Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. ***
Little that happened in this week in 1981 inherently warrants mention within the pages of this blog. I shall, therefore, launch straight into my look at what Marvel UK's weekly offerings were up to at the time.
Spider-Man's battling against Mysterio and his phony aliens who've kidnapped Debra Whitman in an attempt to locate the treasure hidden in May Parker's old house.
And our hero's using the master of illusion's own devices against him!
The Hulk arrives in Israel and quickly finds himself enmeshed in that land's political turmoil when Sabra, Israel's greatest super-heroine, decides he's a terrorist.
Needless to say, after a suitable punch-up, the Hulk gives her a good lecture about what's right and wrong.
Meanwhile, I do believe Daredevil's telling that reporter all about his backstory.
This issue, the Watcher asks what would have happened if Sue Storm had married the
Sub-Mariner.
It would have ended in tragedy. I've no doubt about it.
Spider-Man teams up with Power-Man, of the Luke Cage variety.
But, first, he has to escape a burning building.
It would appear we also get action from Captain Universe, though the arrangement of the cover's blurbs does manage to make it look like Sue marries both Namor and Captain Universe at the same time.
I can't help feeling that really would end in trouble.
Yegads! The haunted house Captain Kirk and his crew encountered, last week, has turned out to be nothing but a ruse by the Klingons to capture the Enterprise and study its fancy new engines. Is there no underhand - and highly unlikely - trick the Klingons won't stoop to?
No, there isn't.
In other news, ROM and his friends are flying around in space, having to deal with a killer plague spread by the Dire Wraiths.
While, on Earth, the Micronauts may be about to encounter SHIELD.
And, on Counter-Earth, Warlock finds himself meeting the submersible power of Apollo and his tentacles of doom.
Conan spends his night in a haunted temple.
So do a bunch of other people.
Conan leaves them to get slaughtered.
He's no mug.
Thor's still battling Ulik, as they struggle to get their hands on something or other that'll, somehow, help our hero find the missing Odin.
When one of Kyle Richmond's employees is murdered in a locked room that he's alone in, Kyle puts on his Nighthawk gear and recruits Dr Strange to investigate.
From that cover, I'm assuming the culprit's Death-Stalker and not the demons we're initially led to expect.
Warriors of the Shadow Realm is giving us yet more elf adventure.
And Devil Dinosaur's still fighting to rid his prehistoric world of the aliens who've showed up with nothing but trouble in mind.
'Team-up' # 22
ReplyDeleteFirst of all...the Letters Page. To me, letter writers who alliterate, may well be fake letters. For example, "Derek from Derbyshire" & "Stephen from Scarborough." It sounds like the first name the editor could think up. Nevertheless, these letters could be perfectly genuine!
Credits are only given for 'What if?', this week. Despite this, Spidey & Power man is obviously by Chris Claremont. How do we know? Well they are at the "swankiest new discotheque in Manhattan." Superlatives ("swankiest") are a Claremontism - you get them in lots of his stories. Why would the reader be interested in any old disco? It must be the best of its kind!
A gang of arsonists called the "Rat Pack" (surprising absence of jokes about Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, etc al) are demanding protection money, and if they don't get it, they burn places down.
Just by coincidence, Peter Parker & Cage are both at "Studio 13" - the swankiest disco in town - when the Rat Pack appear, and get away, by grabbing a girl named Lisa, whom they take hostage. Cage tells Spidey not to risk rescuing Lisa, as he knows where the gang hangout, and they can capture them later.
Cage & Spidey find the gang, but one of them pours petrol all over Cage, and flicks his bic lighter (many other brands are available), resulting in a massive explosion. Spidey goes back into the building, to rescue people (being lighter than Cage), but gets caught under some collapsing wreckage. To Be Continued.
'What if?'
