If Superheroes Be The Food Of Love...Be A Dinah!!

 The baddest assed Dinah of pop culture, of course that is Dinah Lance, The BLACK CANARY.

(Phil Winslade)

In the 1960s we saw the Justice Society of America and the Black Canary revived in comix, they were put on an alternate universe that we know as Earth-Two.

When Dinah returned, we found out she went on to marry a guy called Larry Lance. Dinah along with the JSA came together to meet  the Justice League Of America taking on crime together so she regained her status within the JSA .

Her first love the gallant Larry Lance was killed whilst trying to save Dinah’s life by an alien named Aquarius. After they defeated the alien, Dinah was in mourning so left Earth-Two and moved to Earth-One to start a new life.

(Barry Kitson)

During this earth switch she gained the power ultrasonic scream, and called it the “Canary Cry.” She then joined the Justice League of America.

She soon began dating JLA teammate Green Arrow, her true and one and only… But this blog is not about the origin and twists and turns of the character, this blog is how maybe comics best femme fatal broke the hearts of many a superhero!!

So let’s start with most girls favourite... BATMAN! in Nov 1970 JLA #84 written by Robert Kanigher.

 I feel I should add that Kanigher does not care for continuity which is how he can bring the awesome within this issue.

So on a boring night of Satellite duty Batman is thankful for Dinah’s company.

Check this Mills & Boon prose:

"With the awkward tenderness of a man, Batman wraps the sobbing Black Canary in his arms...like a broken-winged fledgling, she lifts her tear-stained face towards his distressed eyes...Trapped by the same universal web of loneliness in which all humans are imprisoned...the couple gropes through the darkness of their souls...their lips fumbling for warmth...their hearts beating in a secret language without vocabulary..."

At this moment in 1970 I believe every female comic fans hearts raced a little bit quicker as they took a deep breath… only to see Black Canary break off the kiss!! WTF??

In March 1971 issue #88 Bats is still thinking about their tonsil-hockey whilst out on a mission with her and Green Arrow. Apparently Black Canary is:  "quite skilled, quite attractive...quite possibly the rare mate for the Batman!" in his mind…

Canary asks to walk with Bats, Arrow gets hot under the collar but gets told off, and Canary starts talking about Arrow to him, because Bats is "like a brother to her". So that is where it went wrong!!

Oh dear… We the reader 'now know where Canary's head is at!"  also thinks Batty.  Arrow comes back to Canary and Bats runs off all flustered.  What was Bruce thinking!!?

The panel hints at the "seed of bitterness" planted in Batman, but this never comes to anything.

(Steve Yeowell)

Ironically in this issue we see Green Arrow say; "We're joining Flash... he doesn't mess around with other guys' girls!" but in Post-Crisis JLA: Year One #11 (Nov. 98) Barry and Dinah kiss each other impulsively in the heat of battle, in the next issue, Flash runs to comfort his true love, an anguished Iris.

 I love Iris, so I don’t support this random act of battle lust!

There is also a quick kiss with the modern RAY aka  Ray Terrill  and we also find a little bit of a  YECCH!! moment when she still thought she was her own mum and came together with the Earth One counterpart Larry Lance, but it turned out he was criminal called the collector.

One of the more recent dates was with Doctor Midnite (Pieter Cross); written by Geoff Johns we see this in issues #16 and 21.

Their first date which was supposed to be a dinner date was crashed by Count Vertigo their 2^nd they are seen at a fun fair and he kisses her whilst on the ferris wheel but has to prompted to do so… what a gentleman!!

(Dick Giordano, scanner cut off the feet!)

After this it isn’t long before we see Oliver Queen the Green Arrow return from the dead and again their love holds no bounds.

Happy Customs Anniversary!

This week it is one year since I put brush to plastic in taking an existing action figure and turning it into a fun and sometimes rather silly little man that I get a certain amount of creative satisfaction from.

Since being a teen I have held an interest in art and artists and at one point was sure I was going to make it into a career for myself.

Then I took a different direction and it became a hobby.  But a hobby I was made to stop… so then I went into photography, but this was expensive!! So I packed it all away as time and money was short and life got in the way.

I wanted to create something which would challenge me and something which hasn’t been made by a major industry. If it all went tits up!, it didn’t matter… as long as I had fun making it and I found that piece of me which was the love of being creative again.

So the past 12 months in the world of customising has amazed me, from the artistic talent of some folk to how weirdly possessive, competitive and serious some people get about sharing how they have made things.

 I guess it takes it all sorts…

The more I look into it the more I get sucked into it, then the ideas start to flow!

