Category: Kids – All Ages

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The Giant Holiday Fantasy Comic Album


By various, edited by Mike Higgs (Hawk Books)
ISBN 0-948248-06-8

Being almost universally anthology weeklies, British comics over the decades have generated a simply incomprehensible number of strips and characters in a variety of genres ranging from the astounding to the appalling. Every so often dedicated souls have attempted to celebrate this cartoon cornucopia by reprinting intriguing selections and in 1990 the splendid Hawk Books released this delightfully cheap and cheerful compendium that is still readily available for connoisseurs of the wild and wonderful British oeuvre…

As is so often the case creator credits are nonexistent and although I’ll hazard the odd guess now and then, a lot of these marvellous concoctions will have to remain annoyingly anonymous until someone more knowledgeable than me pipes up…

With little ado the monochrome madness began with a magically whacky superhero tale featuring supernatural warrior Thunderbolt Jaxon who promptly mopped up a gang of saboteurs in ‘The Flying Wreckers’.

Plucky lad Jack Jaxon could transform into the invincible mini-skirted muscleman because he wore the magic belt of Thor, and as comprehensively revealed in Steve Holland’s superb Bear Alley articles, the character was originally designed in 1949 by Britain’s publishing powerhouse Amalgamated Press as an export feature for Australian publisher Kenneth G. Murray after WWII. The strips were commissioned by Editor Edward Holmes and realised by writers TCH Pendower, Leonard Matthews, plus Holmes, with prolific artist Hugh McNeill the original illustrator. The export-only hero soon began appearing in UK comics Comet and Knockout with later stories limned by Geoff Campion, Robert Roger & Ian Kennedy.

Next here is a charming tale of ‘The Space Family Rollinson’ by Graham Coton: a series which ran in Knockout from 1953-1958 and was successfully syndicated in France. Your average Mum, Dad and four kids on a trek across the universe, here stopping to save the natives of Skandok from a hideous space spider and its interplanetary jelly-webs, after which a moodily engrossing adventure of outlandish Victorian escapologist Janus Stark finds the man with rubber bones thwarting a gang of kidnappers in a stirring extravaganza by Tom Tully & Francisco Solano López .

A stunning strip The Jungle Robot debuted in the first issue of Lion in 1952, created by E. George Cowan & Alan Philpott, before vanishing until 1957. On his return he became one of the most popular heroes of the British scene. Reprinted here from the early days after his comeback is ‘Robot Archie and the Mole Men’ illustrated, I suspect, by Ted Kearnon, pitting the amazing automaton and his hapless handlers Ted Ritchie and Ken Dale against a bunch of subterranean bandits plundering Paris in an incredible burrowing machine – a complete 14 week adventure delivered two pages at a time.

Next up is ‘The Men from the Stars’ a complete 60 page sci fi epic originally presented in AP’s digest Super Detective Library #14. In this grand old invasion romp, test pilot and “Special Agent in Space” Rod Collins endured the World’s first contact with a marauding and incomprehensible race of flying saucer people before spearheading Earth’s inevitable resistance and narrow victory, after which paranormal detective ‘Maxwell Hawke’ and plucky girl Friday Jill Adair investigated ‘The Ghost of Gallows Hill Manor’ – a creepy, condensed shocker probably drawn by a young Eric Bradbury.

Knocker White and Jinx Jenkins were ‘The Trouble-Seekers’; two-fisted construction workers who had to add giant monsters to the list of obstacles threatening to delay the completion of South American super city Futuria, after which action-man cover star of Smash! Simon Test narrowly survived ‘The Island of Peril’ in another moody masterpiece of all-ages action-adventure illustrated by Bradbury.

One of the most fondly remembered British strips of all time is the strikingly beautiful Steel Claw. From 1962 to 1973 Jesús Blasco and his small family studio thrilled the nation’s children, illustrating the breakneck adventures of scientist, adventurer, spy and even costumed superhero Louis Crandell. Created by novelist Ken Bulmer, the majority of the character’s exploits were scripted by Tom Tully.

Crandell was a bitter man, missing his right hand, which was replaced with a gadget-packed prosthetic. Moreover, whenever he received an electric shock he became invisible.

After going on a deranged rampage Crandell’s personality shifted and by the time of ‘The Return of the Claw’ (which first saw print in Valiant from 5th June 1971-22nd April 1972) the super-agent was a tired and broken emotional burn-out dragged out of retirement to foil an alien invasion wherein disembodied invaders the Lektrons possessed the bodies of children, turning them into demonic, energy-blasting monsters.

More than any other strip the Steel Claw was a barometer for British comics reading fashions. Starting out as a Quatermass style sci-fi cautionary tale the series mimicked the trends of the outer world, becoming in turn a Bond-like super-spy saga complete with outrageous gadgets, a masked mystery-man romp when Bat-mania gripped the nation, and eventually a Doomwatch era adventure drama combating eerie menaces and vicious criminals.

The thrills of the writing are engrossing enough, but the real star of this feature is the artwork. Blasco’s classicist drawing, his moody staging and the sheer beauty of his subjects make this an absolute pleasure to look at.

Over 90 pages long ‘The Return of the Claw’ alone is worth the price of admission – even with the terribly poor quality printing of this volume. Just imagine the impact when somebody finally completes the deluxe reprinting of this classic series begun in The Steel Claw: the Vanishing Man…

After the main course there’s a few short dessert items to end this feast of nostalgic fun, beginning with an engaging vintage alien invasion chiller ‘The Marching Trees’ after which the light-hearted ‘Toby’s Timepiece’ propels errant schoolboy Toby Todd into a mediaeval nightmare and an epic adventure with an extraterrestrial chrononaut before ‘Thunderbolt Jackson and the Golden Princess’ closes the memorable montage of comics wonderment in a simply splendid tale of Amazonian lost cities and rampaging dinosaurs.

This is a glorious lost treasure-trove for fans of British comics and lovers of all-ages fantasy, filled with danger, drama and delight illustrated by some of the most talented artists in the history of the medium. Track it down, buy it for the kids and then read it too. Most of all pray that somebody somewhere is actively working to preserve and collect these sparkling and resplendent slices of our fabulous graphic tradition in more robust and worthy editions.

Maybe we need a Project Gutenberg for comics…
© 1989 Fleetway Publications. All Rights Reserved.

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Asterix the Legionary, Asterix and The Chieftain’s Shield & Asterix at The Olympic Games


By Goscinny and Uderzo, translated by Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge (Orion Books)
ISBNs: 978-0-7528-6621-5, 978-0-7528-6625-3 and 978-0-7528-6626-0

One of the most-read comics in the world, the chronicles of Asterix the Gaul have been translated into more than 100 languages; with animated and  live-action movies, TV series, assorted games and even a theme park (Parc Astérix, near Paris). More than 325 million copies of 34 Asterix books have sold worldwide, making Goscinny & Uderzo France’s bestselling international authors.

The diminutive, doughty hero was created in 1959 by two of the art-form’s greatest proponents, René Goscinny & Albert Uderzo; masters of the form at the peak of their creative powers. Although their perfect partnership ended in 1977 with the death of prolific scripter Goscinny, the creative wonderment still continues – albeit at a slightly reduced rate of rapidity as Uderzo continues to produce new works.

Like everything good, the premise works on multiple levels: ostensibly, younger readers enjoy the action-packed, lavishly illustrated comedic romps where sneaky, bullying baddies get their just deserts whilst more worldly readers enthuse over the dry, pun-filled, sly, witty satire, enhanced for English speakers by the brilliantly light touch of translators Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge who played no small part in making the indomitable Gaul so palatable to the Anglo-Saxon world. (Personally I still thrill to a perfectly delivered punch in the bracket as much as a painfully swingeing string of bad puns and dry cutting jibes…)

Asterix the Gaul is a cunning underdog who resists the iniquities, experiences the absurdities and observes the myriad wonders of Julius Caesar’s Roman Empire with brains, bravery and a magic potion.

