Category: Sea Stories

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Spirou and Fantasio volume 23: The Moray’s Lair (A Spirou and Fantasio Adventure)


By André Franquin, translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-80044-194-1 (Album PB/Digital edition)

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

André Franquin was born in Etterbeek, Belgium on January 3rd 1924 and died on January 5th 1997. In between there were good times and bad, which he handled by creating the most incredible characters and stories, and by making people laugh and think… but mostly laugh. This is one of the very best you can find translated into English.

Adventure-seeking brave lad Spirou headlined the magazine he was named for from the first issue (dated April 21st 1938). He was devised and realised by French cartoonist Françoise Robert Velter (“Rob-Vel”) for Belgian publisher Éditions Dupuis in direct response to the success of Hergé’s Tintin over at rival outfit Casterman. Originally a plucky bellboy/lift operator employed by the Moustique Hotel (a sly reference to the publisher’s premier periodical Le Moustique), his improbable exploits with pet squirrel Spip gradually but steadily evolved into highflying, far reaching, surreal comedy dramas. That evolution was mainly thanks to Velter’s wife Blanche “Davine” Dumoulin who took over the strip when her husband enlisted in 1939 and Belgian artist/assistant Luc Lafnet – at least until 1943 when Dupuis purchased all rights to the property, after which comic-strip prodigy Joseph Gillain (Jijé) took over.

When Jijé handed his own trainee/assistant total responsibility for the flagship feature part-way through serial Spirou et la maison préfabriqué (Le Journal de Spirou #427, June 20th 1946), André Franquin ran with it for the next 20 years. He enlarged the scope and expanding horizons until the feature was purely his own. Almost every week fans would meet startling new characters such as comrade/rival Fantasio or crackpot inventor and Merlin of mushroom mechanics The Count of Champignac. Spirou and Fantasio became globetrotting journalists, travelling to exotic places, uncovering crimes, exploring the fantastic and clashing with a coterie of exotic arch-enemies such as Zorglub and Fantasio’s unsavoury cousin Zantafio.

Gradually sidelining short, done-in-one gag vignettes in favour of longer epic adventure serials, Franquin’s growing cast of engaging regulars soon included one of the first strong female characters in European comics (rival journalist Seccotine AKA Cellophine in the current English translation) and ultimately led to the debut of a scene-stealing, phenomenally popular apparently-magic animal. Marsupilami arrived during 1952’s serial Spirou et les héritiers and never really left…

Franquin, plagued in later life by bouts of depression, died in 1997 but his legacy remains and still grows; a vast body of work which reshaped the landscape of European comics, and inspiring many others to carry on in his name and manner.

As Le Repaire de la murène this eccentric epic was Franquin’s ninth solo affair, originally serialised in LJdS #871-904 from December 23rd 1954 to August 11th 1955. It was eventually collected as an album in 1957. Here, as The Moray’s Lair it directly follows The Wrong Head, scoping out a soupçon of nautical naughtiness as the freshly minted investigative reporting team tackle scientific quandary and marine mystery all whilst simply trying to earn extra cash by attempting a scientific challenge.

Vacationing with mycoprotein mate Pacôme Hégésippe Adélard Ladislas de Champignac at his ramshackle rural estate in Champignac-in-the-Sticks, the idling lads spot a magazine ad offering a startlingly specific engineering exploit with a hefty cash reward for its completion. “Fabulously rich ship owner” Xenophon Hamadryas seeks someone who can invent a means of descending 650 feet underwater and carry out unspecified tasks at that depth in complete safety, and they are up for it.

Perhaps distracted by the absurd and distressing antics of Spip, local postman Mr. Zenobius and the Marsupilami, our heroes’ usual caution is overwhelmed by greed and they soon convince The Count to use mushroom science to (temporarily) boost his own formidable brainpower. The result is detailed plans for scuba diving gear, unique new breathing gases, underwater communications systems and even personal minisubs to reach the required depths whilst allowing freedom of movement under the greatest most unfathomable pressures ever recorded.

