Saturday, March 16, 2024

  • 18 Mar. Andrew Sumner interviews Michael Moorcock about the second volume of Moorcock's Multiverse from Titan. "Moorcock and Sumner, as usual, also chat about a whole bunch of other things, including: the dark side of late stage capitalism; Moorcock's upcoming short story Wigan (plus Wigan the northern English town, Bowen's chunky steak pie and pie-coveting canine Alfie Evans); J.G Ballard; the Three Peaks Challenge; the sheer brilliance of Walter Simonson, the whereabouts of Mike's voucher copies, dream couches, Moorcock & Sumner's Hyperbolic Chambers (TM); Moorcock's undiminished singing voice; Tony Bennett, Johnny Cash & Joan Baez; Blossom Dearie's last gig, the unique nature of Moorcock's career, more on his association with Hawkwind & The Deep Fix, the foresight of Mike's beloved claw-hammer-wielding mother; Italian actress Silvano Manga, Taylor Walker beer barrels, Mike's upcoming novel The Wounds of Albion, Mike's relationship with Arthur C. Clarke, Philip José Farmer & Leigh Brackett; Jack Vance's The Dragon Masters; Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword; the influence of Edgar Rice Burroughs; old-school Republicans; The Scaffold's Lily the Pink and Roger McGough's poetry; Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments; Mal Dean's Amazing Band; the glory of Liverpool's science-fiction & music scene; watching the boxing at Liverpool Stadium; visiting Apple Corps Ltd and turning down George Harrison's money!" (video, 1h 9m)
  • 12 Mar. Shining Spotlights casts a... spotlight on Paul Gravett. "Today we sit among an industry legend. He's written and recorded of comic industry for several decades. Interviewed industry giants such as Alan Moore, and even launched magazines such as Escape. Historical books such as Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics. The list goes on." (video, 1h 15m)
  • 8 Mar. Joel Meadows talks to Bleeding Cool about his book Face to Face. "For me creating a portrait is intended to be a piece that reflects the essence of the subject that I have shot and that is why I like to photograph people that I have interviewed as I already have a rapport with the subject."
  • 7 Mar. Susannah Clapp reviews Posy Simmonds at the Pompidou. "Two things​ you will see in Paris but not in London: the word ‘culture’ on a banner at a demo, and a major exhibition by an English artist and writer who has for half a century made the Brits roll their eyes at themselves."
  • 7 Mar. Chris Weston discusses Time Breakers being collected, Akira and not getting credit for his bat-suit designs. "I was inspired by Jim Holdaway‘s art at the time. Unfortunately, I got too inspired, perhaps; I’d made the lead character, Angela Attenborough, look almost identical to Jim’s version of Modesty Blaise. Stuart Moore, the editor, fearing we might get sued, asked me to change her hairstyle in every panel." The big news is that Chris has a new creator-owned series coming out from Dark Horse shortly. "It’s a very big-name writer so I’m quite exited! It should be announced imminently!"
  • 7 Mar. Busy Garth Ennis chats about the new Battle Action volume from Rebellion and reveals that there is a third series in the works. (video, 18m)
  • 2 Mar. Garth Ennis and Axel Alonso have announced a Kickstarter for Marjorie Finnegan, Temporal Criminal with one of the rewards being that contributors can be drawn into the story. (video, 3m). The Kickstarter itself has already hit its target.
  • 2 Mar. The announcement that a Criminal TV series is in development led to the collections of the series by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips selling out. The Amazon Prime series was announced on 8 January and Brubaker reported that What happened was we were preparing new printings of the entire series, planning a slow rollout, assuming the real interest in the books would happen closer to the show hitting… but instead the day after the announcement of the Amazon greenlight, all the books we had in stock sold out. So we rushed them back to press immediately, and if they’re not already at the distributors they will be soon.” 
  • Here's another interview with Brubaker that dives into his work with Sean: "We work exactly the same as we have for 20 years. It’s a very steady collaboration. I don’t know if there’s anybody else in comics who’s ever really done what we do for this long."
  • 1 Mar. Bryan Talbot is one of 19 comics' creators who have been inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame for 2024.
  • 29 Feb. Earlier this month, Dave Gibbons dropped hints that  Martha Washington might be reaching our screens in the future during a talk at Sheffield Hallam University. 'Comics Up Close – Origin Stories' was a one-day academic event also featuring Stephen Appleby and Karrie Fransman
  • 24 Feb. Neil Gaiman is auctioning off a bunch of stuff at Heritage Auctions. Here he talks about why he's selling. (video, 6m)
  • 21 Feb. Dave McKean is interviewed at The Comics Journal. "I don’t dream very much, certainly nothing I remember very clearly. I used to dream a lot more, and I tend to link dreams to anxiety - I’m just not that anxious these days."
  • 19 Feb. Knockabout and Top Shelf have announced the upcoming release – in October 2024 – of  the long, long-awaited The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic by Alan Moore and Steve Moore. Chris Staros, editor-in-chief at Top Shelf, says the books "represents an amazing capstone, created by Alan and Steve, and brilliantly brought to life by five unforgettable artists. It’s been a privilege to watch those magical minds spend years building this grimoire, and I’m proud to join Knockabout in finally sharing it with the world." The five artists include the late Kevin O'Neill, John Coulthart, Steve Parkhouse, Rick Veitch and Ben Wickey.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Comic Cuts

Let's talk about a classic of science fiction:
"Not long got back home to discover a copy of Steve Holland's latest magnum opus – I should say, mega-magnum opus – his history and study of Badger Books, BEYOND THE VOID. This is astonishing as it not only looks at the whole history of Badger Books – not just the sf and supernatural series but everything else – war, westerns, hospital romances etc etc – and goes into great detail revealing many identities behind pseudonyms and reproducing masses of covers and illustrations. No self-respecting collection should be without this.  Well done, Steve. An astonishing job." — Mike Ashley, 8 March 2024.