The stories were alternately set on the tip of Uderzo’s beloved Brittany coast, where a small village of redoubtable warriors and their families resisted every effort of the Roman Empire to complete their conquest of Gau,l and throughout the expansive Ancient World circa 50BC.

Unable to defeat this last bastion of Gallic insouciance the mostly victorious invaders resorted to a policy of containment. Thus the little seaside hamlet is permanently hemmed in by the heavily fortified garrisons of Totorum, Aquarium, Laudanum and Compendium.

The Gauls don’t care: they daily defy the world’s greatest military machine by just going about their everyday affairs, protected by the magic potion of resident druid Getafix and the shrewd wits of a rather diminutive dynamo and his simplistic best friend…

Firmly established as a global brand and premium French comics export by the mid-1960s, Asterix the Gaul continued to grow in quality as Goscinny & Uderzo toiled ever onward, crafting further fabulous sagas; building a stunning legacy of graphic excellence and storytelling gold.

In late 1966 they began Asterix the Legionary (running in Pilote #368-389), which was later adapted as half of the plot for the movie Asterix Vs Caesar (the other album incorporated into the animated epic being Asterix the Gladiator).

This clever romp introduced the destabilising concept of true romance to the doughty hero and his prodigious pal Obelix as, whilst boar hunting in the great forest around their still-unconquered village, they encountered the fabulously beautiful Panacea picking mushrooms.

The little darling had freshly returned to the village after years away in Condatum and the sheltered Obelix was instantly smitten. Dazed and confused by the only force that could ever affect him, the gentle giant was teased by Asterix and Getafix, but undaunted, Obelix began bringing the oblivious lass a succession of inappropriate presents.

However, when the befuddled buffoon found Panacea crying he dashingly volunteered to mend her woes. Tragically for him the problem was a boyfriend named Tragicomix, who had been pressed into military service with the Roman Army…

Where other men would take advantage of the hopeless situation, Obelix, afflicted with a True Crush, determined to make Panacea happy and rushed off to rescue her lost love. Ever faithful, Asterix and little Dogmatix accompany him to keep him out of trouble.

In Condatum they discovered that Tragicomic had already been shipped out to Africa where Caesar was battling fellow Roman Scipio in a clandestine Civil War and Asterix realised the only way to find Tragicomix was to enlist in the Roman Army…

In Basic Training they met a motley assortment of fellow recruits – all national stereotypes – allowing for a broad bombardment of gentle ethnic comedy and graphic accent humour. There was Neveratalos the Greek, Goths Allegoric and Hemispheric, Gastronomix from Belgium, Selectivemploymentax the Briton and poor Ptenisnet the Egyptian, who didn’t know the language and thought he was on a holiday package tour…

After lashings of their unique brand of anarchy disrupting regulation army life, Asterix, Obelix and crew shipped out to Africa. When they arrived the war was going badly for Caesar, but more importantly, Tragicomix was missing and believed captured by Scipio’s forces…

With magic potion in hand Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix decided to take matters in hand…

A hilariously engaging yarn with delicious overtones of the iconic British comedy Carry On Sergeant, this is an action-packed farce big on laughs but with a bittersweet core that will tug at the heartstrings of young and old alike…

Asterix and the Chieftain’s Shield (originally entitled Le bouclier arverne) was the eleventh epic outing for the Greatest French Hero of Them All; debuting in Pilote #399 and running until #421 in 1967. it acted as a kind of tongue in cheek patriotic history lesson and began years before the usual setting of Asterix tales when Gaulish over-chief Vercingetorix surrendered to Caesar at the Battle of Alesia by throwing down his weapons and armour at the Conqueror’s feet.

Such was the shame of the defeated Gauls that the location of the clash was deliberately excised from their memories. Now, nobody remembers where Alesia was…

After the battle the accoutrements lay where they fell until a greedy Legionary stole the Great Shield, subsequently losing it in a game of dice. From there the legendary buckler passed through many scurrilous hands before fading into legend…

Jumping to “modern” times, in the village of indomitable Gauls Chief Vitalstatistix is terribly ill: a sedentary life of over-indulgence has ruined his liver and since Getafix’s druidic potions can’t help him, he has to go to the spa town of Aqua Calidae (Arverne) for a rest-cure and diet.

It isn’t all bad though since his forthright wife Impedimenta has to stay behind….

As a chief he needs an honour guard and Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix are happy to accompany him, especially as the chief uses the journey to test all the inns and taverns en route. Once there though, the warriors’ robust consumption – and boisterous high jinks – appals all the dieting dignitaries and impatient patients so Asterix and Obelix are summarily kicked out of the Health Resort.

Footloose and fancy-free the boys tour the local countryside of Gergovia idly trying to find the lost site of Alesia until they encounter Roman envoy Noxius Vapus and his cohort. After indulging in their favourite sport of Roman-bashing the lads befriend local merchant Winesandspirix – a veteran of Alesia – while Noxius hightails it to Rome and tells Caesar the Gauls are revolting…

({      } this space provided for you to fill in your own joke)

Set on putting the Gauls in their place and reminding them who’s boss, Caesar determines to hold a Roman Triumph with the shield of Vercingetorix as the centrepiece.

He’s none to happy when he discovers it’s been missing for years…

And thus begins the second stage of this hilariously thrilling detective mystery as the Romans frantically hunt for the missing artefact and Asterix and Obelix set out to thwart them at every turn…

No prizes for guessing which faction succeeds and who scurries home in defeat and disgust in this marvellously slapstick saga with a delightfully daft twist ending…

Asterix at the Olympic Games first appeared weekly in Pilote #434-455, serialised in 1968 to coincide with and capitalise upon the Mexico City Games. The translated British album was released four years later, just before the 1972 Munich Olympiad.

The Romans of Aquarium garrison are in an ebullient mood. Their comrade Gluteus Maximus has been selected to represent Rome at the Greeks’ Great Games in Olympia. Centurion Gaius Veriambitius is happy too, because he knows if Gluteus wins they can both write their ticket in Rome…

It all starts to go horribly wrong when the Roman superman is bested and humiliated by Asterix and Obelix whilst training in the Great Forest. His confidence shattered, Gluteus returns to Aquarium and only regains a modicum of his old form when Veriambitius reminds him that the potion-fuelled Gauls won’t be at the Games…

Meanwhile the men of the village have decided to go to Olympia en masses and have a go themselves…

There follows a uproarious and nigh-scandalous sequence of events as the unbeatable Greeks try to placate their Roman overlords; the Latin competitors undergo the tortures of the arrogant damned to cheat, wheedle and somehow exclude the all-conquering Gauls whilst the basically honest and honourable Asterix devises a cunning yet fair way to beat the politically motivated, greed-inspired “sportsmen” and uphold the best traditions and ideals of the Olympic Games.

Guess who wins…

Spoofing package tours, obnoxious tourists, self-serving sports authorities and doping scandals in equal proportion, this sparkling escapade features some of Uderzo’s most inspired art as he recreates the grandeur and glory of the Ancient World whilst simultaneously graphically lampooning the haughty elites of the Sporting World, the Military and Politics. A genuine classic which should be given to every competitor at London 2012 and especially the organising committees…

Asterix volumes are always stuffed with captivating historical titbits, soupcons of healthy cynicism, singularly surreal action and splendidly addictive adventure, illustrated in a magically enticing manner. These are perfect comics that every one should read over and over again.
© 1967-1969 Goscinny/Uderzo. Revised English translation © 2004 Hachette. All rights reserved.

