Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
***
Tragedy struck the world, this week in 1981, when Doctor Who fell off a radio telescope and turned into Peter Davison.
That's right. It was the week in which Tom Baker's final episode on the show was broadcast, ending his seven-year run in the part, thanks to the serial Logopolis.
40 years later and I still defy anyone to explain that regeneration to me.
In the real world, things also got decidedly surreal, as Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs was rescued by Barbados police, following his kidnapping in Brazil.
On the UK singles chart, the 1950s returned with a vengeance, as Shakin' Stevens' This Ole House hit the top spot, forcing Kim Wilde's uber-1980s smash Kids in America to settle for being Number Two.
Meanwhile, the UK album listings saw no change at their summit, thanks to Adam and the Ants' Kings of the Wild Frontier fending off a strong challenge from Status Quo's Never Too Late and the Who's Face Dances which entered the chart at Two and Three, respectively.
The dinosaur skeletons on that cover tell me this tale takes place in a museum.
Either that or Stegron's back.
The Hulk's currently being attacked by Russian fighter jets. Jets which he's in the process of destroying.
And it looks like the White Tiger's getting seriously perforated by Gideon Mace and his men.
I assume this is to do with Justin Hammer having sabotaged his armour to make it kill a visiting dignitary.
The Defenders are still in Asgard, and the Dazzler's still heading towards her major singing conflict with the Enchantress.
I know not what Captain America's up to in his own strip but I do know the tale's called The Sins of the Fathers.
I've no idea what's going on on that cover but I suspect it's Star Trek related, as I'm moderately confident it's not connected to either Conan or Weirdworld.
However, I'm afraid that's all the light I can shed upon this issue, as the internet's woefully short on info about it.
I’m sure Phillip will be along any minute now to tell us what that VALOUR cover is all about. I just checked the GCD and it’s not from any of Marvel’s STAR TREK comics. I often forget that Marvel did a STAR TREK comic. They only published 18 issues— even their GODZILLA comic lasted longer than that. But — ten issues longer than LOGAN’S RUN. And 11 more than MAN FROM ATLANTIS. So, there’s that.
ReplyDeleteb.t.
'Spider-man & Hulk Weekly' # 420
ReplyDeleteThe story opens with Kraven's new girlfriend, Calypso, having successfully manipulated him into fighting Spidey, proving that she's 'the power behind the throne'.
Meanwhile, at the Daily Globe, Rupert Dockery(not Murdoch!), Peter's new boss , is making J Jonah Jameson look like Father Christmas. Dockery wants Peter to get photos of "hanky panky" between E.S.U. professors & their students. When Peter declares there is none, Dockery suggests he fabricate it! Incidentally, Dockery resembles Sydney Greenstreet from 'The Maltese Falcon'.
The writer (Denny Miller) suddenly has a scene shift to Spider-woman, reading the Daily Globe, on the west coast. She's also had dealings with Rupert Dockery, and hopes Spidey has better luck getting the goods on him than she did. Then...back to New York, where....
Kraven storms into the Daily Globe, demanding it prints, on the front page, his challenge to Spider-man, that they fight to the death, at midnight. Kraven explains that he has one of Spidey's spider tracers, and the webslinger can track that, with his spider sense, to find the location for the battle. This 'inside knowledge' shows Kraven really does his homework on whoever he is hunting.
Mostly, villains are bullies/cowards. Kraven's one exception to the rule (the Constrictor being another.) Spider-man's vastly stronger, yet Kraven engages Spidey at close quarters, temporarily paralyzing him, with nerve strikes/pressure points.
Now, Denny Miller's earlier scene (last week), in which an escaped gorilla was subdued by Kraven, through his knowledge of pressure points, saving a zoo keeper's life, points up Denny's experience as a writer/understanding of structure.
If Spidey & Kraven's final battle, in the museum, had shown Kraven suddenly paralyze Spidey, through a miraculous knowledge of nerve strikes/pressure points, which hadn't been introduced earlier, the reader wouldn't have bought into it. "This writer's just making it up as they go along!" the reader would have thought (like in Spider-woman stories!)
Of course, Spidey wins, in the end, and Kraven & his girlfriend, Calypso, get carted off, by the police. This story was pretty good, although the final battle could have lasted longer.
