30-Day Comic Challenge Week 1

Hot on the heels ( as they say ) ( and why do they say that? ) of my 30-day song challenge, here comes another challenge for these slightly-less-locked-down-but-still-socially-distancing days.
Yes, it's another subject close to my cold, black heart  -  comics!

Day 1  -  Your favourite comic
Conan The Barbarian no. 24 ( March 1973 )

It's almost an impossible task to choose a favourite comic but I'll go with this one because it has a very special place in my heart. As I've banged on about before, my copy ( yep, the one above ) was bought for me by my parents in the legendary Dark They Were & Golden Eyed in ( I think ) 1978 on my first visit to that there London. Many, many years later I was lucky enough to have it signed by the even-more-legendary Roy ( The Boy ) Thomas himself. On top of all that, it's just one of THE greatest comics of the Bronze Age, skilfully scripted by Roy and boasting some beautiful, impossibly detailed artwork from Barry Windsor-Smith at the very height of his powers.

Day 2  -  A comic you recommend to everybody
The Hunt ( 2016 ) by Colin Lorimer

The Hunt is a spine-tingling, creepy slice of Irish folk horror by multi-talented artist, writer, storyboard-creator and friend of TGW-S, Colin Lorimer.

Here's the beautiful cover to issue 3 and above that is a signed print of some stunning interior artwork which Colin very kindly sent to me, all the way from Canada. Not only is he a very, very talented comics creator, he's also a great guy.

Day 3  -  A great adaptation of another work
Amazing Adventures Featuring Killraven  -  Warrior Of The Worlds

Roy Thomas ( it's that man again! ) and Don McGregor project HG Wells' War Of The Worlds into the future of a barbaric, dystopian Earth ( 2019 )  -  with the help, of course, of such awesome artists as Neal Adams, Herb Trimpe, Gene Colan and ( especially ) P Craig Russell. This series was one of the highlights of Marvel's 1970s output, a savage but philosophical examination of a world crushed under the heel tentacle of Martian invaders, and of the conflicted band of freedom fighters struggling to overcome their slimy conquerors. Here's my copy of issue 29, signed by Dauntless Don himself.

Day 4  -  First comic series you seriously pursued
Of course, it's The Mighty World Of Marvel  -  Nuff Said!

For many British comic fans of my generation, MWOM ( as it's affectionately called ) was our gateway into the world of far-out fantasy. An anthology comic that began by reprinting the early years of the Marvel Age ( starting with the debuts of The Hulk, The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man ), MWOM lasted through many incarnations over the decades, and kicked off the relatively short-lived but often glorious Marvel UK line. It really was Ground Zero for me and I soon went on to collect Spider-Man Comics Weekly, The Avengers, Planet Of The Apes, Dracula Lives, The Superheroes, The Titans, Captain Britain... the list goes on...

Day 5  -   A great love story
Swamp Thing and Abigail Cable

Only Alan Moore in his prime could craft the story of a love affair between the daughter of a super villain and a walking compost-heap and make it one of the most beautiful and sensitive romances in comics.
"My vegetable love should grow / Vaster than empires and more slow"  -  Andrew Marvell
( Pretentious? Moi? )

Day 6  -  A comic that is underrated
Starman ( 1994 - 2001 )

With its intricately-designed Opal City, huge cast of characters and deep dive into DC mythology, James Robinson & Tony Harris' Starman is, at heart, a very human story about the bonds of family

Day 7  -  Your comfort comic
Fantastic Four no. 51 ( June 1966 )

Possibly the single greatest work of the Lee / Kirby team ( with Joe Sinnott! )  -  a poignant but inspiring story of how even the worst of us can find heroism.And then there's THAT iconic cover! You can read more of my thoughts ( should you want to, of course, it's not mandatory ) on this classic comic here

So, yeah, week one done. Phew! If anyone would like to join in with the challenge please leave a comment. What are your favourites?

30-Day Song Challenge Week 2

Day 8  -  A song about drugs or alcohol
Feel Good Hit Of The Summer by Queens Of The Stone Age



Okay, it's actually a song about drugs and alcohol  -  there's obviously never enough for Josh Homme. All together now: "Nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, marijuana, Ecstasy and alcohol, c-c-c-c-c-cocaine!"

Day 9  -  A song that makes you happy
My Girl by The Temptations



Yep, every time. "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day." And, just like that, the clouds part...

Day 10  -  A song that makes you sad
Shorley Wall by Ooberman



We've all got enough reasons to be sad at the moment but, anyway, this is just a beautiful song. It skirts close to being twee but the heart-rending ending monologue rescues it.