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Who Framed Roger Rabbit – the Official Comics Adaptation



By Daan Jippes, Don Ferguson & Dan Spiegle (Marvel)
ISBN: 0- 87135-464-0

The filmed interpretation of Gary K. Wolf’s novel ‘Who Censored Roger Rabbit?’ is the barest shell of the 1981 fantasy which starred comic strip icons, not cartoon characters, so please be aware that I’ll be concentrating here on the graphic adaptation of the film which resulted from a Byzantine 7-year transformational, legal odyssey rather than the source book (which I highly recommend you read, too).

After years of grief, celluloid shuffling and rewrites, Disney and Amblin Entertainment finally released a movie which easily stands on its own oversized, anthropomorphic feet and consequently spawned a couple of pretty impressive comics epics.

You probably know the plot: in the years after WWII, Hollywood was a town in transition with big business moving in and tearing up the good old ways. Animated features were still boffo box office but in this world the animated characters were real: whacky actors called “Toons” starring in live-action productions and incredible creatures who could choose which laws of physics they obeyed. They mostly lived in their own separate enclave; a bizarre ghetto called Toontown.

Eddie Valiant was a tired old private eye eking out a pitiable existence and still bearing a grudge over the loss of his brother, killed by a red-eyed Toon who had never been caught. With the world rapidly changing around him and everything good being bought up and torn down by the Cloverleaf Corporation, the despondent Shamus, against his better judgement, took a job with R.K. Maroon, head of the city’s leading cartoon studio…

It seemed their top star Roger Rabbit was unable to concentrate on his job because his wife Jessica was fooling around…

When Mrs Rabbit’s indiscretions lead to the murder of Marvin Acme, owner of Toontown, and with Roger firmly in the frame for the killing, Eddie was plunged into the lethal lunacy of battling murderous and/or boisterous toons, a ruthless land-grabbing syndicate, corrupt and obsessively homicidal magistrate Judge Doom and a mysterious mastermind determined to take control of Toontown and all of California…

With additional dialogue from Don Ferguson, the movie was adapted by European cartoonist Dann Jippes (Bernard Voorzichtig: Twee Voor Thee, the Gutenberghus Donald Duck, Junior Woodchucks and more) who collaborated with American comics legend Dan Spiegle (equally paramount in realistic comics dramas such as Crossfire, Space Family Robinson, Blackhawk and Terry and the Pirates, a magnificent succession of licensed cartoon adventure properties from Shazzan!, Johnny Quest and Space Ghost to full-on stylised Hanna-Barbera Bigfoot icons such as Scooby-Doo, Captain Caveman and many others) to mimic the unique look of the film.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit was produced with live stars interacting with state-of-the-art animation and here Spiegle and Jippes created a seamless blend of drawing styles that is a perfect amalgam of the real and surreal.

For most of the middle 20th century Disney comicbooks were licensed through the monolithic Western Publishing’s Dell/Gold Key/Whitman imprints, but by the time of this release the printing company had all but abandoned the marketplace and the American edition was released as the 41st Marvel Graphic Novel, joining such creator-owned properties as Dreadstar and Alien Legion, proprietary Marvel tales such as The Death of Captain Marvel or Revenge of the Living Monolith and licensed properties like Conan and Willow in the same glorious oversized European Album format (285 x 220mm on chic and glossy superior paper stock).

As such this fast-paced, fun, above average, all-ages adaptation is one of the very best of its (often substandard) kind and a graphic novel well worth your time and money.

And remember, Jessica isn’t bad: she’s just sublimely drawn that way…
© 1988 The Walt Disney Company and Amblin Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Walt Disney’s High Jinks on the Matterhorn and The Rain God of Uxmal


By Adolf Kabatek and the Gutenberghus Group, translated by Anne Kilborn (London Editions)
ISBNs: 7235-95038 and 7235-9502X

Scrooge McDuck premiered in the Donald Duck tale ‘Christmas on Bear Mountain’ (Four Colour Comics #178 December 1947) as a disposable foil to move along simple tales of Seasonal woe and joy. The old miser was crusty, energetic, menacing, money-mad and yet oddly lovable – and thus far too potentially valuable to be misspent or thrown away. Undoubtedly, the greatest cartoon creation of the legendary and magnificent story showman Carl Barks, the Downy Dodecadillionaire returned often and eventually expanded to fill all available space in the tales from Duckburg.

The comicbook stories and newspaper strips of the Disney studios quickly travelled around the world and were particularly loved and venerated in Europe where Italy, Germany, Britain and especially the Scandinavian countries made them all their own; with supplemental new adventures and frolics that surpassed the efforts of all but Carl Barks himself.

As Disney US gradually downsized their own comics output, eventually even Barks himself and latter-day American giants like Don Rosa were producing new material for the continental Disney Comics of the Gutenberghus Group.

By the 1980s Disney’s once-prodigious presence on the British comics scene had dwindled to almost nothing and latest license holder London Editions began releasing collected albums in the European manner and using all-European talent, and these two oversized, 48 page books (288mm x 218mm) were first released in Germany in 1983.

High Jinks on the Matterhorn opens with an ailing Money-mad Mallard diagnosed with “Cupiditas Pecuniae” and in desperate need of a break away from the pressure of his all-consuming financial empire. Donald and the ever-helpful nephews take him on a restful jaunt to Switzerland, but as soon as the restless octogenarian smells a fresh opportunity to make money the be-feathered brood are plunged into a breakneck scheme involving unlimited cheese production, super-milk and a frantic race up the mighty Mount Matterhorn in search of a legendary super-food for cows…

Bold, fast-paced, visually spectacular and hilariously funny, this worthy successor to the inventive satirical lunacy of Barks is full of all-ages thrills and creamy cartoon goodness.

These volumes come with an educational feature at the back and the space here is occupied with comprehensive and enticing history of the mountain and the men who first conquered it.

The Rain God of Uxmal returns to classic adventuring as Donald and the boys go in search of Uncle Scrooge after catching a conman who has sold the elderly entrepreneur a non-existent palatial holiday-home in Mexico…

Enlisting the aid of eccentric inventor Gyro Gearloose the would-be rescuers head South in an outrageous, off-beat flying car, but by the time they reach Mexico Scrooge has already stumbled into an incredible situation. The crusty capitalist had been abducted and adopted by a lost tribe of supposedly extinct Mayans and taken to their hidden city of Uxmal. Apparently Scrooge was the spitting image of their ancient god Quaxc-Quaxc and expected to bring rain to the drought-parched hidden kingdom…

After a remarkable journey and some scarily close calls, Donald and Co. turn up in the very nick of time, but seem destined to fail in their rescue bid until mysterious providence takes a terrifying hand in the proceedings…

This is an exciting, exotic and eye-popping romp in the wholesome blockbusting Barks manner: blending wit, history, madcap invention, plucky bravado and sheer wide-eyed wonder into a rollicking rollercoaster ride for readers of every age and vintage.

This volume also describes in fascinating detail the secrets of the real lost city of Uxmal.

Whatever your opinions on the corporate mega-colossus that is Disney today, the quality of the material derived from “The House that Walt Built” is undeniable and no fan of comics and old-fashioned fun should avoid any opportunity to revel in the magic – preferably over and over again…
© 1983, 1985 Walt Disney Productions.