At least it momentarily stops Pacôme from doing whatever it was he had started to “improve” the estate’s chickens…

The brainstorming meets with initial success, but once the team submit their plans and commission construction of the kit, a wave of suspicious accidents and plain sabotage at the factories building Champignac’s innovations put Spirou & Fantasio on high alert, but not as much as when their incredible elastic-tailed anthropoid pal discovers – and brutally chastises – someone closely observing their every move…

Grudgingly accepting that an over-competitive rival inventor must be behind the campaign, the team continue with enhanced security, which only leads to intimidation, explosions and the destruction of their declared competitors’ efforts. Increasingly wary, Spirou identifies his own stalker after the poor villain is savagely attacked by Marsupilami and convinces the comrades to relocate and continue working in hiding. The plan is actually a trap for watching villains and leads to an epic victory using the Count’s other bizarre science weapons on the spies…

Regarding themselves safe at last, Spirou, Fantasio, the Count and the critters relocate to the shores of the Mediterranean to test their completed prototypes in peace. Barring some minor teething troubles, results are ideal and lead to another amazing discovery in the miraculous Marsu’s biological armoury! Soon they meet competition sponsor Mr. Hamadryas: a most untrustworthy, obnoxious individual who clearly has a secret agenda, plenty of personal goons and lots of unspoken pressures of his own to deal with. Unaware that Spirou has already encountered a mystery sub at the specified subsea location, the shipping magnate claims all other teams have dropped out due to the sabotage campaign, before explaining what he needs… but not really why…

Spouting a ludicrous tale of his best ship (The Discreet) and best friend (Captain John Helena) both being lost in those cold dark depths, the money Midas wants our adventurers to locate the wreck in Helena’s honour and memory, but although they accept the task, the lads are on the lookout for sinister surprises…

What follows is epic spectacle as the marine mission trawls up even more deadly traps, a hidden underwater base, lost treasures, what Hamadryas truly needs and the reason why plundering pirate “The Moray” has been plaguing and confounding the entire endeavour all along. That leads to discovering who he actually works for, and what Marsupilami’s newly revealed power means to the bad guys threatening his human friends…

Soaked in sublime slapstick schtick with gallons of gags throughout, this explosively exuberant exploration is packed with cunning crooks coming a-cropper, animal animosity expressed, angst-free action, thrills & spills. It also offers another early ecological message and an always-timely moral regarding the humane treatment of animals. There’s even a fascinating technical overview of nautical facts at time of printing in back-up text feature ‘A Conference by Mr de Champignac’ answering the most telling questions thrown up the mushroom scientist’s apparent flouting of physical law and engineering expertise…

The Moray’s Lair is the kind of lightly-barbed, comedy romp to delight readers fed up and saturated by adults-only carnage, testosterone-fuelled breast-beating, teen-romance monsters or sickly-sweet fantasy. Easily accessible to readers of all ages, drawn with all the beguiling style and seductive yet wholesome verve and panache which make Asterix, Lucky Luke, and Yakari so compelling, these are enduring landmark tales from a long line of superb exploits, deserving to be a household name as much as those series… and even that other kid with the white dog.
Original edition © Dupuis, 1957 by Franquin. All rights reserved. English translation 2026 © Cinebook Ltd.

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Corto Maltese: Under the Sign of Capricorn (A Corto Maltese USA Graphic Novel)


By Hugo Pratt, translated by Dean Mullaney & Simone Castaldi (CONG SA)
ISBN: 978-2-940552-42-9 (Digital edition), ASIN: B0BZ4YY5BK

This book include Discriminatory Content included for dramatic effect.

Born in Rimini on June 15th 1927, Ugo Eugenio Prat, AKA Hugo Pratt, wandered the world in his early life, and became one of its paramount comics creators. His enthralling pictorial inventions since Ace of Spades (whilst still a student at the Venice Academy of Fine Arts in 1945) were many and varied. His signature character – based in large part on his own exotic formative years – is mercurial soldier (perhaps sailor is more accurate) of fortune Corto Maltese who will be celebrating 60 inglorious years of disservice in July 2027.

Pratt was a consummate storyteller with a unique voice and starkly refined graphic style that should not work, but so wonderfully does. Usually and preferably viewed in stark monochrome, his tales blended pared-down, relentlessly modernistic narrative stylism with complex and memorable characters, often bordering on pure archetypes.

