Wacky Races Annual 1971 (World Distributors)

Back in the sixties with just three TV channels and children's TV being broadcast at tea-time on both the BBC and ITV the whole family would sit down and watch these programmes together. A habit long lost I fear. One of those programmes was the delightful Wacky Races from the Hanna-Barbera studios.

This cartoon featured a number of really strange vehicles with equally odd drivers and passengers but the real stars of the show were the villain Dick Dastardly and his dog Muttley whose laugh was often imitated in the playground.

Given the number of times these cartoons were shown you'd be surprised to learn that were just seventeen 20 minute episodes in 1968 . However the programme had some memorable spinoffs.

The annual also contains strips from two other related cartoons the first being Dastardly & Muttley In Their Flying Machines. This show with it's memorable Stop That Pigeon theme tune also only had seventeen  episodes originally broadcast from 1969 to 1970.

and the other being The perils of Penelope Pitstop. This also ran in 69/70 for a total of seventeen episodes. 

There were a total of five annuals in this series with the last two featuring The Harlem Globetrotters who were famous at the time and given their own cartoon show.

The annuals main source material was from Gold Key comics who published a short seven issue run of Wacky Races and featured Dick Dastardly in one of it's anthology humour titles. Otherwise the annuals were filled with "guest strips", puzzles and of course the inevitable text story.

Spider-Man Life Story Annual #1 (Marvel)

It's only been a couple of weeks or so since I accidentally came across Spider-Man Life Story in a collected trade paperback edition which examined the life and times of peter Parker in real time rather than "Marvel time" where the clock ticks much, much more slowly.

Seeing Peter grow old and his friends, allies and enemies around him do the same was an interesting way to to see how a super-heroes life might really have been. We're not all young forever though in the mainstream comic I suspect Peter Parker always will be.

Of course when publishers get hold of something worthwhile printing there'll always be room for sequels..of sorts anyway. Like the original story I only stumbled on this comic by accident once more when it was advertised in the new releases e-mail that The Forbidden Planet send me every week. This Annual is indeed a tie in to the main feature and the main protagonist is not our hero but his enemy J. Jonah Jameson.

This tale takes us back to the early days with Jameson deciding to hire scientists to take out Spidey and after the second time with The Scorpion falling ill and wanting to talk it's Jonah who ends up in the slammer as the real menace to society. From there inside gaol we see a different and quite intriguing side to the whole Spider-Man epic through the eyes of an obsessed man.

I mentioned in my previous review I'd like to see more of these and it was pointed out that Marvel are currently doing a series based on the real time lives of the Fantastic Four. As soon as that is collected I'll be grabbing a copy. In the mean time do pick up a copy of this comic it's a good read.

Rating: 5 Stars (Highly Recommended)

The Titans Annual 1978 (World Distributors)

 

Over recent years I've collected a lot of Marvel UK's output as at the time they were originally published I was for the most part buying a lot of the US editions which were in colour, readily available and in advance of the British comics story-wise. 

One exception to this so far has been the Titans comic with it's landscape format which really doesn't appeal to me. The Annual is an obvious exception. This is a full colour publication and contains two complete stories the first being a reprint of the American Fantastic Four Annual #6 (1968) and the other a Black Widow story from Amazing Adventures #8 (1971).

The Fantastic Four story. Let There Be ..Life is a classic which introduces readers to the Negative Zone,  Annihilus. of course sees the birth of Franklin Richards son of Reed and Sue Richards. All founding elements of the Marvel Universe created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in their 100 plus issue run of that title.

The Black Widow story is much shorter despite having the longer title; How Shall I KIll Thee? Let Me Count The Ways and was chosen for it's appropriate length rather than anything else. The character has grown into something of interest in modern Marvel and in particular because of her role in their cinematic universe. However back then I was not particularly interested and this story was all a bit, well "meh".

Green Lantern: Season Two Volume 2 Ultra War (Hardback/DC)

 

I have finally got around to reading the fourth and final volume of Grant Morrisson's run on Green Lantern and have to say that each volume has been more progressively difficult to read and digest. His journey into the surreal possibilities of not just existence but what lies behind it and more comes to a complex if seemingly simple conclusion in this six part adventure.

Hal Jordan the hero at the centre of this tale starts off the first chapter by being dead but then he's been deceased at least three times to my knowledge and both destroyed and helped rebirth his creators, allies and even former opponents. So the reader has little to worry about here as he learns of the Ultra War which will turn everybody against everyone everywhere down to the last atom.