Yes, BEYOND THE VOID is officially on sale, although I've set the publication date as 25 March so that I have a chance to get some copies in hand and get some others distributed to people who have taken me up on my pre-publication offer of 10% off the cover price.

So a couple of copies bound for America went in the post on Tuesday (Mike, to whom the book was dedicated, got one of the early copies) and others will be ordered up from the printer over the next few days. I have an order in for copies that will be heading here so that I have copies to hand to take to the Book Fair on 24 March, but they'll be in limited supply. Best get your order in sooner rather than later.

I'll also be taking copies of THE TRIALS OF HANK JANSON to the Fair, including a small number of hardbacks. I have three left, so if you want one let me know sooner rather than later.

A copy of Sinister House has arrived from Stark House Press, who rescue out of print hard boiled crime novels. Publisher Graham Shepard got in touch in May 2023 asking if he could reprint a Bear Alley post as an introduction; instead, I revamped the whole thing so that Greg had something new to print. It proved to be an interesting story, as Booth was British-born but lived most of his life in Canada and the USA, becoming a  naturalized American citizen in 1927.

Sinister House (1926) was his first novel, a mystery, but I've argued that his use of dialogue and criminal argot makes him one of the first hard-boiled writers, following in the footsteps of Carroll John Daly, who penned what is recognised as the first hard-boiled story in 1922 and created the first hard-boiled detective in Race Williams. Booth's novels were mysteries and thrillers rather than hard-boiled, some even featuring a comical French policeman, and his eight novels are all but forgotten today. He was probably better known as a screenwriter, and he won the Academy Award for The House on 92nd Sttreet (1945).

The book came out in February, meaning the intro. takes the prize for being the first piece of mine published in 2024, although that is going to be immediately followed by BEYOND THE VOID and, very shortly, by FORGOTTEN AUTHORS Volume 5. I think I had 17 pieces published last year, and one book (THE TRIALS OF HANK JANSON), and I'm hoping to beat that total this year.

On Wednesday I finished compiling the index to FORGOTTEN AUTHORS Volume 5, so the text is now complete. All I have to do is sort out a cover. I have an idea what to do, but it will depend a lot on whether I can get some good photographs. Wish me luck. I still need to get printed proofs, so we're not quite finished yet.

Wednesday and Thursday were Dune days. We re-watched the first part of Denis Villeneuve's mighty (and sandy) saga on Wednesday evening and we're off to see part two at the cinema this evening. I re-watched  Blade Runner 2049 earlier in the week and Arrival not so long back. Villeneuve must be the best director of SF movies around at the moment, which makes me hope that, once he's done with Dune** he'll get back to Rendezvous with Rama. Good as that might be, I still think Eon by Greg Bear would make a fantastic movie or TV series... it, too, starts with a Big Object arriving in the solar system, a la Rama, and would tie in nicely with another of Villeneuve's upcoming projects, Cleopatra (you'll have to read the novel to see why).

(** He's writing part three at the moment, but has no intention of taking the story further... only Alejandro Jodorowsky should be allowed to tackle the mess that the later series became (I gave up after Dune and Dune Messiah)

It's six-fifteen Thursday evening at the moment and I'm due at the cinema at eight, so I'm going to have to bring this to a close.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Commando 5731-5734


Commando Issues 5731-5734 are on sale from today, Thursday 14th March, 2024!

5731: Leg Before Chindits

Major Charles Beevor thought his hope was all out as he led a depleted group of Chindits deep into the jungles of Burma. Surrounded by the Japanese and cut off from British lines, only the support of Subedar Singh and their mutual love of cricket could save the day. Together, they were out for six and would not stop until the Japanese threat was bowled over!

Cricket puns ahoy! Troy Martin bowls us over in his writing debut for his first Commando about Chindits in Burma. Marc Viure returns to work on interior artwork in his second-ever Commando and Keith Burns is on top form for covers!

Story: T Martin
Art: Marc Viure
Cover: Keith Burns

5732: Hide and Seek

They called it “Monte Morte”— Mountain of Death. Dark and brooding, its mighty bulk towered over the plains of central Italy. It had claimed many lives over the years of peacetime, but that was nothing to what was to happen on its slopes when war came.
And two men — one British, one Italian — joined forces to fight on this savage mountain against a common foe — Nazis! This is their brave story...

A powerhouse trio of contributors feature in issue 5732 Hide and Seek, with the prolific CG Walker on story, J Fuente, one of the legendary Fuente brothers, on interior artwork, and the issue is graced by an instantly recognisable cover by Jordi Penalva.

