Whilst rummaging in the attic I found this neat MONSTERS colouring book.
Published by World, it dates from 1985 and is gruesomely stuffed with a rally of beasts and creatures for kids to colour, some of which rang a distinct bell.
The picture I recognised immediately was this handsome chap sinking into the ground and his arms stretched skywards.
Its obviously based on this shot of the unfortunate Roger played by R.A.Dow in the 1976 worm schlocker Squirm.
This hairy fellow...
... may be based on Micheal Landon in I was A Teenage Werewolf 1957.
This toothy vamp...
.... appears to be based on this still of Lalla Ward in Vampire Circus 1972 [there's a similar and fascinating discussion about this image and Horror Top Trumps by Jim Moon on his blog The Moon Lens]
Googling for more monster colouring books I came across this amazing feature, Monster Gallery, on the uber-awesome Plaid Stallions site about the Monster Gallery colouring book from the early 1970's. The feature establishes that many of the illustrations by Mark Savee became the artwork used on Tomland's 1970's line of Famous Monsters of Legend action figures. These include this Snow Man [picture Plaid Stallions]:
Looking at the actual strange blue haired action figure, which is completely different to the artwork, brings to mind a recent comment made by reader Todd. He suggested that its origin may lie an obscure Italian sci-fi flick called the Snow Devils from 1967.
It concerns an alien race of hairy blue-bodied giants called the Aytia from Callisto hell-bent on icing over the Earth.
It was the fourth film of what is known as the Gamma One Quadrilogy.
and here we have a Snow Devil
compared to the Tomland Snow Man toy
Snow Devil from the side
compared to the Tomland Snow Man side on
and this card illustration of the toy
So what do you think. Is Todd on to something? I think so. The Tomland Snow Man toy has been described as a figure not linked to a film, unlike say, their Fly. Maybe it should have been called a Snow Devil since maybe it might be one!
Oddly enough I couldn't help noticing the similarly blue-skinned bearded appearance of the chap top right on this Dan Dare comic strip, Reign of the Robots from January 1958. The figure is a self-portrait of SWORDmaster Eric Eden no less, of TV21 fame, posing as an Atlantine! Maybe he was really a Snow Devil!
Some admirable sharp-eyed comparisons Woodsy :)
ReplyDeleteCheers TK. Most of the monsters in the book I don't recognise though. Maybe I should post the whole book and see what readers think?
DeleteStill have this? Would love to buy it! I had this book as a kid.
DeleteI would love to get a copy of this book. I had it when I was a kid!
ReplyDeleteJust seen that there's one for sale on Ebay Canada.
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