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Asterix and the Big Fight, Asterix in Britain and Asterix and the Normans


By René Goscinny & Albert Uderzo, translated by Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge (Orion)
ISBNs: 978-0-7528-6616-1, 978-0-7528-6618-5 and 978-0-7528-6622-2

Asterix the Gaul is one of France’s most exciting and rewarding contributions to global culture: a cunning little champion of the underdog who resisted the iniquities, experienced the absurdities and observed the myriad wonders of Julius Caesar’s Roman Empire with brains, bravery and a magic potion which bestowed incredible strength, speed and vitality.

One of the most-read comics in the world, his chronicles have been translated into more than 100 languages; with 8 animated and 3 live-action movies, assorted games and even into his own theme park (Parc Astérix, near Paris). More than 325 million copies of 34 Asterix books have sold worldwide, making Goscinny & Uderzo France’s bestselling international authors.

The diminutive, doughty hero was created by two of the art-form’s greatest masters, René Goscinny & Albert Uderzo who were already masters of the form and at the peak of their creative powers. Although their perfect partnership ended in 1977 with the death of the terrifying prolific scripter Goscinny, the creative wonderment still continues – albeit at a slightly reduced rate of rapidity.

Asterix launched in 1959 in the very first issue of Pilote (with a teaser page appearing a week earlier in a promotional issue #0). The feature was a massive hit from the start. Initially Uderzo continued working with Charlier on Michel Tanguy, (Les Aventures de Tanguy et Laverdure), but soon after the first epic escapade was collected as Astérix le gaulois in 1961 it became clear that the series would demand most of his time – especially as the incredible Goscinny never seemed to require rest or run out of ideas (after the writer’s death the publication rate dropped from two books per year to one volume every three to five). By 1967 the strip occupied all Uderzo’s time and attention. In 1974 the partners formed Idéfix Studios to fully exploit their inimitable creation and when Goscinny passed away three years later Uderzo was convinced to continue the adventures as writer and artist, producing a further ten volumes since then.

Like all great literary classics the premise works on two levels: younger readers enjoy an action-packed, lavishly illustrated comedic romp of sneaky, bullying baddies getting their just deserts whilst wrinklier readers enthuse over the dry, pun-filled, sly and witty satire, enhanced for English speakers by the brilliantly light touch of master translators Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge who played no small part in making the indomitable Gaul so palatable to the Anglo-Saxon world.

The stories were set on the tip of Uderzo’s beloved Brittany coast in the year 50BC, where a small village of redoubtable warriors and their families resisted all efforts of the Roman Empire to complete their conquest of Gaul. Unable to defeat these Horatian hold-outs, the Empire resorted to a policy of containment and the little seaside hamlet is perpetually hemmed in by the heavily fortified garrisons of Totorum, Aquarium, Laudanum and Compendium.

The Gauls don’t care: they daily defy the world’s greatest military machine by just 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…

Asterix and the Big Fight first ran in Pilote #261-302 in 1964 (originally entitled Le Combat des chefs – ‘The Battle of the Chiefs’) and saw another Roman scheme to overwhelm the hirsute hold-outs when Totorum’s commander Centurion Nebulus Nimbus and his aide-de-camp Felonius Caucus tried to use an old Gaulish tradition to rid themselves of the rebels.

The Big Fight is a hand-to-hand duel between chiefs with the winner becoming ruler of the loser’s tribe. All the Romans have to do is find a puppet, have him defeat fat, old Vitalstatistix and their perennial problem goes away for good. Luckily just such a man is Cassius Ceramix: chief of Linoleum, a hulking brute and, most importantly, a keen lover of all things Roman…

Even such a cunning plan is doomed to failure whilst Vitalstatistix uses magic potion to increase his strength, but what if the Druid Getafix is taken out first?

When the Romans attempt to abduct the old mage, Obelix (who had fallen into a vat of potion as a baby and grew into a genial, permanently superhuman, eternally hungry goliath) accidentally bounces a large menhir off the druid’s bonce, causing amnesia and a touch of insanity…

Although not quite what was intended, the incapacitation of Getafix emboldens the plotters and the Gallo-Roman Ceramix’s challenge is quickly delivered and reluctantly accepted. With no magic potion, honour at stake and the entire village endangered, desperate measures are called for. Asterix and Obelix consult the unconventional (even for druids) Psychoanalytix – who specialises in mental disorders – and Vitalstatistix is forced to diet and begin hard physical training!

Unfortunately when Obelix shows Psychoanalytix how Getafix sustained his injury the net result is two crazy druids, who promptly begin a bizarre bout of magical one-upmanship. As the crucial combat begins and Vitalstatistix valiantly battles his hulking, traitorous nemesis, Getafix accidentally cures himself, which is lucky as the treacherous Nebulus Nimbus and Felonius Caucus have no intention of losing and have brought along their Legions to crush the potion-less Gauls, should Ceramix let them down…

Manic and deviously cutting in its jibes at the psychiatric profession, this wildly slapstick romp is genuinely laugh-a-minute and one of the very best Goscinny tales.

Following the established pattern, after a “home” adventure our heroes went globe-trotting in their next exploit – although not very far…

Asterix in Britain originated in 1965 (Pilote #307-334) and followed Caesar’s conquest of our quirky country. It was never a fair fight: Britons always stopped in the afternoon for a cup of hot water and a dash of milk and never at the weekend, so those were the only times the Romans attacked…

After the conquest, in Cantium (Kent) one village of embattled Britons were holding out against the invaders and they had sent Anticlimax to Gaul where his cousin Asterix had successfully resisted the Roman for absolutely ages. Always happy to oblige the Gauls whip up a barrel of magic potion and the wily warrior and Obelix accompany Anticlimax on the return trip. Unfortunately, during a brief brouhaha with a Roman galley in the channel, the invaders discover the mission and begin a massive hunt for the rebels and their precious cargo…

As the trio make their perilous way to the village in Cantium, the entire army of occupation is hard on their heels and it isn’t long before the barrel goes missing…

Simply stuffed with good natured jibes about British cooking, fog, the Tower of Londinium, warm beer, council estates, the still un-dug Channel tunnel, boozing, the Beatles (it was the swinging Sixties, after all), sport, fishing and our national beverage, this action-packed frenetic chase yarn is possibly the funniest of all the Asterix books… if you’re British and possess our rather unique sense of humour, don’tcha know…?

Asterix and the Normans debuted in Pilote #340-361 in 1966 and showed how Vikings (who would eventually colonise parts of France as Northmen or “Normans”) first encountered our heroic Gauls and learned some valuable lessons…

The action opens with Chief Vitalstatistix reluctantly taking charge of his spoiled teenaged nephew Justforkix, intending to make a man of the flashy brat from Lutetia (Paris). The country girls go for his style and modern music (spoofing Elvis Presley in the original and the Rolling Stones in the English translation) and the lad’s glib tongue even convinces the Bard Cacofonix that his “unique” musical talent would be properly appreciated in the big city…

Meanwhile a shipload of Vikings have fetched up on the beach, looking for the answer to a knotty question. Rough, tough and fierce, the Scandinavians have no concept of fear, but since that have heard that the emotion can make people fly they’re determined not to leave until they know all about experiencing terror…

They’ve met their match in the Gaulish villagers, but Justforkix is a different matter. The once-cool lad is a big ball of cowardy-custardness when confronted by the Normans, so the burly barbarians promptly snatch him, insisting he teach them all about that incomprehensible emotion…

Canny Asterix knows fighting the Normans is a waste of time but reasons the only way to get rid of them is to teach them what fear is like. If violence won’t work then what’s need is something truly horrible… but Cacofonix and his assorted musical instruments are already on their way to fame and fortune in Lutetia. If only Obelix and Dogmatix can find him and save the day…

Daft and delicious this superbly silly tale abounds with comedy combat and confusion; a perfect mix of gentle generational jibing and slaphappy slapstick with a twist ending to boot.