Story: CG Walker
Art: J Fuente
Cover: Penalva
First Published 1970 as Issue 505

5733: Magic Moment

Egypt, 1942. While the battle for El Alamein raged, two magicians were locked in a battle of wits. On opposite sides of the war, they had been tasked with acts of deception — fooling the enemy with magical feats of misdirection.
And now it was time for their next illusion… but which one of them would pull off the biggest magic trick of the Second World War?!

This issue was inspired by true events of misdirection employed in the Desert War of World War Two, and Rossa McPhillips casts an enchanting spell in yet another of his stories. Juan Fernandez makes his debut on interior artwork, bringing a flare for the dramatic in his first-ever Commando!

Story: Rossa McPhillips
Art: Juan Fernandez
Cover: Alejandro Perez Mesa

5734: Fighting Fool!

As a member of a group of hit-and-run raiders operating behind enemy lines, Corporal Mike Braddon knew a man needed strong nerves and raw courage to survive.
But he also had the common sense to realise that charging blindly into battle wasn’t the answer. That’s where he disagreed with Private Joe Russel whose bull-at-the-gate attitude marked him down as a fighting fool — and a danger to all!

Classic Commando adventures aplenty in issue 5734, with two men at odds and one being deemed a coward! Jeff Bevan and Philpott shine on interiors and cover duties but will McDevitt’s story work out in the end? Read it to find out!

Story: McDevitt
Art: Philpott
Cover: Jeff Bevan
First Published 1981 as Issue 1566

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Rebellion Releases — 13 March 2024


It’s the story that’s shocked readers and shaken Dredd’s world – and now you can grab every episode of ‘Judge Dredd: A Better World’ in one print or digital bundle.

It’s ‘defund the police’ comes to Mega-City One as writers Rob Williams and Arthur Wyatt, with artist Henry Flint, craft a taut political thriller in which a large-scale experiment by Justice Department accountant Judge Maitland threatens to destroy the very power of the Judges themselves – but with so much at stake she has made some powerful enemies…

A ground-breaking, heart-breaking story of hope, fear, politics and pathos, ‘A Better World’ is the modern Judge Dredd classic you do NOT want to miss.

Get 2000 AD issues #2364-2372 in a single bundle and prepare to be blown away by three creators at the top of their game on one of comics’ biggest characters.

Praise for ‘Judge Dredd: A Better World’:
“Please excuse me while I pick my jaw up after that one” – Comics Beat

“Taut, pointed and bizarre, like much of the best Dredd … Flint is a trippy-noir marvel” – Kieron Gillen

“Destined to rock Dredd’s world to its very core” – Geeky Brummie

“How many different ways do I have to say it? This is one of THOSE Dredd stories, one that will reverberate across the series for many years to come. Stellar plotting and scripts from Williams and Wyatt, coupled with career-high artwork from Flint have made this one just a great read” – Comicon.com
And now, this week's releases...




2000AD Prog 2373
Cover: Stewart K. Moore

JUDGE DREDD // R.U.R. by Ken Niemand (w) Nicolo Assirelli (a) John Charles (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
INDIGO PRIME // BLACK MONDAY by Kek-W (w) Lee Carter (a) Jim Campbell (l)
FULL TILT BOOGIE // BOOK TWO by Alex de Campi (w) Eduardo Ocana (a) Eva De La Cruz (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
THE FALL OF DEADWORLD // RETRIBUTION by Kek-W (w) Dave Kendall (a) Simon Bowland (l)
THISTLEBONE // THE DULE TREE by T.C. Eglington (w) Simon Davis (a) Simon Bowland (l)


Judge Dredd: A Penitent Man
by Kenneth Niemand (w) Tom Foster (a) Chris Blythe (c)
Rebellion ISBN 978-183786097-5, 13 March 2024, 144pp, £16.99. Available via Amazon.

Former Judge Kyle Asher returns from the penal colony on Titan after serving twenty years. Working as a third-class sludge technician he is determined to prove that he can still serve the city he swore an oath to, Judge Dredd is not so sure of him, and questions whether there is such a thing as a penitent man in a place like Mega-City One. However the SJS, the Judges Internal Affairs division, are determined to run Asher out of town, and Dredd wants to know the reason why!

Friday, March 08, 2024

Comic Cuts – 8 March 2024


Finally, I can announce a release date for Beyond the Void: The Remarkable History of Badger Books which will be available from 25 March. I've picked that date because the day before, Sunday, 24 March, is the Paperback & Pulp Book Fair at the Holiday Inn Bloomsbury in Coram Street, London. The fair sits alongside the Bloomsbury Ephemera Fair, so there will be something for everyone to browse through.

I need to get an idea how many copies I need to print, ready for the Book Fair – my back will only take so much strain as I'll be travelling up by train – and for launch day. In order to get some pre-orders, I have set up a new Bear Alley Books Facebook group to keep people up-to-date with news and to inform people how to pay ... it's by PayPal.

Incidentally, I have finally figured out why the buttons on the Bear Alley Books web page still work but I can't generate new ones. It's not Google or Blogger that's the problem, as I thought, but PayPal itself, who changed their nice and easy to use button set-up so you now have to sign up to a developer and sandbox system before  you can generate any buttons. Being an occasional user of said buttons, I must have missed the memo informing me of the new requirements, and I've only just – Thursday morning, some three years on – learned about it. I might explore further as I like the buttons (click, pay, that's it). But as with all things new, I'm a bit nervous!