Once again, the cover breaks the trades description act, as this story is a brief fight between the Super Skrull & the FF, not a marriage between Sue & Namor (there is, however, a Sue & Subby romance flashback, involving just 2 panels.) In the story, Spidey's standing in for Sue, in the FF, and defeats the Super Skrull, as his Spider sense allows him to detect the Skrull, even when he's invisible. Spidey gets a rollicking for not being a team player.
Gene Colan is very good at conveying movement, in fight scenes (take yesterday's DD # 73, with Capricorn on the cover) - however, this is not one of those occasions. This Colan art isn't up to his best standards - quite forgettable, in fact.
This 'What if?' story is followed by a one page advert for the new costumed Ms.Marvel. She's drawn with an inane grin on her face, and has legs three times the length of her torso. Fine art it is not! Cockrum drawing like Gil Kane.
In Morbius, Daemond & the Caretakers' fighting stops, when they notice Morbius has escaped. Realizing Tara (the girl who transforms into a woman) is behind the escape, Daemond & the Caretakers decide to team up against her - temporarily - then resume their conflict.
It's a week for confessions. Tara tells Morbius she's the cause of all the trouble. She thrives on violence & death, and is going to bring about the end of the world!
Daemond & the Caretakers appear, whereupon Tara tells them she was playing them, all along, and started the conflict between them. Then Tara cuts lose, smashing up everything and everybody. In the end, Tara goes all "Dark Phoenix" on Morbius, begging him to kill her, before she brings about the end of the world! Unlike Wolverine, Morbius grants her wish!
In Marvel Showcase, the former Captain Universe's son gains the same powers as his dad, and defends himself from the shadow force (a bit like in 'Rampage' Monthly's Champions) - who are trying to inject him with something - by creating himself some nunchuks! When this doesn't work, the new Captain Universe creates a skateboard, and skates off (like Marty McFly). To me, Captain Universe is silly, having powers which allow him to do anything - almost like a D.C. hero. Maybe he's vulnerable to yellow, too!
On the comic's back cover, yet again there's that damned Star Wars watch they've been trying to flog us, all last year!
ReplyDelete'Spider-man & Hulk Weekly' # 414
The letters page includes a letter from a guy named Sean, from Raheny, in Dublin. It's not THE Sean, however, because this guy's a Spidey follower. What's more, to him, Belladonna is a terrific character!
This week's best story is 'She-Hulk' - that's a damning indictment of how bad things are!
She-Hulk beats Lambert the wizard's reinforcements, and pulls Lambert's shadow cloak, causing the wizard to 'pop' back into his own world, where he's left to talk things over with Hell Cat - who realizes he's not a "baddie", after all.
She-Hulk runs off before the cops arrive, and transforms back to Jen Walters. For Jen, "The course of true love never runs smooth." She opens the door to Richard Rory, expecting Zapper, so calls Rory "Zapper, darling" - not the welcome Richard was looking for. Moments later Zapper, who'd sent Jen some flowers, enters, to discover Jen with Richard, and never wants to see her again!
Man-Wolf finally appears in the story's last panel. It turns out Man-Wolf's on a micro-world, situated within one of the pearls - or something - on Jen's mother's necklace, which she lost, but Richard Rory's found, and returned to her.
Daredevil just a review of DD's origin. Nothing new in it yet, either - no mention of 'Stick', or Electra. Maybe next week - but don't hold your breath!
In Hulk, Sabra tries to turn the Hulk into a pin cushion, firing loads of her "paralytic" (were the writers on the sauce?) quills/darts into his hide. In the final scene, the Hulk gives Sabra a speech worthy of a Nobel peace prize!
Spider-man's best scene has Deb Whitman crack Mysterio's fish bowl helmet, by smashing him over the head with an ornament! That girl's portrayed as such a doormat, it's great to see all her suppressed anger finally let loose! Maybe she ought to do the same to Peter, too, for the way he treats her! Mysterio removes his helmet, and he just resembles all his goons - merely a street hood! I was expecting, if not a face like Magneto, at least one like Mr.Fear. Anyway, a potentially dramatic scene is wasted. Deb's desperately worried about Peter, so Spidey directs her to Peter's 'holding cell' - then rushes to get to the cell before Deb does.
