A title i've long over-looked and i really dunno why - guess it was a staple of most kids reading back in the seventies as it gave you a weekly dose of your favourite shows, albeit in FAR more ambitious adventures than the show that spawned the strip could ever hope to achieve.
Case in point here, "The Tomorrow People", which has the Jaunters trekking around a jungle planet for two pages. If Thames had tried that, it'd be all cardboard tubes for trees and an awful lot of plastic plants i guess. And the ape-like aliens would've been a couple of moth eaten gorilla suits loaned from the Benny Hill show or sumsuch. Nice art though, which i'm guessing is John Burns?
"Kung Fu" is better, by being an American show, thereby having a decent budget and even more decent locations the crew could visit, making the strip here being much more do-able. Again, nice art. Martin Asbury?
The other strips are all familiar stuff, though for the life of me i don't know why they'd be considered for comic adaptations: "Bless This House", "Doctor In Charge!","Micheal Bentine's Potty Time" etc.
One strip i didn't recognise at all was "The Kids From 47a" as i don't remember the show whatsoever. And i'm not the only one - the tale of some children leaving at home alone while their mum's in hospital is so obscure, there's not one clip of it on Youtube.
Looking at the TV ratings at the back, its interesting to see what the 12 year-old me was watching on Saturdays back then.
The kiddie bit went:
9.55 Captain Scarlet
10.20 Forest Rangers
11.00 Funky Phantom
11.30 Tarzan
12.00 World Of Sport
6.00 New Faces
7.00 Sale Of The Century
7.30 Kung Fu
"Funky Phantom" started ringing bells. So thought i'd refresh me memory by looking for it on Youtube. God, wish they'd been alarm bells ringing - i'd forgotten it for a reason:
Finally, i chose this issue to feature the title as 1974 is a looong way away now but i can so clearly remember even now waiting for that issue to come out as i SO wanted that Kung Fu medallion. And can still very clearly remember buying the issue on the way to school - then losing the medallion on the way. And the upset of being in the playground where i was seemingly the only one there not standing and admiring their new bit of fabbo jewellry.
Though looking at this ad on tips how to wear it, at least it saved me looking a pillock:
3 comments:
Nice seeing your review...
a lot of those programs I've never seen before ..as I was born in 1974!
I'm a little obsessed with old TV listings so glad to see what was on the box in 74!
Incidentally, I found out recently that fab British artist (of Judge Anderson amongst others), Arthur Ransom was a Look-In alumnus. Love Arthur's work.
Remember this issue very well, as i do the Kung Fu medallion..Remember my brothers and other kids at school with their medallions too.
btw, did'nt mind "The Kids From 47a", i'm sure it ran for a couple of years...
Post a Comment