At the time of writing – it's 7 o'clock on Thursday evening – the Bear Alley FB group has 68 members! I've had three orders for books, although no money has come through yet, so I can't call them sales. I'll be keeping a close eye on the group over the weekend as I'm here on my own (Mel is off at a convention).

The price for the book is £21.99 plus p&p – it's 172 pages full colour but I'm keeping the price as low as I can. If you pre-order you can get 10% off the cover price, so the total is £23.99 including p&p in the UK. If you take up the hand delivery at the Book Fair offer, it still counts as a pre-order, and costs £19.80. Drop me a line at the email address at the top left (below the photo) and I'll point you at my Paypal account.

The only other news worth mentioning is that the essays for the latest Forgotten Authors volume are done and I've just started working on the index. They take ages and I'm trying to promote the Beyond the Void book at the moment, but I'll have more news on that next week.

We're up to 72 members and I've just received by first SALE! I'm off to make dinner and watch some TV.

Wednesday, March 06, 2024

Rebellion Releases — 6 March 2024


VOTE METTA FOR BETTA!

As Marshal of Badrock, Metta Lawson saved the town she has come to love from being annihilated by the corrupt corporation Munce Inc., established it as a thriving haven of free trade, and brokered an uneasy peace with the enigmatic Zhind race. Now, having resigned her position as Marshal, Metta faces a new kind of fight, a political battle for the mayorship of Badrock.

But without Metta enforcing the law, things aren’t looking good for Badrock. The mysterious Mr Roke continues to establish a hold over the citizens of the town through his protection racket, the town’s major employer, Getz, is conducting shady experiments with potentially disastrous consequences, and the SJS continues to work to undermine the fragile balance that Lawson managed to establish before her resignation.

Dan Abnett (Aquaman, Guardians of the Galaxy) and Phil Winslade’s (Howard the Duck, Wonder Woman) frontier epic continues in this fifth action packed volume!

Available from 31 July 2024, but the book can now be pre-ordered from the 2000AD website or from Amazon.


2000AD Prog 2372
Cover: Alex Ronald.

JUDGE DREDD // A BETTER WORLD by Rob Williams & Arthur Wyatt (w) Henry Flint (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
INDIGO PRIME // BLACK MONDAY by Kek-W (w) Lee Carter (a) Jim Campbell (l)
THISTLEBONE // THE DULE TREE by T.C. Eglington (w) Simon Davis (a) Simon Bowland (l)
THE FALL OF DEADWORLD // RETRIBUTION by Kek-W (w) Dave Kendall (a) Simon Bowland (l)
FULL TILT BOOGIE // BOOK TWO by Alex de Campi (w) Eduardo Ocana (a) Eva De La Cruz (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)


Monster Fun #17
Cover: Chris Garbutt.

GUMS by Stacey Whittle (w) Brett Parson (a+l)
KID KONG by Alec Worley (w) Karl Dixon (a+l)
HELL'S ANGEL by Chris Garbutt (w+a+l)
SPACE INVADED! by John Lucas (w+a) Barbara Nosenzo (c) H.A. O’Millar (l)
PEACHES' CREATURES by Ned Hartley (w) Dan Boultwood (a+c) Sarah Fimm (l)
MARTHA'S MONSTER MAKE-UP by Dave Bulmer (w) Abigail Bulmer (a+c)
WITCH VS WARLOCK by Derek Fridolfs (w) Rebecca Morse (a+c) Ozwaldo Sanchez (l)
REX POWER by Ramzee (w) Claude TC (a+c) Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (l)
MOLLY'S MUMMY by Alec Worley (w) Rositsa Vangelova (a+c) Niall Deltah (l)

Friday, March 01, 2024

Comic Cuts - 1 March 2024

Finally, I'm back onto the Forgotten Authors book after a lengthy distraction. I wanted to write something that I could dip in and out of while I was trying to sort out my laptop, and it rather took over the last two weeks.

It wasn't even the thing I planned to write. I have been thinking about how to follow-up the Badger book, and one of the ideas is to do a similar sort of thing about Curtis Warren, a contemporary paperback publisher plus some connected threads. I've already written up one tie-in piece about a company that they shared offices with, and I have been meaning for years to write a piece about the advertising in their books — if you've picked up any titles published by the firm, you'll instantly recognise the ads for bamboo growing and for the lucky Cornish piskie, Joan the Wad.

The background to both businesses is quite interesting... but when I began digging into it, I discovered there was a connection to Wivenhoe, and to Wivenhoe Hall, a large estate that existed until the 1920s, that was just around the corner from where I live. Being easily distracted, I took a look into that connection, discovered it involved a family of conmen, and ended up writing an 11,000-word history of them that I only managed to complete on Monday.

It still needs to be thoroughly checked over, but I'm thinking of handing the results to the local Historical Society who I contacted to find some details.

Maybe I'll get back to the article I intended writing at some point. As long as it doesn't involve the laptop crashing again!

