That Was A Rhetorical Question
The answer is "Yes", and we'll come onto exactly why in short order. Okay, okay, medium order. OKAY eventually.
You see, I was idly contemplating life, the universe and when Thomas Pynchon will release a new novel, all the really important questions, and I suddenly realised I'd made a shocking omission in my list of "Doom" themed items in that recent post. Art!
Dog Buns. I can only excuse this by stating that I am getting old and my blood is 50% gin. 60% on a good day. Also, Conrad seems to remember that the mines were the reallllly Doomy part of the architecture, and perhaps the catering, which probably wasn't even gluten-free. Art!
The antithesis of 'Steely-eyed', because his eyes are the only thing about his face that aren't steel. Ladies, gentlemen and those unsure, say hello to the redoubtable Victor Von Doom, Ph.D, a.k.a. Doctor Doom. Ol' Vicci is one of those people who doubtless see themselves as a hero, because he wants to bring order and stability to the world, except it's going to be done on his terms and nobody else's - what you might call the "Sauron Syndrome". Dictator/ruler/supreme leader <delete where applicable>, he is one of the DC universe's most formidable villains. Art!
This is Thulsa "Snakehips" Doom. That's all I have to say. Art!
We'll call it quits at this point, as I'm going to bore bore bore you with why Your Humble Scribe is a happy chappy.
The Trouble With Looking For "Starlord" -
Is that you inevitably get Google results that bring up Peter Quill, not the short-lived sci-fi comic from the Eighties. Art!
BOOJUM!: The Forbidden Planet (comsatangel2002.blogspot.com)
The strip was "Captain Condor And The Forbidden Planet", and Conrad was going to include it in the Intro because I thought the bad guys present were called "Doomes", which tells you a lot about creativity back in the Seventies.
Well, doing a Google search earlier this afternoon brought up a site called "ReadAllComics" and what do you know, there was CCATFP. I had the spelling wrong, which you can forgive as it was last read fifty years ago: it ought to have been "Doommes". Art!
So, lest the site vanish when the sun goes down, I've spent part of my afternoon fondly re-reading the entire strip. As noted back in 2017, the Cap is pretty much a clone of Dan Dare; noble, upright, steely-eyed and tall. He also has Dan's sense of morality - no shooting unless his own life is threatened.
I have discovered that the story was by Frank Pepper. The artwork is more opaque as to attribution, because when this strip was originally published, the comics never credited either artist or writer. That only came in when "2000AD" ushered in credit panels; rather to my surprise, "Starlord", despite being a sister brother publication, has no credits at all. Art!
Let me regale you with a panel or two from the strip. Art!
That there is the "Starseeker" apparently encountering a giant flattened space octopus, entirely resistant to atomic shells. Conrad would caution about letting fly multi-kiloton warheads in close vicinity to a spaceship, but - what do I know. Art!
I think someone's been drinking too much coffee as their nerves seem on edge, rather. As a side note, please be aware of how the speech bubble has been spikified, to denote raw screaming terror, and carefully placed to obscure the least amount of relevant detail. There is a bit of an art in 'lettering' as it's known, sufficient that "2000AD" gives them a separate credit. Art!
O noes! What will surely happen to the Starseeker? Note the unusual design of the spaceship here, it looks more like a flying table than the streamlined missiles familiar from "Eagle". Art!
Ooo-errr Matron! Clearly there is skulldiggery* afoot here. I would like to finish this homage to Captain Condor with one line that has stuck with me for over fifty years. Art!
I won't post any more to avoid spoilers. There is a lot more build-up to actually landing on Rigel III than I remember, and Conrad - pedantic hair-splitter that he is - has identified one plot hole already.
There are a few more reprints of Sixties comic strips in this annual, which I shall detail at excruciating length at a later date.
"City In The Sky"
The Doctor is plotting, planning and pontificating, with a little pleading thrown in, as he anticipates the hideous alien invaders will try to destroy New Eucla and it's inhabitants.
A procession of disgruntled citizens plodded down the hard-worn streets
and main road of their township, heading towards the sound of breakers and the
waiting ships beyond, already out at anchor in the bay. Many clutched possessions, odd things that
were small enough to carry or too precious to risk leaving behind.
Once they reached the beach, small rowboats ferried people out to the
waiting ships, able to take four hundred passengers in total.
Mike watched them leave, wondering if they’d have a town to come back to
when all this was over – however long “all this” would be, and feeling the
ghost of a smell in his nostrils, the bitter charnel stink of a murdered hamlet
at Forrest. When the ships cast off he
walked amongst those left behind to reassure them.
‘They’ll be back in an hour.
They’re only going to drop folks off at Barralonga and then they’ll be
back. Me and the lads who stay behind
will make sure nobody breaks into your houses or robs your kit.’
He trudged back up the clinging sands, heading for the scrub beyond the
beach and high ground where that strange blue box had been. From there he could see the fleet tacking and
bearing out to open waters in a combination of flapping sails and sooty smoke
from the steam engines. Two dozen ships,
the most he’d seen sailing at any one time, leaving a huge creamy wake in the
combers that ran into the beach’s sunny sands.
One feels that being robbed of a few trinkets is by far the least of their worries.
Bring It On
"The Daily Beast" asks a question and BOOJUM! answers it. Art!
None whatsoever. Next!
"The War Illustrated"
This illustration comes from Issue 185, dated 31st July, so it would be including images from a fortnight earlier, both because that's how slowly print media worked at that time (1944) and also to ensure the Teutons didn't pick up any interesting titbits if they bought a subscription from their embassy in Dublin. Art!
The top picture is interesting as it shows an abandoned Tiger tank**; abandoned because there's a British soldier firing at the enemy mere yards away, with a deceased Teuton in the foreground. This close you can't tell if the Tiger broke down or has been brewed-up by gunfire; either way it's a loss. Below, you can see a couple of Teuton officers having to adjust their mindset to being PoWs, and probably lamenting that they, as Untermenschen, have been captured by a Tommy about 5' tall. To starboard you can see British soldiers doing the 'Combat Crouch', adopted by soldiers when under fire. British officers, mind, were sternly warned NOT to do this, because "It doesn't work and the men don't like it."
And at bottom you can see two Tommies carrying rifles, bayonets fixed. This unpleasant contraption is the British Spike Bayonet, which was far more efficient than the enormous Sword Pattern Bayonet, yet just as effective at rendering the enemy like unto a kebab.
Finally -
Right, I've finished this blog at about the time I normally start it. How industrious I am!
* As remarked before, this is even worse than skullduggery.
** Trust me, bro, I know my TANK
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