Day 11  -  A song you never get tired of
Once In A Lifetime by Talking Heads



40 years after it was recorded this song still sounds totally unique  -  a masterpiece of twitchy, neurotic funk-pop. It's one of those few songs that I usually have to play twice in a row  -  it's never long enough.

Day 12  -  A song from your pre-teen years
Rubber Bullets by 10CC



When I was very young I was given a bunch of singles by an older friend which basically started my record collection. I've still got them and Rubber Bullets is still a favourite. The video above is actually the album version but the TOTP version I wanted to post is a heavily edited take of the single and, while it's a great view of a '70s band, this features more of the actual song...

Day 13  -  A song you like from the '70s
Search And Destroy by Iggy & The Stooges



When I was in the Death Planet Commandos we used to cover Search & Destroy ( everyone did! ) and it was just great fun to play. A proto-Punk classic!

Day 14  -  A song you'd love to be played at your wedding
Catch by The Cure



Actually a song we did have played at our wedding. Sarah and I were both great fans of The Cure and this was our "first dance" at our wedding disco. To be fair, the DJ probably got fed up with our lists of demands  -  play this, play that, no bloody "Agadoo" etc. etc.


So, Week 2 accomplished with a minimum of effort and even a guest appearance by Zia from the Dandy Warhols! ( Not that she knows about it but I'm sure she'd appreciate the sentiment and I know she digs a lot of the music here. )
If anyone else would like to join in I'd love to see your choices, just drop me a comment.
See you next week, same time, same channel ( probably )

Music 1973

After blogging about my favourite comics from 1973 the other day, I'm now going to turn my nostalgic gaze ( with all the cutting-edge topicality you'd expect from The Glass Walking-Stick ) to the music of that far-off time of platform boots and flares. Yes, forty years ago ( plus a few days ) the world had turned Glam. Everywhere there were painted, prancing, peacock-like creatures cavorting in a cavalcade of androgynous ecstasy... and that was just the blokes etc. etc. Well... no, the world wasn't really like that. But it would have been fun.

If you could see beyond the middle-of-the-road novelty pop which clogged the arteries of the early '70s charts ( Brotherhood Of Man, Osmonds, Cliff Richard, Dawn, David Cassidy  -  it really was a grim time ) there was some great music being made, and being both commercially and critically successful. David Bowie, of course, owned the year. ( Happy Birthday, by the way, Mr. Jones ) He had huge hits with The Jean Genie, Sorrow and the immortal Life On Mars?, the Aladdin Sane album was number one for 5 weeks ( this is the UK charts I'm talking about, of course ) and he infamously retired his Ziggy Stardust persona at the end of his UK tour in July, to the sounds of wailing school girls... and boys.

TBH at the time I was less aware of Bowie than I was of bands like The Sweet, who seemed to be on Top Of The Pops every week, pounding out their hammy, glammy foot-stomping anthems like Blockbuster, Hellraiser and Ballroom Blitz. They looked like a bunch of brick-layers dressed as the most unconvincing transvestites ever... but I thought they were amazing. And, of course, there were the mighty Slade too, with their terrace-chant tunes, glitter-ball hats and humongous sideburns. They may not have been able to spell properly ( Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me? ) but they were unrivalled at smuggling hard rock into the lives of pre-teen British kids.

 And the Glam sound reverberated throughout the best singles of 1973, from arty popsters 10CC's Rubber Bullets to the epic Live And Let Die from Wings and See My Baby Jive from Roy Wood's Glam-meets-Spector project Wizzard. Over in the Big Apple they had their own take on the greasepaint-plus-sequins-plus-riffs style in the form of the proto-Punk New York Dolls, but they were unfortunately ahead of their time and didn't trouble the charts.

 1973 was also the year of what is still one of the greatest albums of all time, Pink Floyd's all-conquering Dark Side Of The Moon. The stereo-system-testing, existential stoner-rock of Dark Side is one of the most important records in my life and I probably need to do a separate post about it. In fact, it should have popped up by now in the long-dormant 15 Albums if I'd kept it going. Maybe I'll revive it...

  Rock of the hairy-chested, macho kind was, of course, the biggest seller of the time with only a few 1973 bands like Deep Purple ( Woman From Tokyo ), Led Zeppelin
( Over The Hills And Far Away, No Quarter ) and Thin Lizzy ( Whisky In The Jar ) managing to stand out amongst the denim-clad, patchouli-scented crowd. But it wasn't all heavy duty stuff...