So it's back to volume five of Forgotten Authors and a read-through of a couple of essays I hadn't managed to rewrite before the Big Crash. (They're safely restored, by the way, and I'm in the process—literally as I write—of backing stuff up to a newly purchased Micro SD card. This one will hopefully work as I've picked a name brand and paid quite a bit for it. I was scammed a couple of months ago, buying a 1tb card for a remarkably cheap price through Amazon which looked legit, but turned out to be a crooked operation.

The card arrived loose in a small padded bag, which set off alarm bells, so I set to copying a load of music. It took a little while to realise that the card had filled and had no more space, despite what the card itself was claiming. I reformatted it and tried again, but had the same problem. At which point I reformatted it again and returned it. Whatever you have to say about Amazon, they refunded my money the moment I had the card back in the post.

If this works I'll buy a couple more and keep them safely stored away with up-to-date back-ups. Hope for the best — that my laptop doesn't crap out again — but plan for the worst, is my motto, and it stood me proud this time as I have managed to restore everything on the laptop without losing much. There are some e-mails that have gone forever, but even there the bulk of my e-mails are safe.

It hasn't all been work. I  had a very nice meal out on Saturday for someone's birthday and then everyone piled back to Wiv for cake and conversation, mostly about cake but also catching up with Alex Stewart, who tells me that he's working on a new Ciaphas Cain novel to add to what's already a fantastic series of nine novels. There hasn't been a new one since 2013, so I'm really looking forward to it appearing, probably next year depending on how many cake-breaks the author takes.

I'm trying to read more this year, and I'm already two-thirds of the way through one of my Christmas presents — Irontown Blues by John Varley, whose work I love; he was a newcomer around the time I started reading SF seriously in the mid-1970s and I read everything I could as it came out. There was a crash in the SF market here in the UK in the 1990s that wiped out British editions of a lot of American writers. Varley was one of them, so I had to buy the Ace editions of his later novels. Irontown Blues came out in a trade paperback edition in 2018 and, like many I expect, I waited for the 'C' format paperback so that it matched the others. It didn't come, and by the time I realised it was already nigh on impossible to buy over here.

Finally I bit the bullet and asked for the trade paperback for Christmas and Mel came through. Irontown Blues mixes my two favourite genres: science fiction and crime noir; its set in Varley's Eight Worlds universe, intersects plotwise with another of his finest books, Steel Beach, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

It's sad to think that this could be Varley's last book, He's retired from writing and living on social security and small royalty payouts. A potential animated version of his Titan series (Titan, Wizard, Demon) failed to achieve its goal on Kickstarter — badly publicised? I only saw it mentioned on one website. The books came out forty years ago and are long out of print, so the failure of the Kickstarter was perhaps inevitable.

I like to think that he's secretly working on another book, quietly, steadily, and carefully avoiding any mention of it, having seen the growing trend of entitled fans who think complaining that an author is too slow will make them write faster (cf. Varley's contemporary, George R. R. Martin). Says the guy who has rambled through nearly 1,000 words of nonsense rather than getting his nose to the grindstone to finish off the last of the Forgotten Authors essays.

Time to get on with it, or I might be distracted into telling you all about the futuristic, space-age kettle we've just bought.



Thursday, February 29, 2024

Commando 5727-5730


On sale from today, Thursday 29th February, 2024, Commando marks International Women’s Day with four special issues spotlighting on female contributors and characters.

5727: The Viper

Bacuit Bay, Palawan Island, Philippines, 1944. Imelda Hernandez, nicknamed “The Viper” is a schoolteacher turned guerrilla commander intent on annihilating the Japanese invasion with her bolo knife and lightning-fast strikes. When deserters of her guerrilla group are captured by the Japanese, Imelda must decide whether to continue her warpath towards the Japanese soldiers who killed her friends or risk it all to save the men who wouldn’t follow a vengeful woman.
    Hailey Austin’s female-fronted issue was inspired by the true and heroic story of Filipino Nieves Fernandez, a school teacher turned guerrilla, who terrorised the Japanese invaders with her band of resistance fighters. The issue is brought to life by Paolo Ongaro’s artwork and Anna Morozova — Commando’s first female cover artist — returns for her second-ever Commando cover!

Story: Hailey Austin
Art: Paolo Ongaro
Cover: Anna Morozova

5728: A Time for Justice

The end was near for Bertrand Duval. Since the days of the French Revolution, his family had wrongfully claimed inheritance of the Chateau de Lauronne, and the title and power that went with it. Now he had added another crime to his list... he had made friends with the German invaders of his country. But the French Resistance fighters were gathering strength. The time for justice was close.
    Commando’s second issue for International Women’s Day features a story from the prolific female writer Mary Feldwick, whose classic issue features that archetypical Commando theme — REVENGE! With amazing artwork from artist Enriquez and a classic Ian Kennedy cover!

Story: Mary Feldwick
Art: Enriquez
Cover: Ian Kennedy
First Published 1980 as Issue 1470

5729: Baba Yaga

Metal seared against metal, Tiger tanks burning bright in the glow of the inferno they spread over Europe. One soldier would face them, taking on the fiery demons. He needed help though, healed by a witch in the woods and given three tasks to complete. But could he trust this woman whose house stood raised above the earth surrounded by skulls on stakes — one left empty for her next victim?
    A supernatural Commando this way comes, as writer Kate Dewar casts a spell over her issue. Twists and turns aplenty enchant this issue inspired by Slavic folklore — but can you really trust a witch? What’s more, Carlos Pino works his magic on the cover and interiors!

