If you had any sense, you were watching the skies because it was the night NASA's Skylab decided to begin its less-than-graceful return to Earth.
I still remember the genuine concern we all had that we might wake up, the next morning, with a space station parked on our heads.
But, of course, if we really had sense, we'd also be watching TV because, on that selfsame evening, BBC Two broadcast Seven Artists First. In this week's thrill-packed edition, the show was looking at Roy Lichtenstein, arch swiper of the work of comic book artists galore and, therefore, a figure of some controversy wherever graphic narrative is loved.
Speaking of places where graphic narrative is loved...
I have even less idea what goes on this issue than I usually do.
I do note that Warlock and the Watcher are still working their magic for us all. Presumably, the Micronauts are doing likewise.
As for Baron Tagge, it seems there are two Baron Tagges in the Star Wars universe. Judging by his shades, this one is Orman Tagge who was blinded by Darth Vader and, therefore, wears cyber-vision glasses, so he doesn't bump into things.
Right now, it looks like Leia's more pressing concern is his tendency to bump off things, rather than bump into them.
Hooray! The Hulk's mutant hordes break loose!
There's a phrase guaranteed to put you at ease.
The green Goliath's still on the island of the would-be Moreau and planning to use the scientist's own creations against him.
Ant-Man finally stops the menace of the pensioner with the ageing ray.
In fairness, he doesn't really stop him. The old duffer accidentally drops his ageing gun and a member of the public uses it to return everyone, including Ant-Man, to their normal ages, meaning Ant-Man's contribution to the tale is basically nothing.
Elsewhere, the Black Knight's still dithering about, getting nowhere in his quest to do whatever it is he's trying to.
Nick Fury's still out to thwart the Yellow Claw.
Night-Raven's out to thwart a tiger that's been unleashed by the Tongs he's pursuing.
In their home city beneath the sea, the Deviants have unleashed the full fury of Karkas.
In New York, Reed Richards, Bruce Banner and Professor X finally see off the threat of Galactus - thanks to the power of What If? - but at what cost?
His US comic may have bitten the dust but, in the UK, the only thing Godzilla's biting is Red Ronin, a giant robot operated by a child who's doing his level best to prevent his foe getting hurt.
Sadly, for that boy, the rampaging reptile doesn't share his reservations about destroying opponents.
This is an odd one. We get a reprint of Spider-Man's first-ever meeting with Medusa, in the 1968 John Romita/Don Heck drawn tale where the tonsorial terror gets hired to promote hair spray.
I can only assume the presence of such an elderly tale is down to a shortage of new material to reprint, thanks to the strip having basically caught up with the US mags.
Is "swiper" really the right word to describe Roy Lichtenstein Steve?
ReplyDeleteArtists that swipe hide their sources, whereas I don't think he made any secret of his - its well known that, say, 'Whaam!' was based on images by Irv Norvick and Russ Heath.
That makes his stuff closer to a homage, the sort of thing comic artists do when using old covers as the basis for a new one, which rely on knowledge of the original for full effect.
Obviously its out of order that Lichtenstein didn't pay Norvick or Heath for use of their work, but thats a different criticism. If Alex Ross does a version of the cover for FF#1 Jack Kirby's estate doesn't get any money either.
-sean
For the life of me I can't remember why Medusa joined the Frightful Four. I had the Marvel's Greatest Comics reprints, but I was maybe 7 years old +. I suspect that she pontificated about this or that, and my young mind just glossed over it, as I probably was drinking in the King's art, and anticipating the big battle. Anyone know?
ReplyDeleteAs I've mentioned before, alot of early WHAT IF...?'s stories would have been great to continue as series'.
I would've bought a RAMPAGING THING book. It would have been better than the Thing's series after the first Secret Wars.
Sean, I still can't help but see Roy as a wrong'un.
ReplyDeleteKD, at the time, she joined them because she was evil and wanted to take over leadership of the team.
Later, I think it was retconned that she'd lost her memory and was being mind-controlled by the Wizard.