Incidentally, something just occurred to me. Last week, Kraven purports that himself using Tigra, against Spidey, was 'out of character', and he'd dishonoured himself - well, he did exactly the same thing against Daredevil, using Natasha as bait for a trap! (I know some of you 'tuned out' during Don Heck's run!)
'Hulk'
Poor this week. Glenn Talbot's stealing the 'War Wagon', whilst being accused of treason by a congresswoman, back at Gamma Base. The Hulk's in some region of Afghanistan (in Conan, Afghulistan) populated by supposed blue-eyed descendants of Alexander the Great. Russian soldiers are up to no good. Cue some typical anti-soviet commentary about the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. The page count ends with the Hulk attacking a Russian fighter jet, grabbing
an electric cable , and getting pinned to the crashing jet, by the electrical current. Didn't early MiGs have hydraulic, not electrical, controls? It's hardly an F-16. Charlie's got first hand knowledge about aviation - the rest of us know next to nothing!
ReplyDelete'Spider-man & Hercules'
This is that silly story, in which Hercules drags Manhattan Island, as if it's just floating on top of the water. Even as a little kid, I knew this was ludicrous!
In most team-up stories, despite Spidey's spider sense, he & another hero accidentally bump into each other, & start fighting, before eventually teaming up. With Hercules, this is impossible - after all, he'd wipe the floor with Spidey! So, the story will involve Spidey & Herc independently being led to the same source of the trouble, and combining forces.
Gerry Conway is the writer. Some mysterious earthquake throws a girl out of one of the Empire State Building's windows. As she's falling, Spidey fires a web-line, catching her, and thus saving her life. My immediate thought was: "Well, it didn't work with Gwen, did it?" Gerry Conway's anticipated this criticism, writing: "Once before, Spider-man rescued a girl this way -- only to find she was dead, killed by the shock of the fall alone...To say the least, he's relieved that the tragic pattern hasn't repeated itself..."
Next, you get some nonsense about Spidey & Herc fighting giant robots - them being an occupational hazard, for Marvel superheroes. The giant robots are involved in the earthquakes, somehow! For the opening to a story, this isn't promising...
'The White Tiger'
The cover tells the reader: "Showcase hero White Tiger meets his end!"
Seeing as Roger Stern's Captain America was so brilliant, how come his White Tiger storyline was so bad, discrediting the Tiger as a superhero? Well, at least Roger Stern, didn't include a floor plan of the White Tiger's apartment, like he did with Spidey, and then Cap!
The White Tiger made a powerful impression, in his original outings. The Tiger appeared ghost-like, being white. Also, white, being the colour of peace, goodness, purity, etc makes extremely violent white creatures appear more terrible, as they are acting against type! A polar bear's savagery seems more terrible than a grizzly's, etc (for more examples, see 'The Whiteness of the Whale', in 'Moby Dick'.) But, I digress...
The White Tiger gets past Gideon Mace, but is attacked by 10 or 12 more of his goons (he had trouble with 2 or 3, last week.) The Tiger is making ground and, in a far room, notices a window, through which he can escape. Unfortunately, this is a trap, as the window is merely painted on the wall, leaving the White Tiger trapped in a very small room, where Gideon Mace machine guns him! This story left me unimpressed - displeased even.
'Captain America Weekly' # 5
ReplyDeleteCaptain America lacks Stern & Byrne, this week - instead, you get Peter Gillis & Jerry Bingham (whom I always misremember as post-Byrne, due to 'What if Phoenix had not died?')
It's the story about "Joe" - and Jerry Bingham, inked by Alan Gordon - does a fantastic job; there's no drop in quality at all. Captain America is faced with a "madman" (outdated 1970s attitudes), named "Joe", whose son (taught by Steve Rogers' neighbour,Josh Cooper)died, sending him over the edge.
"Joe" presents Captain America with a Spider-man level threat, but without Spidey's restraint. "Joe" starts by tearing up a streetlight (Spidey did this, in my first ever Spider-man comic), and beating a man to death. He then jumps at Captain America, from 15 feet away, and then, hand to hand, hits Cap with a "killing blow." (That isn't something you usually saw in Marvel, prior to the 80s.) Nevertheless Cap, unfazed, says he can take it. In this run, Captain America was the ultimate human fighting machine - a professional hero, with decades of experience, confident of taking on anybody - the ultimate human potential.
