Category: Kids – All Ages

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The Complete Peanuts volume 11: 1971-1972


By Charles M. Schulz & various (Fantagraphics Books/Canongate Books UK)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-1456-9 (US HB/Digital edition), 978-0857864079 (UK HB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Peanuts is unequivocally the most important comic strip in the history of graphic narrative. It is also the most deeply personal. Cartoonist Charles M Schulz crafted his moodily hilarious, hysterically introspective, shockingly surreal philosophical epic for half a century: 17,897 strips spanning October 2nd 1950 to February 13th 2000. He died – from complications of cancer and in suitably mythopoeaic manner – the day before his last strip was printed.

At its height, Peanuts ran in 2,600 newspapers, in 21 languages and 75 countries. Many of those venues still run it in perpetual reprints, as they have ever since his death. During his lifetime, book collections, a merchandising mountain and television spin-offs had made the publicity-shy doodler an actual billionaire at a time when that really meant something…

None of that matters. Peanuts – a title Schulz loathed, but one the Syndicate forced upon him – changed the way comics strips were received and perceived: proving cartoon comedy could have edges and nuance and meaning as well as soon-forgotten pratfalls and punchlines.

For this 11th compendium we begin with a photo-portait of the man at work followed by an effusive Foreword from film & theatre star Kristin Chenoweth, recalling her time (1998-1999) as part of the gang. This is thanks to her stage triumph as Sally in musical phenomenon You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and here she shares memories and thoughts on Schultz; and thoughts on what makes the little sister tick on stage and on page…

As always, however, our pictorial focus and primary point of contact remains quintessential loser Charlie Brown who, alongside and yet simultaneously far behind fanciful, increasingly multi-personalitied, high-maintenance mutt Snoopy, remains squarely at odds with a mercurial supporting cast. They all timelessly hang out, doing what at first sight looks like Kids Stuff in an ever-more complex and adverse universe of perverse happenstance. But remember now, with this collecton it’s the socially aware, all-change era of “the Seventies”, when lots of untouchable notions were being deconstructed and reconsidered everywhere… even on the funny pages.

Individual strip slices focus on play and copious leisure time; varying degrees of musicality; childish pranks; interpersonal alignments; mounting pressures of evermore oppressive education and mass media lensed through wide (but often squinty) young eyes that witness it all with unguarded openess. These moments come pre-leavened by agonised teasing, aroused and/or crushed hope, naïve, baffled generalisations and observations with our little tots occasionally acting a bit too much like grown-ups.

With this tome’s tales, themes and tropes defining the series (especially in the wake of so many animated TV specials) became mantra-like and endlessly variable for the growing radership. Focus now is less on Charlie Brown and more on those around him but this time everybody’s hunger for acceptance has been subsumed into a deliciously overarching environmental constant that grows more abundant in its fallout… everyone is growing aware  of relationships and LOVE…

Of course, most human interactions still find our boy a pitiable outlier who only really understands sports – or so he thinks. People come and go but although Mean Girl Violet and Pig-Pen might be fading into the background, a core grpup consisting of musical prodigy Schroeder, self-taught psychoanalyst/dictator-in-waiting Lucy van Pelt, her brilliant but off-kilter little brother Linus and Charlie’s sister Sally are all abundantly on view, but regularly ensnared in the sundry traps of romance and attraction, and seem to be leaving our boy behind…

Snoopy, by strutting his many and varied imaginry selves – such as a predatory vulture waiting to pick off frozen kids in the snow – plays many key roles. These include the savvy sports-beagle; the pronosticating owner of an eerily insightful “Beagle Board”; a reputed war hero/author and so many more, but he too has a dubious, inexplicable relationship. His time with his secretary – a tiny, ditzy bird called Woodstock – is open to frequent comment, much of it from the beagle himself…

Our titular star still pines for the unattainable  “Little Red-haired Girl” who so tragically moved away before he could summon the nerve to speak to her…

The kids and critters are primarily fixtures honed to generate joke-routines and gag-sequences around signature foibles, but some (like African American Franklin and even author-Snoopy) enjoy more serious roles too and have become signposts for specific cntemporary themes. In this book one extended instance is when Snoopy’s favourite writer (Helen Sweetstory of The Six Bunny-Wunnies fame) is removed from the school library, as the strip homed in on the then-growing real-world crime of parentally-steered book-banning…

Another star on the rise is Patricia Reichardt AKA tomboy Peppermint Patty (who had debuted four years earlier on August 22nd 1966). She had been a strong, opinionated female achetype and a counsellor to younger girls, when not inadvertantly outshining Charlie Brown in sporting endeavours, but here gains far greater feminist prominence. Her key moments include making a stand for personal female individuality after School introduces more feminine dress codes (but only for half the students); struggling with learning issues and slowly, painfully finding herself falling for utterly oblivious, deeply lonely “Chuck” Brown.

That overstrained relationship is agony to watch unfold (…crash, burn and then begin all over again) with Patty growing increasingly upset and unnerved by new kid Marcie (she of the bottle-specs and 1000-yard stare) who tags along, calling her “Sir”…

Sally Brown has grown from frail infant to needy complainer, and just enough to become another trigger for Charlie’s relentless self-excoriation. As she ages (a rare event in a strip about eternal tots) and forms her own anxieties, she declaims loud opinions and propounds steadfastly misinformed views, with him relegated to being her dumber, protective but outgunned and baffled big brother. Sally now gets all the best lines yet still struggles with school in many strips depicting her attitudes to study and homework, which reveal the contest is pretty even and not at all one-sided…

Resigned to – but far from uncomplaining about – life as a loser in the gunsights of cruel and capricious fate, the boy Brown is still helpless in the clutches of openly sadistic Lucy. When not sabotaging his efforts to fly a kite or kick a football or while endlessly sabotaging his beloved baseball games, she monetises his discomfort with spiteful verve via a 5¢ walk-in psychoanalysis booth, ensuring that whether at play, in competition, in despair, allowing hope to flower or just brooding, the round-headed kid truly endures the character-building trials of the damned.

In this era, the beagle is the true star of our show, with his primary quest for fame or at least more and better food playing out against a magnificently baroque inner life. There are wild encounters with birds, skateboarding, dance-offs, ice skating and snow-sport trysts, philosophical ruminations, martial assignations and ever-more-popular catchphrases to learn. As burgeoning whimsy and dreams of writing bestsellers blossom, we catch constant glimpses of the dog’s WWI other life, but also acknowledge the the world’s growing teen scene with his reinvention in new personas like college frat boy Joe Cool and cosmopolitan rake Joe French.

Perhaps his most momentous new alter ego is The Attorney who so often steps in to lend legal sagacity to the kids in times of growing litigiousness and political protest…

Naturally all of these shadow-dogs harbour fondness for little Woodstock and abiding animus for natural enemy Lucy, whose life is also plagued by mounting hurdles. Paramount are her weirdo brother Linus (who has become obsessed with undiscovered cryptids like Gully Cats and Queen snakes)  and his comfort blanket; that dog; failure to boss everyone around enough, that dog and piano-boy Schroeder’s utter inability to realise that he loves her…

Timeless episodes of play, peril, peewee psychoanalysis, philosophical ponderings, anxiously anticipatory cinema-visits and personal recrimination are cunning beards for some heavy topics. Always realised in stark monochrome are more new characters, more plot developments (like the threatened return of Snoopy’s childhood nemesis Lila!) and the founding of even more traditions we all revere to this day.

As suggested, the beagle is the only force capable of challenging – if not fully countering -Lucy. Over these two years, her campaign to curb the weird dog; cure her brother of comfort blanket dependency; seduce Schroeder and generally reorder reality to her preferences reach astounding heights and appalling depths, but Snoopy keeps trying and scores many minor victories. In the main, though, Lucy continues to consistently suck all the joy out of the white wonder stuff, green summers, fallen leaves, refreshing rain, hobbies, sports, music and anthing else other people like. Except skipping. Playing with a jump rope is still acceptable…

Hilariously, her reality takes a solid knock when Mr & Mrs Van Pelt announce the imminent arrival of a new baby sister, an intruder shellshocked Lucy instantly names “Rerun”…

From the start Schulz established way points in his year: formally celebrating certain calendar occasions – real or invented – as perennial shared events: St. Valentine’s Day, Mothers & Fathers’ Days, Fourth of July strips and the like are accompanied in their turn by yearly milestones lincluding Christmas, Easter, Halloween/Great Pumpkin Day and Beethoven’s Birthday.

Here they are augmneted by another American ritual as many of the cast return to (and are dismissed from) summer camp. This results in fresh heartbreak for all after Patty finally meets the nigh-legendary Little Red-haired Girl and realises all hope is lost. There’s even more endless heartbreak heading for Charlie Brown too, as he looks on and can do nothing. The poor oaf still has no idea how to begin to respond to closer ties with his dream girl or why even Patty cares…

Sports fun looms large and terrifying as ever, but star athlete-turned-coach/manager Snoopy is more interested in new passions than boring old baseball, hockey, tennis and football. These include fishing, swimming, skiing, skating and new sensation Frisbee-ing, as well as embracing the ups and downs of perilous passtime “Ha-Ha, Herman!” and watching Lucy learn some hard truths while rollerskating…

Even she finds far more absorbing pastimes but still revels in crushing the spirits of her teammates in whatever endeavour they are failing at. Linus endures more disappointment in two Great Pumpkin seasons as well as his rare-animal searches, and before you know it, there’s the traditional countdown to Christmas and another year filled with weird, woolly and wonderful moments…

Neatly interspersed with the daily doses of gloom, the Sunday page debuted on January 6th 1952: a half-page slot offering more measured fare than 4-panel dailies. Thwarted ambition, sporting failures, crushing frustration – much of it psychoanalysis or sport related – abound, alternating with Snoopy’s inner life of aviation, war stories, star gazing, shooting the breeze with bird buddies, weather woes, fame and food fiascos. These and other signature sorties across the sabbath indulgences afforded Schulz room to be his most imaginative, whimsical and provocative… or just plain jokey…

Tentpole moments to relish this time include intensification of the magnificently barbed romantic triangle involving Lucy, Schroeder & Beethoven; Linus kicking the blanket habit only to be dragged back in under again; more Snoopy v Lucy deathmatches as well as a claws & paws clash of our dog and the despised cat-next-door. Charlie Brown’s food feud with the beagle continues, as do assorted night terrors, Lucy’s unique solutions to complex questions; Valentines’ card coup counting, doggy dreams; sporting endeavours,  all counterpointed by Snoopy’s latest top secret mission for the Head Beagle and the paving over of his puphood home…

To Be Continued…

To wrap it all up, Gary Groth celebrates and deconstructs the man and his work in ‘Charles M. Schulz: 1922 to 2000’, preceded by a copious ‘Index’ offering instant access to favourite scenes you’d like to see again…

Readily available in many formats, this volume guarantees total enjoyment: comedy gold and social glue metamorphosing into an epic of spellbinding graphic mastery that still adds joy to billions of lives, and continues to make new fans and devotees long after its maker’s passing.
The Complete Peanuts: 1971-1972 (Volume Eleven) © 2009 Peanuts Worldwide, LLC. “Charles M. Schulz: 1922 to 2000” © 2009 Gary Groth. All rights reserved.