It will probably not be a spoiler for you the reader to learn that Hal returns to the land of living once again. Nobody thinks he'll take being dead lying down or for long either. There's a trial going on with Hyperman and his family being at the centre of a scandal caused by substance abuse. There are two Star Sapphires floating around from the Multiverse and we visit Universe 11 where women are in charge.

There's so much happening here with Morrison's obscurantist dialogue hardly helping but all the elements that made the Green Lantern what it is are present and fighting in this countdown to an ending.

I suspect these four volumes would read better consecutively in a short period of time rather than over the actual couple of years it took to write and publish this epic.

Rating 5 Stars ( Highly Recommended)

Once & Future Volume 3 (Boom! Studios)

 

The latest volume of the horror version of the legend of King Arthur returns with the reader finally seeing the arrival of the British Government into the fray. But first up we return to the group of Neo-Nazi's last seen in the first volume who it appears are working with Gran's daughter or Duncan's mother however you wish to view her.

A fight begins as The Green Knight arrives and throws Harry's head into their pub. You know the deal. There is much afoot in this chapter of the adventure as Rose finds herself awaiting the return of the Knight in a year and and a day after intervening.

WE get to listen to mum's motivations and what she thinks of her sons beau but can Rose be saved? Enter a couple of soldiers led by Civil Servant Heppleworth. There's mysteries within mysteries as one of these troopers is under direct instructions to report back to the Prime Minister whose face is always shrouded in darkness.

Oh and they are not to ask any questions despite the sight of things no one should have to. They otherwise will get drawn into the ever-changing story.

As for King Arthur and Merlin. Thy're around all right but how things go for them only time will tell...

And in Volume Four which I have already pre-ordered for April 2022. 

If you haven't started this story volumes one and two are readily available via your local comic shop ( I use the Forbidden Planets Mail Order service) or Amazon if pre-ordering Volume 4.

Rating: 5 Stars (Recommended)

Radiant Black Vol 1 (Image)

 

Every once in a while something grabs my attention and when I noticed the solicitation for this took a gamble on buyting the the trade and now having read it I have to say it was a risk well worth taking.

According to Robert Kirkman this is "the perfect superhero comic for anyone missing invincible" and now being drawn back into that world by the Amazon cartoon I can concur. This is quite a different story of course and our hero is no teenager. In fact he's a failed writer in his thirties heading home to his parents because he's broke.

We learn quite a lot about Nathan Burnett and his troubled world. Broke and with almost permanent writers block. Back with his parents he has to work on his father's insistence. His home. His rules. We all know the score. Then we get to meet his rather rumbustious friend Marshall who will play a surprising role in this unfolding saga.

Of course there wouldn't be a superhero story without Nathan actaully becoming one. And loe a thing like a black hole appears and Radiant Black is born. Not sure why the black since he has blue in his costume and there is well more to come even for the colour blind like me!

This volume reprints the first six issues and the cliff-hanger actually takes place in Chapter Five but there are more twists to come. This story shows promise and I'll be ordering the next volume when it's solicited. I think there'll be a lot of surprises on the way.

Rating: 5 Stars. (Recommended)

TV Tornado Annual 1970 (World Distributors)

 

I thought it time to return to the theme of comics and TV in this which will be the first of a weekly series focusing on the relationship between the two mediums.  Today we start with TV Tornado's Annual which has no cover date and issued for Christmas 1969 but would have been advertised the 1970 edition since it was the practice of publishers to use the following years date to ensure a longer shelf life.

I have to say this is the first time I have purchased one of TV Tornado's annuals as the comic itself was not amongst my favourites as a child in the sixties. I much preferred TV 21 and even the occasional Lady Penelope weeklies. 

I recall only only having the odd copy of this comic which was a strange mix of actual TV related strips and stories including The Man From Uncle, Tarzan, The Lone Ranger, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea and The Saint all of which I used to watch back then but for some reason included reprints of Magnus Robot Fighter 4000AD which was a frankly unremarkable comic published by Gold Key in the USA. I assume they were offered it alongside their Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea comics which were also reprinted by TV Tornado.

The quality of the strips vary and there are a number of text stories which don't appeal to me. I buy comics for comic strips. However getting this as an addition to my collection of annuals did bring back memories. I have seen episodes of The Saint on ITV 4 but would welcome repeats of of the adventures of Seaview and see Napoleon and Ilya continue their fight against T.H.R.U.S.H. Those were the days!

TV Tornado was published from from January 1967 to September 1968. It ran for a total of 88 issues and merged with Solo before itself being subsumed by TV 21.