When I read this story, as a kid, I never knew "Joe" first appeared in Spidey's Ditko era. Nor does this comic make any reference to this history - strange!
'Iron Man'
ReplyDeleteLast week, at a diplomatic event, Justin Hammer remotely activated Iron Man's repulsors, slicing through an ambassador, and killing him on the spot, with horrific effect.
The story starts with a slick title: 'THE MONACO PRELUDE'. This title is typical David Michelinie. Compare it to Michelinie's Dominic Fortune title, in 'Savage Action', last month: 'THE BIG TOP BARTER RESOLUTION'. The two titles share a similar vibe, don't they?
The splash page is an establishing shot, outside the building, with Iron Man & Bethany Cabe in the foreground. Iron Man's head is either bowed in shame, or looking at his palm blasters, in disbelief at how they've malfunctioned - or both! Bethany's holding her big Smith & Wesson, at the ready. Why? Does she think Stark forgot to bullet proof Iron Man's armour? In the background, lots of cops have their guns drawn, and the ambassador is being covered with a pall.
This scene isn't correct, for one simple reason. Namely, the ambassador died on stage, in the auditorium of the multi-storey building. So, how come his corpse is now outside the building? Surely, it would have been left on stage, to preserve the integrity of the crime scene?
Iron Man makes his case to the police captain, who orders his men to holster their revolvers. Shell-head also agrees to let the police impound his armour, having Stark drop it off at City Hall. Bethany is having none of it, and berates the captain for letting Iron Man off, Scott free.
Not only do the police captain's instincts support Iron Man, but he also tells Bethany that he couldn't stop Iron Man, anyway, as he has the power to sink Manhattan Island, if he so wished.
What is it with Manhattan Island this week? First of all, in Spidey & Hercules, some giant robots are trying to sink Manhattan Island, then Iron Man gets the same thing proposed for him!
Later, for added realism, Ed Koch, the real mayor of New York, features, as Tony Stark hands over his armour (minus all the useful bits.) Returning to Stark International, Tony has a bust up with Bethany and, the next day, turns up for work - shock, horror - unshaven, and smelling of booze, shocking crotchety secretary, Mrs.Arbogast. The groundwork for Tony's alcoholism is being firmly laid, as he lists his recent trials & tribulations, and smashes up a photo of Iron Man.
As the page count ends, the scene shifts to the Avengers, who are discussing the ambassador's death. Cap proposes he take over as leader, until Iron Man is vindicated. As many of you remember, Cap will soon be teaching Tony Stark martial arts. Let's hope martial arts work out better for Tony than the White Tiger!
'Dazzler'
ReplyDeleteA few months ago, in 'Team-up', Spidey & Powerman met at the coolest club in town, man - 'Studio 13'. Well, this week, Dazzler's performing at an even cooler club - 'Numero Uno'. In case the reader isn't interested in Dazzler, as a character, all the previous heroes she's met - the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Avengers & Spidey - will be in the audience. After putting on his tux, the Thing claps his hands, like the Hulk, extinguishing the Human Torch's flame. Is there no end of ways to defeat the Torch?
As the page counts ends, the Enchantress is waiting in the wings, about to cast her spell on Dazzler!'The Defenders'
Valkyrie 'plays possum', then attacks Ollerus, the Unmerciful. Ollerus retaliates with his prehensile metal tail, throwing Val in a cell, the door of which Poppo magically seals.
Ollerus tries to imitate a shark, but sharks don't have prehensile tails (?) We'll just have to suspend disbelief, for the moment. Also, his shark-mountain is a shark's tooth, not a shark's fin.
Meanwhile, back in Midgard....Hellcat crashes a sportscar she's driving with Nighthawk. Both emerge from the crash, but are ignored by paramedics. Like that 'Forces in Combat' story with the YF-12A pilot crashing over Moscow, they don't realize they are dead. The fake Valkyrie collects them for Valhalla, where they join the Hulk, who died last week. Ollerus can now kill millions of people, at will, forming an army to defeat Hela.