The story's art is very middling - I think it's Jim Mooney - and probably looked better in colour. In places, Mooney tries that 'stop motion' technique Miller uses, but it comes off totally wrong. Avoid.
The back cover's a picture of Superman - a D.C. hero - apprehending Nick O'Teen, a cig-peddling villain, who looks like he's got a cage in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
In another 3 issues, 'Spider-man & Hulk Weekly' merges with 'Team-up', in yet another Marvel Uk consolidation.
Phillip
Daredevil's just - damned typos!
ReplyDeleteMarvel and its approach to coming up with a superhero from a country other than the US, eh Steve?
ReplyDeleteFrom the relevant issue of the original He-Hulk monthly: "the word Sabra denotes a native-born Israeli, the name derived from an indigenous form of fruit -- a prickly pear possessed of a sweet interior, and a spiny outer surface to protect it from its enemies".
Next, the He-Hulk will meet an arab superhero with a flying carpet.
I'm not even joking - that happened in the very next issue, when he went to Egypt and met the Arabian Knight...
-sean
Btw, that is indeed the Death-Stalker on the of Valour, Steve.
ReplyDeleteFwiw, that story originally appeared before the Chris Claremont/Gene Colan ones in recent issues, so the weekly is (at least partly) reprinting Dr Strange out of sequence.
-sean
*cover of Valour
ReplyDeleteDuh.
-sean
Phillip, thanks for the latest mega-summary. I wonder if the Rat Pack are the same Rat Pack that showed up in the early Captain Marvel story where Mar-Vell set off to find Bruce Banner, in the belief that Bruce could free him and Rick from the Negative Zone?
ReplyDeleteSean, reading that explanation of how Sabra got her name, makes me realise how lucky we were that Marvel's 1st British super-hero wasn't called, "The Yorkshire Pudding."
Lucky, Steve? Ignoring the north and making the first British super-hero a posh southerner seems entirely predictable to me.
ReplyDelete-sean
So a letter from "Stephen from Sheffield" might have been fake or a genuine letter from our own Steve W.
ReplyDeleteToday is the Chinese New Year so Happy New Year to one and all!
That Death-Stalker was a truly creepy villain. A rather complicated backstory, if I recall, and he seemed to make a point of killing his henchmen. Even Dr. Doom would thought he was cold. Nasty piece of work.
ReplyDeleteHe started out, IIRC, as some kinda criminal scientific mastermind and then, after being accidently hurled into an alternate dimension, came back as a monster.
That's happened to a couple D.C characters like Johnny Sorrow and Dreamslayer.
What have we learned from this? Leave dimension-hopping to the pros.
Happy Chinese New Year to you as well, Colin!
M.P.
Death-Stalker started out as the Exterminator M.P, the boss of the Unholy Three.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure being in charge of a few Ani-Men is really the sign of a mastermind.
-sean
Yeah, but he had a secret lair, Sean!
ReplyDeleteAccording to supervillain rules, that makes him a mastermind, no matter how inept his minions may be.
I didn't say he was GOOD at it...
Say, Sean, is it horribly cold in the U.K. too?
By the bristling beard of Odin, we are in Ymir's icy grip.
Could this be the dreaded Fimbulwinter, which heralds the coming of Ragnarok?
...nah. The trolls are being picked up by the Feds as we speak and it's supposed to warm up later next week.
M.P.
Ah well, the apocalypse here is more the pandemic M.P., where the UK has the worst fatality rates anywhere, and a world beating variant.
ReplyDeleteActually, my understanding is that the Kent variant (thats what they call it here - everywhere else its the British variant, lol) is itself mutating.
Fun times.
-sean
It's easy to forget about the pandemic, sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThey don't like to talk about it much here.
M.P.
