By Grant Morrison, Enrique Alcatena, Mick McMahon, Keith Robson, Ian Kennedy, Neil Roberts & various (Heritage Comics/DC Thomson & Co.)
ISBN: 978-1-84535-799-3 (TPB/Digital edition)
This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Lost Masterpieces for Comics Cognoscenti … 8/10
DC Thomson is probably the most influential comics publisher in British history. In the 1930s The Dandy and The Beano revolutionised children’s comedy comics, whilst newspaper strips Oor Wullie and The Broons have become genetic markers for Scottishness. The company uniquely portrayed the occasional toff, decent British blokes and working-class heroes who grew from the prose-packed pages of Adventure, Rover, Wizard, Skipper, Hotspur and latterly “strip picture papers” like Victor and Warlord. They also cannily and scrupulously followed wider-world trends and capitalised – as much as any tasteful, all-ages publishing house could – on global interests that filtered down to juvenile consumers.
After decades of savvy consumer-led publication for youngsters, in 1961 the company launched a digest-sized comics title dubbed Commando. About the dimensions of paperback book, they boasted 68 pages per issue – at an average of two panels a page – for single, stand-alone adventure tales, as well as venerable British extras like themed-fact pages.
Not to belabour the point, but each issue told a complete combat story (usually of WWI or II – although all theatres of conflict have featured since), a true rarity for British comics which usually ran material in one or two-page instalments over many weeks. The sagas were tasteful yet gripping yarns of valour and heroism: stark monochrome dramas charged with grit and authenticity. Full-painted covers made them look more like novels than comics and they were a huge and instant success. They’re still being published today.
The format soon encompassed Girls stories, Humour and Adventure too, but back in 1978 science fiction was the Big Thing, so the editors looked hard at the format, made some calls then had a go at that too. The result was Starblazers. The series launched in April 1979 and ran for 281 stand-alone issues, before closing in January 1991.
Today’s DCT is constantly looking for better ways to reach fresh audiences and recently moved into digital publishing of vintage and original new stories in a big way. Backing up their Commando war stories and Spellbound horror fiction reprint projects comes this initially digital-only treat: a timely compilation of canny tales from soon-to-be-big comics names repackaged to expand readerships thanks to their Heritage Comics imprint (expect more reviews in coming months).
Each episode in this selection is accompanied by its original wraparound cover and prefaced with a background page on the contributors. What more do you need in terms of a flight plan?
Reprinting two complete novels by – first seen in Starblazer #45 (1981) & #71 (1982) – the romps are preceded by a ‘Professor Christopher Murray in conversation with Grant Morrison’ and further contextual confirmation in essay ‘Space Fiction Adventure in Pictures! A Brief History of a Cosmic Comic!’ supplemented by a selection of those stunning painted frontages; specifically Starblazer #22 by Ian Kennedy and an unattributed and presumably unused one by Keith Robson from 1980.
Then we blast into action with ‘Operation Overkill’ (Morrison & Enrique Alcatena) and the introduction of what would be a popular returning star. When Earth’s most formidable super prison fails to hold diabolical demonic mass murderer Alta, he springs the most appalling killers in civilisation to maraud across the universe. In response, the flummoxed authorities hire former Star Corps operative Kayn, a private investigator operating under his own unique rule set…
To him the situation is obvious. Alta is setting diversions while he goes after colossal satellite Weaponworld, and all Kayn has to do is stop him getting it.
Let the games begin!
The rapid, rocket- paced romp is epic in scope and potent in delivery and followed by another painted cover from Robson prior to magnificent Mick McMahon applying his unique to Morrisons’s ‘Jaws of Death’ Here space piracy and missing ships prompts the Federation Space Navy to send in their top man. Captain Phil Collins (no relation) is soon victim of the same uncanny forces and stranded on a fantastic agglomeration of discarded vessels, but the mystery is only starting. The scrap-pile island is refuge to all the supposed dead survivors of the lost ships, ranged against an horrific terror that is consuming the artificial atoll and anything else in its path.
Eventually luck and determination bring Collins face to face with would-be galactic conqueror Vardon of Alterus: a despot with a love for big death machines and gladiatorial diversions, but in the end none of it is enough to stop ingenious, angry earthlings from throwing a gigantic spanner into the works and ending his threat forever…
After all that action, fact feature Meet the artist: Neil Roberts gives the lowdown on being a comics creator and is followed by biographies of Enrique Alcatena & Mick McMahon to end the enthrallment.
Sharp stories of soundly spectacular space shenanigans superbly styled out by major league comics makers can never be beaten, making this a sidereal stalwart’s only option for nostalgic magic unleashed and a welcome matter threshold back to more satisfying times. Why not strap on the booster and head back (and to the left a bit) into past tomorrows and see what used to make our eyes pop and hands shake?
© DC Thomson & Co., Ltd. 2019.
Today in 1959, Franco-Belgian spy spoof Clifton began in Le Journal de Tintin so go see Clifton volume 1: My Dear Wilkinson. In the UK in 1967 The Beano started us laughing with Gordon Bell’s Bash Street Kids Spin-off Pup’s Parade.