Val escapes her cell by smashing the rear wall, rather than the enchanted door. Outside the cliff she's attacked by two flying dinosaurs (supposedly dragons) who talk. They've got the heads of Pteranodons & the paddle tails & teeth of Rhamphorhynchus ( I know Sean hates distinctions between dinosaurs.) Incidentally, one of Marvel's new weeklies, 'Marvel Action', will soon have similar flying dinosaurs in an FF story.
Harokin, flying atop Aragorn, saves Val, throwing a sword through one of the beastie's heads. The story ends with Ollerus about to lead his horde (including Defenders) against Hela. That's the problem with being a team-player - the danger of 'group think' ! (Although when have the Defenders ever suffered from that?)
Phillip
Marvel did Star Trek comics in the '90s too, b.t.
ReplyDeleteEr... not that any of them could have been reprinted in 1981 obviously (duh!), but... actually, I'm not sure what point I was trying to make there.
Haven't most comic publishers done Star Trek at some time or other?
Whats so hard to understand about Dr Who's regeneration in Logopolis, Steve? Or at least, harder than usual?
So he has a second form or whatever that wanders around beforehand being mysterious, so what? He's a Time Lord. You might as well say you don't understand how the Tardis can be bigger on the inside than the outside.
-sean
Sorry b.t. - No Valour!
ReplyDeleteI've got the title 'The Defenders' on the wrong line, too - rushing to finish before 'Public Eye'!
Phillip
Sean, I like to think Chris Chibnall will explain it all in the next series of Doctor Who. He does seem determined to tackle loose ends from the show's past.
ReplyDeletePhillip, thanks for another mammoth summary. It's interesting that Marvel UK is reprinting the Cap stories out of order.
I agree. The White Tiger/Mace story is highly displeasing.
B.t, it is surprising Marvel couldn't make a success of their Star Trek comic. Maybe it was too far away from their usual thing for readers to accept.
Just because Marvel only did 18 issues of Star Trek does it necessarily follow it wasn't a success for them Steve? That isn't logical - they may only have had a limited licence, say, to tie-in with the first film.
ReplyDeleteA quick look online shows that the Gold Key Star Trek comics came out right up to when Marvel got the licence, and then after a very short break it boldly went to DC and eventually back to Marvel via Malibu and so on til what now seems to be its final front ear at IDW.
Seems unlikely Star Trek comics would be coming out regularly for decades unless sales were at least fairly reasonable.
Theres a lotta Trekkies out there.
-sean
Forty years on and still nobody has surpassed Tom Baker's Doctor. Tom Baker IS the Doctor!
ReplyDeleteSean, do you think when the writers came up with the Tardis they knew what a tesseract is?
ReplyDeleteMaybe. All I know it's a big space inside a little space but when I looked it up I quickly despaired because physics is beyond me.
You know who else had a tesseract? Anton Arcane! (I'm a Swamp Thing fan, that's why I know about Arcane) It was in that big dragonfly-lookin' craft of his. Had his fingers in a lot of scientific pies, 'ol Anton.
Phil, the idea of Kraven knocking out a gorilla my hitting him on his pressure points boggles my mind. Now, I understand gorillas are usually gentle creatures, but I wouldn't walk right up to one and poke him somewhere, hoping that'll knock him out.
That's one of those deals where you really gotta know what you're doing; I don't see much margin for error there.
M.P.
I meant "by" not "my".
ReplyDeleteDrat!
M.P., I reckon the main thing the writers on Dr Who in the early days knew was that the programme had a tiny budget, so whatever they came up with needed to be easy to put on screen cheap. Other than that, I'm not knowledgeable enough about Who to say whether a tesseract came into it or not.
ReplyDeleteColin, thats right about Tom Baker. The really baffling thing about his regeneration was casting Peter Davison, who was completely wrong for the part. And made matters even worse with the cricket stuff (sorry dangermash, DW).
-sean
sean:
ReplyDeleteMarvel made SO much money off their Star Wars comics, they subsequently snapped up the rights to other new sci-fi movies in the hope they’d catch lightning in a bottle again. It’s probably safe to say their Star Trek comic wasn’t making Star Wars - level sales — or maybe it just wasn’t making enough money to offset the licensing fee. Also, IIRC, the licensing agreement with Paramount restricted them to adapting material from ST- TMP only, they weren’t allowed to use any elements from the Original Series. Which would probably dampen the creative enthusiasm for any writers and artists who were hardcore Trekkies. I’m pretty sure that was why Dave Cockrum left the book after just a few issues. Put it all together and Marvel says, “Eh, not worth it. Let DC have it.”
b.t.