Sean - For me, your comment about Captain Britain (my favourite hero, as a kid), being a la-dee-dar Southerner, is like one of Captain Kirk's induced self-destruction techniques, which he employs against robots (pointing out contradictions/paradoxes in their internal logic.) - a cunning plan! Maybe Brian Braddock was born in Yorkshire, then swapped in his crib with a southern infant, then brought up, in a foster family, by Southerners. Hasn't that plausible alternative origin story ever crossed your mind?
ReplyDeletePhillip
Remove the first 'then' - damn typos!
ReplyDeleteHappy Chinese New Year to you too, Colin. Sadly, despite repeated efforts, I never managed to get a letter published by Marvel UK. Therefore, "Steve From Sheffield," is guaranteed to be an imposter.
ReplyDeleteMP, it is cold here as well. I believe it was minus 20c in Scotland, the other night. Fortunately, most of the rest of the UK hasn't been that bad but temperatures have been dipping below freezing.
Phillip, it is certainly the case, as Colin's pointed out in the past, that Brian Braddock is a strange name for a posh kid to have.
ReplyDelete"below freezing" he says...
ReplyDeleteGood God, man. It's warmer in Siberia than it is here.
Then again, if it's minus 20 C in Scotland, that's about -4 F, which could freeze the balls off a brass monkey.
I assume the wearing of the kilt is a seasonal fashion...
Pleasant in the late spring and summer, perhaps.
M.P.
Steve - I think Americans probably learned about British general Braddock, in relation to George Washington, when learning American history at school. So, Braddock would spring to mind as a British surname. What's more, superheroes' names alliterate - so what alliterates with Braddock - Ben (we've had it) - Bruce (we've had it). What's left - Bernard or Brian? Let's go for Brian. There's also Billy - but that sounds silly.
ReplyDeletePhillip
Phil, it pains me to say this, but no American kid ever heard about Braddock in school (I didn't) and few American kids even have a vague notion of who George Washington was.
ReplyDeleteM.P.
M.P. - Sounds as bad as our education system!
ReplyDeletePhillip
Especially in your part of the country Phillip - I hear in Leeds kids didn't even learn to read and write because the schools were too busy teaching political correctness.
ReplyDeletewww.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/liz-truss-equality-foucault-b1776142.html
So whats your thinking on Brian Braddock's alternative origin then?
His parents found out Yorkshire was about to be destroyed so they fired him off in a rocket down south, where a pair of aristos found him on their estate?
Or maybe he was orphaned after seeing his real parents killed by a dog thief?
Still, if you think Captain Brexit being a rich kid from Essex was hard to take for a northerner, consider the allowances anyone Irish has to make reading about some eejit wrapped in a union jack.
-sean
Brian Braddock was from Essex (I looked it up).
ReplyDeleteAnd it seems he would have been at school with Tony Blair!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Britain#Origins
-sean
HELP!
ReplyDeleteOK... for general discussion what is a northerner vs a southerner in the UK?
Or are we talking about England only in that context b/c I can imagine within Scotland you have northerners and southerners?
I assumed Yorkshire / SHeffield / Leeds were all northern, given they are simply north of London but what do I know...
I had heard of Braddock in context of the Revolutionary War and am thinking he was a General and guessing he was with the Brits but can't recall. I mean who gives a shit... if it weren't for the French the colonies would not have fought off the Brits so it's rather a bunch of myth-making on our side of the water. Not to say that Washington, et al. did not "give their all" and pay with blood but given the French provided 95% of the gunpowder, uniforms, navy, etc...you can simply ask the Indian Natives how they did fighting off Whitey without a steady supply of guns and gunpowder.
MP -I'm like you... though Death Stalker was sort of at the end of my comic-reading career (it don't pay much) I remember thinking he went from "mysterious" to "psychopath" and being rather startled... as in 'this is going to get good!"
ReplyDeleteI had my mother help me edit the one letter I wanted to send to Marvel, probably around 1969. It was nicely done in pencil, lol. In it, I explained that I was a wee lad who missed the first several years of Marvel and would like to get caught up. Would they please send me the first several issues of "Spidey" and "the ole FF" starting with issue 1.
