The trouble with the internet is it's full of interesting coincidences!
This auctioned Air Stewardess caught my eye.
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A last post on my look at some of the classic British space heroes that appeared in comics back in the fifties and sixties.
I did plan to do a piece on Ron Tuner and Rick Random, but I think I'll leave that for now, call it a day, and concentrate on something different.
Anyway, for those who've retained some interest, my grateful thanks for looking in and here's some pages from the three Captain 'Space' Kingley annuals that were published in the early fifties.
'Space' Kingley was another Dan Dare clone of course, but as he never appeared in a regular comic at the time, I'd suspect he's largely unknown
The three annuals which were published were mainly filled with text stories, a few strip stories and a fair few features on fictional future technology and the Inter-Planetary Rangers, the space force that Kingley and his comrades worked for.
The first annual, published circa 1952, was written by Ray Sonin. It's been a while since I read them, but from what I remember the over- arcing stories hinted at a future utopian world leaning towards a kind of socialism. The book was illustrated in sepia tone by R.W. Jobson, who's depictions appeared to take inspiration from the 1936 film , Things to Come., and the 1950 film, Destination: Moon
The second annual, published circa 1953 is a bit lighter in tone, and includes a colourful wrap round cover painted by. R.W. Jobson. It also includes 4 additional colour plates, as well as two strip stories.
The story arc is written by Ernest A. Player.
The third book, 'Space' Kingley and The Secret Squadron, was published circa 1954, is similar fare to the second annual. Written by David White, and again, illustrated by R.W. Jobson.
Unlike Dan Dare, I don't think there was much in the way of any spin off merchandise featuring Captain Kingley, apart from maybe a jigsaw.
Several years ago, I did scratch-build a model of 'Space' Kingley's spacecraft, The Comet.
A recent purchase at the boot sale, this plastic duck car by Nacoral was quackin' fun to fix up.
The seller had bought a huge cardboard crate of them somewhere - presumably Spain - and hoped for big things at the sale, but I bet I was one of the few brave souls who rummaged enough to find an almost complete toy and box amongst the wrecks.
In the end, after a darn good dive, I found all the parts except the bill, which I'm convinced wasn't in the crate. They were all bill-less!
The box and separate box lid were crumpled and weak so I ironed them with a steam iron and both look a lot better for it. I think the two boxes, one being just a lid, represent two ways this toy was packaged in Spain.
For convenience I've slipped the colour lid over the much plainer but complete box.
Some examples of the various artists who contributed to the Captain Condor comic strip in Lion.
Beginning with Ron Forbes, who had what I best describe as a unique style, and certainly not in the same league as the Dan Dare artists, but he got the job done, and remember the Lion was the cheaper option, so no shiny quality paper here.
N.B. Lion did eventually outlive and swallow up the original Eagle in the late sixties. The new Eagle would have the opportunity to return the favour some time later!
