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Post by ripper on Apr 21, 2020 13:32:26 GMT
I'm going waaaaay back with these.
First of all, does anyone remember a magazine for teenage boys published in the early 1970s called Target? I have a vague notion it was published by NEL, but could well be off the mark on that. Anyway, it was a mixture of strip stories and articles. One strip was the comic adventures of a skinhead called Bovver Boy. Christopher Lee wrote a weekly column on new horror films of the time, and there was a full colour article on the brand new 007 film Diamonds are Forever in one issue. Oh, and DLT had a weekly article on fashion called Get Clobbered. Now in one issue there was a poster given away free showing a guy in Victorian dress holding a candle with his head under his arm. I believe it was a reprint of a cover of an Elliott o'Donnell book published by NEL. That poster was on my bedroom for years. Also, I remember collecting parts of a novel given away weekly that may have been in Target, but it is so fuzzy now that I can't be sure. The novel was something to do with a submarine with possibly supernatural elements to it.
Not a magazine or anything horror related, but DC published a (I think) one-off comic called In the Days of the Mob in the early 70s and gave away a full sized Wanted poster of John Dillinger, and again this was on my bedroom wall for many years.
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Post by cromagnonman on Apr 21, 2020 15:02:49 GMT
I'm going waaaaay back with these. First of all, does anyone remember a magazine for teenage boys published in the early 1970s called Target? I have a vague notion it was published by NEL, but could well be off the mark on that. Anyway, it was a mixture of strip stories and articles. One strip was the comic adventures of a skinhead called Bovver Boy. Christopher Lee wrote a weekly column on new horror films of the time, and there was a full colour article on the brand new 007 film Diamonds are Forever in one issue. Oh, and DLT had a weekly article on fashion called Get Clobbered. Now in one issue there was a poster given away free showing a guy in Victorian dress holding a candle with his head under his arm. I believe it was a reprint of a cover of an Elliott o'Donnell book published by NEL. That poster was on my bedroom for years. Also, I remember collecting parts of a novel given away weekly that may have been in Target, but it is so fuzzy now that I can't be sure. The novel was something to do with a submarine with possibly supernatural elements to it. Not a magazine or anything horror related, but DC published a (I think) one-off comic called In the Days of the Mob in the early 70s and gave away a full sized Wanted poster of John Dillinger, and again this was on my bedroom wall for many years. I presume you mean this one? And yes it was NEL. Images cribbed from a current e*ay listing so credit to the seller. Don't recall it myself [bit early for me as I was still on Whizzer & Chips at that time] but seems to have lasted 50 odd issues and was presumably meant to provide competition to Look-In which did tend to favour a girly slant ( Follyfoot, Cass and Donny covers week after bloody week and all). And not to be confused with a later 70s title of the same name which was mainly given over to tv oriented comic strips.
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Post by ripper on Apr 21, 2020 15:30:59 GMT
I'm going waaaaay back with these. First of all, does anyone remember a magazine for teenage boys published in the early 1970s called Target? I have a vague notion it was published by NEL, but could well be off the mark on that. Anyway, it was a mixture of strip stories and articles. One strip was the comic adventures of a skinhead called Bovver Boy. Christopher Lee wrote a weekly column on new horror films of the time, and there was a full colour article on the brand new 007 film Diamonds are Forever in one issue. Oh, and DLT had a weekly article on fashion called Get Clobbered. Now in one issue there was a poster given away free showing a guy in Victorian dress holding a candle with his head under his arm. I believe it was a reprint of a cover of an Elliott o'Donnell book published by NEL. That poster was on my bedroom for years. Also, I remember collecting parts of a novel given away weekly that may have been in Target, but it is so fuzzy now that I can't be sure. The novel was something to do with a submarine with possibly supernatural elements to it. Not a magazine or anything horror related, but DC published a (I think) one-off comic called In the Days of the Mob in the early 70s and gave away a full sized Wanted poster of John Dillinger, and again this was on my bedroom wall for many years. I presume you mean this one? And yes it was NEL. Images cribbed from a current e*ay listing so credit to the