ReplyDeleteI am NOT kidding. My mother stumbled over reading "ole." "What is this word 'ole?'" Clearly - I had been reading Stan's Soap Box! I had to explain I could not write "old" it had to be "ole!"
My mother, smiling and laughing a bit, encouraged me by saying, "Charlie... they aren't going to send you all this for free. It would cost them money to do this and maybe those older comics are worth something." I don't think she mailed the letter, lol. We were relatively frugal back then and stamps did cost like $.10 so...
Sean - I'm glad that - to you - the fact that Brian Braddock is instinctively a
ReplyDeleteYorkshireman is crystal clear, just as it is to me.
In the story, "When Terror Reigns", (Super Spider-man & CB # 237) Captain Britain's
opponent - hence his opposite - is a huge werewolf. The werewolf sees a cage full
of dogs (the story calls them wolves, but it's the same thing), and rips the cage
open, emancipating the dogs/wolves (obviously stolen.)
If Captain Britain's opposite liberates dogs, ipso facto, Captain Britain is on the
issue's other side - i.e. a dog stealing Yorkshireman.
The dogs/wolves attack CB, sensing his inner Yorkshireness, and - take note -
Captain Britain tries to contain the wolves - I mean dogs (i.e. return them to their
stolen-in-a-cage status.)
Thus, dog stealing is something Captain Britain has an inner sympathy with, Sean -
as you, yourself, sensed. For that matter, what is trying to catch a werewolf,
itself, but dog stealing by a different name? A rose by any other name. Hence he
has Yorkshire roots, as explained by your rocket firing theory.
Sean - Were your allowances harder to make - or easier - when your favourite writer,
Alan Moore, took over Captain's Britain's stories?
Didn't Marvel create an Irish superhero with a shamrock - or something - for
'Contest of Champions'? It's either that, or make do with Banshee. What I
couldn't understand, is a banshee is a female ghost! Iron Fist had an Irish
mate, when he went to London & battled a villain named after washing powder.
The Guardsman, in Iron Man, was named 'O'Brien', so does that count? Apart
from that, Irish guys always get cast as villains, don't they? Oh, in the
90s, wasn't 'The Irish Wolfhound' a character? But that's worse than not
bothering. Oh - Morigan (?) - a female Irish deity - that rings a bell.
Charlie - The Fast Show - parodies stereotypical Southerners attitudes to stereotypical
northerners:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkwBpNlHP70
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I5tqSiqyAI
Steve & Sean can select some even better ones for you. Alternatively, there's 'Minder', when Arthur's Yorkshire army mate, Brian Glover (the Beer Hunter), visits London:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6hr2pu
Or, 'Minder'explores Bradford (what stereotypical southerners think it's like):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYVycrYb_AM
Charlie - With Scotland, it's Highlanders vs Sassenachs. Sean will explain it.
Yorkshire = definitely northerners - also Geordies (Newcastle) & others. Sean will explain.
Charlie - If your comics letter was sent from Chicago, it could be fake ;) - alliteration.
From Indiana, however, and you're in the clear!
Phillip
It occurs to me that much of our problems in Washington and Downing Street would be solved were we to give our leaders the Cosmic Cube or the Cosmic Control Rod (Annihilus is the only one using it?)
ReplyDeleteI mean, it clearly led to the Skull's and Annihilus's downfall so... And they are clearly more clever than various elected leaders, lol.
(Sean - did I use the subjunctive in the first sentence by using "would" or by using "were?" Subjunctive is my bete noir. :(
Charlie - In the UK, in 1985, i remember Midge Ure's single, "If I was", led to a debate about the subjunctive. People complained it should be "If I were" !
ReplyDeletePhillip
I not i !
ReplyDeleteCharlie - Could you explain a couple of things to me.
ReplyDelete1.) In 'Airwolf' there's a 3-D display, measuring 'Azimuth'. Please explain.