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Neill Cameron’s How to Make Awesome Comics


By Neill Cameron (The Phoenix Comic Books/David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78845-147-5 (TPB)

A lifetime ago in January 2012, Oxford-based publisher David Fickling Books launched a traditional-seeming anthology comic weekly aimed at girls and boys between 6 – 12 which revelled in reviving the good old days of picture-story entertainment intent, whilst embracing the full force of modernity in style and content. Each issue offers humour & adventure strips (most subsequently gathered into a formidable library of stunning Graphic Novels); quizzes; puzzles; educational material and drawing/storytelling tips comprising a joyous parade of cartoon fun and fantasy and, in the years since its premiere, The Phoenix has become a staple of kids’ fun, winning praise from the Great and the Good, child literacy experts and the only people who really count – the utterly engaged kids and parents who read it…

The magazine celebrated its first anniversary by launching a digital edition available globally as an app and continually expands its horizons. These days they offer internet added value via an ongoing tutorial fun-lab dubbed the Phoenix Comics Club…

It is, most importantly, big and bold and tremendous fun.

The publishers are also a fantastically inclusive bunch, ever-eager to get us involved. Conceived and delivered by best-selling Graphic Novelist Neill Cameron (Donut Squad, Mega Robo Bros, Freddy, Tamsin of the Deep, Pirates of Pangea), activity feature ‘How to Make Awesome Comics’ has featured intermittently since issue #0, offering enticing insights and practical tips through the auspices of cartoon know-it-all Professor Panels and his long-suffering collaborator Art Monkey. Its sage pages were first gathered and released in book form in 2014, and now there’s a fully updated and improved version to impart just how to be the best… and why you shouldn’t draw on walls…

As part of the company’s line of comic albums those invaluable observations and exercises were superbly repackaged into a lexicon of hands-on instruction: a not-so-serious foundation course in cartoon wonder-making no aspiring comic book genius can afford to be without.

Broken down into six chapters and (more or less) 21 easily assimilated lessons, the book also makes full use of modern technologies, with exercises, cartoon cheats and spare drawing pages all included as well as downloadable from the internet.

Leaping straight in following the standard equipment check, tuition begins in Chapter 1 with Getting Started, via Lessons 1 & 2: Anyone Can Make Awesome Comics and Awesome Comics can be about Anything. These offer tutorial insights from the Prof ranging from stick-figure first-concepts to fully inked and coloured final work, all augmented by opportunities to create your own strips through the first of many Art Monkey Challenges… plus a Level 1 Bonus Challenge…

Chapter 2 introduces Great Ideas! and in Lessons 3 through 6 covers How to Have Awesome Ideas, How to Have Awesomer Ideas, How to Have Awesomest Ideas before finishing with a treatise on Real Life Awesome (biographical comics) accompanied by an Art Monkey Challenge of dedicated daily fun and complexity…

With work-philosophy fully engaged and imaginations suitably fired up, Chapter 3 then determines What’s a Comic? as Lesson 7 (Warning! Clowns at work!) focuses on the basics with How Awesome Comics Work, whilst L8 details How to Make Funny Comics – with many strip examples!

Then L9 Awesome Words + Awesome Pictures offers some sound lettering tips before this heavy session closes with a welcome pause in which students can peruse a batch of Bonus Comic strips such as ‘Mecha Monkey Meltdown’; ‘Sir Meows-a-Lot and the Bandit Mouse’; ‘Triceracop’; ‘Kung Fu Banana Squad’; ‘BananaBarbarian’ and more…

Returning to learning, Chapter 4 deals with Awesome Drawing, with Lessons 10 to 15 revealing How to Draw Anything Awesomely (like characters & costumes) with L11 pinpointing How to Draw Cartoons Awesomely, before we learn in rapid succession How to Draw Awesome Faces, How to Draw Awesome Robots, How to Draw Awesome Pirates and, of course How to Draw Awesome Monsters. As always that monkey is there to lay down those pesky but so useful challenges…

The really important stuff is Telling Stories as covered in Chapter 5 with How to Tell Awesome Stories, How to Create Awesome Heroes, How to Create Awesome Villains, Creating Awesome Drama before culminating with the big secret in L20’s Awesome Endings…

Finally the practicalities of production and dissemination are revealed in Chapter 6 with How to Make Your Very Own Comics, covering such arcane but crucial topics as folding, pagination and layout; copying and reproduction and getting your work into the hands of your readers…

Packed with superb examples, handy breakdown & layout tips, lots of practical exercises and offering tons of cool ideas plus a library of inspirational examples, this perspicacious primer even includes a wealth of Awesome Appendix of More Awesome Stuff: comprising visual inventories of gallery of stock characters, Cool Robot Accessories and Pirate Moustachery. You will see How to Draw Dinosaurs Step-by-Step, as well as Creepy Creatures and Penguins – also all Step-by-Step – before ending with More Fun Comics challenges for the now-adept student to complete…

There are a host of books, both academic and/or instructional, designed to inculcate a love of comics whilst offering tips, hacks and a hands-on education in crafting your own sequential narratives. There are precious few that do it with as much style, enthusiasm and cunning craft as Neill Cameron’s beguiling release under the all-ages aegis of The Phoenix. This bright & breezy album hones in on and perfectly highlights all the core skills necessary to crafting picture-stories, cleverly drenching them in an aura of rambunctious, addictive fun. With such a boost how can any prospective or neophyte storyteller fail to be galvanised into making their own magic?
Text and illustrations © Neill Cameron, © 2014, 2016, 2026. All rights reserved.

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: A Seasonal Secret Weapon to Ensure Silent Nights… 8/10

How to Make Awesome Comics! will be released on October 8th 2026 and is available for pre-order now.

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The Pony Express – A Lucky Luke Adventure (volume 46)


By Morris, scripted by Xavier Fauche & Jean Léturgie & coloured by Studio Leonardo, translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-84918-194-5 (Album PB), 978-1-84918-880-7 (Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. This book also contains Discriminatory Content added for comedic effect.

Time for another Anniversary announcement, non?

Lucky Luke is a rangy, good-natured, “lonesome cowboy” able to “draw faster than his own shadow”. Doughty, dashing, dependable Lucky is an implacably placid do-gooder roaming the mythical Old West, having light-hearted adventures with his wonder horse Jolly Jumper whilst interacting with a host of historical and/or fictionally famous figures of the genre.

It’s Jolly & Lucky’s 80th birthday this year and their continued exploits have made him one of the bestselling comic characters in Europe, encompassing 83 albums, numerous spin-off books and series comprising more than 300 million albums in at least 31 languages thus far. That has all generated a mega-mesa of merchandise: posters, toys, games, apparel, animated cartoons, TV shows and live-action movies.

Lucky was dreamed up by western-loving Maurice de Bévère AKA “Morris”: a Belgian-born animator, illustrator and cartoonist. His sagebrush star debuted in the summer of 1946, initially in Le Journal de Spirou in mid-summer sans title or banner logo, and only in the French-language edition of the multinational kids comic. The Lone Rider’s official launch came in autumn of that year in Christmas Annual L’Almanach Spirou 1947, before opening his first official serial in the pan-regional, multilingual weekly edition cover-dated December 7th 1946.

After a relatively slow start for such a fast gun, Lucky’s global dominance came via Morris’ decades-long collaboration with superstar scripter René Goscinny. The official partnership spanned Rails on the Prairie (from August 25th 1955) to The Ballad Of The Daltons And Other Stories in 1986, during which time the sixgun straight-shooter switched teams, transferring to Goscinny’s own magazine Pilote with The Stagecoach in 1967, with guest appearances all over the European publishing scene after that.

Goscinny co-crafted 45 albums before his death in 1977, after which Morris continued both singly and with new literary pardners, ultimately recruiting a posse of legacy creators including Lo Hartog van Banda, Achdé & Laurent Gerra, Xavier Fauche, Jean Léturgie, Benacquista & Pennac, Jacques Pessis and more, all taking their own shots at the venerable vigilante. Morris continued until his own death in 2001, having drawn fully 70 adventures, plus numerous sidebar and spin-off whimsical western tales.

His grande idée draws on western history less than movie mythology, but – as here – our hero regularly met historical figures as well as famous fictional folk in tales drawn from classic cowboy lore, lensed through uniquely European notions and interpretations… as also seen here. Moreover, our sharpshooting star is never averse to being a figure of political change and Weapon of Mass Satire, as well as spoofing his own antecedents whilst wallowing in movie schtick to trigger delicious drives down memory lane in the eternal game of cowberks and imbeciles…

Le Pony Express was the 59h European album, first seen serially in monthly magazine Pif Gadget #997 – 999 in 1988 before being collected into book form that same year. As the self-explanatory adventure The Pony Express, it was Cinebook’s 46th English-language outing of hijacked history, scathing satire and horselaugh hijinks.

Morris always drew from a deep, shared well of cinematic motifs, gilded with authenticity and tempered with veracity as required. Here, with prolific scripters Xavier Fauche (Lucky Luke, Rantanplan, Percevan, Marsupilami) & Jean Léturgie (Lucky Luke. Rantanplan, Kid Lucky, Percevan, Gastoon, Space Cake) he put his unique brand on the epic but short-lived myth of a crucial communications experiment: one that actually lasted 18 months (April 3rd 1860 to October 26th 1861) but which has gripped imaginations forever-after…

The sly, wry, action-packed yarn opens in Washington DC as Senators welcome California into the United States of America whilst complaining of the administrative problems of its immense distance. Faced with a 30-day stagecoach journey from new State Capital Sacramento to notional outpost of civilisation of St. Joseph Missouri, the government gasbags demand a faster way. However, when their chosen pathfinding frontiersman agent Edson Cody fails to find better more expedient route, the lawmakers offer a reward of $50,000 to anyone able to cut that onerous time lag.