seller. Don't recall it myself [bit early for me as I was still on Whizzer & Chips at that time] but seems to have lasted 50 odd issues and was presumably meant to provide competition to Look-In which did tend to favour a girly slant ( Follyfoot, Cass and Donny covers week after bloody week and all). And not to be confused with a later 70s title of the same name which was mainly given over to tv oriented comic strips. Thanks very much, I think that must be it. It seems Target is not too well remembered, but as it was nearly a half century ago I suppose that isn't surprising! I hadn't thought of it as a rival to Look-In, but it would have launched around the same time. Look-In was definitely aimed towards a younger readership than Target and more unisex than the edgier NEL title.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 21, 2020 19:46:32 GMT
I presume you mean this one? And yes it was NEL. Images cribbed from a current e*ay listing so credit to the seller. Don't recall it myself [bit early for me as I was still on Whizzer & Chips at that time] but seems to have lasted 50 odd issues and was presumably meant to provide competition to Look-In which did tend to favour a girly slant ( Follyfoot, Cass and Donny covers week after bloody week and all). And not to be confused with a later 70s title of the same name which was mainly given over to tv oriented comic strips. Look-In Television Annual (Independent Television Books, 1974). Arnaldo Putzo Articles include Pop Goes The Year, featuring all the smash hit groups of 1974; Behind the Scenes with Stewpot; Making Man About the House; Why Collect Stamps?; Young Cook of The Year; Survival Special: The Importance of Plankton (kind of incongruous, but I applaud the eclecticism); The Year of 'K ung Fu' ("the great Western with a difference!"). Comic strips; Michael Bentine's Potty Time; Kung Fu; Doctor At Sea; Bless This House; The Tomorrow People; and The Adventures of Black Beauty. Short fiction; Bless This House. Sid Abbott's Birthday Surprise. Plus Pop Quiz - "Gary is the leader of the (a) gang, (b) Mafia, (c) Girl Guides ?" - TV Quiz, Football Quiz, Stewpot's Crossword, Smile with Stewpot, and tons of full-colour pin-ups including Alvin Stardust, Slade, G. Glitter, the Cass, David 'dreamboat' Essex, Sweet, Robin Nedwell, Ben Murphy, the horse that plays 'Black Beauty,' Suzi Quatro, Ille Nastase, Alan Clarke, Mick Channon, Olga Korbet, and the Osmonds. #terminal#bookaholism
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Post by cromagnonman on Apr 21, 2020 20:17:32 GMT
Thanks for that Kev. I'm kind of intrigued now to know what Black Beauty had to say. Was it a case of dishing the dirt on Stacy Dorning "straight from the horse's mouth"?
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Post by andydecker on Apr 22, 2020 10:31:24 GMT
These are great. That sort of stuff didn't exist in my youth in Germany, at least I can't remember. The next best which comes to mind is a bi-weekly or monthly comic anthology called Zack in the mid70s, which mostly serialized Franco-Belgian comic series like Michel Valliant or Valerian & Veronique (aka Valerian& Laureline), but featured short text pieces.
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Post by cromagnonman on Apr 22, 2020 11:53:56 GMT
These are great. That sort of stuff didn't exist in my youth in Germany, at least I can't remember. The next best which comes to mind is a bi-weekly or monthly comic anthology called Zack in the mid70s, which mostly serialized Franco-Belgian comic series like Michel Valliant or Valerian & Veronique (aka Valerian& Laureline), but featured short text pieces. For all my curmudgeonly middle-aged grumbling Look-In is something I look back on very fondly. It was the kid's version of commercial tv's listings magazine. Ran the sorts of features on pop and sports stars that one would expect to find in a periodical targeted at the teenage threshold age group. But what continues to make it so collectable is the specially created comic strips devoted to whatever programmes the ITV regions were running at that time of interest to kids. And they were pretty damn good too with some big names working on them such as John Bolton on The Bionic Woman and Martin "Garth" Ashbury on Battlestar Galactica. Believe Jim Baikie did Charlie's Angels. Other strips of especial note were Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Freewheelers, Dick Turpin and an exceptional (as I recall) Sapphire and Steel. It would be terrific to see all this stuff collected but I imagine the convoluted rights issues would be a Gordian knot to untangle. Used to buy it religiously every week although balk at the memory now of being seen handing over the pocket money for something with Donny and the Cass's face on it. Wasn't as if we ever got the compensation of a Wendy Padbury in a bikini pin up either.
