopper looks kinda like our Schwinn Stingray. It really was a great time to be a kid, wasn’t it.
You’re far from alone in considering Tuska to be the Top Iron Man Artist. Lots of folks on these Bronze Age boards say the same. Gentleman Gene is my Number One but Tuska is right up there. It’s just a pity he was paired up with Esposito and Colletta so much in his Marvel days. Neither of them did him any favors, that’s for damn sure.
-b.t.
bt, I've just Googled the Schwinn Stingray. It's the first time I've ever seen one. I am impressed by its curviness.
I’ll give another vote to George Tuska, he was great on Iron Man, Luke Cage and the Champions. A true comic book legend who was consistent and reliable. He’s up there in my top 10.
M.P., smart phones still don't open or close boom tubes yet, but give it a bit more time.
Have you read OMAC? That was Kirby at his most visionary - so far its been frighteningly accurate about the world that is coming.
Btw, you should tell your brother that although realistic robot women aren't currently a thing, there are actually biological ones. You know that, right?
-sean
I'm going to go off topic. Probably the first time anybody’s ever done that here.
My loud and brash twin brother Mike (aka The Artistic Actuary) is wondering whether anybody could spare a couple of minutes to complete a survey. Just a case of scrolling through 29 paintings he's done over the last three months or so and picking out your favourites (maximum ten).
The survey is here
https://poll.app.do/winter-2018-19-painting-poll?from=admin_wall&fbclid=IwAR3apdVFAxoqNr8M-fp-ilLxYpwIUMeMJeGBJ721bIOVqskpoc-Oojr4bi4
Any votes appreciated. Only five of his Facebook friends have completed it so far, so he's opening it up to the masses.
Call me crazy with what I am going to say. It's OK! I can take it!
1) The XMen cover seems like something participants at a degenerate, illegal druid fest at Stonehenge would hope to see?
2) I really don't like Don Heck's work. But I somehow found it appropriate for the early Iron Mans. Better than Tuska's in its own way? Perhaps not. Loved Tuska on Luke Cage for sure! I jsut had a problem with the way he drew teeth sometimes... like one big tooth in the top.
3) Aldus Huxley was the most prescient of writers with "A Brave New World."? I assume he was a Brit Earl or Shariff or something with a name like that, no?
4) Those Schwinn stingray's were the bomb. 2-3 times as much $ as non-Schwinn's. I know b/c my brother and I got the cheap imitations and felt inferior to those with Schwinn's. IT was obvious our parents didn't love us as much as other kids'. The Schwinn's also came out with the reduced-size front tire, 3-speed gears, and the sissy bar! The sissy bar was the most important feature. LONG LIVE THE SISSY BAR!
Ummm... did you UK gents get the sissy bar over there?
And that sting ray style allowed us to do wheelies by readjusting the handle bars, and skid like 10 feet after flying down a hill.
I promise you ample samples of bone, flesh, and teeth lie at the bottom of Pike Street hill in Gary, Indiana due to those bikes.
And of course the introduction of hand brakes created mayhem. I recall watching my brother go flying with his stingray upside down when he hit the front brake instead of the back brake, by accident. Fortunately he landed on the back of his head and shoulders and not his face and chest like my buddy Scott... Scott didn't need all this teeth anyhow.
dangermash- took your brother's survey; some nice work there.
Steve and Charlie- those Stingray bikes, and all those similar, were so cool! Mine was cherry red, and yes Charlie, it had a sissy bar. Loved to do wheelies with the big fat rear slick tire. And the banana seat was quite comfortable; later when I graduated up to a 10-speed touring bike with the small seat, I missed that. As b.t. said, it was a great time to be a kid.
Redartz and Charlie, I'm not totally sure what a sissy bar is. I do know the Raleigh Chopper had a gear stick that was notorious for inflicting major damage on the rider if he or she wasn't careful.
Wyn M, thanks for the Tuska vote. :)
Dangermash, I shall tackle that survey at once.