By placing a modern, morally ambivalent antihero in an era where his actions and responses to old-world duties and attitudes should make him a scoundrel and villain, yet keeping him true to an utterly personal, ironclad yet chimerical ethical integrity that went beyond considerations of race, class or gender, Pratt created an adventurer yardstick against which we cannot help but measure all other heroes. There and then, as empires faded and colonies fell, itinerant Corto Maltese dealt with and was moved by people, not money, national concepts and institutions or traditions. He was ever a whimsical man of action and a faithful humanist with a gift for being in the wrong place at the right time. We’ll return to him momentarily…

After working in both Argentinean and, from 1959, on English comics and true blue characters like Battler Briton, Hugo Pratt made a name for himself. In the UK he produced weekly serial fare and especially complete stories for our (extremely popular) digest graphic novel lines including Super Picture Library, Air Ace Picture Library, Action Picture Library and Thriller Picture Library. These were half-sized, 64-page monochrome booklets with glossy soft-paper painted covers presenting complete stories in 1-4 panels per page. This was a luxury of layout and page design he would return to in his later years. Particularly suited to combat titles, Pratt worked on exotic jungle yarns for War Picture Library, Battle Picture Library, War at Sea Picture Library and more. In the mid-1960s Pratt resettled in Italy and (in 1967) produced with Florenzo Ivaldi a number of features for monthly comic anthology Sgt. Kirk. In addition to the titular Western star, Pratt created pirate strip Capitan Cormorand; detective Lucky Star O’Hara, and a moody South Seas saga called Una Ballata del Mare Salato (A Ballad of the Salty Sea) and now regarded as the first official adventure of the insalubrious mariner. When the anthology folded in 1970, Pratt moved to France and took Una Ballata’s breakout character to French weekly Pif Gadget before eventually settling in at legendary Belgian periodical Le Journal de Tintin. Corto Maltese proved as much a Wild Rover in reality as in his historic and eventful career…

The sailor was soon seen all over Europe, filling a dozen multi-translated albums. His peripatetic exploits (both short-form tales and extended sagas in black-&-white yarns) were shared in no particular order and spanned 1967 to 1989, covering the old rogue’s wanderings between the turn of the 20th century and the 1930s. Corto won international awards and his own eponymous title, running between October 1983 and July 1993. Hugo Pratt died on August 20th 1995.

In 2014, current rights owner CONG SA regenerated the dormant property with new Corto albums created by writer Juan Díaz Canales (Blacksad) & illustrator Rubén Pellejero (El silencio de Malka) generating 5 new albums thus far. A year later, US publisher IDW began releasing English language translations (repaginated & “colorized”) of prime Pratt to mixed reviews, and in 2022 Spanish parent company CONG: Hugo Pratt Art Properties started a line of curated collections as eBooks, of which Under the Sign of Capricorn is the first. It’s still in color – but sensitively done – so if you’re a graphic purist who can’t abide the hues, you might prefer to track down the mid-1980s Corto Maltese volumes from NBM that we covered way back in 2007…

Chronologically, Under the Sign of Capricorn was the third captain’s log of salty seadog sagas. It’s 1916 – one year after the events of Ballad of the Salty Sea – as we open with ‘The Secret of Tristram Bantam’ wherein Corto broods, smokes, drinks and ponders at the Java Inn, Paramaribo, in the debilitating heat of Dutch Guyana. A magnet for trouble and sucker for sob stories, despite his hostess’s warnings he adopts drunken wretch and target of bullies Professor Jeremiah Steiner and is simultaneously sought out by a runaway English schoolboy beset with dreams and premonitions…

Current possessor of certain valuable papers indicating the location of the fabled lost kingdom of Mû, young Tristram’s father was an “associate” of worldly knife-throwing Madame Java and has sought her out as a possible means of meeting his disreputable half-sister Miss Morganna Dias do Santos Bantam of San Salvador de Bahia. All this has made Tristan the unwitting subject of nefarious scrutiny from his own lawyer Milner in London, the firm’s Javanese representative Kerster, locals like voodoo queen Ogun Ferraille and assorted murderous thugs. This results in a succession of murder attempts and the sinking of Maltese’s beloved boat…

Captain Maltese has heard many ridiculous and unprofitable fables in his time but is compelled in this instance by just how many rogues and killers are trying to take the papers from his new pint-sized admirer, and with Steiner and the kid in tow sets off to solve the mystery and find Mu…