Story: Kate Dewar
Art: Carlos Pino
Cover: Carlos Pino

5730: Boys’ War

It was the summer of 1940, and the whole of France was thrown into utter confusion as the invading German troops advanced relentlessly, leaving a trail of chaos and destruction behind them.
Trapped amidst all this turmoil were two British schoolboys — John and Will Browning. Fending for themselves in a foreign country, they were trying desperately to make it back to British lines... before it was too late.
    5730 Boys’ War is the second of the Commandos in the International Women’s Day set that features the indomitable work of Mary Feldwick. This time Feldwick turns her attention to boys’ adventures as two brothers flee the Commando Blitzkrieg of France! Artist, Ruiz’s boyish artwork is delightful and yet again Ian Kennedy is on cover duties!

Story: Mary Feldwick
Art: Ruiz
Cover: Ian Kennedy
First Published 1980 as Issue 1472

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Rebellion Releases - 28 February 2024


BATTLE ACTION RETURNS WITH A COLLECTION OF TWELVE NEW STORIES!

Air Ace Johnny Red and Angel of Death Nina Petrova face off against the Nazi invaders, lethal British agent Dredger deals with the abduction of the only person dear to his stony heart, and the louche Major Eazy must lead his men through the Devil’s Garden of El Alamein. There’s action aplenty with roguish British commandoes Rat Pack, along with Death Squad, their equally deadly German counterparts. And the hellish arctic ocean is the setting for HMS Nightshade, the classic tale of war at sea.

Writer Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys) is joined by an incredible roster of top-tier talent, with stories by original Battle Action writer John Wagner (Judge Dredd, Robo-Hunter), Torunn Gronbekk (Thor, Red Sonja), Rob Williams (Suicide Squad, Petrol Head) and Dan Abnett (Guardians of the Galaxy, Lawless), and featuring art by industry greats like Keith Burns (Out of the Blue), Chris Burnham (Batman, Doom Patrol), Henry Flint (Hawk The Slayer) and John Higgins (Watchmen, Dreadnoughts). There’s blazing Battle Action on every page!

Battle Picture Weekly was where the revolution in British comics began. Created in 1975 by writers and editors Pat Mills and John Wagner, it introduced new grittiness into comics with its cast of anti-heroes and misfits. Its bombast and energy sparked a sea-change in what comics could do, leading to Mills’ creation of the controversial Action and the globally influential 2000 AD.

The new Battle Action mini-series celebrates the merging of this landmark title with its controversial stablemate, Action, a combination that took the two comics to even greater heights. Now, more than forty years after the original, some of the cream of British comics talent are bringing these classic characters back to life.

This volume contains:

    JOHNNY RED by Garth Ennis and Keith Burns
    HMS NIGHTSHADE by John Wagner and Dan Cornwell
    CRAZY KELLER by Garth Ennis and Chris Burnham
    D-DAY DAWSON by Dan Abnett and Phil Winslade
    DREDGER by Garth Ennis and John Higgins
    MAJOR EAZY by Rob Williams and Henry Flint
    COOLEY’S GUN by Garth Ennis and Staz Johnson
    DEATH SQUAD by Rob Williams and PJ Holden
    HELLMAN OF HAMMER FORCE by Garth Ennis and Mike Dorey
    NINA PETROVA AND THE ANGELS OF DEATH by Torunn Grønbekk and Patrick Goddard

And now, this week's releases...


2000AD Prog 2371
Cover: Cliff RObinson / Dylan Teague (cols).

JUDGE DREDD // A BETTER WORLD by Rob Williams & Arthur Wyatt (w) Henry Flint (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
INDIGO PRIME // BLACK MONDAY by Kek-W (w) Lee Carter (a) Jim Campbell (l)
FULL TILT BOOGIE // BOOK TWO by Alex de Campi (w) Eduardo Ocana (a) Eva De La Cruz (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
THE FALL OF DEADWORLD // RETRIBUTION by Kek-W (w) Dave Kendall (a) Simon Bowland (l)
THISTLEBONE // THE DULE TREE by T.C. Eglington (w) Simon Davis (a) Simon Bowland (l)


Battle Action Volume Two by Garth Ennis, Torunn Gronbekk, Dan Abnett, Rob Williams (w), Keith Burns, Chris Burnham, Henry Flint, John Higgins (a)
Rebellion ISBN 978-183786096-8, 28 February 2024, 192pp, £24.99. Available via Amazon.

BATTLE ACTION RETURNS WITH A COLLECTION OF TWELVE NEW STORIES!
Air Ace Johnny Red and Angel of Death Nina Petrova face off against the Nazi invaders, lethal British agent Dredger deals with the abduction of the only person dear to his stony heart, and the louche Major Eazy must lead his men through the Devil’s Garden of El Alamein. There’s action aplenty with roguish British commandoes Rat Pack, along with Death Squad, their equally deadly German counterparts. And the hellish arctic ocean is the setting for HMS Nightshade, the classic tale of war at sea.

