Colin Smith
Comics, music, books, film, photos, paintings & cartoons! A Memorial Device Alternative National Treasure.
- So that was Wednesday February 4th 2026. Crikey. Another day done, another day nearly here. (Dated this very day in 1978, 2000AD #50, with its cover-strip featuring Dan Dare with art by the great storyteller Dave Gibbons.) And so to bed. Sleep well, gentle sentients. May tomorrow be kind.
- Lena Dances With The Knight, by John Bauer, 1915. Because it really makes me smile.
- Friday, October 13th in 1939 & Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly is eating 13 doughnuts while holding himself upside down on a plank held 54 floors above NYC’s East 42nd Street & Lexington Avenue. It’s all for a promo campaign for National Doughnuts Dunking Week, and it’s part of how Kelly makes his living.
- Splendid 1979 Japanese movie poster for “Alien”.
- One wonderful thing about a José Luis García-López establishing shot is that you can easily imagine wandering around the scene you’re being shown. As here, from 1995’s “Superman: Kal”. It’s a whole world for the imagination to immerse itself in.
- Fireworks at Ikenohata, by Kobayashi Kiyochika, 1881.
- Good morning! It’s Wednesday February 4th 2026! Another day already? Crikey! May what’s ahead be kind. (Dated this very day in 1967, “Smash!” #53 with its Batman cover strip by Whitney Ellsworth & Joe Giella.) You be careful out there among them English, John Book.
- Self-Portrait with Apron and Brushes, by Anna Bilińska, 1887.
- So that was Tuesday February 3rd 2026. Crikey. Another day done, another day nearly here. (Released this very month in 1987, Justice League #1, with its iconic cover by Kevin Maguire, Terry Austin & Todd Klein.) And so to bed. Sleep well, gentle sentients. May tomorrow be kind.
- A recce party from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen encounter a Martian tripod, from Kevin O’Neill & Alan Moore’s 2002 refashioning of H. G. Wells’ “The War Of The Worlds”.
- The Flying Carpet, by Viktor Vasnetsov, 1880.
- “Only cans have ALL these advantages”! 1944 wartime American press advert campaigning for the virtues of, yes, cans.
- The Batman in his Batcopter: pencils & inks by the great Mike McMahon, from 1994’s Legends Of The Dark Knight #57.
- Portrait of Félix Fénéon, by Paul Signac, 1890.
- Good morning! It’s Tuesday February 3rd 2026! Another day already? Crikey! (Out this very day in 1979, the week’s edition of “Misty” with the comic’s title character fabulously depicted on the cover by Shirley Bellwood.) You be careful out there among them English, John Book.
- So that was Monday February 2nd 2026. Crikey. Another day done, another day nearly here. (Dated this very day in 1985, 2000AD #403, with its Judge Dredd cover by Brian Bolland tying-in with the then-new Fink Brothers single.) And so to bed. Sleep well, gentle sentients. May tomorrow be kind.
- Piecing together the digi-scrapbook for Things I Still Love From 2001. There’s splendidly an awful lot of things to still love …
- A characteristically splendid sketch of Superman by Nick Cardy from 2002.
- One of Henrique Alvim Corrêa’s fabulous illustrations for a 1906 French edition of H. G. Wells’ “The War Of The Worlds”.
- Mick McMahon Monday
- Currently reading the remarkable scifi/horror novel “There Is No Antimemetics Division” by Sam ‘qntm’ Hughes. So far, it’s utterly compelling and not a little unsettling…
- Good morning! It’s Monday February 2nd 2026! Another month already? Crikey! (Out this very month in 1982, a mere 44 years ago, The Super Heroes Monthly #2.5, with its cover by Alan Craddock featuring Green Lantern, Batman & Superman.) You be careful out there among them English, John Book.
- So that was Sunday February 1st 2026. Crikey. Another day done, another day nearly here. (Out this very month in 1981, Tales of the Green Lantern Corps #1, with its cover by Brian Bolland & Anthony Tollin et al.) And so to bed. Sleep well, gentle sentients. May tomorrow be kind.
- Dominic Solanke’s scorpion kick in this afternoon’s game against Man City initially looked like an accident. Or had he got lucky with some random flailing? Another, closer camera angle made it clear he not only meant it, but performed the nigh impossible with great skill & accuracy. Crikey.
- Fabulous 1977 promo poster for Ian Dury & The Blockheads’ “New Boots And Panties” by the design genius that was Barney Bubbles.
- River Hill Cafe, Alabama, 1936, by the great Walker Evans.
- Last night I dreamed about my old town’s children’s library. These are the books that come to mind when I think of its shelves. What a brilliant thing a library is. What an absolutely fabulous thing a children’s library is!
- Today’s digi-scrapbook is being filled will Everything From 1971 That I Still Love.
- Good morning! It’s Sunday February 1st 2026! Another month already? Crikey! (Out this very month in 1996, a mere 30 years ago, Doctor Strangefate #1,, with its cover by José Luis García-López & Kevin Nowlan.) You be careful out there among them English, John Book.
- So that was Saturday January 31st 2026. Crikey. Another 24 hours done, another 24 hours nearly here. (Dated this very day in 1970, a mere 56 years ago, TV21 & Joe 90 #19, with its cover featuring a, er, unique take on Star Trek.) And so to bed. Sleep well, gentle sentients. May tomorrow be kind.
- A really rather splendid alt-movie poster by Kilian Eng for 1994’s “Stargate”.
- Ushibori in the Rain, 1929, by Hasui Kawase.
- Four lobby cards for 1993’s quite fabulous “Groundhog Day”.
- Absolutely top-notch space opera by Frank Hampson & his studio for the Dan Dare strip on the front of Eagle #9:5, cover-dated this very day in 1958.
- Tom Gauld’s delightful cover to the edition of The New Yorker dated this very day in 2019.