The mystery deepens in ‘Rendez-Vous in Bahia’ as Bantam’s yawl The Dreaming Boy sails for Bahia to find Morgana. She has their father’s notes about the lost continent, documents Tristan has only tantalisingly glimpsed in dreams, These are getting more compelling and engrossing as the voyagers arrive meet a native shaman and accidentally expose a convict trafficking scheme. Recently arrived big boss Milner tries to save himself by killing Tristan but instead loses his own life thanks to Corto’s skill with cards and weapons, leaving the trail apparently clear sailing from now on…

‘Chapter Three: Sureshot Samba’ sees the seekers reach Itapoa, where Corto, Tristan and Steiner meet Bocca Dorata AKA Gold Mouth: a great sorceress who raised Morgana and taught her black and white magic. The enigmatic sage somehow knows far too much about Corto’s past and origins for comfort, but nevertheless he accepts her proposal to ferry weapons and cash to Cangaceiros. There, rebel natives led by local legend Sureshot fight in the Brazilian Sertão against landholding European tycoons, murderous mercenaries, corrupted Federal Colonel Gonçalves and his requisitioned river gunboat. After all, £1000 is not to sneezed at…

Corto deals with his opponents and competes his mission with startling violences and efficiency and assures a swift brutal change in political fortunes…

Still houseguests of Gold Mouth, in ‘The Basilian Eagle’ reluctant slave liberators/freedom fighters Corto, Tristan & Steiner are caught in the backwash of the Great War. As they sail the coast seeking a wrecked Spanish galleon loaded with gold – it supposedly foundered near Marajò Island, at the mouth of the Amazon – they are trapped by global politics and international intrigue as colonial powers Great Britain and Germany square off in Brazil. Wallowing in innocent avarice, our derelict adventurers become unwitting competitors with a German Baron and apparent naval “deserters”. Enfolded in the byzantine scheme hatched by Bocca Dorata, Corto’s fate comes down to actions of rogue operatives, a double/triple agent dubbed “Jawbreaker”, overwhelming greed and gunboat diplomacy…

In earlier-set tales, Corto Maltese visited Russia and made an enemy for life of wild rogue/ spiritual anthesis Rasputin (no relation). Now that ferocious frenemy shows up in ‘So Much for Gentlemen of Fortune’ in an adventure centred on the search for fabulous pirate treasure, set in Saint Kitts in the Antilles. Still reading and rereading those papers brought by Tristam, Corto & Steiner happen upon a singular grave and a clue leading to confrontations and untenable alliances with contemporary freebooters Rasputin and Ambiguity di Poincy, all similarly in search of the amalgamated hoard of creole corsair Prying Barracuda, Calico Rackman, Agonia La Bella of Rochelle and Blackbeard Teach…

The game of double dealing leads to vast wealth and huge surprises, but in the end such friendships are doomed and savage bloodletting leaves everyone dead broke or both and Corto counting the cost of what and who he’s lost…

Concluding episode ‘The Seagull’s Fault’ lays the groundwork for more tales in a bizarre murder-mystery set on an island near British Honduras. Wounded and amnesiac, our Not-a-Hero reels on a bloody beach as his life ebbs away. As he blankly watches his totem animal fly, peck and probe, “John Smith’s” memories lie just beyond reach. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if the stranger he can’t see would stop shooting at him…

It gets no clearer when lovely angel Soledad and her brutish Caribi minder arrive, as their tender ministrations in the gothic pile they call home soon prove to be barbed and double edged. If only he could remember what all this has to do with legendary pirate and merciless “Evangelist” Judas Lokäarth. Surely, though, that long-missing maniac is dead and gone?

Compelling, enticing and invitingly addictive, these bleak but witty, darkly romantic, captivatingly cosmopolitan stories will grip you and never let go. These are treasures you must unearth and cherish forever.
© 1971 Cong S.A., Switzerland. Corto Maltese® and Hugo Pratt™ © Cong S.A. Translation © 2019 Dean Mullaney and Simone Castaldi, All rights reserved.

Today in 1915 artist, inker, letterer & colourist George Roussos (Batman, Johnny Quick, Airwave, Vigilante, Superman, Starman, CrimeSuspensStories, Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Sgt Fury, Fantastic Four, Avengers et al) was born, followed in 1930 by cartoonist Bill Rechin (Out of Bounds, Crock), and in 1968 artist Jeff Johnson (Wonder Man, Amazing Spider-Man, Way of the Rat, Weapon X, Greem Lantern) and writer/filmmaker Greg Pak (City Boy, John Wick, Eternal Warrior, World War Hulk, Incredible Hercules, Firefly, Agents of Atlas).