Outrageously fast-paced, funny and magnificently illustrated by a supreme artist at the very peak of his form, these historical high jinks cemented Asterix’s growing reputation as a world treasure and as these albums are available in a wealth of differing formats and editions – all readily available from a variety of retail and internet vendors or even your local charity shop – there’s no reason why should miss out on all the fun.

Be warned though, that if pure continuity matters only Orion, the current British publisher, has released the nearly 40 albums in chronological order – and are in the process of re-releasing the tales in Omnibus editions; three tales per tome.

Asterix is sublime comics storytelling and if you’re still not au fait with these Village People you must be as Crazy as the Romans ever were…
© 1964-1965 Goscinny/Uderzo. Revised English translation © 2004 Hachette. All rights reserved.

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Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm: Little Snow White, The Three Sluggards & The Shoemaker & the Elves


Adapted by David Wenzel & Douglas Wheeler (NBM)
ISBN: 978-1-56163-130-8

The immortal German folktales gathered by historians, philologists and lexicographers Wilhelm and Jakob Grimm have been told to enthralled generations of children all over the planet for nearly two centuries – they were first collected and published in 1812 – becoming an intrinsic part of human life. However these dark and powerful parables – they all have meanings and moral, after all – became increasingly enfeebled and sanitised over the decades as parents, entertainment purveyors and educators constantly diluted the details for their own reasons.

Here scripter Doug Wheeler (Swamp Thing, Classics Desecrated) and fantasy artist Dave Wenzel (Warlords, The Hobbit) return to the source material – but not too slavishly – for a dark and luscious pre-interpretation of three of the original classics in a glorious, fully painted hardcover edition first released by NBM in 1995.

You already know the key points of ‘Little Snow White’ which takes up the lion’s share of this terrific tome, but major restorations include the fact that the little princess was only seven when the malicious and jealous queen ordered her death; that the triumphant step-mother gleefully eats the heart of a wild pig fully believing it to be Snow White’s and, after finally being murdered (three truly harrowing attempts) in the dwarves’ home, the radiant child was interred in a crystal coffin for seven years – inexplicably maturing there into a beautiful, if dead, young woman before she was finally revived.

When the Prince finally aroused her from the deathly slumber it wasn’t with a kiss either…

Good triumphed at last and evil was sadistically punished in the end, after which ‘The Shoemaker and the Elves’ provides a sweet and savoury palate cleanser in a cheerfully enchanting Christmas tale of Good Deeds rewarded after which ‘The Three Sluggards’ relates in a single captivating page how the laziest king in the world selected his ideal successor.

The original tales are so ubiquitous, so ingrained in our lives that there’s no possibility of any one version ever becoming definitive, but that’s not really the point. These particular iterations, as graphically realised by Wheeler and Wenzel, are a superb synthesis of immortal legend and comic art mastery that will enthral every reader no matter how over-familiar you think they might be. One of those perfect books that belongs on every bookshelf.
© 1995 by David Wenzel & Doug Wheeler.

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The Rainbow Orchid Volume Two


By Garen Ewing (Egmont UK)
ISBN: 978-1-4052-5047-4

Garen Ewing’s stunning pastiche of the genre pioneered by the groundbreaking Hergé continues in this even better middle instalment of The Rainbow Orchid.

The character of plucky Julius Chancer and his adventuresome pals began popping up around 2003 in self-published mini-comics and small press publications before migrating to and unfolding online (still available to view at the website www.rainboworchid.co.uk ) to rapturous praise from industry and public alike. Tintin publisher Egmont sagaciously picked up the series and this fabulous old fashioned tale of globe-girdling, treasure-seeking derring-do has quickly become a notable addition to the ranks of magnificent all-ages full-colour adventure albums.

The story is set in the Roaring 1920s and relates how young yet capable archaeological assistant Chancer is drawn into a web of international intrigue, corporate skulduggery and rip-roaring peril by his boss’ latest client. Said employer is renowned historical researcher and gentleman breeder of orchids Sir Alfred Catesby-Grey, who once ran a very hush-hush government artefact-hunting department dubbed the Empire Survey Branch.

Now working freelance, Sir Alfred was approached by Lord Reginald Lawrence who had been tricked into an impossible wager by dastardly entrepreneur Urkaz Grope. At stake was the “Trembling Sword of Tybalt Stone” a priceless antique that has been the seat of the family’s honour since 1445, and without which Lord Lawrence would have to surrender all his estates and titles…

To win the wager Lawrence needed an example of Iriode Orchino – the rainbow orchid, a mythical bloom last seen by Alexander the Great over two thousand years ago. After some initial reservations Catesby-Grey dispatched Julius and a disparate group including Lord Lawrence’s daughter Lily to track down the Orchid whilst he pursues some enquires amongst his old clandestine colleagues…

After some deadly clashes with Grope’s murderous fixer Evelyn Crow and her hired thugs, Julius, Lily, American impresario Nathaniel Crumpole and pilot Benoit Tayaut reach India, narrowly escaping blazing doom as their aeroplane crashes. Rendezvousing with British Civil Servant Major Fraser-Tipping the explorers begin the next stage of their trek with Crow and cronies in deadly hot pursuit…

In England journalist William Pickle, who broke the story of the orchid wager, is a prisoner of a secret society although his newshound colleague George Scrubbs is diligently on his trail. Grope’s plans to bully and buy his way into the upper echelons of English Society proceed apace and Catesby-Grey is uncovering some previously unsuspected military and political interest in the project…

In India after another brutal attack by Crow’s goons the desperate voyagers find an unexpected ally in Meru, servant of the dead missionary who was the last man to see a rainbow orchid.

Heading into the wastes of Hasan Wahan, Julius and his enlarged party are unaware that they have a traitor in their group. After making one more incredibly lucky and fantastic discovery and nearing the end of their quest, Evelyn Crow launches another murderous assault and one of our plucky heroes seemingly plunges to their death…

In a saga delightfully referencing the Golden age of Adventure Literature; everything from Margery Allingham’s Campion tales to Conan Doyle’s Professor Challenger stories, Rider Haggard’s Allan Quatermain to John Buchan’s Richard Hannay tales and so very much more, Ewing has managed to synthesise something vibrant, vital, fresh and uniquely entertaining for modern readers of all ages.

Enchantingly engaging, astonishingly authentic and masterfully illustrated in the seductive Ligne Claire style, this is a magical yarn which ranks amongst the very best of graphic narratives. With the final instalment imminently in sight we can only hope that there’s more to follow that long-awaited event.

Pure comics mastery – and where else could you get hot fresh nostalgia, just like your granddad used to love?

© 2010 Garen Ewing. All rights reserved.

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Yeah!


By Peter Bagge & Gilbert Hernandez, with Jaime Hernadez & Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-412-2

More generally known for their challenging (I so loathe that word “alternative”) material for mature audiences, cartooning legends Peter (Neat Stuff, Hate, Buddy Bradley) Bagge and Gilbert (Love & Rockets, Birdland, Sloth) Hernandez collaborated in 1999 on an intriguing and manically enticing, all-ages cartoon romp for the grievously underserved juvenile girls market, published by mainstream industry leader DC under their WildStorm imprint.

Said feature has finally been collected – regrettably without the gloriously vivid colour – in a superbly silly upbeat collection that will hopefully, in these more enlightened graphic times, find the approving audience it deserved.

