Random things from The Cupboard #1
Once upon a time, I had a small, square wooden cupboard where I kept all my comics and memorabilia. That was when I was ten. A few decades later I have come to the terrible realisation that the cupboard has got bigger and bigger, and that I am now actually living and working inside it. My name is Steve Cook, and these are the things that surround me…
My original blog began with this paragraph, so I thought I’d go a bit old school, and share some of these items with you.
I bought this with two shillings and sixpence of my own pocket money, while on holiday in Hayling Island. The year was 1968, and the Mighty World of Marvel was beginning to have an effect.
Three years later and Hayling Island delivered more treasure. DC’s Green Lantern/Green Arrow #86 - 1971, completely blew me away! I’m glad I still have it. It’s a milestone in the history of comics.
When cigarette lighters were considered cool for kids!
Here’s one I picked up in Thailand. According to my sources, the title is The Horror.
Ugh!!! So annoying when they put a bloody great ink stamp on such a wonderful publication. Spirit World, 1971. Another classic from Jack Kirby, featuring comics and photographic montage… absolutely Genius!!!
My Lion Summer Special from 1970, featuring the great Robot Archie, who first appeared in Lion in 1952. He was more recently seen as an acid house and techno loving guest character, in Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell’s 2000 AD series, Zenith, in 1989.
TV21 Annual, 1968 - my favourite annual of them all. I remember this being particularly well designed on the interiors too.
While I'm on a Gerry Anderson tip, here's The Lady Penelope Annual from 1968. Not actually from my own childhood, but this was kindly given to me a few years ago by my good friend, Sophie Aldred who played Ace in Doctor Who. You can find Sophie on Secret Oranges, here and here.
I remember this well from my childhood, and I have a strange feeling this book was published long before the Apollo Moon Landings!
Here’s a weird one. A package from the Netherlands arrived in the mail one day, containing a plastic ice cream container full of straw. As I rummaged through the straw I found this!!! The note secreted inside explained how my childhood friend Alison, who lives in Amsterdam, was working at Madam Tussauds over there, and had to deal with the tragedy of someone knocking over the Madonna waxwork. This unfortunate occurrence resulted in the wax head being smashed into smithereens. Having told her my strange Madonna tale at some point, she thought I might appreciate this little piece of ephemera. I did. It still makes me laugh to this day.
This cover was one of my favourite Marvel UK covers by the brilliant Jerry Paris. He did a few of the covers while I was working there and gave me this little masterpiece (below), for which I am forever grateful. Jerry’s signature is faded due to the length of time it hung on my bedroom wall.
And lest we forget…
Captain Britain #8 - December 1st, 1976. I still have all of these in my cupboard.
Well, that’ll do for now. Feel free to leave a comment if you recognize any of these, or if you were in fact the culprit who knocked Madonna over.
There are some real treasures there but surely nothing tops Madonna’s eyebrow.
Lovely detailed reproductions of lovely things. As someone else who now lives in a giant cupboard themselves, I'm greedily coveting more than half of what's in yours. Is it all with you? Surely it mostly resides back here in Blighty, unless you got some serious movers in.