This day marks the passing of three giants: inventor of comic books Max Gaines in 1947; British legend Dudley. D. Watkins in 1969 and Hugo Pratt in 1995.

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Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Epic Collection: Volume 1 (1963-1965): The Howling Commandos


By Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers, with George Roussos, Steve Ditko, Frank Giacoia, Vince Colletta, Chic Stone & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-1657-2 (TPB)  978-1-3025-1036-7 (Digital edition

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

On August 28th 1917 in New York’s Lower East Side, Jacob Kurtzberg was born to Jewish-Austrian parents. He grew up to be one of the most influential and recognisable artists in world history. We’ll be celebrating his legacy of 99 years and counting over the next few weeks and rest of the year, but let’s start with the title all budding Marvelites rated least when he and Stan Lee first began changing comics together…

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos began as an improbable, raucously over-the-top WWII combat comics series similar in tone to ensemble action movies like The Magnificent Seven, and such later offerings as The Wild Bunch and The Dirty Dozen. Our surly squad of sorry reprobates premiered in May 1963; one of three teams specifically concocted by men-on-fire Jack Kirby & Stan Lee to cover their genre bases whilst securing fledgling Marvel’s growing position as the publisher to watch.

Two years on, Fury’s post-war self was retooled as the big-name star of a second series (beginning with Strange Tales #135, August 1965) when espionage shows like The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and 007 film franchise were becoming international sensations. Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. combined Cold War tensions with sinister schemes of global domination by subversive, all-encompassing hidden enemy organisations with captivating super-science gadgetry and iconic imagineering from Jack Kirby and latterly Jim Steranko.

For all that time however, the original wartime version soldiered on (puns are my cool gadget of choice), blending a uniquely flamboyant house-bravado style, often ludicrous, implausible, historically inaccurate, all-action bombast with moments of genuine heartbreak, unbridled passion and seething emotion. Sgt. Fury started out as a pure Kirby creation. As with all his various war comics, The King (a seasoned WWII veteran who had served under Patton) made everything look harsh and real and appalling: the people and places are all grimy and tired, battered yet indomitable. Jack had survived some of the worst battles of the conflict and never forgot the horrific and heroic things he saw – as more graphically expressed in his comics (such as Foxhole) at different companies during the 1950s genre boom. However, even at kid-friendly, Comics Code-sanitised Marvel, those experiences perpetually leaked through onto his powerfully gripping pages.

Kirby was, sadly, far too valuable a resource to squander on a simple war comic (or indeed the X-Men or Avengers, the other series launched in that tripartite blitz on kids’ spending money) and was quickly reassigned, leaving redoubtable fellow veteran Dick Ayers to illuminate later stories, which he did for almost its entire run (95 issues plus Annuals) until transition to a reprint title with #121 (July 1974). The title then carried on until its ultimate demise in December 1981 with #167.

This initial compendium collects the contents of Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1-19 (spanning May 1963 – June 1965) and opens just as you’d expect with blistering premier ‘Sgt. Fury, and his Howling Commandoes’ (that’s how they spelleleled it in the storree-title – altho knot ennyware else).

Crafted by Lee, Kirby and inker Dick Ayers, the rip-snorting yarn is bursting with full page panels interrupted by ‘Meet the Howling Commandos’ – a double-page spread starring the seven members of First Attack Squad; Able Company. This comprised Fury himself, former circus strongman/Corporal “Dum-Dum” Dugan and Privates Robert “Rebel” Ralston (a Kentucky jockey), college student Jonathan “Junior” Juniper, jazz trumpeter Gabriel Jones, mechanic Izzy Cohen and glamorous movie heartthrob Dino Manelli. Controversially – even in the 1960s – this combat Rat Pack was an integrated unit with Jewish and black members as well as Catholics, Southern Baptists and New York Irish white guys all merrily serving together. The Howling Commandos pushed envelopes and busted taboos from the very start.