Sadly, at the moment, my ideas are greater than my creative ability but I am never adverse to at least trying and learning from the mistakes I make.

With guidance, I feel my customs have come on in leaps and bounds as I get honest and constructive feedback from two customizers whose work I hold in very high regard.

So what have I have learnt?;

YELLOW PAINT!! Argh… I hate yellow paint. It is so streaky and thin and takes many coats to get a smooth and even cover. I really do hate it and I never noticed before customizing how many superhero/villains have the dreaded yellow in their costumes!

It would be nieve to think one little man is like the other… even if looks exactly the same! It is not.

Paint reactions- It can feel and look like painting with oil on water. This is due to oils within the plastic, so I always give my little men a good soapy wash before starting anything which can help.

So my first custom was the mighty mort Spellbinder:  

He was major fun to try and do due to his wacky costume. He got me hooked; this is something I love doing, it is my time to unwind and relax…

So; how to celebrate 1 year was the question I was asking?

By making a BIG ASSED SPELLBINDER! That’s how!!

                                     Happy Customs Birthday To Me!

What I want to achieve in my 2^nd year: Are to develop my emblems, rather than going freehand with them all the time so I want to explore the alternatives.

Sculpting- I enjoy it; I find it very very hard but fun, so I’m going to keep practicing.

And enjoy, watch and stay inspired by looking at the work of:

Doc: http://www.criticalmess.net/index.php?topic=6574.0

and

Rod Keith: http://www.criticalmess.net/index.php?topic=12503.0

The 60 yo Menace!

(guardian.co.uk)

The Beano's Dennis the Menace is 60 years old.

He was advertised as the "world's naughtiest boy" and was first seen in 1951 starting out on the back of a cigarette packets.

It wasn’t long before Dennis had stolen his famed red and black jumper that gave the Beano it’s much needed boost and inspired a new wave of comic strip kids that shook up post-war Britain.

The late 80s showed that Dennis the Menace had never been so popular. In 1988 his fan club had over a million members.

Today he remains the Beano's most popular character and has his own international TV spin-off, which has been renamed Dennis and Gnasher, after his canine sidekick who first appeared with Dennis in 1968.

So how did this naughty boy, bully his way into children's and adults affections?

It all began in Scotland, where the Beano's publisher DC Thomson & Co are still based.

The Beano's history reveals - when the comic's editor George Moonie heard a music hall song that had the chorus "I'm Dennis the Menace from Venice" and went back to suggest a character with the same name.

Writer Stephen McGinty, said the birth arrived in a St Andrews pub while chief sub Ian Chisholm and artist Davey Law were brainstorming.

Ian Chisholm grabbed a cigarette packet, sketched a picture of "a knobbly-kneed boy with dark spiky hair" and that was the moment a British comic strip legend was born.

Dennis did have a few false starts wearing a tie and blue jumper, and it was Davey Law who gave him his distinctive red and black jumper, then came the outsized shoes and devilish grin.

(guardian.co.uk)

For contemporary Beano artist Lew Stringer, it was Davey Law who turned the concept into a character to sit alongside his predecessors like Desperate Dan in the Dandy, Superman in Action Comics and Batman in Detective Comics.

The Beano was flagging by 1950 and was no longer radical in anyway. It was the stylised action and progressive storylines from Dennis the Menace that kept the Beano going and changed the face of British comics. 

 There was an energy that Dennis had, it was new and modern and he became one of the first naughty kids characters of the post-war period.

In most children's books a bad child gets made good - but this has never happened with Dennis he has never got ‘better’

After Dennis we saw other characters; the Bash Street Kids, Minnie the Minx and Roger the Dodger.

Many Beano characters, like Biffo the Bear - whom Dennis replaced on the cover in 1974 - have since fallen by the wayside.

So why has Dennis survived? It is believed that he succeeded where others haven’t because he has evolved but has never lost his essential naughty nature.

It shouldn’t really be needed to be pointed out that 1951 was a totally different world.  

What children are allowed to do has changed, as have the punishments.

The beatings - or slipperings - that concluded in each week's story have had to stop in our gentler age of punishment but the editors have kept the "blatant anti-establishment" motif running through the strip.

Though Dennis was looked upon as very bad and has even been called "quite evil"  by some in the past, he's now been softened for television and to fit into modern society.

He has been given a ‘fun’ makeover, and is slightly younger looking.

In the late 1980s, the Beano changed Dennis's attitude to Walter the Softy to avoid accusations of homophobia.