Thus, when inspired entrepreneur William H. Russell has his great idea for a non-stop, horse-powered relay system staffed by a trained team of specialist riders sworn to carry mailbags from coast to heartland in just ten days, hopes are high even though expectations are guarded. There is, of course, opposition from the slowly progressing Pacific Railway Company who want that fifty grand for themselves and immediately begin sabotaging every aspect of the enterprise via the extremely long reach of Sacramento stationmaster Ted Ballast and his mean minions…

Russell’s plan submitted to and accepted by the Senate envisions relay stations of fresh horses and riders every 75 miles of the prospective 1,840 mile route. As it is intended to be non-stop day & night, riders would have to be the best of the best. Thankfully, Russell and ferociously supportive wife Imelda have just made the acquaintance of a quietly capable cowboy…

This Lucky Luke will be vetting candidates, training successful applicants (such as Charley Cliff, Johnny Fry, Nick Wilson, Billy Richardson and 15-year-old living legend in waiting William “Buffalo Bill” Cody) and putting them through the most torturous toughening-up regime imaginable, even as Imelda concerns herself with their emotional, spiritual and physical wellbeing. The lads would rather be brutalised again and again than swear off drink, gambling and wimmin, but a job’s a job…

Also heavily involved in the testing and training stage, Jolly Jumper personally ends many applicant riders’ hopes of the fabulously well-paid positions, but also ensures that every steed under them will be at least as fit and twice as smart as its rider…

… And then it’s April 3rd and time for the initial run that will secure the enterprise or crush all their dreams. This is when Ballast’s boys – already a permanent thorn in the Express’ side – go into spoiler overdrive, spreading lies and disinformation, rousing local Indian tribes, faking a Dalton Brothers jailbreak, planting diabolical honeytrap Lola and Her Girls in the couriers’ path, wrecking relay stations along the way, and even tampering with the heartbreaking, arduous wilderness-spanning route.

Lucky & Jolly Jumper handled the first 75 miles with little trouble, but soon after handing over to Charley Cliff, our heroes discover that the Pony Express man has been nobbled and is actually working for Ballast. Not knowing who to trust, Luke decides it’s probably best if he and his trusty horse do the entire 10-day nonstop run themselves…

It’s a sound decision, but one fraught with peril and wonder before they make it to St. Joseph, and even after triumphantly arriving, the weaselly rail ramrods have one last wheeze to employ… which only Luke’s cool calculations can counter…

These youthful forays of an indomitable hero offer grand joys in the tradition of Destry Rides Again and Little Big Man, superbly executed by master storytellers: a brilliant introduction to a unique genre for modern kids who might have missed the romantic allure of the Wild West that never was…
© Dargaud Editeur Paris 1988 by Morris and Xavier Fauche & Jean Léturgie. © Lucky Comics. English translation © 2014 Cinebook Ltd.

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Asterix and Obelix All at Sea


By Uderzo, translated by Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge (Sphere)
ISBN: 978-0-75284-778-8 (Album PB), 978-0-75284-717-7 (Album HB), 978-1-44401-337-5 (Digital edition)

This book contains Discriminatory Content included for comedic effect.

It’s still Asterix & Obelix’s 87th Anniversary (for the strip) and 85 years since the first collected Album!

A son of Italian immigrants, Alberto Aleandro Uderzo was born on April 25th 1927 in Fismes on the Marne. As a child reading Mickey Mouse in Le Pétit Parisien he showed artistic flair from an early age and dreamed of becoming an aircraft mechanic. Alberto became a French citizen when he was seven and found employment at thirteen, apprenticed to the Paris Publishing Society, where he learned design, typography, calligraphy and photo retouching.

When World War II began he spent time with farming relatives in Brittany and joined his father’s furniture-making business. Brittany beguiled and fascinated Uderzo: when a location for Asterix‘s idyllic village was being mooted, the region was the only choice. In the post-war rebuilding of France, Uderzo returned to Paris and became a successful artist in the recovering nation’s burgeoning comics industry.

An inveterate traveller, the artistic prodigy met Rene Goscinny in 1951. Soon becoming fast friends, they resolved to work together at the new Paris office of Belgian Publishing giant World Press. Their first collaboration was in November of that year; a feature piece on savoir vivre (how to live right or gracious living) for women’s weekly Bonnes Soirée, following which an avalanche of splendid strips and serials poured forth. Jehan Pistolet and Luc Junior were created for La Libre Junior and they resulted in a western starring a “Red Indian” who eventually evolved into the delightfully infamous Oumpah-Pah. In 1955, Uderzo drew Bill Blanchart for La Libre Junior, replaced Christian Godard on Benjamin et Benjamine and in 1957 added Charlier’s Clairette to his portfolio.

The following year, he made his debut in Tintin, as Oumpah-Pah finally found a home and a rapturous audience. Uderzo also drew Poussin et Poussif, La Famille Moutonet and La Famille Cokalane. When Pilote launched in 1959, Uderzo was a major creative force for the new magazine, collaborating with Charlier on Tanguy et Laverdure and launching – with Goscinny – a little something called Asterix…

Although the gallant Gaul was a massive hit from the start, Uderzo continued working on Les Aventures de Tanguy et Laverdure, but once the first hilarious historical romp was collected in an album as Astérix le gaulois in 1961 it became clear the series would demand most of his time – especially since the incredible Goscinny never seemed to require rest or run out of ideas.

By 1967 Asterix occupied all Uderzo’s time and attention, so in 1974 the partners formed Idéfix Studios to fully exploit their inimitable creation. In case you were unaware, Idéfix is also the Franco-Belgian name for Obelix’s little white dog. When Goscinny passed away three years later, Uderzo had to be convinced to continue the adventures as writer and artist,  but eventually resumed to produce a further ten volumes up until 2010 when he retired.

After nearly 15 years as a weekly comic serial subsequently collected into book-length compilations, in 1974 the 21st (Asterix and Caesar’s Gift) was the first published as a complete original album before serialisation. Thereafter each new release was an eagerly anticipated, impatiently awaited treat for the strip’s millions of fans…

Like all the best stories the narrative premise works on more than one level: read it as an action-packed comedic romp of sneaky and bullying baddies coming a-cropper if you want or as a punfully sly and witty satire for older, wiser heads. We Brits are further blessed by the brilliantly light touch of master translators Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge who played no small part in making the indomitable little Gaul so very palatable to English tongues.

Many of the intoxicating epics are set in various exotic locales throughout the Ancient World, with these Garrulous Gallic Gentlemen reduced to quizzical tourists and bemused commentators in every fantastic land and corner of the civilisations that proliferated in that fabled era. The rest – more than half of the canon – unfold in Uderzo’s beloved Brittany, where, circa 50 B.C., a little hamlet of cantankerous, proudly defiant warriors and their families resisted every effort of the mighty Roman Empire to complete the conquest of Gaul.

The land is divided by the notional conquerors into provinces of Celtica, Aquitania and Amorica, but the very tip of the last just refuses to be pacified…

Whenever the heroes were playing at home, the Romans, unable to defeat the last bastion of Gallic insouciance, futilely resorted to a policy of absolute containment. Thus the little seaside hamlet was permanently hemmed in by heavily fortified garrisons Totorum, Aquarium, Laudanum and Compendium. The Gauls couldn’t care less, daily defying and frustrating the world’s greatest military machine simply by going about their everyday affairs, protected by the miraculous magic potion of resident druid Getafix and the shrewd wits of the diminutive dynamo and his simplistic, supercharged best friend Obelix.

Firmly established as a global brand and premium French export from the mid-1960s onwards, Asterix the Gaul continues to grow in quality as new creators toil ever onward, crafting further fabulous sagas and building a stunning legacy of graphic excellence and storytelling gold…

Uderzo’s sixth solo session was Asterix and Obelix All at Sea (released in 1996 as La Galère d’Obélix) as the 30th volume of the ever-unfolding saga. It opens in the cruel and callous capital of civilisation wherein the Master of the World is having a bit of a bad day. Not as bad, however, as his Grand Admiral Crustacius, who has just allowed a bunch of oar slaves to mutiny and steal Julius Caesar’s personal galley…

As the severely tongue-lashed mariner and his browbeaten aide Vice-Admiral Nautilus scurry away to pursue the fugitives, aboard the magnificent vessel magnificent Greek rebel Spartakis – bearing a striking resemblance to the magnificent actor Kirk Douglas in all his chinny glory – debates with some recently-liberated comrades from many nations on where in the Rome-ruled world they can go to remain free.

A British oarsman then suggests a Gaulish village on the coast of Armorica which the empire has never conquered…

Meanwhile, in the faraway subject of the rebels’ discussions, Asterix & Obelix are in argumentative mood too, but their clash is put aside when word comes that the entire complement of all four encircling garrisons are massing on the far side of the forest. Always eager for a little martial recreation, the villagers dose up on Druid Getafix’s strength-boosting potion. Once again, Obelix is frustrated in his attempt to get a share of the tantalising elixir and stumbles off in high dudgeon. The generally genial giant had fallen into a vat of potion as an infant and grown up a permanently superhuman, eternally hungry hulk who hates being told no and doesn’t believe more of the mouth-watering miracle mixture might harm him…

The Romans are utterly unaware of the danger insouciantly sauntering towards them, engaged as they are in military drills to celebrate the imminent arrival of Admiral Crustacius. Thoroughly thrashing the amassed legions, the victorious Gauls wonder why Roman-bashing addict Obelix is absent and Getafix, dreading the worst, dashes back to discover his greatest fears realised. The intransigent idiot has foolishly imbibed deeply from the potion and been turned to stone and nothing the druid can conceive will cure the calcified colossus!

It’s during this time of trouble that Spartakis and his freed men arrive, seeking sanctuary. As the welcoming villagers carry the huge ornate galley into the village, the Obelix ordeal takes a strange turn as his stony spell wears off and the former fighting fool returns to flesh and blood – albeit as the feeble little boy he was before ever falling into the potion pot. The little wimp can’t even eat roast boar anymore…

The puny pipsqueak is the darling of the town but cannot abide his weak, ineffectual status. The situation becomes truly intolerable after he is captured by Crustacius and shipped off to Rome. After suitably castigating the troops, Asterix, Getafix and faithful mutt Dogmatix give chase in Caesar’s ship, crewed by Spartakis and his valiant band of brothers. Powered by potion, the pursuers easily overtake the Romans, who have been hampered by Obelix’s obnoxious antics and the predations of the perennially, phenomenally unlucky pirates to whom (after the period of traditional chastisement) Asterix awards Caesar’s appropriated galley. Crucially, however, in his haste the little warrior leaves behind a barrel of potion when his comrades and little Obelix all transfer to a new, less conspicuous vessel.