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Post by helrunar on Apr 22, 2020 15:01:02 GMT
Those are cool memories, Richard. I'd love to see the Sapphire and Steel comic. I will have to check the Interwebs.
cheers, Steve
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Post by helrunar on Apr 22, 2020 17:38:24 GMT
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Post by cromagnonman on Apr 22, 2020 18:15:55 GMT
Good find Steve. Interested to hear what you think. Sapphire and Steel was a pretty long running strip by Look-In's standards, as most strips used to terminate when the show went off air. The Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman strips ran for years too eventually amalgamating with each other. Another strip I really should have mentioned was Timeslip; a fondly remembered show.
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Post by helrunar on Apr 22, 2020 21:37:56 GMT
I only have read the first page so far. I thought I might try accessing the site on an old "tablet" I keep on a shelf (only use it normally when I'm traveling), because I can enlarge the pages without having to download them on that.
I've heard of Timeslip and seem to recall having watch an episode on y.t. a couple of years ago. I watched a bit more than that of the original Tomorrow People which I thought had some offbeat plots, writing and casting. That was one of those shows where I thought certain scenes would be staged very differently today... strange to have observed how culture has changed in the space of one's own lifetime.
cheers, Steve
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Post by ripper on Apr 23, 2020 10:13:22 GMT
My purchases of Look-In were mostly in its early years. I bought the first few issues for sure, as that was when strips like the aforementioned Timeslip were featured, along with another favourite of mine at the time, Freewheelers. On the subject of freebies, Look-In, and I presume this was in its first few issues, gave away a cardboard representation of the Magpie studio, complete with cut-outs of presenters and at least one camera. I remember quite well folding the cardboard to make the studio camera.
On the subject of Timeslip, that was a great series. It had some surprisingly adult themes. There were quite a few episodes on YT several years ago. In one episode, maybe from the Ice Box serial, can't quite recall, one of the adult characters hits on Liz quite strongly. Liz was supposed to be 14 or 15 in the series, so seeing this through modern eyes rather shocked me.
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Post by cromagnonman on Apr 23, 2020 11:34:54 GMT
I keep meaning to get the Timeslip dvd but it is a bit pricey. And I'm a terrible one for getting these things in a flush of nostalgic enthusiasm and then leaving them in the cupboard unwatched. Goodness knows how long I've had The Owl Service and The Changes sitting there.
I don't think I've ever heard about a cardboard Magpie studio before. I imagine it was more substantial than the real thing.
Talking Pictures actually ran a couple of the colour Freewheelers serials last year, on a sunday afternoon just after Shadows. I have to say they now play as rather drawn out with episodes amounting to little more than a succession of captures and rescues. But I still enjoyed them nonetheless. Season 6 more so than season 7.
It was quite amusing to see Wendy Padbury spending every episode either ironing, washing up or making the tea. But she did go for a dip at one point so I was well happy.
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Post by ripper on Apr 23, 2020 12:24:28 GMT
I am old enough to have seen Timeslip back in the early 70s, though I cannot be sure if I saw it during its original run or when it was shown again shortly afterwards. I have also been promising myself I would buy it on DVD but have not gotten around to doing it up to now. As well as the two teenage leads, the most memorable characters for me were Commander Trainer, played by the always excellent Denis Quilley, and Devereaux, played by John Baron.
I've no idea what happened to my Magpie set. After so many decades I can't be sure how many pieces were included, but I assume it was given away over several weeks.
I believe that most of the Freewheelers episodes were wiped and only the later series still exist. It was compulsive viewing for me in the early 70s.
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Post by helrunar on Apr 23, 2020 13:50:17 GMT
I thought Owl Service was really exceptional television. My only caveat with it is I felt the climax, as filmed, did not capture the almost lethal sense of tension and suspense conveyed in the novel. When I last re-read the book which was many years ago now, I couldn't help feeling that he somehow hinted that fiery teenaged hormones were just as compelling a force at work as the ancient mythic energies that had been awakened back into life through the earlier action of the story. Which, indeed, is how myth and the magical forces it embodies does seem to play out.
The actor who played one of the male protagonists in that serial died just a year or two after it was filmed, in a pub fight if I recall correctly. I really got a shivery feeling when I read about his death... seemed a little too close to the Robert Graves "one story and one story only" that is the theme of The White Goddess, which was an inspiration for The Owl Service.
H.
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