Euan Kerr who edited the Beano between 1984 and 2006 revealed in his book about his time working for the Beano  that he turned Walter into a "confident, likeable character" and toned down Dennis's bullying of his swotty, flower picking nemesis . "We eventually gave Walter a girlfriend too as a measure to combat any further criticism," he revealed.

But this is now the age of anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos), anti-bullying strategies and health and safety fears, so a question which keeps popping up in the press from time to time is; Is Dennis the Menace still an appropriate character?

My answer is...: Of course he is! Adults do attempt to put a fence around kids rather than seeing that adults are the ones who influence and inspire what a child is to become.

Adults do punish children, it is part of growing up which will always run through every decade to different degrees.

Dennis the Menace is a survivor and he should be looked upon as a great inspiration to us all!

                                                       Happy Birthday Dennis!!

My Next Art-icle.

Pencil sketches:  when money is tight I turn my hand to getting pencil or simple convention sketches. I use to do this as a kinda prelude for commissioning something a little bigger and seeing which artist I favoured.

Each and every one of the ‘simple’ sketches I own has its unique stamp, you get an insight into how the artist works and the detail and definition you get can be totally different to an inked piece and shouldn’t be regarded with less significance to a complete painting.

Over the next few weeks I shall upload some more but these four pieces are some of my favourites and I shall say why?

Romana Fradon- I really don’t think you can ever own enough Ramona art whatever she draws is fun and a delight. I asked for a Gorilla Grodd and I think she knocked it out the ball park with this.

Dick Giordano-  One of the greats, one of the masters… he threw this in as an extra as there was a commissioned piece being ordered and he thought he couldn’t get it done quick enough. I wasn’t going to turn down free art!! So I opted for my favourite Catwoman.

My all-time favourite artist- Alex Toth: I was very lucky to be able to communicate with Alex Toth for a short time. Within that time I was sent a few pieces of art.

The first one is the stamps he liked to draw. I think these are great insight into how his mind worked

This is part of a bigger piece but he included himself on it and was accompanied with a letter pointing this out to me.

Looking at this makes me kinda sad.

From what I gathered I don’t think Mr Toth was very happy towards the end of his life and the housing he was in they would try to stop him sketching… which didn’t please him. And this self-portrait is not of a happy man.

He was happiest behind his drawing board… and they should have respected that.

These shoes are killing me. Batman: You go shopping wearing high heels. ....

When shopping, make-up, comics and art by Mike Allred join together you get FUN ON A BUN!

Make–up company MAC are celebrating feminism with their spring collection. So who better than to be the face of their campaign than Wonder Woman?

A couple of weeks ago I was delighted to the sight of Wonder Woman fighting Medusa whilst throwing out lipsticks on the side of Selfridge’s window.  WW had still not arrived but the publicity surrounding her arrival was running strong.

On closer inspection of the advertising and promo art it appeared to be by one of the coolest cats in comics, Mike Allred.

Weird? two worlds which don’t normally meet. During lunch I messaged Mike Allred via Facebook to confirm my suspicions, his response was ‘ Yes, BIG FUN! And it was selling really well and sold out in many places across the States.

The make-up artist at MAC took my name and a few days later I received and invitation from Wonder Woman for a consultation and introduction to the new styles that can be created. 


 I really could not resist this; it was too damn cute…

There is a whole range of make-up ranging from foundations, lipsticks, nail varnish, glitter, tints, eyeliner, powders, colour pallets etc. The products come in great designs and packaging. 

Along with cosmetic bags and false eyelashes and just like America it is selling out fast over here too! I was shown how to recreate the looks named: Defiance, Deep Truth, Golden Lariat, Mighty Aphrodite and Marine Ultra.

From someone who used to work at the make-up counters I have never seen such a fun promotion and even if you don’t intend to buy? it is a must to check out, give your eyes a treat and check out the Mike Allred art.

For more Mike Allred check out his blog here: http://allredart.blogspot.com/

For more on the WW promotion check out the website here: http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk/

Twenty Years Of Rockin’ n Rollin’ is enough…

The Who, Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Paul McCartney, Ian McLagan, Robert Plant, Gary 'US' Bonds, The Doors, Velvet Revolver, David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Noddy Holder, Marvin Ruffin, Mark E Smith, Roger Daltrey, Jimmy Page, Bill Wyman, Georgie Fame, Brian Johnson, Steven Adler, Ken Kesey, Mountain Girl, Jizzy Pearl, Kerri Kelli, John Corabi, Nikki Sixx, Tracii Guns, Bruce Kulick, Fred Coury, Joe Strummer, Motley Crue, Killing Joke, Alice Cooper, Twisted Sister, Iron Maiden, Anthrax, David Lee Roth, BOD, Quireboys, Serj Tankian, Matt Sorum, Brian Wilson, John and Catherine Sebastian, Jorma Kaukonen, May Pang, Ace Finchum, Dougal Butler and Richard Barnes, Peter Tork, Keith Moon's Mum!, Dave Davies, Jim Messina, Tony Rivers, Skid Row, Poison, Enuff Znuff, Metallica, GnR, Soundgarden, FNM, Megadeth, Pantera, Diamond Head, Hawkwind, Alice In Chains, The Almighty, Wildhearts, Levellers, Ozric Tenticles, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston, David Marks, Phil Varone, Gene Parsons, Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn, Billy Idol, Angie Bowie, Pearl Jam and more I have forgotten about…