As Bagge relates in his introduction, the original concept was an updating of Dan DeCarlo’s Josie and the Pussycats (voluntarily created under the strictures of the Comics Code) which would appeal to a pre-teen market; inspired by the writer’s complete immersion in the Girl-Power culture of the Spice Girls and their many imitators, thanks to his own daughter turning eight and discovering pop music…

Yeah! follows the trials and tribulations of fresh young New Jersey girls Woo-Woo, Honey and Krazy, who with their on-again, off-again, sleazy-hippie-burn-out manager Crusty seek stardom and a steady paycheque. Naturally it’s not quite that straightforward…

The girls’ extremely unique situation is introduced in ‘Everybody Say Yeah!’ as they finish a tour of the galaxy which sees them crowned “the Most Popular Band in the History of the Universe” before returning to Earth where they are still completely unknown and unable to land a single gig. Crusty has unique contacts and connections but none of them are on the planet of his birth. The best he can manage here is a cheesy school talent contest with their arch rival boy-band The Snobs…

Fed up, fame-hungry keyboardist Woo-Woo sets up a meeting with disgusting mega-millionaire Mongrel Mogul, who agrees to manage and promote them – but only if guitarist Krazy agrees to marry him. Although Woo-Woo thinks it’s worth it the girls eventually decline and Mogul instead aligns himself with their arch-enemy Miss Hellraiser…

None of the performers in Yeah! are ordinary or average. Woo-Woo’s ambitions are all-encompassing, diminutive drummer Honey is a Vegan eco-activist with a befuddled hippie boyfriend called Muddy and Krazy has telepathic powers. … And old Crusty really does commune regularly with extraterrestrials…

We meet the parents in ‘Woo-Woo, Phone Home!’ as the girls fail at a succession of menial jobs whilst waiting for the Big Time (alien money being useless on Earth) before giving up and moving to the Planet Erb where they’re properly appreciated. Unfortunately they – and especially Muddy’s goat – can’t handle the food and they have to go back when Woo-Woo’s terrifyingly blue-collar dad gets ill – but not before Crusty signs up and then abandons an Erbian tribute act called “!yaeH”…

‘Stalky’ reveals that whilst they’ve been gone an alien has been crashing at Krazy’s place, consuming her stupendous stash of junk-food (the only thing she ever eats), but the girls have bigger problems: Crusty has lined them up to be Miss Hellraiser’s backing band – and for free!

‘The Origins of Yeah!’ reveals how the girls met, when The Snobs became their enemies and why Hellraiser isn’t in Yeah! anymore, whilst ‘Yeah! Takes Off!’ uncovers Crusty’s alien connections and the girls first intergalactic successes, before ‘Honey’s Crisis!’ highlights corporate skulduggery and girly passions as Krazy and Woo-Woo become rivals for the attention of Hobo Cappilletto – the most successful boy pop-star in the World – culminating in the minor mega-sensation making his romantic play in ‘Hobo’s in Love!’

The band gets caught up in an interplanetary conflict when ‘Yeah! Goes to War!’, unexpectedly becoming folk heroes of planet Sunburnia before the fight for fame comes to an abrupt end in ‘Make Way for !yaeH’ as the erstwhile Erbian trio become a sensation on Earth whilst Yeah! still can’t get arrested in their own home town…

The volume ends with creator biographies and a mini-saga written and illustrated by Bagge hilariously depicting ‘A Day in the Life of The Snobs’…

There’s precious little around for kids and especially girl readers in American funnybooks: their options relegated to Archie Comics’ prodigious, but generally safe, output or whatever manga makes it into English translation so this intriguing and wildly imaginative series which seamlessly combined fantasy, science fiction, fashion, pop and school cultures in a wild blend of frantic fun and thoroughly deserves another chance to shine.

Moreover let’s hope the publishers follow up with more of the same and Bagge’s marvellous warts-and-all comedic comics-industry expose Sweatshop is soon to follow…

© 2011 Peter Bagge. This edition © 2011 Fantagraphics Books. All Rights Reserved.

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Asterix the Gladiator, Asterix and the Banquet, Asterix and Cleopatra


By René Goscinny & Albert Uderzo, translated by Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge (Orion and others)
ISBNs: 978-0-7528-6611-6, 978-0-7528-6609-3 and 978-0-7528-6607-9

Asterix the Gaul is probably France’s greatest literary export: a wily wee warrior who resisted the iniquities, experienced the absurdities and observed the myriad wonders of Julius Caesar’s Roman Empire with brains, bravery and a magic potion which bestowed incredible strength, speed and vitality.

One of the most popular comics in the world, the chronicles have been translated into more than 100 languages; 8 animated and 3 live-action movies, assorted games and even into a theme park (Parc Astérix, near Paris). More than 325 million copies of 34 Asterix books have been sold worldwide, making Goscinny & Uderzo France’s bestselling international authors.

The diminutive, doughty hero was created as the transformative 1960s began by two of the art-form’s greatest masters, René Goscinny & Albert Uderzo and even though their perfect partnership ended in 1977 the creative wonderment still continues – albeit at a slightly reduced rate of rapidity.

When Pilote launched in 1959 was Asterix was a massive hit from the start. For a while Uderzo continued working with Charlier on Michel Tanguy, (Les Aventures de Tanguy et Laverdure), but soon after the first epic escapade was collected as Astérix le gaulois in 1961 it became clear that the series would demand most of his time – especially as the incredible Goscinny never seemed to require rest or run out of ideas (after the writer’s death the publication rate dropped from two books per year to one volume every three to five).

By 1967 the strip occupied all Uderzo’s time and attention. In 1974 the partners formed Idéfix Studios to fully exploit their inimitable creation and when Goscinny passed away three years later Uderzo was convinced to continue the adventures as writer and artist, producing a further ten volumes since then.

Like all great literary classics the premise works on two levels: for younger readers as an action-packed comedic romp of sneaky, bullying baddies regularly getting their just deserts and as a pun-filled, sly and witty satire for older, wiser heads, enhanced here by the brilliantly light touch of master translators Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge who played no small part in making the indomitable Gaul so very palatable to the English tongue.

Launched in Pilote #1 (29th October 1959, with the first page appearing a week earlier in a promotional issue #0, June 1st 1959), the stories was set on the tip of Uderzo’s beloved Brittany coast in the year 50BC, where a small village of redoubtable warriors and their families resisted every effort of the all-conquering Roman Empire to complete their conquest of Gaul. Unable to defeat these Horatian hold-outs, the Empire resorted to a policy of containment and the little seaside hamlet is perpetually hemmed in by the heavily fortified garrisons of Totorum, Aquarium, Laudanum and Compendium.

The Gauls don’t care: they daily defy the world’s greatest military machine by just 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…

With these volumes a key pattern was established: the adventures would henceforth- like a football match – alternate between Home and Away, with each globe-trotting escapade balanced by an epic set in and around he happily beleaguered Gaulish village (if you’re counting, home tales were odd numbered volumes and travelling exploits even-numbered…)

Asterix the Gladiator debuted in Pilote #126-168 in 1963 and saw the canny rebel and his increasingly show-stealing pal Obelix (who had fallen into a vat of potion as a baby and was a genial, permanently superhuman, eternally hungry foil to the smart little hero) despatched to the heart of the Roman Empire on an ill-conceived mission of mercy…

When Prefect Odius Asparagus wanted to give Julius Caesar a unique gift he decided upon one of the indomitable Gauls who had been giving his occupying forces such a hard time.