Steve- you asked what we were doing on this night forty years ago? I'm in the rare position to answer that fairly accurately: back then I kept a journal (okay,okay, a diary) with brief daily entries. Not that my life was anything too interesting. Anyway, apparently I was busy at a rehearsal for "Camelot"- my girlfriend at the time was a big theater buff and convinced me to try singing and dancing in a musical- thank God there was no YouTube at the time. The day also included some car repairs, and comic book reading (although I didn't say specifically what was being read).
ReplyDeleteRegarding Roy Lichtenstein- we certainly studied him at Art School, but nobody ever mentioned the source of his imagery. We were only told he got it from "commercial art"...
Sadly, I don't have a clue what I was doing that day. I think I may have watched the Roy Lichtenstein documentary, as I remember seeing one about him at some point in my teenage years. Other than that, the day is a blank for me.
ReplyDeleteI definitely had that issue of Spider-Man Comic but I have no idea what I must of made of such a clearly old and out of sequence story, I wouldn't start picking up US issues for another year so the change over must have been fairly seamless for me.
ReplyDeleteIt's weird, Tim. I have no memory at all of Marvel UK reusing those 1960s tales in the Dez Skinn era, even though it must have annoyed me at the time.
ReplyDeleteI think I was fairly oblivious to a lot of the Marvel UK continuity chaos.
ReplyDeleteDid any of you UK gents buy the "Joe 90 Top Secret" weekly when it was featuring Star Trek 50 years ago? (Which then merged with TV21 which then merged with Valiant (and Captain Hurricane!!!)
ReplyDeleteAh, the Deviants and their undersea gladiator pit.
ReplyDeleteThat comic rocked my world. A Celestial was smashing the city, whilst a mad and handsome Reject squared off against the horrifying Karkas.
But who was the true monster?
I think Kirby was writing about himself, to a point. The Reject was him as an angry young man and Karkas, less pleasing to the eye, older and more philosophical.
M.P. himself is a far more reserved and cooler cat than in days of yore; my early days of chaos are a but a dimming memory. Nay, I content myself now with somber contemplations, as befits a man of my distinguished status.
M.P.
Charlie, I didn't even know there was a Joe 90 comic. I did have three issues of TV21, during its late era when it was reprinting Spider-Man and Silver Surfer tales. I'm pretty sure it have been my first exposure to Marvel's characters.
ReplyDeleteMP, Karkas was great. The soul of a pet in the body of a monster.
That's OK Steve-O! Charlie wasn't awares of Joe 90 either! Though, he did have some Valiants, via a great-great Scottish grandmother, and thought Cpt. Hurricane was a real hoot!
ReplyDeleteI used to get TV21 (later Valliant) every week between the ages of about 5 and 7. I can't remember much about them but they were infinitely superior to whatever kids that age get these days.
ReplyDeleteI think in regards to Medusa, when she first showed up with the Frightful Four, Stan and Jack had no idea she was gonna end up being queen of the Inhumans (that's a great phrase "Queen of the Inhumans". I'm gonna have to try that out on my sister the next time I see her family.)
ReplyDeleteHeck, at the clip they were going, I doubt the Inhumans were even a glimmer in their eyeballs at that point. They were just throwin' stuff against the wall.
I always liked Medusa, even though she had a dumb superpower. Once she was established as, uh, queen of them Inhumans, I thought she was very well written. A strong female character when there weren't very many.
And yeah, Steve, I'm a big fan of Karkas. Like a giant killer tomato with the soul of a poet.
M.P.
Say, I dunno if you guys in the U.K. get the Cartoon Network and Adult Swim (I would think so, it's the gosh-darn 21st century) but they got this cartoon called Tigtone. I'ts gut-bustingly hilarious.
ReplyDeleteTigtone is this guy who looks like Aragorn who goes on quests for the king and queen of Propecia. The problem is, Tigtone is basically retarded and leaves a path of carnage in his wake that kills or cripples ally and foe alike. Nobody comes out good on these deals. But he's always eager for another quest. "My quest lines are open!"
In one episode he's forced to quest with a "fellowship", all of whom come to bad ends. There's an elf who he allows to be brutally killed simply because the elf irritates him.
Check it out. Made me laugh my head off.
M.P.
The Cartoon Network is definitely available in Britain, MP. I'm not sure about Adult Swim which is a channel I've never heard of and whose name conjures up all kinds of strange images for me.
ReplyDelete