2.) On 'Magnum', when targeting, they say: "5 clicks to the left'. What does a 'click' measure?
Phillip
HI Phillip,
ReplyDeleteWere a "click" to be spelled "klick" it might be more intuitive. But a klick is a kilometer.
All military maps are in 1 KM grid squares so (as far as I know) all militaries use kilometers for distance.
In aviation in general, by international law, distance is to be in kilometers and height in feet, world wide. Also English is the mandatory language.
Thanks, Charlie ! Any ideas on 'azimuth'? Or is it just a hi-tech looking display, for a tv show which, in reality, neither a Chinook, nor any other 1980s helicopter, would have?
ReplyDeletePhillip
Hi again,
ReplyDeleteAzimuth would be the direction to the destination.
Given Chinooks were generally flying only 50 - 100 feet above the ground in a combat mode, our directions were really for a two-dimensional world, if you will. I.e., we did not have to factor in height as in "bandits 11 o'clock high" like in airplanes flying at altitude.
Regarding Air Wolf, I have not seen it in decades. So, I don't know if they expressed the direction in addition to the height in their azimuths.
But your questions are timely. As I read FF 108, 109 where the boys are waltzing into the negative zone to battle Janus and Annilihus the whole "azimuth / directions" thing becomes a bit silly / irrelevant in a way, though Stan does seem to try to at least address it, given there is no up/down or left / right in free space, only relative to something do directions make any sense.
Also, the Apaches did have displays on monocles that come down over the pilot and navigators eye. Thus one eye is looking out in space the other at a display on the monocle. I never trained on it but all the Apache pilots I talked to said they got massive headaches for the first few weeks as their eyes accustomed to being divergent.
ReplyDeleteNow a days, it seems probable that information is also embedded into the windscreen of helicopters as they do with fighters.
I remember getting my butt ripped in Germany by the boss, lol. I was the operations officer for our combat aviation brigade. We were the first to get Apaches in Europe in 1987. SO at the airbase at Illesheim, we had them all parked in concrete pads all in a perfect row.
SO one day I am taking a leak and the Colonel pulls up next to me. I said, "You know what sir, all those Apaches in a row are even more perfectly lined up than our battleships were at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7. A couple of Speznatz with a few MGs and a bunch of bullets could disable all 12 of them in about 15 seconds just firing up and down the line one night."
"Well Captain, if you are that forking smart, why don't..."
Don't bring up the Shamrock, Phillip - even Banshee wasn't that annoying, which is saying something.
ReplyDeleteActually, thinking about it, Captain Brexit was probably more of a wind up for Brits than anyone else. Except for Alan Moore's run - everyone likes that don't they?
Him and Alan Davis even featured - "ey-up" - the first Yorkie super-hero, Captain England of Earth-522.
Charlie, everything past Tottenham is the north imo.
But the North is everywhere in England north of the midlands. They get pissed off being sidelined by the government in the south, especially since '79 when they were screwed over by Thatcher's lot in the 80s. Which is why so many of them recently voted for er... Boris Johnson.
Go figure, eh?
-sean
Well, I have zero recollection of ever learning the subjunctive in English, I only recall learning it in French where it is still actively used.
ReplyDeleteThe subjunctive is still actively used in French (I had a french wife, for 30 years).
I don't even know if it is used in German (I studied a few years of german.)
Long story short, in French I never put "que" after my verbs, lol, because it generally means you are going into the "subjunctive" world. E.g., Il faut never becomes Il faut que, in Charlie's world.
But for whatever reason, my ear is now attuned to the possibility of using it in English partially inspired by Sean who is a Frog-o-phile I suspect, certainly with regard to comics and the broader pop culture!
Charlie loves the diversity of this group!
Thanks Sean - I am now googling "midlands" lol. Charlie is really not well schooled on UK geography!
ReplyDeleteCharlie - if only the Cheyenne had worked out, instead of the Apache. It was a much better looking helicopter!