The first mission was a nonstop action romp pitting ‘Seven Against the Nazis!’ putting the squad through their unique paces as a ragged band of indomitable warriors took on hordes of square-necked Nazis to save D-Day and rescue a French resistance fighter with vital plans of the invasion. They even bring back a high-ranking “kraut” prisoner and leave room for a Kirby fact-page comparing and contrasting six different side-arms of the period in ancillary feature ‘Weapons of War’…

SF&HC #2 found ‘7 Doomed Men!’ up to their torn shirts in Germans as they first infiltrate a French coastal town to blow up a U-Boat base and get back to England just in time to be sent on another suicide mission. This time it’s to destroy a secret facility at Heinemund in the heart of the Fatherland, where Nazi scientists are doing something sinister and nefarious with “hard water”. These overblown fustian thrillers always played fast and loose with history and logic, so if you crave veracity above all, I’d steer clear, but if you can swallow a heaping helping of creative anachronism there’s always great fun to be had here – especially since nobody drew atomic explosions like Kirby. This drama is capped with fact pages as ‘The Enemy That Was!’ explores the capabilities of ‘The German Infantryman’ whilst ‘Weapons of War: “Chatter Guns” of World War II’ details all you need to know about submachine guns.

Rough-&-ready gallows humour and broad comedy became increasingly important to the series from SF&HC #3 onwards, with home base rivalries and comradely sparring leavening the outrageous nonstop carnage of the missions. ‘Midnight on Massacre Mountain!’ sees the septet explosively invading Italy to rescue a US army division caught in a Nazi trap. Along the way they meet a brilliant OSS officer training partisan troops, and Fury especially believes that young Reed Richards will go far…

Supplementing this exploit is a fascinating feature revealing what ordnance and hardware cost in ‘America’s World War II Shopping List!’ before, in #4, ‘Lord Ha-Ha’s Last Laugh!’ began an inking tour of duty for “George Bell” (Kirby’s 1950s studio-mate George “Inky” Roussos) and introduced a love interest for the Sarge, after he meets aristocratic Red Cross volunteer Lady Pamela Hawley during a London air raid. How cruel and tragic was fate then, that the Howlers’ very next mission takes them to Berlin to kidnap a young British nobleman with the same name, now acting as a crucial propaganda mouthpiece for the Wehrmacht…

The mission is a double disaster. Not only does Pamela’s ignoble brother perish, but the debacle also costs the life of a Howler. Bonus feature ‘Weapons of War: Combat Rifles of World War II’ follows this shocking, surprisingly grim and low-key melodrama…

Fury’s key appearance as a CIA agent in FF #21 (not included here) was released between that issue and #5, but no mention is made of it as the dark and cunning yarn introduces one of Marvel’s vilest, greatest villains. ‘At the Mercy of Baron Strucker’ sees Fury humiliated and defeated in personal combat against an Aryan nobleman who uses candid filmed footage as a propaganda tool of the Nazis. Only too late does dashing Dino point out how the nonplussed noncom has fallen for the oldest trick in Hollywood’s archvillain playbook…

A riotous rematch goes rather better after which ‘Weapons of War: Light Machine Guns of World War II’ ends matters in a graphically educational manner, before ‘The Fangs of the Desert Fox!’ in #6 dumps the Squad in the desert to confront the massed forces of General Erwin Rommel in a mission foredoomed to fail. ‘The Court-Martial of Sergeant Fury’ provides a glimpse into the hard-bitten hero’s past and offers insights into his tempestuous relationship with immediate superior Captain Samuel “Happy Sam” Sawyer. Of course, to get that information we must watch Fury endure a dramatic trial after seemingly sabotaging a mission and striking a commanding officer…

Although continuing to draw the magnificent, eye-catching covers, Kirby left the title with this issue. His astounding abilities were more profitably employed in superhero titles, even as Lee began consolidating the ever-expanding Marvel Universe by utilising more WWII iterations of contemporary characters. In #8 ‘The Death Ray of Baron Zemo!’ pits Howlers against a Captain America villain recently debuted in The Avengers. Ayers & Roussos capably depict the squad’s attempts to capture a Nazi super-scientist and a weapon which could shape the outcome of the entire war. The tale introduced Junior Juniper’s replacement: a rather fruity caricature of a British soldier named Percival Pinkerton, resplendent in horn-rimmed specs, pencil moustache, fuchsia beret and impossibly utilitarian umbrella…

In #9 implausibly audacious ‘Mission: Capture Adolf Hitler!’ goes awry after the Howlers’ latest incursion into Berlin brings Fury face-to-face with Wolfgang von Strucker; leading to his temporary capture and an astounding escape, after which ‘On to Okinawa!’ in #10 sees the squad achieve far greater success when despatched to the Pacific to rescue a captured US colonel from the Japanese. This exploit also saw the debut of a bearded bombastic submarine commander who would become a series regular before eventually winning his own title (Captain Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders) in 1967.

