On this day, 8 February 1975: Valiant and Lion
Cover: Mike Western (artist)
On this day, 8 February 1975 … this issue of Valiant and Lion takes off with a fantastic Rivals cover by Mike Western featuring Amelia Earhart and Amy Johnson, then rises to its usual dizzy heights of wonderfully overblown fantasy adventure. Below, I’ve chosen to reproduce the full two pages of this week’s Kid Pharaoh simply because it’s so ridiculously entertaining. ‘Kid’ aka Ancient Egyptian king Zethi and his buddy Jerry – clearly very close buddies indeed – are indulging in a bout of extreme guy-grappling when they are attacked by the sniper-butler servant of the modern-day reincarnation of Zethi’s nemesis Thothek. A sequence which should have lasted little more than a second is then realised over the course of five physics-defying panels and 103 words of dialogue. Classic stuff – Valiant really is a gem.
Captain Hurricane: Charles Roylance (artist)
Challenge Charlie: Frank McDiarmid (artist)
Adam Eterno: Solano Lopez (artist)
Spellbinder: Geoff Campion? (artist)
Kid Pharaoh: Solano Lopez studio (artist)
Kid Pharaoh: Solano Lopez studio (artist)
Zip Nolan: Joe Colquhoun (artist)
The Nutts: Angel Nadal (artist)
Whiz-along Wheeler: Mike Western (artist)
Danny Doom: Eric Bradbury (artist)
Mowser the Priceless Puss and his Enemy James the Butler: Reg Parlett (artist)