ReplyDeleteAt school, I was pretty rubbish at French - and am now even worse. Nevertheless, about 15 years ago, I got that Michel Thomas teach yourself French course, and it made understandable many things I simply didn't understand at school. I wish Michel Thomas published his stuff 30-40 years ago. For any one who hasn't heard of Michel Thomas, he was in the French resistance, during WW2, and lived a very interesting life.
Charlie - Sean's put it in a nutshell. That 'Fast Show' sketch shows how, to Southerners, northerners are scruffy, incomprehensible, & aggressive. Clive, their pet northerner, is treated like a dog.
Society's changed a lot since the 80s, however, and now Londoners are moving to new Yorkshire housing estates in droves, praising how much more they get for their money, etc. Conversely, northerners move 'down south', for the greater employment opportunities. These are generalizations / social stereotypes, not to be taken too seriously.
Phillip
I'm thinking of moving to Sheffield so I can be a more alliterative commenter Phillip.
ReplyDelete(Not really Steve, so relax)
Changing the subject...
Breaking news on a much discussed topic at Steve Does Comics today - archaeologists have confirmed the original location of Stonehenge is not where it now stands in Wiltshire, and admitted Geoffrey of Monmouth was right. The English did nick it.
Yes! In your face British Order of [so-called] Druids!
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/12/dramatic-discovery-links-stonehenge-to-its-original-site-in-wales
Now they just need to drop this obvious cover story about Wales...
-sean
Okey dokey - I tuned in to a skit off the "Fast Show" featuring Johnny Depp (link below).
ReplyDelete1) Quite humourous!
2) Can you provide a link to one where the southerners make fun of the northerners?
3) WHo is the blond haired salesmen who enters the skit half way in? Is that the guy who
played "Father Brown" (yet another Brit series which dominated the airwaves here among the more erudite and culturally aware!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT-b1qXznKI
Dang - the saleman just used the expression "you'll look the bee's knees" in this episode. I thought that was a USA southern expression, lol? Suit you!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK6d5T5CKq8
Sean, I did try that link (lotta typin', man, just so you know) but I was unsuccessful. But am I understanding the theory correctly? The thing was first put up in Wales, then dragged to Wiltshire?
ReplyDeleteThat thing is pretty big, I've been there. I've seen it up close. (Well, as close as they let you get anyway. Without the rope around it, knowing Americans, there'd be spray paint and empty beer cans all over the damn thing.)
The idea of dragging all those big rocks over hill and dale for how many miles...
I dunno, man. Would that have even been feasible? And to what dread end, I ask?
I realize there is more in Heaven and Earth then I've dreamt of, Horatio, but that is a lot to swallow.
M.P. is a skeptical cat...
M.P.
(it looks weirdly redundant to sign off with my handle after referring to myself in the third person. It seems to indicate the possibility of psychosis. I'm gonna have to come up with a new system)
MP, that is indeed what is being claimed, that it stood in Wales for around 400 years before being transported to England.
ReplyDeleteCharlie, the actor is Mark Williams who is indeed in Father Brown.
Yeah, the archaeologists now reckon it originally stood in west Wales, and was later dismantled and moved to Wiltshire M.P.
ReplyDeleteFrom the article -
"An ancient myth about Stonehenge, first recorded 900 years ago, tells of the wizard Merlin leading men to Ireland to capture a magical stone circle called the Giants' Dance and rebuilding it in England.
Geoffrey of Monmouth's account had been dismissed... [but] it may not be complete fantasy..."
We're getting closer to the truth coming out.
-sean
Charlie - My mistake; it was 'Harry & Paul' - not the Fast Show. Both shows feature Paul Whitehouse.
ReplyDeletePhillip
Ah, The Fast Show...
ReplyDeleteDoes my bum look big in this?
This week I have been mostly eating..
Brilliant!
I'll get me coat
Scorchio!
Cheesy peas
Nice!
Suits you, sir
Chris Waddle..