Sean, the Tardis looked like a phone booth on the outside and inside it looked like the deck of a starship. Little on the outside, big on the inside. That's a tesseract. Which is, uh, the, um, four dimensional analogue to a cube...with a, ah, hypersurface...then you figure in your hyperoctahedral symmetry...
ReplyDeleteIt also sounds like an ad for a candy bar. "Big taste in a small package!"
The future is here, people!
M.P.
Where is Charlie?
ReplyDeleteHe came here seeking discussions about Sheffield, dog thieves, new wave music, brexit, SJWs, Shakespeare...
Instead he gets comics, Dr. Who, and Star Trek.
Is Charlie lost?
Shakin Stevens!
ReplyDeleteCharlie is like 99% positive he read that this guy is the UK's most popular indigenous seller of records for the 1980s? I mean, Shakin wasn't a one-hit-wonder guy at all but had serious sales?
As I watched his This Ole House video all I can think of is "dude - those jeans give new meaning to the word 'camel toe!'"
RIP 1980s Blue Jeans!
Talk about tight-fitting pants, do you have many hipsters walking around Chicago, Charlie?
ReplyDeleteThose guys crack me up.
They generally look like they weigh about 130 lbs. Their clothes are skin-tight and they have huge beards that you would expect to see on a fur trapper in the Rocky Mountains in the 1840's.
A latte in one hand and a vape in the other, and an extremely serious, humorless look on their faces. What you can see of their faces.
In the summer they wear stocking hats, no matter how hot it gets. And they drink PBR, possibly because it is a thankless and challenging brew, hard to drink without grimacing.
M.P.
Wasn't the Peter Davison era of Dr Who when it changed from the traditional Saturday early evening to twice weekly? Tuesday and Thursday, from memory, and BBC2 rather than BBC1. I'm pretty sure it either clashed with Eastenders or whatever followed Eastenders on BBC1. An odd scheduling decision, to say there least. Personally, I found most episodes beyond Baker's second series, too slow but that was probably age based.
ReplyDeleteDW
MP - I made a silent promise (not to be confused with "silent but deadly") that I would stick to the topics that SDC posted for at least 24 hours!
ReplyDeleteThus I will discuss the virtues of PBR and hipsters tomorrow!
I just feel that I need to reign in the often random, sometimes totally off the wall, thoughts that SDC and his faithful following cause me to think!
I knew, lo those many years ago, when Steve, Colin B, and Colin J posted their column on UK Marvel Comics at BitBA that I had somehow found what I was missing in life. And, though this blog brings me closer to salvation every day, I still must temper my joy out of respect for the others here!
Alles klar?
Good ol' Charlie.
ReplyDeleteWe all go off the rails, once in a while.
M.P.
DW, I'm pretty sure it stayed on BBC One but it was indeed moved from its traditional Saturday slot to a couple of midweek slots. It seemed an odd decision at the time but viewing figures went up, so I suppose it was vindicated.
ReplyDeleteSean and Colin, it's a strange thing. Even though Davison's my least favourite Doctor, it's probably his era that I most enjoy re-watching, these days.
Charlie, Shakin' Stevens spent more weeks on the UK singles chart in the 1980s than any other act. How a 1950s revivalist managed this feat has never been quite clear.
B.t. and Sean, that explanation for the lack of longevity of Marvel's Star Trek makes sense.
So we've established beyond doubt that Tom Baker is the best Doctor which begs the question: who's the second best? My vote is for Jon Pertwee.
ReplyDeleteI would say Matt Smith.
ReplyDeleteYou UK gents have had a deep and abiding attachment to Dr. Who. Charlie certainly respects that.
ReplyDeleteBut, and I don't think Charlie is atypical, in the USA the Doctor hasn't really caught fire. Charlie tried on many occasions to watch but...
In that context, I wish to suggest Jodie Whittaker is the best Who if one is thinking of expanding Who's viewership outside the UK. Charlie has actually been able to sit down and watch 3- 4 of her episodes and enjoy them. She is attractive and is able to have a serious-looking face that one does not take seriously. And she is attractive.