As the Gauls sail off in the pirate’s battered ship, Getafix has an inspired idea, suggesting to Spartakis that they make for the last remnant of Atlantis, explaining that the idyllic Canary Islands survived the inundation of the magic continent and the people living there now are reclusive beings of great power and knowledge who might be able to restore Obelix to his natural state…

When they arrive in that beautiful land of miracles, they are greeted by aged Absolutlifabulos and hordes of beautiful, happy children riding dolphins, centaurs, swans and winged cattle. The jolly dotard explains the Atlanteans reverted themselves to carefree immortal childhood, but their powers cannot do anything to cure Obelix. As the downhearted Gauls make their way home, Spartakis and his men opt to stay and become forever kids too…

Meanwhile on Caesar’s galley, Crustacius has found Getafix’s stashed potion and powered up, dreaming of ousting his foul-tempered boss and making himself Emperor, even as leagues away, a Roman boarding party invades the pirate galley and menaces the powerless Gauls. With Asterix about to be killed, little Obelix goes berserk and the emotional overload restores him to his corpulent, hyper-charged older self, much to the distress of the Roman soldiers…

By the time Crustacius reaches Rome, he has made the same mistake Obelix did and his rapid overdosing on potion only provides Caesar with another statue for the Circus Maximus…

In Gaul, however, Obelix – with a lot of frustration to work through – debarks at recently repaired Aquarium for a spot of cathartic violence before accompanying his faithful chums back to the village for a celebratory feast…

This rollicking fantasy and paean to family and friendship cemented Uderzo’s reputation as a storyteller whilst his stunning illustrative ability affords glimpses of sheer magic to lovers of cartoon art. Asterix and Obelix All at Sea proves the potion-powered paragons of Gallic Pride will never lose their potent punch. If you still haven’t experienced this sublime slice of French polish and graphic élan, it’s never too late…
© 1996 Les Editions Albert René Goscinny/Uderzo. Revised English translations © 1998, 2002 Les Editions Albert René, Goscinny/Uderzo. All rights reserved.

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Batman’s Mystery Casebook


By Sholly Fisch, Christopher A. Uminga & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-0586-6 (TPB), 978-1-7795-0878-2 (Digital edition)

In recent years DC opened up its shared superhero universe: generating Original Graphic Novels featuring its many stars in stand-alone adventures for the demographic so sadly misnamed Young Adult. To date, results have been rather hit or miss, but when they’re good, they are very good indeed…

One sublime example of the process at its best is this cheery practical class in crimefighting which picks the brains and capitalises on the experience of Gotham’s gaggle of gangbusters and delivers life-defining details in the form of a comics activity book for all ages…

Author Sholly Fisch is no stranger to comics, having splendidly scripted Scooby Doo in various print incarnations and almost every DC superhero in All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold and other animation-based spin-offs, Superman, Star Wars and so much more. When not doing that, he’s a developmental psychologist consulting for companies making digital games and toys, with clients including Sesame Street, Cyberchase, The Magic School Bus Rides Again and The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That. If you love fun superheroics and vintage comics trivia, you should seek out his work.

Cartoonist/designer/visualiser Christopher A. Uminga has worked for numerous media giants including DC Comics/Warner Bros., Lucasfilm, Foot Locker, Disney’s WonderGround Gallery and more, and is assisted in making this complex and arresting tome work by colourist Silvana Brys and lettering entity Andword Design (Morgan Martinez, Justin Birch & Deron Bennett)…

A quick word to the wise: Although for years DC’s mainstream continuity has depicted the Dark Knight as a driven, tormented borderline(?!) sociopath doing good for what seems to be all the wrong reasons, Batman has always been a heroic archetype who works for all ages and on vastly differing levels of intensity. This version is far more Caped Crimecrusher than Bat out of Hell, and reaffirms his reputation as “the World’s Greatest Detective” in a series of “fair play mystery” vignettes with the reader invited to pay close attention and participate at every moment of each case. Kids can enjoy alone or with the grandparents who watched the 1966 Batman TV phenomenon unfold and parents who watched the 1990s movies and stunning Batman: The Animated Adventures series they spawned…

It begins in ‘Prologue: Whodunit?’ as Batman, Robin & Batgirl examine a crime scene and talk the readers through the clues left behind that lead to their deft deduction of the culprit…

With every reader fully briefed ‘Chapter 1: The Case of the Perilous Puzzles’ sees The Riddler running riot, obsessively dropping his verbal hints for us to solve, but don’t get so caught up that you miss the cunning visual clues scattered around, since the Dynamic Duo might be too busy escaping death traps to spot them…

Each adventure is augmented by a quick lesson in historical criminology, deduction and data gathering (just like the old Dick Tracy Crime Stoppers feature) beginning with a foundation in forensic science courtesy of ‘Batcave Crime Lab: Crime Scene Investigation’ with Clayface inadvertently assisting enquiries…

Of course Two-Face stars in piratically-positioned second chapter ‘The Case of the Dual Identity’ and the hunt offers many chances to study modus operandi before the boom is lowered, after which ‘Batcave Crime Lab: Fingerprints’ reveals the secrets of the ancient and hallowed system.

World-weary cop Harvey Bullock and Catwoman are involved in third chapter ‘The Case of the Art Attack’ but Batgirl – and the reader! – can’t be rushed to hasty conclusions if they think things through, before ‘Batcave Crime Lab: Tracks’ offers a quick refresher on Locard’s Exchange Principle (weren’t you paying attention last chapter?) as we learn to watch where we – and everybody else – steps…

Bruce Wayne & Alfred Pennyworth show off their sleuthing skills in civilian style for ‘The Case of the History Mystery’, taking us back to WWI and an encounter with Enemy Ace Hans von Hammer, augmented by some modern milestones in ‘Batcave Crime Lab: DNA’.

We’re back in supervillain territory for chapter 5 as ‘The Case of the Cold Cash’ seems to prove chilly Mister Freeze is the bad guy… until our heroes take a closer look; all complemented by the Terrific Trio taking stock of fraud in ‘Batcave Crime Lab: Fakes and Phonies’.

Batgirl and Robin have their wits truly tested in ‘The Case of the Digital Ghost’ before ‘Batcave Crime Lab: Eyewitness Testimony’ wonderfully tests every reader’s memory and visual acuity – with helpful hints from Commissioner Gordon – as we rush to the conclusion in Chapter 7 as The Joker & Harley Quinn threaten appalling consequences for all in ‘The Case of the Perilous Parade’: a thrilling manhunt that literally demands your full attention…

‘Epilogue’ then provides a summation wrap-up from Batman, plus a so-cool poster to declare “Case Closed!” on this vivid and vibrant anticrime primer… for now!

The caseload is done-in-one (hopefully only until we get a sequel and series puh-leeeze!) but this thrilling tome also offers a tantalising peek at Sara Farizan & Nicoletta Baldari’s Gotham-set tale of bullying and being the new kid My Buddy Killer Croc that’s also worth some of your time and attention.

Smart, compelling, brilliantly entertaining, astoundingly infectious and deliciously addictive, Batman’s Mystery Casebook is a superbly challenging activity and adventure romp packed with charm and wit to captivate fans and nervous neophytes alike: one introducing a new wondrous world with a rousing reminder that all is never as it seems…
© 2022 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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The Golden Menhir – An Illustrated Asterix Album


By René Goscinny & Albert Uderzo, translated by Adriana Hunter (Sphere)
ISBN: 978-1-40873-494-0 (PB), ?978-1-40873-492-6 (Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content included for comedic effect.

The most upsetting thing about major comics creators and storytellers in general is that when they die the magic stops and there’s nothing new to enjoy. That’s why we all celebrate when something undiscovered or simply long-forgotten turns up…

Asterix the Gaul is probably France’s greatest literary export. The feisty, wily little warrior who fought the iniquities and viewed the myriad wonders of Julius Caesar’s Roman Empire with brains, bravery and (whenever necessary) a magic potion imbuing the imbiber with incredible strength, speed and vitality, is the go-to reference all we non-Gallic gallants resort to when we think of France.

The wily, wee, warrior wonder was created in 1959 by two of our artform’s greatest masters, with his first official appearance being on October 29th in Pilote #1. In actuality, he had already debuted in a pre-release teaser – or “pilot” – weeks earlier.

René Goscinny was arguably the most prolific – and remains one of the most read – writers of comic strips the world has ever known. Born in Paris in 1926, he grew up in Argentina where his father taught mathematics. From an early age René showed artistic promise. He studied fine arts and graduated in 1942. Three years later, while René worked as junior illustrator for an ad agency, his uncle invited him to stay in America, where the lad ultimately found gainful employment as a translator. After National Service in France, Goscinny returned to the US, settling in Brooklyn to pursue an artistic career. In 1948 he was an assistant in a small studio which included Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder, Jack Davis & John Severin, as well as visiting European giants-in-waiting Joseph Gillain (Jijé) and Maurice de Bévère (Morris) with whom Goscinny would produce 46 volumes of Lucky Luke between 1955-1977.

Goscinny also met Georges Troisfontaines, head of World Press Agency, the company providing comics for Le Journal de Spirou. After contributing scripts to Belles Histoires de l’Oncle Paul and Jerry Spring, Goscinny was promoted to head of World Press’ Paris office. Here he met his ultimate creative collaborator Albert Uderzo. In his spare time (!), René also created Sylvie and Alain et Christine with Martial Durand (“Martial”) and Fanfan et Polo, drawn by Dino Attanasio. Also in 1955, Goscinny, Uderzo, Charlier & Jean Hébrad formed independent syndicate Édifrance/Édipresse, to create magazines for business and general industry; such as Clairon for the factory union and Pistolin for a chocolate factory.

With Uderzo, René spawned Bill Blanchart, Pistolet and Benjamin et Benjamine, whilst illustrating his own scripts for Le Capitaine Bibobu. Under nom-de-plume Agostini, René wrote Le Petit Nicholas (drawn by Jean-Jacques Sempé), and in 1956 began a productive association with revolutionary periodical Le Journal de Tintin, writing for various artists including Attanasio (Signor Spagetti); Bob De Moor (Monsieur Tric); Maréchal (Prudence Petitpas); Berck (Strapontin); Globule le Martien and Alphonse with Tibet; as well as Modeste et Pompon for André Franquin. With Uderzo he crafted the fabulously funny adventures of inimitable Indian brave Oumpah-Pah. Goscinny also wrote for magazines Paris-Flirt and Vaillant.

In 1959, Édifrance/Édipresse launched Pilote and René went into overdrive. The first issue featured re-launched versions of Le Petit Nicolas, Jehan Pistolet/Jehan Soupolet, original serials Jacquot le Mousse and Tromblon et Bottaclou (drawn by Godard), plus a little something called Astérix le gaulois: incontrovertibly the greatest achievement of his epic partnership with Uderzo.