Post-Kirby, the pace visibly slowed and melodramatic subplots increased. In #11, ‘The Crackdown of Capt. Flint!’ depicted Happy Sam briefly replaced by a spit-&-polish officer who soon learns the limitations of his ways, after which in #12, a raid on a V1 factory in the heart of Europe seemingly prompts Dino to join the Nazis ‘When a Howler Turns Traitor!’ It was just a pre-arranged ploy of course, but sadly nobody told the US commander, who latterly stuck the star in front of a firing squad…

This issue also included a Marvel Masterwork Pin-up of Fury by Ayers, before Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #13 offered arguably the best issue of the entire 167 issue run. The title said it all: ‘Fighting Side-by-Side with… Captain America and Bucky!’ reunited Lee, Kirby & Ayers in a blistering battle yarn wherein the Howlers cross paths with the masked Sentinels of Liberty after both teams stumble across a top-secret Nazi operation to build an invasion tunnel under the channel to England. To resort to the vernaculars of those times: “Wah-Hoo!”…

Ayers was back pencilling in #14, with Lee scripting and Roussos inking a minor milestone as harassed Adolf Hitler decrees the creation of a Nazi answer to Fury’s elite attack force. All ‘The Blitzkrieg Squad of Baron Strucker!’ had to do was lure the Howlers to a V2 rocket base and spring their trap…Yeah, that’s all…

Irregular supplemental feature Weapons of War provides the gen on the ‘B-26 Martin Marauder’ to inform and entertain in equal amounts before Steve Ditko stepped in to ink Ayers in issue #15 as ‘Too Small to Fight, Too Young to Die’ relates an ill-fated mission in Holland to destroy the dykes and flood the occupation forces. It all goes drastically awry and the Howlers “flee” back to Blighty with nothing but broken-hearted boy Hans Rooten… who has no idea that his despised quisling father is in fact now the Allies’ top spy in the region…

Hans is adopted as the Howlers’ plucky mascot but can’t accompany them when the squad is despatched to Africa in #16 to eradicate yet more Nazi super-weapons in ‘A Fortress in the Desert Stands!’ (pseudonymously inked by Frank Giacoia as Frankie Ray). From there it’s only a short camel-ride south until the ragtag rovers encounter spear-wielding natives and nasty Nazis engaged in a battle of Hearts & Minds ‘While the Jungle Sleeps!’ with Lee & Ayers supported by inker Vince Colletta.

All this time the chalk-&-cheese romantic relationship between Nick and Lady Pamela Hawley had been slowly developing to the point where the Yankee lout was ready to propose. That all ended in Chic Stone inked #18 when, as the unit is busy sinking a German battleship in a Norwegian port, Hawley is ‘Killed in Action!’ Crushed and crazy, Fury goes AWOL in the final tale of this collection, remorselessly hunting down the leader of the bomber flight which had targeted the hospital where she worked and extracting ‘An Eye for an Eye!’ in a satisfyingly shocking Lee story sensitively rendered by Ayers & Giacoia. The Howlers go along for the ride, but whether to help their leader or hold him back is unclear…

Gilding this bellicose lily, the book signs off with a wealth of stunning original art pages from Kirby, Ayers, Ditko, Giacoia, Stone & Roussos; contemporary house ads, and previous collection covers. Whereas close rival DC increasingly abandoned the Death or Glory bombast at this time in favour of humanistic, anti-war explorations of war and soldiering, Marvel’s take always favoured action-entertainment and fantasy over soul-searching for ultimate truths. On that level at least, once Kirby had moved on, these early epics are stunningly effective and galvanically powerful exhibitions of the comics combat genre.

Just don’t use them for history homework.
© 1963, 1964, 1965, 2019 Marvel All rights reserved.