Charlie has no data to suggest viewership in the USA has increased with Whittaker. Especially since it is a chore to figure out what channel the show is on and then figure out if it is worth upgrading your cable/ satellite/internet TV-related package. (Charlie was lucky at it was on BBC Amerika and Charlie already had that through his internet-delivered Sling TV "orange" package. Just to be clear, Charlie's package is not orange, but his TV package is.)
How come Shakin Stevens don't get more love on this site? (I mean that seriously... mostly.)
ReplyDeleteI mean, did he not sort of pre-date the Stray Cats and that 50s sound that became en vogue for a while?
Did he ever venture into Rock-a-Billy like The Pole Cats (an under rated US band if there ever was one).
Put another way, given he was the "best" UK artist of the 80s in terms of aggregate weeks on the pop charts, did he ever launch like a 50s revival fad? Or an Elvis fad? Or did he star on TV?
Admittedly I came here for the comics but I stuck around for the UK culture.
And hence why I ask vs. just googling b/c the one-off remarks actually lead to something else. Quite fun!
I mean seriously, how else would we have known that Yorkshire men like to steal dogs?
Charlie, Shakin' Stevens started performing in the late 1960s, so he did indeed predate all those early '80s 1950s revivalists.
ReplyDeleteThere was a 1950s revival in the 1970s, thanks to the likes of Mud, Alvin Stardust, Showaddywaddy and various others, and that revival was later "modernised" by the likes of the Stray Cats, Pole Cats, Dave Edmunds and others but Stevens was always separate from either of those movements, having more vitality than the earlier movement but less credibility than the later one.
I don't remember him doing rockabilly.
I don't remember anyone ever copying him.
Ah, the eternal edification to be found at "Steve Does Comics"! Although admittedly I'm not really a Dr. Who fan (sorry!) I do love the music that has sprang (sprung?) forth from the UK over the years. It was about this time that I was exposed to Rockpile, and by extension, Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, and even Brinsley Schwartz. Thank heavens there were such musically informed folk at Art School.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know Shakin Stevens, though.
So it all makes me wonder...did you UK gents sit around at University discussing American music?
Red, American music has always been hugely popular and influential in this country!
ReplyDeleteMy two favourite Shakin' Stevens songs are 'Green Door' (#1 in 1981) and 'You Drive Me Crazy' (#2 in 1981).
And of course, Shaky's 'Merry Christmas Everyone' comes back into the Top 40 every December.
Steve, you explain Romana's regeneration into Lalla Ward and I'll explain Tom Baker -> Peter Davison. Lol
ReplyDeleteThe worst doctor (and worst era) was Colin Baker. Although the first few McCoy stories are pretty hard to sit through as well. Then the show got good again so the BBC axed it. What a world.
And I don't think the original series and the new series belong together at all and should be discussed separately. My 2 cents.
-FB
"So unplug the jukebox... And do us all a favor.."
ReplyDeleteThe Enchantress was always my favorite member of the Masters Of Evil. Don't know if any of you folks followed the WandaVision series on Disney+, but I thought the character Dottie was going to be her. The show was magical based, she was blond, made references about the devil, and I thought her name "Dottie" refered to the dots on her classic costume leggings. No deal. So far. Heard she was going to show up in the Loki series.
The MCU had the Executioner in Thor:Ragnarock, so she can't be too far behind.
Loved her in the silver/bronze age Thor/Avengers/Defenders adventures. She was also showcased well in the original Secret Wars mini-series. Too bad she didn't rate an action figure.
Man, thinking about Secret Wars brings back memories. I was living with a girl who had a 5 year old boy in the early 80's. Jobs were rare back then. I worked partime in advertising on a free newspaper, and another gig at a carwash. My girl was a waitress. Money was uber-tight.
ReplyDeleteWe both made sure her son had a kick-ass Christmas. He wanted He-Man, GI Joe, and Tranformer figures. He got 4 To 6 of each series.
While shopping, I came across the Secret Wars figures. He never asked for them (no cartoon to advertise them), but I poured some dough on them. Guess I wanted to play with them. Lol.