When Georges Dargaud bought Pilote in 1960, Goscinny became Editor-in-Chief, still making time to add new series Les Divagations de Monsieur Sait-Tout (with Martial); La Potachologie Illustré (Cabu); Les Dingodossiers (Gotlib) and La Forêt de Chênebeau (Mic Delinx). He also wrote frequently for television, but never stopped creating strips like Les Aventures du Calife Haroun el Poussah (for Record and illustrated by Swedish artist Jean Tabary). A minor success, it was re-tooled as Iznogoud when it transferred to Pilote. And he was writing Lucky Luke too remember, utterly owing comics from East to west…

Goscinny died far too young in November 1977.

Alberto Aleandro Uderzo was born on April 25th 1927, in Fismes on the Marne. A child of Italian immigrants, as a boy he showed artistic flair from an early age and devoured Mickey Mouse strips in Le Pétit Parisien. Alberto became a French citizen at age seven and dreamed of being an aircraft mechanic, but at 13 was apprenticed to the Paris Publishing Society, learning design, typography, calligraphy and photo retouching. When WWII came, he spent time with farming relatives in Brittany, and joined his father’s furniture-making business. Brittany beguiled Uderzo: when a location for Asterix’s idyllic village was being decided upon, the region was the only choice.

In France’s post-war rebuilding, Uderzo returned to Paris to become a successful illustrator in the country’s burgeoning comics industry. His first published work – a pastiche of Aesop’s Fables – appeared in Junior and, in 1945, he was introduced to industry giant Edmond- Françoise Calvo (The Beast is Dead). Uderzo’s subsequent efforts included indomitable eccentric Clopinard, Belloy, l’Invulnérable, Prince Rollin and Arys Buck. He illustrated novels; laboured in animation; as a journalist, an illustrator for France Dimanche and devised a vertical comic strip ‘Le Crime ne Paie pas’ for France-Soir. In 1950, he drew a few episodes of the franchised European version of Fawcett’s Captain Marvel Jr. in Bravo!

Another inveterate transatlantic traveller, he met Goscinny in 1951. Soon fast friends, they decided to work together at the new Paris office of Belgian Publishing giant World Press. Their first collaboration was in November of that year; a feature piece on savoir vivre (how to live right or “gracious living”) for women’s weekly Bonnes Soirée, after which an avalanche of strips and serials poured forth.

Jehan Pistolet and Luc Junior were devised for La Libre Junior and they crafted a comedy Western about a very Red (but not so American) Indian who evolved into Oumpah-Pah. In 1955, with the birth of Édifrance/Édipresse, Uderzo drew Bill Blanchart for La Libre Junior, replacing Christian Godard on Benjamin et Benjamine before, in 1957 adding Charlier’s Clairette to his bulging portfolio. The following year, he made his Tintin debut, as Oumpah-Pah finally found a home and rapturous audience. Uderzo also drew Poussin et Poussif, La Famille Moutonet and La Famille Cokalane. When Pilote launched in October 1959, Uderzo was its major creative force, limning Charlier’s Tanguy et Laverdure and a comedy historical strip about Romans…

Although Asterix was a massive hit from the start, Uderzo continued with Charlier on Michel Tanguy, (subsequently Les Aventures de Tanguy et Laverdure), but soon after the first Latin laugh-fest was collected in a single volume (as Astérix le gaulois in 1961) it was clear the hysterical histories would demand most of his time – especially as the incredible Goscinny seemed to require no rest or ever run out of ideas (after the writer’s death, the publication rate of Asterix tales dropped from two per year to one volume every 3-to-5). By 1967 – the origin date of today’s item of interest – Asterix occupied all Uderzo’s time and attention in both the serial stories and special premiums and bonus materials.

In 1974 the partners formed Idéfix Studios to fully exploit their inimitable creation, and when Goscinny passed away three years later, Uderzo had to be convinced to continue the series as writer and artist. Happily, he gave in and produced a further 10 tomes before retiring in 2009. He sold the rights to Hachette who continued the franchise with writer Jean-Yves Ferri & illustrator Didier Conrad. By October 2025, 41 official adventures were in print (most recently Asterix in Lusitania written by Fabcaro), making it the best-selling book series in Europe. Including assorted spin-off volumes sold worldwide, the series is the best selling comics franchise in Europe and the fourth best on Earth. Asterix made Goscinny & Uderzo France’s bestselling international authors. According to UNESCO’s Index Translationum, Uderzo is the 10th most-often translated French-language author in the world and 3rd most-translated French language comics author – right behind his old mate René and the grand master Hergé.

Astérix has been translated into 111 languages, with a host of animated and live-action movies, games and even his own theme park (Parc Astérix, near Paris). Uderzo died in 2020

So what’s it all about?

Originally seen in Pilote #1 (29th October 1959, with the first page appearing a week earlier in a promotional issue #0 distributed from June 1st 1959), the saga is set in the year 50 BC (never BCE!) on the outermost tip of Uderzo’s beloved Brittany coast. Here a small village of redoubtable warriors and their families frustrate every effort of the immense but not so irresistible Roman Empire to complete the conquest of Gaul. Unable to defeat these Horatian hold-outs, the Empire instead resorts to a policy of containment, leaving the little seaside hamlet hemmed in by heavily fortified permanent garrisons Totorum, Aquarium, Laudanum & Compendium. The Gauls couldn’t care less: they daily defy the world’s greatest military machine by simply going about their everyday affairs, protected by a magic potion provided by the resident druid and the shrewd wits of a rather diminutive dynamo and his simplistic best friend…

Like all the best entertainments the premise works on two levels: as action-packed comedic romps of sneaky and bullying baddies coming a-cropper for younger readers and as pun-filled, sly and witty satire for older, wiser heads, transformed by the brilliantly light touch of master translators Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge (who played no small part in making the indomitable little Gaul so very palatable to the English tongue) and here by their modern-day successor Adriana Hunter.

The books are all copiously covered elsewhere on this site, but today’s treat is something a bit different and requires a bit of context…

Back when Methuselah  a child, us kids all ran around uncontrolled and unsupervised like wild beasts. This meant we were in charge of our own entertainment. Television was non-recordable, radio was severely limited, books were made of paper and music came on various sizes of plastic disc that needed another entire machine – and a wall-socket – to work. We all sat around thinking up mischief to make so someone had the idea of putting audio recordings of films and TV favourites (like Thunderbirds, The Aristocats, The Sound of Music, Batman or Planet of the Apes) on vinyl in a package with a booklet of comics or even stills and text. Adults thought back then that listening to truncated dialogue or tinny soundtracks whilst reading was the next best thing to being there…

Oddly, in regard to comics related Book and Records Sets, they were not wrong…

In swinging, melody-mad 1967, Goscinny & Uderzo produced an all-new adventure of their galloping gallic superstars for this format: a short play for voices packed with tunes and musical puns and the mellow sounds of the village bard, accompanied and augmented by a brief booklet of prose directions and superb illustrated spreads (included at the back of this remastered redesigned edition as bonus feature Rediscovered Treasure) by Uderzo.

The story of Le Menhir d’Or is simple enough, beginning when village bard Cacophonix informs his far from appreciative home crowd that he will be competing in the Grand Gaulish Bard competition being held in the fabled and sacred Forest of the Carnutes. The prize is a small Golden Menhir… and the appreciation of all who hear the wonderful winning music.

Despite the customary barracking and utter lack of support, the minstrel cannot be dissuaded from attending and Chief Vitalstatistix grudgingly allows his top man Asterix to go with him.

Having heard what Cacophonix is capable of, our hero is not keen to go but fears that other bards might kill the arrogant songsmith once they hear him. Obelix decides to go too… because he hasn’t been in any fights recently…

The provisionally gentle giant gets his first treat almost immediately when the trio are attacked by bandits, but the journey is relatively peaceful and quiet – especially after Asterix convinces the singer to save his voice for the competition…

Meanwhile in Totorum, effete aesthete General Harumfus is bored. He especially craves music to soothe his jaded soul, and foolishly listens to Centurion Malapropus when the tangle-tongued oaf suggests that the nearby Gaul song contest might provide suitable melodic diversion. Enthralled, Harumfus despatches his full military forces to pick up the eventual winner for his personal edification…

Instead, through a concatenation of unlucky circumstances, and with Asterix & Obelix momentarily distracted keeping the crowds of spectators from showing Cacophonix their ardent appreciation, the centurion drags the bard back to Totorum. This in turns compels the Gaulish entourage to give chase and deliver a most emphatic impromptu encore of Asterix & Obelix’s greatest hits…

Never one to surrender or stint other peoples’ lives, General Harumfus refuses to back down… until he final hears the Bard perform and decides to seek his entertainment elsewhere. Anywhere elsewhere…

Although short and skewed towards dialogue and narration, The Golden Menhir is a sharp, good-natured, adventure packed with wry humour and expressive energy. It barrels along, delivering barrages of puns, verbal, visual and musical and vibrates with slapstick action, all marvellously rendered in Uderzo’s seductively stylish bigfoot art-style.

This tale is available right now digitally, but the physical paperback doesn’t go on sale until March 4th 2027, by which time there will probably be an audiobook version (no-brainer that one guys…)

This is possibly the last huzzah of the sublime, supremely enjoyable comics storytelling of Goscinny & Uderzo and you’d be as Crazy as the Romans not to join in one last rousing chorus…
© 1967 Goscinny/Uderzo. © 2020 LES ÉDITIONS ALBERT RENÉ. THE GOLDEN MENHIR © 2026 LES ÉDITIONS ALBERT RENÉ. For this edition and its translation into British English. All rights reserved.

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Batman: Terror of the High Skies


By Joe R. Lansdale, Edward Hannigan & Dick Giordano (Little, Brown & Co.)
ISBN: 978-0-316-17765-8 (TPB)

September 19th is the 12th Annual Batman Day and this year it coincides with the 32nd International Talk Like A Pirate Day. That’s gonna be some strange dinner party conversation, right there, me Hearties! Moreover, World Police expect to deploy specially trained penguins to keep rival marchers Ap-Aarrrrrt!

Prior to the days of all-out Superhero cinema, we parochial comics fans tended to regard and measure our greatest assets in purely graphic narrative terms, but truthfully characters such as Superman, Spider-Man and especially Batman have long-since grown beyond their origins and are now fully modern mythological creatures who inhabit a mass of medias and even age ranges. A precious case in point is this superbly rowdy, rollicking. rousing and rather rare “Boy’s Own adventure” released in November 1992 as part of the perennial and hopefully never-ending drive to get kids reading.