Former member of the Velvet Underground, Welsh virtuoso John Cale released one of the strangest albums of the decade. Paris 1919, with its surreal lyrics, mannered art-rock and nostalgic sense of longing sounds as out of place and yet timeless today as it must have done back then. A few years ago I bought this on vinyl for a quid at a church fete of all places, and fell under its baroque spell. Spine-tingling, baffling, beautiful  -  every record collection should find a place for it.

Away from the world of white boys with guitars the ever-awesome Diana Ross released a couple of her most famous singles, the yearning All Of My Life and the monumental, heart-breaking Touch Me In The Morning. This latter song was much played when I was in my late teens, during and after a three-year relationship which had many ups and downs before it finally disintegrated. The song still recalls those days of nearly ( gulp! ) thirty years ago and still brings a lump to my throat...

 Meanwhile, a young rocker by the name of Bruce Springsteen released his first two albums to critical acclaim but a massive shrug from the record-buying public. It wouldn't be until the release of his epic third album, Born To Run, that Springsteen would have his breakthrough but many of these early songs like Blinded By The Light and Growin' Up made his reputation and set him on the road to superstardom. Dear reader, you've heard me yak on about Brooooce many times before ( check out the "Springsteen" label in the sidebar ) so I won't say any more, except to remind you that I stood stone-like at midnight, suspended in my masquerade, I combed my hair until it was just right and commanded the night brigade. Well, actually... that was Bruce, not me...
I've probably forgotten a load of great music from 1973 that I should have included ( like Steely Dan's Reelin' In The Years which just popped into my head ) but the above are the songs / albums that immediately spring(steen) to mind. A lot of them I wasn't aware of at the time
( only being six years-old in that far-off and far-out year ) but caught up with years, and even decades, later. So, after comics and music of 1973... I suppose films must be next... watch this space.
Oh, and I'll just leave you with something totally uncool but wonderful all the same:


"When I was young I'd listen to the radio / Waiting for my favourite songs
When they played I'd sing along / It made me smile"

 

Comics 1973

It's customary at this time of year for people ( and bloggers ) to take stock, to cast an eye back over the events of the past 12 months. Well... I'm not doing that here. Instead I'm looking back at a time 40 years ago when I was just a nipper and the universe was less than half its present size... or something. Looking at various years for my Mammoth Movie Meme series I realised that 1973 was one of my favourite years for movies, music and, indeed, comic books. So, I thought I'd do a few posts on that far-off time, starting with comics, probably not always the most important ones of the time, but long-time faves of mine  -  and I'll have to acknowledge here the wonderful work of fellow bloggers Steve W and Booksteve who have also covered similar ground on their own respective blogs...

 

First up is Savage Tales no. 2, a barbaric bonanza of Hyborian high jinks, featuring everyone's favourite Cimmerian in the classic Red Nails. It's a moodily faithful adaptation of Robert E Howard's short story with a fine script from Roy Thomas and absolutely jaw-dropping artwork by Barry ( Windsor ) Smith. This story definitely ties for my All-Time Fave Conan Comic Story Ever Ever with The Song Of Red Sonja from the same creative team. It really is the good stuff, by Crom...

 

As a total contrast, in Captain Marvel no.29 our space-faring Kree super-soldier takes time out from his battle with death-god Thanos to have a suspiciously psychedelic conversation with one of those all-knowing extra-terrestrials that always seemed to crop up in 1970s Marvel comics ( except for Night Nurse )  -  and thereby attain cosmic consciousness. OK. I'm not sure what Jim Starlin was smoking back then, but I'm glad he was, because he was really pushing the boundaries of what could be presented in mainstream comics at the time. This strip was, at the time, a fairly unique blend of science fiction, philosophy and Starlin's patented cosmic angst... before that became a bit tiresome. And that Starlin / Romita cover is awesome! Maaaan!

 

It's that Cimmerian again! Conan The Barbarian no. 32 sees our bare-chested battler caught up in nefarious goings-on in a fantasy version of China, and getting tangled up with the squid lady on the great Gil Kane / Ernie Chan cover above. And the John Buscema / Chan artwork inside the mag is a thing of beauty too.

Meanwhile, in Defenders no. 11, Doc Strange and his non-team of misfits have barely drawn breath after the end of the Avengers / Defenders War before they get whisked away to the Middle Ages where the Crusades are being further complicated by an evil wizard. Speaking of wizardry, continuity-magician Steve Englehart here manages to tidy up half a dozen plot-lines whilst spinning more, without seemingly batting an eyelid. I always loved these glimpses into the myths and legends of the Marvel Universe, before it all got too convoluted to follow...