I got him Spider-Man, Cap, Wolverine, Iron Man, Doom, Kang, Doc Ock, and I think the Lizard. Also some generic giant wheel action-figure carrier. We'd build walls with his building blocks, and wreck'em down with it. We'd have battles for HOURS!
In one battle a tentacle of Doc Ock's got torn off. I welded it back to his body with a cigarette lighter.
Nowadays, "SIB", those toys are big bucks. We had more fun playing with them than the value of collectabilty.
To all UK readers of SDC - don't forget to put your clocks forward one hour tonight!
ReplyDeleteCOLIN! I was wondering about that!
ReplyDeleteNormally when I go about my work day, 7 AM, the Hawskbee and Jacobs program starts at 13:00 your time / 7 AM my time and all is good!
I enjoy them when they start their show, full of jokes, irreverence, and up to date news on things like Snookers Championships in SHeffield!
Last two weeks, with only 5 hours difference cause we moved our clocks ahead, I been missing the boys since they were starting at 8 AM our time.
I know, I know... it's a first-world kind of problem. LOL!
Charlie, I don't have a clue who Hawskbee & Jacobs are but I'm glad your problem is solved :)
ReplyDeleteH&J - They have the UK's biggest Talk Sport program on TalkSport radio station. I listen to it streaming live at home or driving to work.
ReplyDeleteThat's how I hear all those UK commercials like "Northern Ireland is the hottest economic zone in the EU, relocate your business here!" And then I ask Steve if he plans to relocate.
They also keep me up to date on those UK sports: Snookers, Conkers, Bog Diving, Meat Pie Eating, Beer Coaster Flipping...
And then they touch on these cultural things like "All the men in Yorkshire wear flat caps and walk around with Whippets."
The only thing they've never discussed isJudge Dredd, Andy Capp, and Oor Wullie (yet)!
I'm not really a Doctor Who fan but my favourite was John Hurt. He only appears in one storyline as a flashback to an earlier version of The Doctor but he was great. Cynical and grumpy. And that's without him even being introduced to Dez, Frank or The Cobra.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Shakin" Stevens could be the next Doctor? Maybe that would make our chopper flying friend happy? I can't name him and talk about him in the third person because if I do, people will think I'm him.
And KD - you mean a life size action figure?
I’m not much into Dr. Who either — I’ve seen maybe ten episodes, tops, over the decades — but I kinda liked Christopher Eccleston. I don’t hear much about him, so i gather he’s not all that popular with the fans?
ReplyDeleteb.t.
B.t, I don't think it's so much that Eccleston's unpopular, so much as that, because he was only in one series and has had no interaction with the show since, he tends to get forgotten about.
ReplyDeleteDangermash, John Hurt was my favourite actor when I was a youth, so it was great to see him turn up in the show.
Colin, I'm putting mine forward two hours, to be on the safe side.
KD, sadly, we never had such things when I was a boy. I had to pretend my toy cowboys were super-heroes and villains. It's a tragic tale.
I still haven't got round to watching WandaVision but intend to do so.
FB, I think the Colin Baker stories were uniformly terrible but I always had a soft spot for him. After a Doctor as bland as Davison, it was a relief to get one who felt like an alien again, even if he did kick off his Doctor career by trying to strangle his companion to death.
Red, even though it was commercially successful, I don't remember American music getting discussed too much during my late teen years. Thinking about it, the only music anyone ever seemed to talk about was Dark Side of the Moon.
Charlie, don't worry. I have heard of Hawksbee and Jacobs.
Steve, I'm also a big fan of John Hurt and I'll watch anything with him in it.
ReplyDeleteHe was completely diabolical in Rob Roy.
K.D., I understand why you would be sentimental about playing with action figures with your girlfriend's son. I think I know how much you loved that. I used to do the same thing with my nephews. Action figures, Legos, cartoons and wrestling on my sister's living room floor.
It doesn't get much better than that!
You mentioned something about a "Loki series"?!
What the...
M.P.
Yeah, M.P.
DeleteThere's going to be a Loki series on Disney+. He's going to work with that time/dimensional agency (forget their name) that was introduced in the comics years ago. Think their job was to shut down alternative timelines caused by time-travelers, like Kang.
It looks like it's going to be kinda like Quantum Leap, only with Loki mischief.