Terror of the High Skies was written by the brilliant and joyously prolific Texan Joe R. Lansdale, whose credits range from novels to screenplays (Bubba Ho-Tep, Hap and Leonard) and cartoons (Superman: The Animated Series, DC Showcase: Jonah Hex) to comic books (Jonah Hex: Two Gun, Molo & Shadows West, Red Range, Pigeons From Hell, The Steam Man, Batman) in genres as broad as horror, comedy, westerns, crime-thrillers, fantasy science fiction and all points in between. He is as adept at challenging adult audiences as he is beguiling – far harder to impress – young readerships… and he knows kung fu too!

The illustrated prose tale begins as young Toby Tyler slowly adjusts to life in Gotham City after growing up in Mud Creek, East Texas. One night, as his parents play host to old friend – and Police Commissioner – Jim Gordon, Toby hears a cat in distress and climbs out of his bedroom window onto the roof of his building. Once there, he finds a flying galleon heaving-to and infamous criminal The Joker capering about all gussied-up in the guise of a movie pirate.

Toby’s a big fan of films and keeps up to date on the news, so when the Mountebank of Mirth makes the kid walk the plank off the roof he overhears some clues that will eventually lead to the Clown Prince’s defeat. It’s also where and when he first meets the daring Dark Knight, as Batman swoops out of the darkness to save him before racing off to confront Joker and his gang of plundering sky-pirates…

Already deeply involved in solving taunting card-clues to the raucous rogue’s future crimes, Batman comes close to ending the case right there, but the wily Harlequin of Hate hastily hightails it to embarks on a campaign of pirate-themed plundering, unaware that plucky Toby has deduced where and when he will strike next.

With the focus very much on the valiant boy – just as young Jim Hawkins is the narrative voice of Robert Louis Stevenson’s genre-founding Treasure Island – readers are treated to a splendid adventure as Toby is allowed to join Batman’s search for the Joker in a fantastic chase encompassing a visit to the Batcave; meeting and rescuing his favourite horror-film actor; stowing away aboard the cloud-soaring marauder; facing a (mechanical) sea monster and eventually foiling a spectacular scheme to unleash a wave of madness on unsuspecting Gotham City.

Boldly boisterous, fast-paced and engaging; delivered very much in the manner of Batman the Animated Series (for which Lansdale also wrote a number of episodes), this delightful text escapade is enhanced by eight breathtaking full-page action-illustrations by Batman veterans Ed Hannigan & Dick Giordano and would make a perfect primer for younger fans to begin their – hopefully – life-long love affair with reading… once some forward-thinking editorial bigwig has it re-released and commissions a new one too…
© 1992 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. Published under license from DC Comics.

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Neill Cameron’s Donut Squad: Destiny of the Donuts! (Book 3)


By Neill Cameron & various (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78845-390-5 (TPB Standard edition), 978-1-78845-436-0 (Waterstones edition)

Had enough to eat yet? Do You Like Donuts?

Only you can truly answer that question, but if you’re undecided, and dangerously unaware of the ramifications of indecision, then rowdy raconteur and inestimable art fiend Neill Cameron has another batch of artisanal, edibly-edifying arguments you might want to consider before deciding. They’re all jam-packed into a manic new compendium of strips, activities and artificially-sweetened exploits starring a bargain box of comics champions cherrypicked from modern British periodical treasure trove The Phoenix. Since debuting in 2012 and just like Beano, Dandy and other perennial childhood treasures, the wonderful weekly has masterfully mixed hilarious comedy with enthralling adventure serials… and frequently in the same scintillating strip.

Everybody braced in? Got your snacks? Napkins? Sick bags? Right then, let’s go…

Crafted by Cameron (Mega Robo Bros, Freddy, Tamsin of the Deep, How to Make Awesome Comics, Pirates of Pangea), a unique team of toothsome adventurers reconvene here in a world much improved by an absence of bagels. As enny fule kno, Bagels are the arch enemy of Donuts and probably all Life, but you won’t see many here as this time we’re threatened by our own suicidal tastes and unwise behaviour. No change there, then…

As always, we open with a temptingly gussied-up menu reintroducing family favourites like Dadnut & Li’l Timmy; DS commander-in-chief Sprinkles; impetuous Jammyboi; Chalky (ghost of a murdered Victorian Donut); nerve-wracked Anxiety Donut; violent vigilante Justice Donut and potty-mouthed piratical Caramel Jack! (he’s a little bit salty!). There are, of course, more and fresher delights to come…

Old treats like new Official Donut Squad merchandise, Great Moments in Donut History, Classics of World Donut Cinema, ‘Donutiquette (Tips for Polite Donut-Eating When Travelling)’, ‘Ask your Father’ abound, garnished by further examples of senseless violence with Justice Donut, cruel pranks by Jammyboi and whatever it is Spronky does. These are supplemented by developing character arcs like Anxiety Donut going on a life & attitude changing extended adventure, with shocking repercussions…

Other items on view include ‘Legends of the Origins of Chalky the Ghost Donut’, new arrivals like Daddy Donuts (the Donut who is Maybe TOO Rich), The Donut Mysteries and Extreme Donut Eating. These accompany a flurry of new (and even New World!) taste sensations – like the ‘Danger Nuts’ – Spikynut!, Explodonut! & Regular Donut (contains a higher level of saturated fats than is optimal for Heart Health!) – or international embassages Matcha Comin’ Atcha!, Takoyakinut!, Double Ultimate Chili Cheese Corndog and/or Medicinut.

As well as the launch of culinary pastime ‘Danger Donut Roulette’, other premiering attractions comprise New Season British Classic Flavours (Rhubarb Crumble!, Jam Roly-Poly! & Toad-in-the-Hole Donuts) and other themed delights; Legends of the Dark Donut; semi-regular outbursts of enigmatic tragicomedic experimental drama Waiting for Godonut and seldom seen sightings of Jean-Pierre and Albert: French-Canadian Vampire Donuts…

Underpinning regular and fresh features is an eponymous saga of vast cosmic import. Peppering the unfolding nonsense is a series of episodes in an overarching plotline inserting itself across sixteen fearful-future feuilletés designated ‘Destiny of the Donuts’. Here we will see how foolish, health-conscious humans will imbue smart gadgets like fit-bits and heart monitors with ruthless sentience and an programmed compulsion to eradicate unhealthy eating and the weaklings who do it or comprise it.

This will lead/has led to a war of extinction across the ages, with mean, nasty robots stopping the consumption of tasty snacks until human civilisation collapsed. Now with the last humans living in the ruins of what they wrought, the final dregs of indulgent humankind strikes back down the timelines, steered by our sugar sweet stalwarts and ferocious saturated fatties in rather random temporal assaults on the already triumphant terror mechs…

The galvanising sweet survivor who has lived through it all and intends to go back and fix all that horrible healthy history is a grizzled veteran warrior who used to be called Anxiety… and he’s brought the chewed up and spat out leftovers of his old squad who will make themselves known in good time…

Whether this is your first bite or a just another heaping helping, please be warned that although the main enemy of Donut Squad are bready brutes the Bagels, the timey-wimey shenanigans of these tick-tock fit-bit terrors are hard to suppress and – even after the regular activity features – the peril has not parked nor gone into reverse. Thus, Cameron’s ‘Phoenix Comic Club’ art classes on How to Draw Donuts are insidiously infiltrated by the old foe and manifest here as ‘How to Draw Bagels’ (including ‘How to Draw Platoon Commander Poppyseed’; ‘…A Sesame Seed Bagel’; ‘…A Plain Bagel’ and ‘…A Slightly Smaller Bagel’ before an anachronistic Bonus Comics section unleashes manic wildcard mild card Spronky to bizarrely interact with Time, bun/bakery mechanics and the page-count of reality one last bunch of times…

Smart, witty, laugh out loud weird and totally bonkers, the seemingly piecemeal treats contained herein define what kids love without knowing why. They also completely bewilder us oldsters and keep us in our place. Devious, eccentric and captivating, sugar rush all round is guaranteed and if you get toothache it’s from laughing not chronal confabulations…

Moreover, just like cucumber, DONUT SQUAD WILL RETURN…
Text and illustrations © Neill Cameron 2026. All rights reserved.

Neill Cameron’s Donut Squad: Destiny of the Donuts! is scheduled for UK release on 10th September 2026 and is available for pre-order now; or wait until next year and get it yesterday while walking off all those donuts and bagels…

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Star Comics All-Star Collection volume 1


By Lennie Herman, Sid Jacobson, Stan Kay, Bob Bolling, Warren Kremer, Howard Post, Vince Colletta, Jon D’Agostino, Jacqueline Roettcher & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4291-1 (TPB), 978-1-3025-0691-9 (Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content and especially outdated gender roles produced in less enlightened times.

Once upon a time the US comic book industry aimed at younger readers was utterly dominated by Dell/Gold Key with their TV & Disney licenses, and Harvey Comics who had largely switched from a variety of genres to a wholesome, kid-friendly pantheon by the end of the 1950s. Despite valiant and consistent efforts from DC, Charlton and Marvel to compete, this Big Two owned the pre-school sector until declining morals, television cartoon saturation and rising print costs finally forced them to bow out.

The Wester Publishing companies suffered a slow erosion, gradually losing valuable prime properties like Popeye, Star Trek, assorted Hanna-Barbera and Warner Brothers cartoon stars, plus sundry other treasures until the parent company called it a day in 1984. Harvey had already shut up shop in 1982 when company founder Alfred Harvey retired.

The latter’s vast archived artwork store was sold off and, with properties and rights up for grabs, Marvel Comics (who had already secured those lost Star Trek and Hanna-Barbera titles) was frontrunner for licensing the family firm’s iconic characters. These included Richie Rich, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Sad Sack, Hot Stuff – the Little Devil, Wendy the Good Little Witch and so many others. That bid ultimately foundered, but business savvy Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter, recognised a huge gap in the market, and subsequently launched a cloned imprint of the Harvey stable which would also encompass new TV/toy properties like Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies & Fraggle Rock; Alf; Madballs; Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears; Thundercats; Ewoks and every Saturday Morning TV sensation still to come. He resolved to devise and deliver the next generation of worthily wholesome, entry-level comics for entertainment-hungry young minds and their concerned parents…

Marvel’s Star Comics line launched in 1985, edited by ex-Harvey head-honcho Sid Jacobson, with familiar-looking titles sporting an incontestably similar look and feel, which was achieved primarily by hiring former Harvey stalwarts like Jacobson, Lennie Herman, Warren Kremer, Howard Post, Ernie Colon and others.