Fantastic Four no. 142 introduces Darkoth the Death-Demon, a suitably Kirby-esque creation from the pencil of Rich Buckler. I always had a soft spot for ol' Darkoth, even though he wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the box. ( Oh, and if you're wondering who is "the most sinister super-villain of all" as announced on the cover... well, it's the Fantastic Four... take a guess... )

Whoops! Spoilt it.

Over in the DC Universe, in Justice League Of America no. 110 to be precise, things get more festive as "TV's Super-Friends" have to deal with some Ho-Ho-Homicide. Someone's murdered Santa ( notice my resistance to using a "sleigh"-based pun ) and the JLA, along with stand-in Green Lantern John Stewart, have to deal with the bizarre villain The Key before everyone can eat their mince pies in peace. Quite a grim story but it ends on a positive note as Stewart uses his Power-Ring abilities to spread some Christmas cheer among the slums of the DCU. One of the reprints in the 100-page comic is a classic from the Golden Age with the Justice Society also dealing with social problems, this time juvenile delinquency. Nowadays the biggest delinquents in comics seem to be the "super heroes" themselves...

Doctor Strange is again in trouble in Marvel Premiere no. 10 as he fights the Lovecraft-inspired monstrosity Shuma-Gorath, which has taken up residency inside the Ancient One's mind. Obviously there was no room at the inn for tentacled Elder Gods. The dream Doc team of Steve Engelhart and Frank Brunner pull out all the metaphysical stops as Strange plunges deep into his master's subconscious and realises he will have to kill the Ancient One in order to save the world. As they used to say, it's far-out fantasy in the mighty Marvel manner.

In a less philosophical plot Mister Miracle no. 14 sees the world's greatest escape artist and pint-sized sidekick Oberon investigate a "haunted" house which turns out to be a front for a criminal organisation led by the fantastically-monikered Madame Evil Eyes. This is Mister Miracle with all the Fourth World references dropped from the strip ( sadly ) and Jack Kirby just having a ball with insane characters and spooky, Gothic situations. Not a great work of literature... but great fun.

 

Special Marvel Edition no. 15 is a landmark comic, featuring as it does the debut of Shang-Chi, Master Of Kung Fu. Although my favourite run of this strip is the Kung Fu / espionage mash-up of the Doug Moench / Paul Gulacy era, this establishing story by Steve Engelhart ( yes, him again ) and Jim Starlin ( yes, him again too ) is a terrific, two-fisted introduction to Chi, Nayland Smith, Petrie and the Devil Doctor himself, Fu Manchu. In 1973 everybody was indeed Kung Fu fightin'...

Although it's probably very uncool to say so, I was a big fan of Krypton's Last Son when I was a kid and Superman no. 263 is a great example of the kind of Supes story I grew up reading. It's a suitably dreamlike tale of an angry movie director who is given the power to have revenge on Superman by a character called Doctor Phoenix. The director sacrifices his ability to dream in return for bringing nightmarish scenarios to life. Superman goes through various torments in the story, including being turned into the titular "Man Of Molten Steel". There's some beautiful artwork throughout by the ultimate Superman art team ( in my opinion ) of Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson. And that impressive photo-collage cover by Neal Adams too...

More living nightmares in Swamp Thing no. 5 as creators Len Wein and Berni Wrightson carry on working through old Horror movie themes, this issue covering witches, familiars and torch-bearing mobs. Wrightson's beautiful, intricate artwork conjures up the look of old woodcut illustrations as Swampy battles his way through a village full of gurning grotesques.

And yet more Horror in Tomb Of Dracula no. 12... but then that's what you would expect really. It's a pivotal issue in this long-running series as Edith Harker, daughter of wheelchair-bound vampire hunter Quincy Harker, is fanged by the Count himself, forcing Harker to stake his own daughter. From these early issues and all through the comic's life, main writer Marv Wolfman was never afraid to change the strip's status quo and confront his characters with realistic dilemmas and emotions. And vampires. ( I really need to post more about TOD, without doubt one of the best Marvel series ever. And I'm sure I've said that before. Maybe one day... )

I'll finish with issue no. 8 of the short-lived but fondly-remembered ( by me,

anyway ) Wanted: The World's Most Dangerous Villains. This was a showcase for Golden and Silver Age reprints featuring ( you've guessed it ) villains, villains and more villains. This issue resurrected the frankly ludicrous Mister Who and also the Flash's coolest enemy, Captain Cold. I loved the Wanted poster designs on the covers  -  real "high concept" stuff. This was an experiment that was never going to run and run but it was fun while it lasted.

So, those were some of my comic book highlights of 1973. If you'd like to share any similar memories ( dear reader ) I'd love to hear 'em. Excelsior!

Soundtrack: Fireworks going off outside ( well, it is New Year's Eve )