Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
***
Some might say it was airplanes killed the beast but some would claim it was beauty did the job.
Trouble is, it turned out there was more than one beast.
It's true. By some means never explored, King Kong had a son.
And I know that because, this afternoon in 1982, BBC One was showing Son of Kong, the oft-neglected but, no doubt, charming sequel to the more celebrated original.
Granted, it's not that new. The issue's mostly devoted to a reprint of that Herb Trimpe drawn tale in which the green gallivanter tackles the Evil Inhumans after they take over a Central American republic, with their giant hypno-bot.
Needless to say, Hulkie soon disposes of that particular menace.
We also get the tale that deals with the question of what would have happened had Wolverine killed the Hulk during their first encounter.
And, of course, because it's a first issue, there's a free gift.
In this case, it's a three-legged cardboard hulk that you can make run around the carpet, by pushing it, provided you attach a lollipop stick, to reinforce it.
We also get a free Hulk poster, recycled from a cover of the Hulk's previous Marvel UK comic.
Only for him to discover he's the latest incarnation of the Fookiller!
Needless to say, he turns out to be as foolish and destructive as the previous one was.
But the Foolkiller may not be the only one who needs to wake up and smell the coffee. And so, there's the chance for us to win a cassette/radio alarm clock.
And we get a puzzle poster.
We also get a TV programme guide. I'm assuming that relates to the Spider-Man television show, rather than being a general TV listings guide, though I can't guarantee it.
I suspect he's going to try and stop her.
This comic, too, gives us an opportunity to win a cassette/radio alarm clock.
It's yet another issue of Scooby-Doo and his TV Friends for which I've been able to gather no intelligence. Not even a front cover.
This time, it's issue #6, which I'm sure is the best one yet!
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28 comments:
Another Thursday, another missing Scooby Doo cover, Steve. But at least this week you finally wised up and finished off the post with an exclamation mark!
-sean
Who was running marketing at Marvel UK?
"Look kids! Free alarm-clock radios!"
Mom, mom! Get me that comic! I always wanted to win an alarm-clock radio! Please! Mom! Please!
Ok... am I in a time warp or what (granted this blog is being generated in Sheffield, trapped between the past and the future..
But didn't we see Fool Killer on something just a few weeks ago? I thought I was looking at The Grim Reaper, minus the grim looking scythe on his lower arm.
Charlie, you're only just starting to get deja vu from the short time lag between the US Marvels and the British reprints now?!?
That Spidey TV comic uses the same cover artwork as the US Amazing Spider-Man from last month forty years ago -
https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/2022/02/forty-years-ago-today-february-1982.html
And sure enough, there you are in the comments asking about the Grim Reaper...
-sean
I watched King Kong (1933) on BBC iplayer in January - the original is still the best!
I can't recall ever seeing Son Of Kong but according to Wikipedia it was more light-hearted and comedy-oriented than King Kong and ends with Skull Island sinking!
Steve, your list of musical knights omitted Mick Jagger, Ringo Starr and Tom Jones.
Charlie, Bob Geldof's knighthood is only an honorary one because he isn't British and Ireland isn't a member of the British Commonwealth of nations. So it's incorrect to call him Sir Bob Geldof.
Charlie, when I was a kid, Mom WAS the alarm clock radio. Stuck on the all-yelling station.
At least on school days.
M.P.
Marvel UK seemed to be running a lot of competitions back then - I'm starting to wonder where the prizes came from. If its not cassette players its space tech books or Dr Who records... maybe their office was next door to some dodgy market trader's lock up?
"Got some alarm-clock radios this week, mate, cost an Ayrton Senna each in the shops, but you can 'ave em for a fiver each if you take a few and I'll throw in a free tv, I'm robbin' meself..."
-sean
I think the prizes are a natural progression from the crap free gifts that started around the time of Complete Fantastic Four and Fury. We went from oversized glossy posters to cheap miniature models of Boeing 747s and Spitfires. Very strange. I'd say it had the whiff of Dez, but I think these may have been before his time.
DW
DW, the crap free gifts started with Captain Britain - a paper mask in #1 and a paper boomerang in #2.
All the best to you on this first day of April, Steve.
And to all your Iranian readers, as I believe the timing of the equinox this year means its Sizdah Be-dar, the thirteenth day of Nowruz. Party on Persian dudes.
-sean
I do wonder why our comic books in America didn’t have crap free gifts.
Actually, those few months when they had the full color for page and search for lingerie was sort of a gift. But I was too young to know what to do with it.
I am referring to the four page lingerie inserts in the comic books for a brief period of time. I annunciated much more clearly this time so this is legible.
Thanks, Sean. All the best to you too.
Colin and DW, we should never forget the free Spider-Man mask that came with issue #1 of Spider-Man Comics Weekly, which was just a red paper bag with eye holes cut in it.