Thus he had village Bard Cacofonix abducted and bundled off to Rome. Although in two minds about losing the raucous harpist, pride won out and the villagers mounted a rescue attempt, but after thrashing the Romans again they discovered that their lost comrade was already en route for the Eternal City…

Asterix and Obelix were despatched to retrieve the missing musician and hitched a ride on a Phoenician galley operated under a bold new business plan by captain/general manager Ekonomikrisis. On the way to Italy the heroes first encountered a band of pirates who would become frequent guest-stars and perennial gadflies.

The pirates were a creative in-joke between the close-knit comics creative community: Barbe-Rouge or Redbeard was a buccaneering strip created by Charlier and Victor Hubinon that also ran in Pilote at the time.

As Asterix and Obelix made friends among the cosmopolitan crowds of Rome, Caesar had already received his latest gift. Underwhelmed by his new Bard, the Emperor sent Cacofonix to the Circus Maximus to be thrown to the lions just as his chief of Gladiators Caius Fatuous was “talent-spotting” two incredibly tough strangers who would make ideal arena fighters…

Since it was the best way to get to Cacofonix our heroes joined the Imperial Gladiatorial school; promptly introducing a little Gallic intransigence to the tightly disciplined proceedings. When the great day arrived the lions had the shock of their lives and the entertainment-starved citizens of Rome got a show they would never forget…

As always the good-natured, comedic situations and sheer finesse of the yarn rattles along, delivering barrages of puns, oodles of insane situations and loads of low-trauma slapstick action, marvellously rendered in Uderzo’s expansive, authentic and continually improving big-foot art-style.

Asterix and the Banquet originated in Pilote #172-213 (1963) and was inspired by the Tour de France cycle race.

After being continually humiliated by the intractable Gauls coming and going as they pleased, Roman Inspector General Overanxius instigated a policy of exclusion and built a huge wall around the little village, determined to shut them off from their country and the world.

Incensed, Asterix bet the smug Prefect that Gauls could go wherever they pleased and to prove it invited the Romans to a magnificent feast where they could sample the culinary delights of the various regions. Breaking out of the stockade and through the barricades, Asterix and Obelix went gathering produce from as far afield as Rotomagus (Rouen), Lutetia (Paris, where they also picked up a determined little mutt who would eventually become a star cast-member), Camaracum (Cambrai) and Durocortorum (Rheims), easily evading or overcoming the assembled patrols and legions of man-hunting soldiers. However, they didn’t reckon on the corrupting power of the huge – and growing – bounty on their heads…

Some Gauls were apparently more greedy than patriotic…

Even with Asterix held captive and all the might of the Empire ranged against them, Gaulish honour was upheld and Overanxius, after some spectacular fights, chases and close calls eventually was made to eat his words – and a few choice Gallic morsels – in this delightful, bombastic and exceedingly clever celebration of pride and whimsy.

Asterix and Cleopatra ran from 1963-1963 in issues #215-257 and although deriving its title from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, is actually a broad visual spoof of the 1963 movie blockbuster Cleopatra (the original collected album cover was patterned on the film poster).

Rome was a big empire to run but Caesar always had time to spare for the fascinating Queen of Egypt – even though she could be a little overbearing at times…

When Caesar called her people decadent, Cleopatra announced that her Egyptians would build a magnificent palace within three months to prove their continued ingenuity and vitality.

Her architect Edifis was less confidant and subcontracted the job, recruiting his old friend Getafix the Druid to help, with Asterix, Obelix and faithful pooch Dogmatix coming along to keep him out of trouble…

After another short, sharp visit with the pirates, the voyagers reached the Black Lands only to find the building site a shambles. Edifis’ arch rival Artifis had jealously stirred up unrest among the labourers and consequently sabotaged the supply-chain, entombed the visitors in a deadly tourist-trap and even framed Edifis by attempting to poison the Queen.

For all these tactics the ingenious Gauls had a ready solution and the Palace construction continued apace, but when Caesar, determined not to lose face to his tempestuous paramour, sent his Legions to destroy the almost-completed complex, it was up to the two smallest, smartest warriors to come up with a solution to save the day, the Palace and the pride of two nations…

Outrageously fast-paced and funny and magnificently illustrated by a supreme artist at the very peak of his form, Asterix and Cleopatra is one of the very best epics from a series that has nothing but brilliant hits.

These albums are available in a wealth of differing formats and earlier editions going all the way back to the 1969 Brockhampton editions are still readily available from a variety of retail and internet vendors – or even your local charity shop and jumble sale.

Be warned though, that if pure continuity matters only Orion, the current British publisher, has released the nearly 40 albums in chronological order – and are in the process of re-releasing the tales in Omnibus editions; three tales per tome.

Also, on a purely aesthetic note some of the Hodder-Dargaud editions have a rather exuberant approach to colour that might require you to don sunglasses but could save you a fortune on lighting your house… and possibly heating it too…

This is supremely enjoyable comics storytelling and if you’re still not au fait with these Village People you must be as Crazy as the Romans ever were…

© 1964-1965 Goscinny/Uderzo. Revised English translation © 2004 Hachette. All rights reserved.

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Showcase Presents Dial H For Hero


By Dave Wood, Jim Mooney & various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-4012-2648-0

The entire world was going crazy for costumed crusaders in the mid-Sixties and every comicbook publisher was keenly seeking new ways to repackage an extremely exciting yet intrinsically limited concept. Perhaps its ultimate expression came with the creation of a teen-aged everyman champion who battled crime and disaster in his little town with the aid on a fantastic wonder-tool…

This slim monochrome compendium collects the entire run from House of Mystery #156 (January 1966) to #173 (March-April 1968) when the comicbook disappeared for a few months to re-emerge as DC’s first – of many – anthological supernatural mystery titles.

Created by Dave Wood and Jim Mooney, Dial H For Hero recounted the incredible adventures of boy genius Robby Reed who lived with his grandfather in idyllic Littleville where nothing ever happened…

Criminally, very little is known about writer Dave Wood, whose prolific output began in the early days of the American comics industry and whose work includes such seminal classics (often with artistic legends Jack Kirby and Wally no-relation Wood) as Challengers of the Unknown and the seminal “Space Race” newspaper strip Sky Masters.

A skilled “jobbing” writer, Wood often collaborated with his brother Dick, bouncing around the industry, scripting mystery, war, science fiction and adventure tales. Among his/their vast credits are stints on most Superman family titles, Batman, Detective Comics, World’s Finest, Green Arrow, Rex the Wonder Dog, Tomahawk, Blackhawk, Martian Manhunter and many others. As well as Dial H For Hero Wood created the sleeper hit Animal Man and the esoteric but fondly regarded Ultra, the Multi-Alien.

James Noel Mooney started his comics career in 1940, aged 21 and working for the Eisner & Eiger production shop and Fiction House on The Moth, Camilla, Suicide Smith and other B-features. By the end of the year he was a mainstay of Timely Comic’s vast funny animal/animated cartoon tie-in department.

In 1946 Jim moved to DC to ghost Batman for Bob Kane and Dick Sprang. He stayed until 1968, working on a host of features including Superman, Superboy, Legion of Super-Heroes, World’s Finest and Tommy Tomorrow, plus various genre short stories for the company’s assorted anthology titles like Tales of the Unexpected and House of Mystery.

He also drew Supergirl from her series debut in Action Comics #253 to #373, after which he headed for Marvel and stellar runs on Spider-Man, Marvel Team-up, Omega the Unknown, Man-Thing, Ghost Rider and a host of other features as both penciller and inker. Just before that move he was working on Dial H For Hero; the only original DC feature he co-created.

Big things were clearly expected of the new feature, which was parachuted in as lead and cover feature, demoting the venerable Martian Manhunter to a back-up role at the end of each issue.

