Should that be an L or an X?
In which a typo that I didn’t know was a typo makes me curious, and gets me thinking.
It’s interesting how a typo can lead you down a new research rabbit hole. While I’ve been traveling on Content Pool consulting business this week I’ve been reading A Span Of Wings, the autobiography of the Brabazon’s chief designer, Sir Archibald Russell. Towards the end of the book, he states
(The American aircraft manufacturer) Convair produced their LC-99, a civil airliner very akin to the Brabazon.
I hadn’t read any mention of this aircraft anywhere else. So off I went on a research hunt and eventually came to the hypothesis that he meant the XC-99 which was a one-off attempt to do a transport version of the B-36 bomber. (Photo below), and he was conflating his memories of that with Convairs proposed C-37 project which would have been a airliner, but was never built, but would have been close to the same size as the Brabazon.
I posted a note on one of the Brabazon related online forums, and received a response that it was “obvious” that LC-99 was a typo and it should have been XC-99. Which got me musing on the fact that a mistake like that maybe obvious if you know a subject well, but otherwise it would just be read over and accepted.
Yet, even though it wasn’t obvious to me, it still felt wrong - and set me off on a path to try and find out why.
As they say, the mind works in mysterious ways.
Short Break
We’ll be taking a short break from the newsletter next week to enjoy the Christmas and New Year holidays with the family. - Although we will be skipping an issue of Can’t See The Forest, the next Before They Were Beatles newsletter will be making an appearance next week.
So we wish you all a HAPPY HOLIDAYS, no matter which ones you celebrate, and we’ll be back in the New Year.
Have a safe and fun time, and here’s to an enjoyable 2024.
Alan & Gill
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Pages and Screens
Books Read in 2023 - “Valiant Annual 1966” by various
The holiday season means it’s time to pull one of the vintage British comics annuals off the shelf and give it a read. These hardcover annuals were a staple of my childhood and were always published around the end of the year, often finding their way into my Christmas sack of presents.
I was a pretty regular reader of the weekly Valiant comic around the time this was published so many of the strips were familiar, such as cover star Captain Hurricane, schoolboy gag strip Billy Bunter, and typical British low key superheroics from The Steel Claw and Kelly’s Eye. The historical adventure strips weren’t that familiar but still a fun read.
The few prose adventure stories didn’t hold up as well with their xenophobic “Johnny foreigner up to no good” plots.
As always with these classic annuals I find the contemporary articles on sports and science a nostalgic read. Although the one on how the London Fire Brigade operates was a blatant recruitment piece complete with an address to write to for more information on its Junior Firemen scheme. I wonder if they are still taking applications?
Bond Briefings
The launch of the new bi-weekly James Bond Lexicon newsletter that I mentioned last week has been a pleasant surprise with the number of subscribers over the first few days reaching numbers beyond what we were expecting. Thanks to anyone who subscribed.
If you enjoy the worlds of 007, and haven’t subscribed, you can join us at the link below
Before They Were Beatles Updates
The scripts for the first three episodes of the new The Forgotten Beatles podcast series have been written, and even better the first episode has been recorded and is in post-production. So keep a look out for it early in the New Year, as we kick things off with Pete Best’s story both before and after his time as a Beatle.
During the week I posted a short trailer episode for The Forgotten Beatles series listing the stories we will be telling., which you can give a listen to at the link HERE.
The December issue of the Before They Were Beatles newsletter is done and staged, ready for delivery at the end of the month. In the upcoming issue we will be introducing a young George Harrison to our story. If you don’t want to miss out on the expanded story of the early Beatles history, you can sign up for a subscription below.
Weekly Web Round-Up
Forest Comics & Books - This week, thanks to some sterling work by GIll, we’ve added a whole new batch of science fiction novels which you can check out along with our other current offerings HERE
Batman On The Cover - The journey through Batman’s comics publishing history continues this week as we head into September 1968.
This was the month that saw the debut of The Adventures of Batman animated show.
On the comics front, we got new issues of Detective Comics, Batman, Justice League of America, and World’s Finest.
The standout this month has to be the cover of Batman #205 by artist Irv Novick, with the extreme close-up of the grinning villain with Batman and Robin reflected in the lenses of his glasses. It’s a powerful surreal image with a definite sense of menace.
Where on the Web is Alan?
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See you next time
Alan J. Porter
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