Comic Book blatherings from the backyard of nostalgia.
ThanKs to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for Their Sponsorship of This Post, via The Magic of Patreon . *** W ho remembers Glenn Medeiros? I certainly do. And July 1988 was doing its best to make sure it stayed that way, as he spent almost the entire month at Number One on the UK singles chart, thanks to his smash hit Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You , before being dislodged by Yazz and…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** I t seems like I can't stop talking about Mars, of late. And that may be because we've reached the 50th anniversary of the week in which Viking 2 entered orbit around the Red Planet. Back on Earth, the Great Clock of Westminster - often erroneously referred to as Big Ben - suffered…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** W e all love a good film. And some of us love a bad film. But how many August 1986 releases fit into either of those categories? Here's where we find out. That month oversaw the unleashing of such joys as Flight of the Navigator, Friday the 13th Part VI, Howard the Duck, She's Gotta Have…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** H ere we go. There's mixed news for our battling barbarian, this month. The possibly bad news is that the demon inhabiting the body of Tetra is out to win the heart of our hero. The good - presumably - is that Keiv is restored to his human form, after having been in monstrous guise since…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** H as there ever been life on Mars? This week in 1976 may have given people reason to ponder, as it was the week in which NASA released its now infamous Face on Mars photo, taken during the Viking 1 mission. Rather more terrestrially, Trinidad and Tobago became a republic with President…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** C inema! What a magnificent art form it is! And just how magnificent was it in August 1976? It was this magnificent! The month saw the release of such gems as Obsession, The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West, The Return of a Man Called Horse, The Great Texas Dynamite Chase, The Gumball…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** L et's have some more nostalgia. It's a, "Spectacular 150th anniversary special!" It's amazing to think it means that, with this issue, the Avengers had been around for a hundred and fifty years. At the time, it must have seemed like barely more than ten. It's just a shame the cover tells…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** T his week in 1976 gave the world a stark warning of the dangers of warm, undisturbed water in a large building when delegates attending an American Legion convention at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia began falling ill with a form of pneumonia. This would come to be…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** Image by Tumisu from Pixabay W hat is man without opinion? I have no idea but I do know what this post is without an opinion. And that's a post that cannot boast that it's the greatest feature on the internet. That's because, as every sane man, woman, animal and plant knows, the greatest…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** F or well over a century, people have been arguing about which is best? AC or DC? Well, DC, of course. After all, it gave us the random selection of comics below! And you don't get more random than this, as the company gives us its take on the Three Musketeers and Robin Hood. I'd assumed…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** M any were the things that happened, this week in 1976. For instance, Jimmy Carter was nominated for President at the Democratic National Convention in New York. Elsewhere, Albert Spaggiari and his gang broke into the vault of the Société Generale Bank in Nice. The 1976 Olympics began in…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** Image by Tumisu from Pixabay A famous advertising campaign once claimed that it's good to talk. And that may be true. But what's even better is typing. Why, there are days when I can barely even stop typing. I'm like a literal typing machine. But what should I type? And, for that matter,…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** W orld Cup fever's been gripping the globe, of late, but June 1988 saw our beloved continent sit down to watch the Uefa Euro 1988 Football Tournament in West Germany, which would be famously won by the Netherlands. And, just as now, the temperature was on everyone's mind. This time…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** I think we're all familiar with the joke that starts with the words, "What's a Greek urn?" And, this week in 1976, one Greek must have been urning a fortune. That's because he was Demis Roussos and he'd just hit the Number One spot on the UK singles chart, courtesy of his…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** A nyone entering a cinema, this month in 1986, had very little to complain about, as a whole slew of famous, notorious and unforgettable movies were unleashed, right then. Among the gâteries Cinématographique one would have encountered were such things as About Last Night, Big Trouble in…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** Y ou know what I was doing on this date in 1986? I've no idea but let's pretend I was reading these comics. Thor's found Balder, living in a floating castle with three beauteous maidens who turn out to be malevolent trolls manipulating his senses. Needless to say, a punch-up between the…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** W hat was occurring in this week of exactly fifty years ago? This was occurring. The UK's legendary heat wave peaked with a temperature of 35.9 °C (96.6 °F) in Cheltenham. Possibly not connected with that was that, suddenly, you couldn't move for punk bands. Not only did the Clash play…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** I t's July 1976 and there's a record-breaking heatwave going on. I know; I'll take refuge in a cinema. It's always cold in cinemas. Just like it's always cold in any hotel room I find myself in. But what shall I see in that cinema? I may see one of the following, as they're all films…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** H ooray! It's July! Already! And we all know what's significant about that month! It's the first month of the year! And that means it's the one in which we all rush out and buy ourselves a brand new calendar! And what better one to buy, here in 1976, than the one that Marvel Comics has…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** T he longest day of the year has come and gone and, as the sun sinks lower in the sky, let us sink lower into the past and discover just what delights awaited us, within our local newsagents, this very week in 1976. Neal Adams arrives on the Avengers' strip, even as their comic approaches…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** Image by Tumisu from Pixabay I t's clearly a very special month because, despite there only being 30 days in it, we've, somehow, managed to squeeze in three Speak Your Brains . "But, Steverino," I hear you cry. "How are those who are new to this site meant to know what that even means?"…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** P lans are of no use to a man like me. Like all men of destiny, I rely on random happenstance to guide me. Therefore, let's see what appears when I spin the Steve Does Comic Wheel of Fate and see upon which DC comics that bear this month's cover date its untutored arrow settles. Many…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** W e're all wallowing in the highs and lows of the World Cup, right now, as our favourite countries battle it out to become champions of the globe. But, this week in 1976, it was the European Championship that was on our minds. And its final was won by Czechoslovakia who beat West Germany…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** Image by Tumisu from Pixabay A wise man once said, "Silence is golden." Admittedly, he wasn't being silent when he said it. Such is the nightmare hypocrisy of mankind. But there is a place in which silence is most definitely not golden. And that is Speak Your Brain . The only feature on…
Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon . *** P olitics will always be with us. And it sometimes seems like some politicians will be too. For instance, May 1988 saw François Mitterrand, having already spent seven years as President of France, manage to get himself re-elected for another seven! But some things were coming to an end.…