I was brought up in a musical household on my father’s side, and from an early age I remember singing along to I Should Have Known Better, and being Phil Everly to my dad’s Don. It was a Lennon household and just as important as learning your ABCs knew your John, George, Paul and Ringos apart.
I was brought up hearing the 50s Rock and Roll legends, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis, and my favourite at the time (and he still is!) Eddie Cochran. All the classic 60s bands were regulars on the turn table.
I never went through the phase some kids go through thinking your parent’s music is not cool even though as a child I was listening to Stock Aitken and Waterman productions.

I am sure this put me in good stead with my music taste and choices of today.

To an eleven y.o. girl rock n’ roll was not just something to listen and dance around to; it was an awakening to femininty and sexuality… it was a world which inspired, enticed. This may or may not have been slightly coinciding with hitting puberty and discovering boys! Either way in my life they were side by side.

As soon as my eyes alighted upon Jim Morrison on the front of the "Waiting For The Sun" album I knew I wanted to know and experience everything about Rock n’ Roll and meet the guys who went with it….
I started picking up the NME every Friday, though at the time I didn’t know many of the bands they were talking about. Just before my dad died I asked him if I could go to a concert? His answer was, sure! But who?

I went to see Skid Row at the Apollo in Manchester, as the lights dimmed, intro tape faded, the hum of the amps was so exciting. Something which still excites me today.

I was surrounded by guys in tight pants and long hair, girls in thigh high boots and the most awesome make up an eleven y.o. could only dream of.
I left the theatre that night wanting more… needing more even. Childhood dreams of marrying that rocker, standing alongside fans seeing girls want my man and guys wanting to be my man… a life of travelling and recording studios - that is what I wanted.
I started reading books on my idols: Morrison, Lennon and Hendrix, but soon realised I had been born thirty years too late.

So I turned my attentions to the bad boys which were making the headlines of the time: Guns n’ Roses, Motley Crue, Metallica etc…
I wasn’t really one for high school and if a band was in town I would pack a change of clothes, head for the bus into town… I waited ALL day for Metallica to the point of either carrying on waiting and lose a good view point or go and queue to get right down at the front.
I left, to get in line. Considering I was a twelve y.o. girl who was only 5'4", it wasn’t long before the security pulled me out; even though I was okay they saw me as a squash hazard. Luckily one of the bands road crew who I had been talking to earlier in the day recognised me and pulled me aside; I told my tale of woe and he sat me right on the top of one of Kirk Hammet's amps… FUCK!! I sat at the side of the stage with Metallica right in front of me with their good vibrations travelling bone shatteringly through my body; needless to say, I was hooked..

From here I got involved with the punk folk band the Levellers; I travelled up and down the country following them. Got to know them well and a couple of them are still friends today.

Though one who would not know or understand; may place the title ‘groupie’ upon my shoulders. I was never in it for sex with these guys and didn’t think all that much about the chicks who were just there for that.
I wanted to hang out; the lifestyle fascinated me, the music, and the people behind the music.

That is not to say I didn’t enjoy the partying, but I was looked upon as a kid and I was taken care of…

Partying on glam rockers Poison's tour bus, I was limited as to how much I could drink and was given Coca-Cola after two bottles of bud!!! The band Enuff Z'nuff, who were supporting, made sure I got home on time and that I got in my cab, and that I wasn’t brught to the attention of one of Poison's members, who has a somewhat dubious rep with the younger girl….

It was only then it really occurred to me that the bands may think that that is what I was in it for, so from then on I always carried a CD sleeve with me to get signed and then pushed to see how far I could get to hang with the bands.

When I hit 16 I started writing quick reviews for an American fanzine on the rock scene here in the UK; the leg-up this gave me was tremendous: as much as the fanzine wanted the UK bands, the UK bands wanted US publicity. I got my time with many of the bands and often free tickets.
As I got older, my attentions started changing to the greats who shaped the music scene of today.