Millionaire prince and all-around good kid Royal Roy especially invoked the ire of the Harvey heirs who sued for copyright infringement of their astonishingly prolific Richie Rich: a glittering prize who had shone in over 55 separate titles between his debut in 1953 and the bust of 1982. Roy was cancelled after 6 issues – as were many Star series – in a brutal “Survival of the Funnest” policy – and the suit was quietly dropped. None of which affects the fact that those Eighties child stars were, in their own right, superb examples of all-ages fun, excitement and adventure joyously revisited in this collection first released in from 2009: gathering that first wave of titles and latterly expanded on in a coordinated curated kids comics book sequence (remember now: “gotta get ‘em all!”).

Re-presenting Planet Terry #1-2, Top Dog #1-3, Royal Roy #1-2 & Wally the Wizard #1-2 in a veritable nova of bubbly contagious thrills and frolics, the eccentric escapades open with a star who was just a little lost boy in space…

Planet Terry was created by Lennie Herman (who died just before the big Star Comics launch) and the merely magnificent Warren Kremer, whose animation-based art style became the defining look of Harvey Comics during its happy heyday, and starred a young lad searching the universe for the parents he had never known. Introduced in ‘The Search’ (Herman, Kremer & Vince Colletta), little Terry was something of a nuisance, periodically landing on alien worlds, pestering the inhabitants and asking “Has anyone seen my mother and father?”

Found wandering in a life-pod which raised and educated him, the only clues PT had to his past are a name bracelet and an empty picture frame. However, this time when he returns to the obnoxious planet Bznko, Terry accidentally drives off a menace which bores folks to death with bad jokes, so the inhabitants give him a junked lady robot as a reward. This proves to be a blessing in disguise as Robota inadvertently leads the lonely lad to ‘A Clue’ when they later crashland on a mining asteroid and meet aged Enoch Diggs who recognises the lifepod the infant Terry was originally found in…

‘Some Answers’ are forthcoming as the dithery prospector reveals he once worked on Confederation Cosmos Cruiser Space Warp, where the captain’s wife was going to have a baby. Needing a sterile environment for the newborn infant, the crew placed him in the emergency lifeboat, but his jubilant father accidentally triggered it whilst celebrating his son’s birth and the infant was rocketed into deep space. Although they searched everywhere, the heartbroken spacemen never located the pod and assumed baby Terry was lost forever…

Although Enoch can’t remember the names of Terry’s parents, he suggests another old shipmate might, and the re-energised searchers rush to another asteroid to find him. Sadly, they instead encounter ‘The Malt Shop Menace’, before recruiting another voyager when Robota saves a brutish monster…

Omnus gratefully joins their decidedly odd and growing family. Little do they know that a sinister conspiracy is at work to keep the whereabouts and secret of the Space Warp lost forever…

In #2 (by Herman, Kremer & Jon D’Agostino) the quest continues as the outcasts encounter sabotage and opposition before landing their freshly repaired ship on the lost world of the Gorkels where the trio clumsily fulfil an ancient prophecy in ‘The Saga of Princess Ugly’. In return for repairing Terry’s downed vessel, he, Robota and Omnus must rescue an abducted Princess by battling hostile jungles, shapeshifting beasts, killer vines, a whirlpool and a volcano all controlled by archvillain Vermin the Vile in ‘Too Close (enough) for Comfort’ before saving the girl from ‘The Doom of the Domed City’ and uncovering the final resting place of the elusive Space Warp…

Also by Herman, Kremer & D’Agostino, Royal Roy debuted on his birthday in ‘The Mystery of the Missing Crown’, wherein the Prince of wealthy Ruritanian Cashalot discovers that the traditional, venerable Royal Highness Crown has gone missing on the very day of his investiture. Whilst King Regal and Queen Regalia understandably panic, super suave, ultra cool bodyguard Ascot diligently investigates as assorted resplendent relatives dither and interfere, so Roy and his pet crocodile Gummy keep their heads and maintain their poise by ‘Picking up the Scent’. They soon expose a supernatural agency at work after ‘A Midnight Visit’ by ghostly ancestor William the Warhorse…

Topping off that opening issue was a snappy, snazzy short fun yarn starring reptilian Gummy in ‘Crocadog’ prior to #2 hosting ‘The Grand Ball’. Scripted by Stan Kay, it occupied most of Roy’s attention as the underage but still eligible Prince took a fancy to simple commoner Crystal Clear whilst ambitious – and mean – social climber Lorna Loot spent all her time – and considerable cash – unsuccessfully attempting to beguile the boy by turning herself into a contemporary Cinderella in ‘A Strange Stranger’…

‘Maneuvers!’ then sees Roy fulfil his hereditary duties by joining Cashalot’s army on dawn exercises. As ruler-in-waiting of a rich but peaceful nation, the plucky lad isn’t too surprised to find that the entire armed forces consists of one reluctant prince and a keen but aging general…

Top Dog featured a far more modern and mundane situation, depicting the lives of average American boy Joey Jordan and a mutt he brought home one day. Herman, Kremer & Jacqueline Roettcher’s ‘The Dog-Gone Beginning’ revealed how, whilst looking for his lost baseball, the kid had accidentally spotted a dog reading the newspaper and talking to himself. Exposed, the canny canine begged the boy to keep his secret else all the four-footed wonder could expect was a short and painful life being poked, prodded and probed by scientists…

Once the lad swore to keep his secret, Top Dog agreed to come live with Joey in ‘House About a Dog, Mom?’ Whilst the boy tries to teach the pooch to bark – one of the few languages he can’t speak! – Joey’s accommodating family gradually get used to the seemingly normal dog and his boy.

However, when Mervin Megabucks (the richest, meanest kid in town) overhears them playing and chatting, the spoiled brat refuses to believe Joey is a ventriloquist and when the junior Jordan refuses to sell, Mervin steals Top Dog as the perfect addition to his palatial high-tech house. However, even torture won’t make the purloined pooch speak again, and when Joey stages ‘The Big Breakout’, Mervin’s mega-robots prove no match for dogged determination leaving the peewee plutocrat brat baffled, bamboozled and dog-less…

Top Dog #2 exposes ‘Spies!’ after the restless dog of a thousand talents seems to harbour a dark side. Going out on nightly jaunts, the marvellous mutt apparently leads a double life as a security guard at a Defence Plant, triple-crossing everybody by photographing military secrets for a foreign power. It’s actually a diminutive enemy agent in a dog costume but Vladimir’s handlers hadn’t reckoned on a real dog looking (and speaking) just like their hairy infiltrator. Thus they accidentally give the purloined plans to the chatty all-American canine.

After spectacularly trapping the sinister spies without revealing his own astounding intellect, Top Dog is framed in #3 by Joey’s best friend Larry who’s been feeling neglected and rejected since the brilliant bow-wow moved in. With a feral hound dubbed ‘The Mad Biter’ on the prowl and attacking people, it’s simple to send our perspicacious pup to the Pound, where he encounters lots of bad dogs who probably deserve to be ‘Caged’.

Faithful Joey never gives up and after bailing his canine comrade out, they convince the guilt-ridden perjurer to see the light by via an impromptu midnight ‘Ghost Story’. Even with Larry recanting his lies, neighbourhood families don’t trust Top Dog, but that all changes once the maligned mutt tracks down the real Biter and engages him in ‘A Fight to the Finish’…

The final initial entry was written and illustrated by Archie Comics veteran Bob Bolling who concocted a fabulous medieval wonderland for Wally the Wizard to play in. In #1’s ‘A Plague of Locusts’, mystical Merlin’s older, smarter brother Marlin is having trouble with a stubbornly inquisitive apprentice. Wally wants to know everything NOW, has no discipline and is full of foolish ideas and misconceptions. As a serious scientist, Marlin has no time for silly superstitions, so after the lad accidentally releases a time-travelling demon from an age-old prison, the mage refuses to believe him.

Gorg however swears faithfully to repay the favour before disappearing…

Despatched to deliver a potion to King Kodger, Wally also helps a dragon save his hatchling from a deep well, only just reaches the sovereign in time and has a feed on the Royal Barge where he once again fails to impress beauteous Princess Penelope…

Meanwhile in Bloodmire Castle, wicked plotters Vastar the Vile, his sister Sybilious the Bilious and wicked warlock Erasmo conspire to conquer the kingdom by unleashing a huge metal locust to consume all in its path. Noble knights led by invincible Sir Flauntaroy are helpless before the brazen beast and Wally realises only Marlin can save them. Sadly, the boy gets lost on route to fetch him, but happily for everybody, the dragon and demon the rationalist sorcerer refuses to believe in are ready to pay their debts to the apprentice…

Sid Jacobson, Howard Post & D’Agostino handled the second issue wherein Wally enters the annual apprentice’s games, with Marlin now suddenly transformed into a traditional magic-making mage. In fact, Marlin, as a three-time champion of ‘The Magic-a-Thon!’ is secretly regretful that Wally is too inexperienced to compete… a fact his disciple discerns and tries to fix. Desperately cramming for a week and eventually (with the coaching of his proud master) Wally sets off to compete but a lovelorn barbarian accidentally cleaves the kid’s crib notes in twain, leaving him able to create only half-spells and conjure up mere semi-monsters…

Undaunted, Wally continues and perseveres, even after a huge storm deprives him of the demi-directions and his back-up pouch of herbs and potions. He is determined to win using nothing but his wits, guts and unflagging optimism…

This clutch of classic children’s tales also includes the enchanting covers and the original house-ads which introduced the characters to the Kids in America and four decades later is still a fabulous blast of intoxicating wonder and entertainment readers of all ages cannot fail to love. With children’s comics back in force again after too long a fallow period, it’s apt, sensible and fun to acknowledge the timeless classics we used to draw upon and which drew kids in. Historical compilations like this one belong on the shelves of every funnybook-loving parent and even those lonely couples with only a vague twinkle in their eyes…
© 1985 and 2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

Today in 1928 Lyman Young’s strip epic Tim Tyler’s Luck launched, followed by Al Capp’s Li’l Abner in 1934.

This day in 1919 prolific illustrator and inker Jim Mooney (Tommy Tomorrow, Supergirl, Omega the Unknown, Robin, Batman, Pussycat, Man-Thing, Spider-Man, Thundercats, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark) was born, as were artist/inker Gene Day (Star*Reach, Star Wars, Master of Kung Fu) in 1951; all-rounder Donna Barr (Desert Peach, Stinz) in1952; UK artist Rob Davis (Judge Dredd, Doctor Who, Nelson) in 1954; artist Bret Blevins (New Mutants, Sleepwalker, Bozz Chronicles) in 1960; both Billy Tucci (Shi, Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion) and cartoonist Shannon Wheeler (Too Much Coffee Man, Postage Stamp Funnies) in 1966 and Malaysian artist Billy Tan Mung Khoy AKA Billy Tan (Uncanny X-Men, Green Lantern, Tomb Raider) in 1970.