Colin - you forgot:
ReplyDeleteYou didn't see me...right!
I'm a geezer; I'll nick it.
I did that job myself - 30 years, man & boy!
I was very, very drunk!
Phillip
And, also, "Black! BLACK!"
ReplyDeleteGents, chaps, blokes, mates... can Charlie assume that the Fast Show was rather popular? Also, was it just a series of skits over 30 minutes or would the two sales gents just go on for the whole 30 minutes or...?
ReplyDeleteAlso, was this on public TV. I dare say it is a bit "randy," enough so to make Benny Hill blush?
I am a bit confused b/c my youtube search on The Fast Show seems to keep bringing up the two gents selling suits.
I dare say it reminds me of the haberdasher where I lived in Germany in the 1980s who seemed overly fond of measuring inseams, even when one would be buying a shirt???
It was a series of skits, generally very short so there was a rapid turnover (hence "Fast Show").
ReplyDeleteTry searching "Fast Show Channel 9" or "Fast Show Jazz Club"...
-sean
Gents if you are interested in Old Time Radio, stream 90.9 WDCB from where I live. This is "Jack Benny" Month who probably was the funniest guy on radio. IT runs every Saturday afternoon from 13:00 - 17:00.
ReplyDeleteCharlie - The Fast Show is a legend! Its catchphrases have become part of the language - particularly, "Suits you, Sir!"
ReplyDeleteThe sketches/catchphrases gained force by repetition. Viewers watched the same characters, with their catchphrases, each week, and liked the fact they could predict how those characters would react to a given situation, with their standard catchphrases/responses.
In fact, in the 90s, people all over Britain started repeating the famous catchphrases - e.g. "Suits you, Sir!"
Occasionally, in a sketch, something happened which seemed to challenge/contradict a particular character's philosophy of life - e.g. Unlucky Alf would win the National Lottery - but then, he'd lose the ticket - or something - and his previous view was reaffirmed even more strongly! Or, Ken & Kenneth eventually met a customer who is even worse than they are!
As Sean noticed, we missed out Jazz Club - "Nice!"
Phillip
Charlie, The Fast Show was on BBC Two. As mentioned, it was a series of sketches built around characters whose lives were pretty much stuck in a loop.
ReplyDeleteFor instance:
Jazz Club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TebUMhJAKSM&ab_channel=jarma76
Dave Angel - Eco Warrior: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onM8qVZT0bk&ab_channel=tommyhall12
Ralph and Ted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEBdi6Xffd0&ab_channel=whatplot
Colin got Jazz Club. You all forgot Ron Manager though.
ReplyDelete-sean
Monkfish - www.youtube.com/watch?v=imr8WKuqFZo
ReplyDelete-sean
Sean - I think Monkfish was based on the BBC's adverts for Dangerfield.
ReplyDeleteRon Manager - "Jumpers for goalposts!"
Also, the opposite of Brilliant was Rubbish!
Steve - Ralph & Ted didn't really have a catchphrase, did they, except maybe, "the drainage in the lower field."
Phillip
Charlie regularly goes on about British cop shows so I thought he might like that one, Phillip.
ReplyDelete-sean
This wasn't the Fast Show but I must mention "Smashie & Nicey", the two spoof Radio 1 DJs created by Paul Whitehouse and Harry Enfield in the '90s. Those two characters were so influential that the BBC reacted by firing all their Radio 1 DJs with the exception of John Peel and Annie Nightingale.
ReplyDeleteSean - What I liked about Monkfish, was that whatever character he played, he was always a "tough, uncompromising" version of it!
ReplyDeleteI'd forgotten that Unlucky Alf did have a catchphrase; it was "Bugger!"
Colin - Steve Wright's still around; he's just been booted to radio 2, hasn't he?
Phillip
Phillip, thanks for the pointer on Harry and Paul. I'd never seen it, but liked their Northern Relief skit.
ReplyDeleteI did not know a donation of just 30p was enough to teach a northerner to eat salad.
-sean