My boyfriend of the time had met the Kinks' Ray Davies with me more than he'd met my gran, and one encounter led to another; I had my time to talk with Pete Best, Klaus Voorman and Astrid (of Beatles in Hamburg fame). I sat at Lennons bar with Cynthia Lennon whilst she was telling me her ideas for the future of Mathew Street.

I became friends with Brian Jones ex-girlfriend Pat Andrews, met some of the people from the Stones scene through her: Mick and Keith's ex-roommate in the early days Jimmy Phelge, and the Stones' ex-minder Tom Keylock… who I found to be quite an obnoxious man.
I was set to meet Andrew Loog Oldham but he stood me up at a bar, I have since tried to get an interview with him, but the 2nd time I couldn’t make it…

Marianne Faithfull, Anita Pallenberg, Kim McLagan / Moon, Michelle Phillips, groupie queen Miss Pamela Des Barres, and Cynthia Plaster Caster all helped and contributed to a website I used to host called Swingin’ Sirens.

I helped in the search of Merlin with the Merry Pranksters: "ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOS NEST" author Ken Kesey; Jerry Garcia’s wife, Mountain Girl, and the rest of them, Grateful Dead followers from the 60s, on the bus Furthur.

That was sure something of an experience, I kept a very open mind throughout and NEVER accepted a drink off any of them… it was my nod to the "acid test"… plenty of dancing to be had, but yup! You’ve guessed it… Merlin did not show!

Also: A chance meeting of the great Roger Daltrey when the Who were playing Manchester and Jimmy Page whilst in KFC… (He ditches his own tray…) are probably my most favourite memories.
Bill Wyman, nothing like I was lead to believe - such a charming man, if not surprisingly short and deaf!!
Interviews with some sleeze-rock's finest, Taime Downe of Faster Pussycat, and the ever lovely Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction; getting drunk with AC/DC's Brian Johnson and the Faces' Ian McLagan.

BUT… when faced directly with sex, drugs and R'n'R in its "purest" form by partying with ex-Guns n’ Roses member Steven Adler twice in one week - you saw the lot… and it was this tour which I saw a whole new side to it. It was very seedy and very lonely.

I sat watching ex-Love/Hate frontman Jizzy Pearl offering the tour manager out for a fight; The bass player was fucking some chick by the toilet in the corner; the guitarist's wife had just dumped him via text and Steven was sat there shouting ‘Wanna Whole Lotta Drugs!!’ to Led Zep's ‘ Whole Lotta Love’ whilst trying to get a threesome going. The drugs and booze just kept on rollin’….and I decided to check out.

The following day I was walking my dog in the countryside, enjoying the fresh air and beautiful things and this is the way I want to follow with my life.

I got my ‘rocker’ boyfriend, spent hours and days within a recording studio, trudging round the gig scene over and over and it is nothing how a little girl ever imagined it.

I have many many stories and anecdotes from my Rock n’ Roll encounters with all the named above, some lovely, some not so, and some just damn libellous, but the ride was big fun!
The final two New York Dolls are playing at the end of the month at the local university, am I tempted? You betcha…
But after twenty years I feel I just want to enjoy the albums and shows and not have to get that meeting and interview anymore.

Saying this, if the chance arose to party with a major Stone, Beatle or Zep… I will be outta retirement (temporarily)!

Are my morts too mortlicious for ya baby!!?

In the good old year of 1949 there is no finer example of Golden Age mort than Tiger Shark.

                                                (from coverbrowser.com)

Dr Gaige a submarine expert and oceanographer decided it was a great idea to put on a stripy costumed diving suit and became the Tiger Shark. He hired a gang of pirates to become his hench man and fought Batman and Robin in Detective Comics  #147 seeking a ship filled with diamonds.

Batman knew that Dr Gaige was Tiger Shark due to a tracer placed within his boot so gave him the Batsubmarine to modify. Gaige equipped the submarine with gadgets to sabotage it. After another confrontation they unmasked Tiger Shark to confirm their suspicion was right…

Tiger Shark is made from a DCUC Orion, fimo and citadel paints.

Alpha the experimental man.  No more Silver Age mort than he! First appeared in 1962 in Detective Comics #307.

                                                 (from coverbrowser.com)

Alpha is an android created by Dr. Burgos in a busy week. He has super strength but the emotional age of a child.

 He helps Batman fight some masked Greek bandits and along the way he falls in love with Batwoman.

In the end he is quite a gallant old android as he sacrifices his life to save hers and so we have the start and end to Alpha.

Alpha is quite a simple custom, using a DCD Joker, epoxy and Tamiya paints.