Passing on this day were Jack Cole (Plastic Man, Betsy and Me) in 1958; British editor creator John Geering (Sparky, The Topper, Cracker, Plug, Nutty, The Beano, The Dandy on Puss ‘n’ Boots, Smudge, Bananaman, DangerMouse, Count Duckula) in 1999 and Tintin colour artist Josette Baujot in 2009.

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Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip volume 2


By Tove Jansson with Lars Jansson (Drawn & Quarterly)
ISBN: 978-1-897299-19-7 (Album HB) 978-1-770465-49-7 (Digital edition)

Tove Marika Jansson was born into an artistic, intellectual and practically Bohemian Swedish family in Helsinki, Finland on August 9th 1914, making today her 112th anniversary, so hyvää vuosipäivää to her and all you fans…

Her father Viktor was a sculptor, whilst mother Signe Hammarsten-Jansson enjoyed a successful career as illustrator, graphic designer and commercial artist. Tove’s brothers Lars and Per Olov became a cartoonist/writer and photographer respectively. The family and its close intellectual, eccentric circle of friends seem to have been cast rather than born, with a witty play or challenging sitcom as the piece they were all destined to act in.

After a period of intensive study from 1930-1938 (University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm, the Graphic School of The Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, then L’Ecole d’Adrien Holy and L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris), Tove became a successful exhibiting artist through the troubled period of the war. Intensely creative in many fields, she published the first fantastic Moomins adventure in 1945: Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen (The Little Trolls and the Great Flood or more euphoniously The Moomins and the Great Flood): a whimsical epic of gentle, inclusive, accepting, understanding, bohemian, misfit trolls and their strange friends. Always an over-achiever, from 1930 to 1953 she worked as an artist and cartoonist for Swedish satirical magazine Garm, achieving a measure of notoriety with an infamous political sketch of Hitler in nappies (a political method of self-expression currently back in vogue with many modern im-Potentates), lampooning the Appeasement policies of Chamberlain and other European leaders in the build-up to World War II. Tove was also a much-in-demand illustrator for many magazines and children’s books. She had been selling her own comic strips as early as 1929…

Moomintroll was literally her signature character. The lumpy, big-eyed goof began life as a spindly sigil beside her signature in political works. She called him “Snork” and claimed she had designed him in a fit of pique as a child – the ugliest thing a precocious little girl could imagine – as a response to losing an argument about Immanuel Kant with her brother.

The term “Moomin” came from maternal uncle Einar Hammarsten who attempted to stop Tove pilfering food when she visited by warning her that a Moomintroll guarded the kitchen, creeping up on trespassers and breathing cold air down their necks. Over childhood years and far beyond, Snork/Moomin filled out, became timidly nicer (if a little clingy and insecure), a placid therapy-tool to counteract the grimness of the post-war world.

The Moomins and the Great Flood was relatively unsuccessful but she persisted, as much for her own therapeutic benefit as any other reason, so in 1946 the sequel Kometjakten (Comet in Moominland) was published. Many commentators believe this terrifying tale a skilful, compelling allegory of Nuclear destruction, with both it and 1948’s third illustrated saga Trollkarlens hatt (Finn Family Moomintroll – occasionally The Happy Moomins) translated into English in 1952. The success prompted British media giant Associated Press to commission a newspaper strip about her seductively sweet, sensibly surreal surrogate family.

Jansson had no prejudices regarding strip cartoons. Her earlier works included Lunkentus (Prickinas och Fabians äventyr, 1929); Vårbrodd (Fotbollen som Flög till Himlen, 1930) and Allas Krönika (Palle och Göran gå till sjöss, in1933). She had already successfully adapted Comet in Moominland for Swedish/Finnish paper Ny Tid. Thus, Mumintrollet och jordens undergång (Moomintrolls and the End of the World) was proven a popular feature and Jansson readily accepted a chance to extend her message across the world.

In 1953, The London Evening News launched the first of 21 Moomin serial sagas which captivated readers of all ages. Tove’s involvement ended in 1959, a casualty of her own success and a punishing publication schedule. So great was the pressure that she had early on recruited brother Lars to help. He proudly and most effectively continued the feature until its end in 1975. Free of the strip, she returned to painting, writing and her other creative pursuits: generating book illustrations, plays, murals, public art, stage designs, costumes for dramas and ballets, a Moomin opera, 9 more Moomin-related picture-books & novels, as well as 13 books and short-story collections more obviously intended for grown-ups.

Her awards are too numerous to mention (literally dozens of international art and literary plaudits), but consider this: how many modern artists – let alone comics creators – get their faces on the national currency or have commemorative coins struck bearing their image?

Tove Jansson died on June 27th 2001 but her timorous critters and their better, nicer world has proliferated beyond belief.

Tove could deploy slim economical line and pattern to create sublime worlds of fascination, and her dexterity made simple forms into incredibly expressive and potent symbols. In this second oversized (312 x 222mm) monochrome hardback (or electrical options are available for the screen of your preference!) compilation commences with ‘Moomin’s Winter Follies’, wherein the rotund, gracious and deeply considerate young troll has an accident on ice that prompts the family to begin their annual preparations for the winter’s hibernation.

However, after all these efforts lead to nothing but petty disaster, boldly unconventional Moomin Pappa decides that tradition isn’t everything and decrees that they shall all stay awake for the icy months ahead…

The family and their many friends are soon bedevilled by the obnoxiously enthusiastic Mr. Brisk who cajoles the easygoing Moomins to indulge in his abiding passion for winter sports. Results are painful and far from impressive, but ruggedly athletic Brisk does turn the head of overly romantic and lonely Mymble. As usual, the object of her affections is blithely oblivious, with eyes only for the upcoming Winter Games, but when beauteous Snorkmaiden also starts succumbing to Brisk’s physical charms, Moomin is forced to take up ski-jumping just to win back her attention.

When that goes poorly, he is tempted into contemplating murder until cooler heads, his own gentle nature and the onset of spring produces a milder and more suitable solution…

Moomins are placid free spirits, bohemians untroubled by hidebound domestic mores and societal pressures. Moomin Mamma is warm and capable but overly concerned with propriety and appearances, whilst Pappa spends most of his time trying to rekindle his adventurous youth or dreaming of fantastic journeys. However, when prideful snobbish Mrs. Fillyjonk moves in next door, her snooty attitudes unfavourably affect the entire family, resulting in the hiring of ‘Moomin Mamma’s Maid’.

The search for a suitable servant results in disruption and discontent before dour, distressed and doom-obsessed Misabel – along with her direly depressed dog Pimple – further blight the formerly happy household. Misabel suffers from secrets and persecution complexes, and when Fillyjonk goes missing, a detective starts hanging around, adding to the general aura of anxiety until Moomin Mamma shakes herself out of her status-induced funk and starts a campaign to cheer up and change the latest additions to her wildly imaginative, but oddly welcoming, home…

‘Moomin Builds a House’ sees Mymble’s eccentrically forgetful yet fruitful mother come to visit, inflicting her latest batch of wild & wilful youngsters (17, or thereabouts!) on the normally compassionate and understanding trolls. The children are, to put it mildly, little monsters: destructive, practical joking, firestarter hellions who would put the Belles of St. Trinian’s to shame and to rout…

Soon, impressionable Moomin is driven out of his home and, egged on by the worst of the brood Little My, attempts to build his own house in the woods. With none of Moomin Pappa’s craft skills, the lad’s efforts are far from satisfactory but nonetheless his flighty paramour Snorkmaiden soon joins him, intent on making the shaky edifice their romantic hideaway. Sadly, with Little My still around, their best laid plans quickly come unstuck…

This utterly incomparable and heartwarming box of graphic delights concludes with a brilliantly satirical salutary romp as ‘Moomin Begins a New Life’, wherein an itinerant thinker enters the valley, sharing his secret recipe for “How to be Happy”. Although self-proclaimed, The Prophet is remarkably convincing and, seeing how his pronouncements and suggestions have changed the lives of all their friends and neighbours, the graciously impressionable Moomins attempt to adjust their behaviour to maximise their joy, unaware that they are already as happy and content as anyone can be…

With the entire locality blissed out, the well-intentioned Prophet then convinces the constable to release all the folk in jail, allowing mischievous trickster and devoted scofflaw Stinky to resume his prankish shenanigans. After convincing Pappa to set up an illicit still producing hard liquor – which incites Snorkmaiden to run off with another young man – Stinky subsequently convinces desolate, deserted Moomin to turn to the dark side, becoming a glamorous highwayman and jewel thief to win her back…

Having spread malice and disorder, Stinky’s next stunt is badly misjudged. He invites a puritan, fire-&-brimstone rival philosopher dubbed the Black Prophet to come and save all the sinners. Thankfully, as the rival Prophets’ war of words escalates, Moomin Mamma at last reaches the end of her patience and intervenes…

Following the Wild Things wonderment is short essay ‘Tove Jansson: To Live in Peace, Plant Potatoes, and Dream’: a comprehensive biography and commentary by Alisia Grace Chase, PhD celebrating the astound achievements of this genteel giant of literature and the arts.

These are truly magical tales for the young laced with the devastating observation and razor-sharp mature wit which enhances and elevates only the greatest kid’s stories into classics of literature. These volumes are an international treasure and no fan of the medium – or biped with even a hint of heart and soul – can afford to be without them.
© 2007 Solo/Bulls. All other material © its creators. All rights reserved.

Today in 1907 nonstop cartoonist Mel Graff (Adventures of Patsy, Secret Agent X-9, Captain Easy) was born, sharing the day with utterly unique Tove Jansson who joined the party in 1914 as did eventual pulp scribe turned Atlas Comics & EC genre anthology author Daniel Keyes (Flowers for Algernon) in 1927.

Mandrake the Magician artisan Fred Fredericks came along in 1929; Belgian creator William Vance (XIII, Marshall Blueberry, Bob Morane, Bruno Brazil) in 1935; British cartoonist Posy Simmons (Bear, Mrs Weber’s Diary, Gemma Bovary, Tamara Drewe) in 1955 and comic book craftsman Bob McLeod (New Mutants, Conan, Wonder Woman, Superman) in1951. Ultra stylist Rick Leonardi (Spider-Man 2099, Uncanny X-Men, Cloak and Dagger, Batman Beyond) arrived in 1957, sharing cake & candles with Fish Police creator Steve Moncuse, and Gene Luen Yang (Chinese Born American, Superman Smashes the Klan, Monkey Prince) popped by in 1971.