Yep, Choppers had a sissy bar, I too was a deprived child and my parents got me the Raleigh Tomahawk, a shrunken, single-speed version of the Chopper that basically said your parents never wanted you and only tolerate your existence because of societal pressures.
Cheers Steve & Redartz.
Steve- the sissy bar was a long arched extension of the back seat support. About 3 feet long, looked sorta like a giant cotter pin (or Bobby pin). Kept you from falling off the back of the bike, at least theoretically...
But look on the bright side Tim - without that rejection would you have developed the drive to acquire every 70s UK Marvel comic?
-sean
Thanks for the explanation, Redartz. Chopper bikes did indeed have them.
I too had a chopper bike when I was a kid, and will never forget the first day I got it.
I had outgrown my first two-wheeler, so it went to my little sister. An older kid and I used to ride our bikes a 1/4 mile to our bus stop for school. There wasn't enough kids that warranted the bus to drive down the country road (and all uphill! Lol!!)
So I was "shoe-leather express" for a week. One sunny day my neighbor Billy zipped passed me down the hill. As I reached the top of the last hill where I could see my driveway,I saw Billy's bike parked there.
Or so I thought.
As I got closer, the sun glistening off the chrome & paint, I saw it was candy-apple blue. Not plum-crazy purple like Billy's.
I ran down that hill so fast Quicksilver would have been impressed!
Giant sissy-bar, metal flake silver banana seat, headlight and 3-speed on the frame below the neck! I had that bike for years. What a great ride.
As far as Tuska, he has my vote. Though I agree with Charlie about the teeth thing. A lot of his villains had big choppers (pun intended, concerning the side-topic of bycicles. Now everyone say "Ugh" at the count of 3. 1-2-3...).
Herb Trimpe's run on Iron Man was interesting. Better than Don Heck, but the who isn't?. Gene Colan did a good Iron Man also.
Does anyone know if George Tuska was responsible for the goofy nose that was on Iron Man's helmet for a short time?
That was Stan Lee's fault Kd. Tuska was only obeying orders.
As for why Stan decided that was the way to go... perhaps he asked himself the predictable question - if Iron Man has no nose, how does he smell?
(Sorry, couldn't resist)
-sean
You gotta be careful with them biologic women, Sean. Funny wiring they got.
They can blow up at any moment and cause untold devastation. Believe you me.
M.P.
Sean-
After a battle/adventure that lasted a couple days or more I bet the inside of Iron Man's armor didn't smell like roses.
Redartz, during my youth science had come up with no device with enough advanced engineering to keep me from falling off a bicycle.
Or a moped.
I haven't fallen out of a car yet, but I'm not that old so give me time.
M.P.
Let's be honest. Heck drew Iron Man the most realistically. I mean the dude looked like a big hunk of moving Iron. Once you started seeing the 6 pack, eyes slanting for emotion, biceps/triceps... it was all down hill from there.
My stingray was Tinky-winky purple and I got it for Xmas from Sears!
My brother's was Dipsy green... same Xmas.
Thing is those bikes weighed as much as a Sherman Tank!
I do remember constantly tilting the handle bars forward to find a sweet spot to pull back for a wheelie. It was so cool to have the handle come loose b/c it was tightened enough, LOL.
In retrospect, we were 4 kids, I suppose my folks would likely buy us bikes that cost 1/2 what Schwinn cost, that my 2-kid-family buddies were getting. But you'd a thunk the $.75 my old man saved buying one $.25 hot dog to share with the four of us, instead one $1 worth and buying 4 so we could each have one, would have allowed us to get better bikes???
Anyhow, the most important thing going on here is where is Timothy Fields "face?" What's up with that?
Charlie, maybe Tim is a robot. Check out the pic -
www.hilobrow.com/2011/03/09/kirb-your-enthusiasm-25/
-sean
Been having a bit of trouble logging in. Not a robot, too scared to be around here.
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