Monday, February 26, 2024

Comic Papers, Music Hall & Early Cinema by Alan Clark


In a brief foreword, Alan Clark notes that "It seems that comic papers and the stage have always been intertwined. What appeared on the 'boards' was soon seen on the pages of the comic weeklies." It was not a one-way street, as comic characters soon made their way into the theatre... so, while Ally Sloper would visit Augustus Harris's pantomimes in Drury Lane every year, Sloper himself was being depicted by actors on the stage.

As with all of Alan's books, this is one to dip into, the story he wants to tell built up in brief pieces on characters, on comics, on artists and, given the subject matter, actors who were depicted in comics or who played them on stage. Dan Leno (the star of the book's cover) covers the whole gamut of entries, as a star, as the subject of his own comic (Dan Leno's Comic Journal), and a look at artist Tom Browne.

The two main sections cover the theatre up to the Great War, although the cross-over into comics was at its height during the Edwardian era. The largest section covers the post 1920 launch of Film Fun as comics became enamored of the movies as much as the ticket-paying public. Charlie Chaplin was one of the biggest stars and his history in comics straddles the music hall and cinematic theatres, with Chaplin first appearing in Funny Wonder in 1915, although some of the illustrations are from the very scarce Charlie Chaplin Fun Book, which appeared two months after his Funny Wonder debut.


In theatreland you'll meet Marie Lloyd and Sir Henry Irving - as Ally Sloper did -- and mysterious (well, they were to me) cover stars of Merry & Bright and Firefly, Harry Tate, Nellie Wallace, Little Titch, Phil Ray, George Robey and T. E. Dunville.

At the flickers, you'll find the stars of Film Fun and The Kinema Comic and dozens of names from the days of silent comedy, from Harold 'Winkle' Lloyd to Fatty Arbuckle, and forgotten stars like Snub Pollard and Louise Fazenda, both immortalized in The Kinema Comic alongside Syd Chaplin (Charlie's brother).

There are biographical sketches of many of the artists involved in this work, from the well-known Tom Browne, to the little-known Tom Radford, all written in Alan usual breezy and informative style.


Privately published, the book can be purchased via eBay directly from the author, who also has a few of his other books still for sale.

Comic Papers, Music Hall & Early Cinema by Alan Clark
Alan Clark [no ISBN], (February) 2024, 314pp, £36.

Friday, February 23, 2024

Comic Cuts – 23 February 2024


My laptop problems are slowly being sorted out. I mentioned in a sitrep on Sunday that I had managed to reinstall the operating system. This completely trashed the original system and all the files, folders, programmes, preferences, bookmarks, etc., etc., that I'd built up over the year I have been using it.

The good news: I managed to copy all of my files and folders back onto the laptop, although I'm yet to copy across files that have been updated since the copy was made; I have managed to reinstall various Windows programmes that I paid for last year, so I can now open my documents and other files; I'm slowly repopulating all the programmes I used, including iTunes, 7zip, Messenger, and others.

The bad news: the 'clone' that was meant to have been saved to an external hard drive didn't work. I only recovered a handful of folders. Thankfully (good news), a straightforward back-up onto a different hard drive meant that I recovered all my files and folders. I copied them all into the wrong place (bad news) and I'm still gradually sorting out what should go where. The other annoyance is that I tried copying the bookmarks  from my PC browser and load them into the browser on the laptop, but it only partly worked – a bunch of them didn't show up (bad news)... but I can see them in the Bookmark Manager, just not in the Bookmarks Menu (mystifying news!). (Just to add to that frustration, I had recently spent a couple of hours going through a couple of hundred bookmarks to find out if they still worked, deleting those that didn't and shifting other around into folders where they might actually be of some use. That all disappeared when the new operating system installed – time I'll never get back... and the thought of starting all over again fills me with dread!)

Another slight annoyance: some programmes have updated since I last installed them and got all my preferences in place so they worked efficiently in the way I wanted them to. That's all gone... I'm back to default settings and rediscovering why I changed them as soon as I could.

Truth be told, I could have just taken a few days off and sorted all this out, but I didn't want to sit here thinking about it all day, so I have been doing a bit here, a bit there and just slowly bringing everything back, checking it out (as much as I can) and trying to get the settings how I like them.

I've now completed work on an article for a Japanese magazine, which was submitted the morning that the laptop crashed so spectacularly. I had some additional images that needed to be cleaned up and those have now been sent over to the editor. I'm now waiting on a proof of the layout.

I've also been helping with a German book that is reprinting some Don Lawrence material, and two Spanish books, one on artists who worked for British war libraries, and a second that concentrates on the work of Joao Mottini.

And there have been other distractions, like a glitch in Amazon's two-step verification that saw them trying to send text messages to my land line rather than call it. It just seems to be one thing after another with technology at the moment. I discovered, for instance, that my mobile reception in the office is almost zero, so switching from land line to mobile isn't the big help I thought it would be! I did eventually resolve the problem, but to an outsider it would have looked like something out of a Chaplin film as I pressed a link to get a code and then immediately dashed out of the room waving a mobile around hoping for reception fast enough for me to get back and type in the code before it timed out. (A similar thing, but in reverse, happened on Saturday, as mentioned in the Sunday update.)