The first untitled story opens with an attack on the local chemical works by super-scientific criminal organisation Thunderbolt just as Robby and his pals were playing in the hills above the site. As they fled the plucky lad was caught in a landslide and fell into an ancient cave where lay an obviously alien artefact that looked like an outlandish telephone dial.

After finding his way out of the cavern Robby became obsessed with the device and spent all his time attempting to translate the arcane hieroglyphs on it. Eventually he determined the writings were instructions to dial the symbols which translate to “H”, “E”, “R” and “O”…

Ever curious Robby complied and was transformed into a colossal super-powered “Giantboy”, just in time to save a crashing airliner and stop another Thunderbolt raid. Returning home he reversed the dialling process and went to bed…

These were and still are perfect wish-fulfilment stories: uncluttered and uncomplicated yarns hiding no great messages or themes: just straight entertainment expertly undertaken by experienced and gifted craftsmen who knew just how to reach their young-at-heart audiences, so no-one should be surprised at the ease with which Robby adapted to his new situation…

When Thunderbolt struck again next morning Robby grabbed his dial but was startled to become a different hero – high-energy being “The Cometeer”. Streaking to the rescue he was overcome by the raider’s super weapon and forced to use the dial to become Robby again. Undeterred, the lad tries again and as “The Mole” finally tracked the villains to their base and defeated them – although the leader escaped to become the series’ only returning villain…

Mr. Thunder was back in the very next issue as Robby became “The Human, Bullet”, bestial energy-being “Super-Charge” and eerie alien “Radar-Sonar Man” to crush ‘The Marauders from Thunderbolt Island’ whilst criminal scientist Daffy Dagan stole the H-Dial after defeating the boy’s temporary alter ego “Quake-Master”. Dagan became a horrifying multi-powered monster when he learned to ‘Dial “V” For Villain’ but after the defeated hero took back the artefact Robby redialed into techno-warrior “The Squid” and belatedly saved the day.

Clearly the Mystery in House of… was related to where the Dial came from, what its unknown parameters were and who Robby would transform into next. Issue #159 pitted “The Human Starfish”, “Hypno-Man” and a super-powered toddler named “Mighty Moppet” (who wielded weaponised baby bottles) in single combats with a shape-changing gang of bandits dubbed ‘The Clay-Creep Clan’ whilst ‘The Wizard of Light’ played with the format a little by introducing a potential love-interest for Robby in his best friend’s cousin Suzy…

It also saw the return of Giant-Boy, the introduction of sugar-based sentinel of Justice “King Candy” and the lad’s only transformation into an already established hero – the Golden Age legend Plastic Man.

Cynical me now suspects the move was a tester to see if the Pliable Paladin – who had been an inert resource since the company had bought out original publisher Quality Comics in 1956 – was ripe for a relaunch in the new, superhero-hungry environment.

DC’s Plastic Man #1 was released five months later…

House of Mystery #161 featured an awesome ancient Egyptian menace ‘The Mummy with Six Heads’ who proved too much for Robby as “Magneto” (same powers but so very not a certain Marvel villain) and “Hornet-Man” but not the intangible avenger “Shadow-Man”, after which ‘The Monster-Maker of Littleville’ was proved by “Mr. Echo” and “Future-Man” to be less mad scientist than greedy entrepreneur…

‘Baron Bug and his Insect Army’ almost ended Robby’s clandestine career when the boy turned into two heroes at once; but even though the celestial twins “Castor and Pollux” were overmatched, animated slinky-toy “King Coil” proved sufficient to stamp out the Baron’s giant mini-beasts, whilst human wave “Zip Tide”, living star “Super Nova” and “Robby the Super-Robot” were hard-pressed to stop the rampages of ‘Dr. Cyclops – the Villain with the Doomsday Stare’.

Things got decidedly peculiar in #165 when a clearly malfunctioning H-Dial called up ‘The Freak Super-Heroes’ “Whoozis”, “Whatsis” and “Howzis” to battle Dr. Rigoro Mortis and his artificial thug Super-Hood in a bizarrely captivating romp with what looks like some unacknowledged inking assistance from veteran brush-meister George Roussos (who popped in a couple more times until Mooney’s departure).

Suzie became a fixture and moved into the house next door with ‘The King of the Curses’ who found his schemes to plunder the city thwarted by “TheYankee-Doodle Kid” and “Chief Mighty Arrow”, a war-bonneted Indian brave on a winged horse…

In HoM #167 ‘The Fantastic Rainbow Raider’ easily defeated “Balloon Boy” and “Muscle Man” but had no defence against the returning Radar-Sonar Man, whilst ‘The Marauding Moon Man’ easily overmatched Robby as “The Hoopster” but had no defence when another glitch turned old incarnations Mole and Cometeer into a single heroic composite imaginatively christened “Mole-Cometeer”, but the biggest shock of all came when ‘The Terrible Toymaster’ defeated Robby as “Velocity Kid” and Suzy cajoled the fallen hero into dialling her into the scintillating “Gem Girl” to finish the job.

As it was the 1960s, Suzy didn’t quite manage on her own, but when Robby transformed into the psionically-potent “Astro, Man of Space” they soon closed the case – and toybox – for good. This one was all Mooney and so was the next.

‘Thunderbolt’s Secret Weapon’ was also the artist’s last outing with the Kid of a Thousand Capes as the incorrigible cartel tried to steal a supercomputer only to be stopped dead by “Baron Buzz-Saw”, “Don Juan” (and his magic sword) and the imposing “Sphinx-Man”.

With House of Mystery #171 a radical new look emerged, as well as slightly darker tone. The writing was clearly on the wall for the exuberant, angst-free adventurer…

‘The Micro-Monsters!’ was illustrated by Frank Springer and saw Robby dial up “King Viking – Super Norseman”, “Go-Go” a hipster who utilised the incredible powers of popular disco dances (how long have I waited to type that line!!!?) and multi-powered “Whirl-I-Gig” to defeat bio-terrorist Doc Morhar and belligerent invaders from a sub-atomic dimension.

Springer also drew ‘The Monsters from the H-Dial’ wherein the again on-the-fritz gear turned his friend Jim into various ravening horrors every time Robby dialled up. Luckily the unnamed animated pendulum, Chief Mighty Arrow and “the Human Solar Mirror” our hero successively turned into proved just enough to stop the beasts until the canny boy could apply his trusty screwdriver to the incredible artefact again.

In those distant days series ended abruptly, without fanfare and often in the middle of something… and such was the fate of Robby Reed. HoM#173, by Wood and Sal Trapani saw the lad solve a mystery in ‘The Revolt of the H-Dial’ wherein the process turned him into water-breathing “Gill-Man” and a literal “Icicle Man”: beings not only unsuitable for life on Earth but also compelled to commit crimes. Luckily by the time Robby had become “Strata Man” he’d deduced what outside force was affecting his dangerously double-edged dial…

And that was that. The series was gone, the market was again abandoning the fights ‘n’ Tights crowd and on the horizon was a host of war western, barbarian and horror comics…

Exciting, fun, engaging and silly in equal amounts (heck, even I couldn’t resist a jibe or too and I genuinely revere these daft, nostalgia-soaked gems) Dial H For Hero has been re-imagined a number of time since these innocent odysseys first ran, but never with the clear-cut, unsophisticated, welcoming charm displayed here.

This is Ben-10 for your dad’s generation and your kid’s delectation: and only if they’re at just that certain age. Certainly you’re too grown up to enjoy these glorious classics. Surely you couldn’t be that lucky; could you…?

© 1966, 1967, 1968, 2010 DC Comics. All rights reserved.