Speaking of King Kong —
About ten years ago I had myself a little Weekend DVD Kong-a-thon. Peter Jackson’s overblown 2005 remake was just as frustrating and irritating as it had been on the Big Screen — I ended up fast-forwarding thru large chunks of it. Sadly, I don’t think that one’s ever going to age gracefully. The 1933 original is still undeniably great, but to my shock and surprise I found myself enjoying the much-maligned 1976 Dino DeLaurentis version nearly as much, dodgy special effects and all. Now you’re expecting me to say, ‘APRIL FOOLS!’, but I’m not even kidding.
b.t.
Bt, I have a lot of fondness for the 1976 Kong. I certainly prefer it to Jackson's.
I saw the original Kong on TCM (Old Turnip Classic Movies) and noticed that Kong seems to eat people on occasion. Or at least he bites their heads off, or chews on 'em. He's pickin' up villagers like candy bars!
This unsavory habit of his was omitted in later remakes, doubtless to make Kong more sympathetic.
The "spider-pit" scene from the original, that was cut out of the theatrical version, is available on You-Tube. Yikes.
Jackson left that in his version, but there were no spiders, per se. My theory is, after Shelob in Return of the King, he got all spidered out.
If he kept putting giant spiders in every movie, people would think he was some kinda nut.
I liked his movie, but it could have been shorter. It takes them forever to get to that island.
M.P.
Colin
The free gifts were always pretty crappy but were at least Marvel oriented. A model Boeing has no connection to Marvel and I reckon was probably due to some deal struck with a novelty gift supplier. It wouldn't surprise me if the same company provided the increasingly off-topic prizes. But yes, the free gifts were often a massive let down. I even bought the mail order Captain Britain costume. Now that was a dissapointment.
DW
Did you go out in the costume to fight crime DW?
-sean
b.t., I'm not keen on Jackson's King Kong either - in theory I like the idea of a period piece set in the 30s, but between too much respect for the original, the length, overdone cgi, and two dimensional characters its deeply uninvolving.
But I can see it ageing gracefully. Not for us (well, except M.P. maybe) but when they hit middle age it'll probably go down well with generations that grew up with it as an afternoon tv thing. They'll see the film as very much of the time it was made - Jack Black in particular will be considered a very 00's star, and give it kitsch value (thinking about it, I should have included him in the list of negatives).
Kong: Skull Island was quite enjoyable, in a dumb action flick kind of way.
-sean
I used to think Jackson’s KK might be a pretty good 90 minute movie trapped inside a lumbering, overbearing 2 and a half hour one, that if you just cut out all the filler and the outright garbage, you’d be left with a décent ‘period’ remake of the original. Simplify the build-up, trim all the fat like the First Mate and the Cabin Boy discussing Joseph Conrad, and every damn frame of Adrian Brody below decks getting seasick and trying to write his script (seriously, who the eff cares) and just GET ON WITH IT ALREADY. Then, once we get to Skull Island, be ruthless about cutting all those long, drawn-out FX sequences like the re-imagined Spider Pit, that dumb (and poorly composited) stampede, Kong punching two T-Rexes while swinging back and forth in a net made out of vines, etc. Just cut ‘em out completely, like cancer. Oh, and that cutesy ice skating rink sequence has to go, too.
But then i realized that to make it bearable, you’d really have to lose every single scene with Jack Black in it. I mean, you’d have to. He kills the movie every single time he opens his mouth. And if you don’t have Carl Dunham then the story doesn’t really make any sense. Oh well.
b.t.
Oh, and I agree completely about KONG: SKULL ISLAND. It’s goofy but kinda charming. I really enjoyed it. But GODZILLA VS. KONG was a chore to sit through.
b.t.
Fun fact: the island wasn't called Skull Island in the original King Kong movie.
I'm not familiar with those Godzilla flicks b.t. - I've seen a couple of the old Japanese ones that were shown on kids tv here in the 70s and the Roland Emmerich snooze-fest, which didn't exactly fire my enthusiasm for seeing any more.
On top of that, the 'Monsterverse' seemed like a dumb idea, and with the odds on Kong: Skull Island being any good already pretty high there was obviously no point in taking a chance on any more of them.
And now I think about it, Blue Oyster Cult's 'Godzilla' is one of their more boring tunes.
-sean
Sean
Ha ha, that was my original plan, only thwarted by the crap costume and my early bed time.
DW
Yes, that movie would have been better if Jack Black had been devoured at some point, instead of poor Andy Serkis.
And although it pains me to do so, I agree with Sean that Kong: Skull Island was an enjoyable romp. The movie didn't have a thought in its head, but there were so many great actors in it who were not taking themselves seriously at all, it was fun to watch.
John Goodman got eaten! And it was worth watching just to see Samuel L. Jackson yell at Kong.
I have never watched a Godzilla movie all the way through. I think I would have to smoke something weird to enjoy that, and, being a cheapskate, I rarely partake.
It doesn't sound like a completely bad idea though, now that I think about it.
M.P.
Its not a completely bad idea M.P., but might I suggest a better one would be to smoke something weird and NOT watch a Godzilla film?
-sean
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