I'm also still waiting for my last print order to arrive, after being told a week ago that it was running late. Chasing people up for missing books or missing payments can lose you half an afternoon. (I had to pop out to the post box, and nipped into our second-hand book shop on the way back. The owner asked how I was and I had to admit that I was in "full grump" and had dropped in for some retail therapy. Spent a whole £3 on a book.)

In the meantime, I have been writing a long piece (too long, to be hones) for the local Wivenhoe History society, a side project to the article that I was actually planning to write until I noticed a local connection. I've now written over 9,000 words about a family that a handful of people are going to find interesting due to the fact that they bought a big house on the High Street. Talk about easily distracted!

Thursday, February 22, 2024

Codename: Warlord reprint released


Heritage Comics and Commando Comics presents… Codename: Warlord the graphic novel collection! Featuring the original adventures of Lord Peter Flint from Warlord alongside the Commando reboot of Codename: Warlord!

In 1974, British comics publisher DC Thomson launched WARLORD, bringing a weekly anthology of action and adventure to comic readers across the UK and further afield. Amongst the most popular strips was Lord Peter Flint — Codename: WARLORD. The eponymous character continued to thrill readers every week until the comic ceased publication in 1986, after an incredible 627-issue run.

Then, in 2019, Britain’s top-secret agent returned in the pages of the legendary long-running Commando comic. These most recent adventures are collected in the brand new graphic novel alongside the first six issues of the classic WARLORD comic as DC Thomson’s Heritage Comics and Commando present... Codename: WARLORD Volume 1.

The wartime Scarlet Pimpernel is back. Nazis beware! A defecting German professor in need of rescue. A plan to build the biggest ‘Fuhrer’ class warship of all time uncovered. Though branded a coward, there can only be one man for the job — Flint, Lord Peter Flint... Codename: WARLORD!

Collecting over 170 pages of action-packed comic artwork and a behind-the-scenes look at the iconic colour covers and spreads that featured in the legendary WARLORD, this graphic novel is not to be missed! 

Published on 14 February, Codename: Warlord is a Valentine’s Day gift for your loved one full of action and adventure! Order a copy now here at Mags Direct or from Amazon.

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Rebellion Releases - 21 February 2024


The official 2000 AD podcast is back! We switched Molch-R on and off again, and it did the trick – the Thrill-Cast again takes you behind-the-scenes on the Galaxy’s Greatest Comics!

We launch the first episode of 2024 with a special chat for readers new or unfamiliar to 2000 AD – newly minted droid Steve Morris talks to comics critics Rachel Bellwoar and Zack Quaintance about the best ways to get into reading the legendary weekly.

Then we welcome Rob Williams, Arthur Wyatt and Henry Flint, the creative powerhouse behind ‘A Better World’, the current Judge Dredd story running in 2000 AD which sees an experiment diverting resources from the Judges and into education and welfare threatens the very existence of Justice Department. How will the Judges react? We dive into the processes and ideas behind this groundbreaking story, and ask whether this is it for Judge Dredd!

The 2000 AD Thrill-Cast
is the award-winnng podcast that takes you behind-the-scenes at the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic with creator interviews, panels, and more! You can subscribe to the Thrill-Cast on your favourite podcast app, iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also listen now at 2000AD.com/podcast or you can watch at youtube.com/2000adonline.

And now, this week's releases...

2000AD Prog 2370
Cover: Clint Langley

JUDGE DREDD // A BETTER WORLD by Rob Williams & Arthur Wyatt (w) Henry Flint (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
INDIGO PRIME // CRACKED ACTORS by Kek-W (w) Lee Carter (a) Jim Campbell (l)
FULL TILT BOOGIE // BOOK TWO by Alex de Campi (w) Eduardo Ocana (a) Eva De La Cruz (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
THE FALL OF DEADWORLD // RETRIBUTION by Kek-W (w) Dave Kendall (a) Simon Bowland (l)
THISTLEBONE // THE DULE TREE by T.C. Eglington (w) Simon Davis (a) Simon Bowland (l)
Judge Dredd Megazine #564

Judge Dredd Megazine #465

Cover: Mike Dowling

JUDGE DREDD: RAVENOUS by Mike Carroll (w) Anthony Williams (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
DEMARCO, PI: NO SMOKE by Laura Bailey (w) Rob Richardson (a) Simon Bowland (l)
MEGA-CITY 2099: INSIDE MAN by Ken Niemand (w) Conor Boyle (a) Jim Campbell (l)
THE CRIMSON SEA by Fred Baker (w) Hugo Pratt (a)
HOOKJAW by Si Spurrier (w) Conor Boyle (a) Giulia Brusco (c) Rob Steen (l)
JUDGE DREDD: UNDER SIEGE by Mark Russell (w) Max Dunbar (a) Jose Luis Rio (c) Simon Bowland (l)
DEVLIN WAUGH: NIGHTCLUBBING by Aleš Kot (w) Steven Austin (a) Matt Soffe (c) Simon Bowland (l)
HARROWER SQUAD: CALHAB COUNTRY by David Baillie (w) Steve Yeowell (a) Chris Blythe (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)

BEAR ALLEY BOOKS

BEAR ALLEY BOOKS
Click on the above pic to visit our sister site Bear Alley Books