Born yesterday in 1908, Argentinian cartoonist turned Golden Age comics artist Louis Cazaneuve (Quique, el Niño Pirata , Blue Beetle, Red Raven, Captain Savage, Sea Rover, Aquaman) shares the day with Filipino cartoonist Lauro “Larry” Zarate Alcala (Siopawman, Slice of Life, Mang Ambo, Kalabog en Bosyo) in 1926; Italian shock artist Stefano Tamburini (RanXerox, Fuzzy Rat, Snake Agent) in 1955; US comic book star Ron Garney (Captain America, Hulk, JLA, Daredevil, Silver Surfer, BRZRKR) in 1962, and in 1967 writers Brian Michael Bendis (Jinx, Torso, Secret Invasion, Ultimate Spider-Man, Alias) & Pete Tomasi (Batman and Robin, Brightest Day, Green Lantern Corps) and artist Eddy Barrows (52, Birds of Prey, Teen Titans, Superman), with latecomer Nathan Fairbairn (Lake of Fire, Scott Pilgrim, Wonder Woman, Batman Incorporated) arriving in 1976.

Today also saw the passing of Portuguese satirist and political cartoonist Carlos Botelho in 1982; Underground cartoonist Rick Griffin (Zap Comix) in 1991 and Spanish legend Afonso Azpiri Mejía (Black Hawk, Reflections, Mot, Chang, Lorna, Bethlehem Steele) and Italian Diabolik and Tex Willer contributor Sergio Zaniboni in 2017.

Today in 1903, radio writer and comics strip scripter Fran Striker was born, creator of an undying dynasty of pulp heroes that included The Lone Ranger, Green Hornet & Sgt. Preston of the Yukon. In 1932 French auteur Jacques Lob (Superdupont, Ténébrax, Blanche Épiphanie) arrived, sharing the natal day with Underground Commix pioneer Skip Williamson (Snappy Sammy Smoot, Bijou Funnies, Steal This Book) in 1944; Herb and Jamaal creator Stephen R. Bentley a decade later and comics artist/animator Chuck Patton (Justice League of America, The Creeper, Green Lantern) in 1956. Later comics related natal events include Jim Calafiore (Exiles, Aquaman, Secret Six, Deadpool) and all-rounder Brian Haberlin (Witchblade, Spawn) in 1963; Italian artist Stefano Gaudiano (Kafka, Batman, Catwoman, Walking Dead) in 1966; Gene Ha (The Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix, Top Ten, Wonder Woman: Historia, Mae) in 1969 and Chynna Clugston (Blue Monday, Hopeless Savages, Queen Bee, Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century, Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy) in 1975.

This day in 1984 artist Don Newton (The Phantom, Aquaman, The Avengers, New Gods, Batman, Captain Marvel/Shazam!) died. On this date in 2006 The Beano began running Hunt Emerson’s anarchic strip Ratz.

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Namor, the Sub-Mariner Epic Collection volume 5: The Invasion of New York 1972-1974


By Bill Everett, Steve Gerber, Mike Friedrich, Marv Wolfman, Howard Chaykin, Steve Skeates, Bill Mantlo, Dan Adkins, Alan Weiss, Sam Kweskin, Don Heck, George Tuska, Win Mortimer, John Tartaglione, Jim Mooney, Frank Giacoia, John Sinnott, Syd Shores, Don Perlin, Frank Chiaramonte, Frank Bolle, Vince Colletta, John Romita Sr., Gil Kane, Marie Severin, Franc Reyes & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: (TPB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

In his most primal incarnation (other origins are available but may differ due to timeslips, circumstance and screen dimensions) Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner is the proud, noble and usually upset offspring of the union of a water-breathing Atlantean princess and an American polar explorer. That doomed romance resulted in a hybrid being of immense strength and extreme resistance to physical harm, able to fly and thrive above and below the waves. Over decades, a wealth of creators added to the fishy tale and today’s Namor is hailed as Marvel’s First Mutant as well as the original “bad boy Good Guy”. He was created by young, talented Bill Everett, for non-starter cinema premium Motion Picture Weekly Funnies: #1 (October 1939) so – technically – Namor predates Marvel, Atlas and Timely Comics.

The Marine Miracleman first caught the public’s avid attention as part of an elementally appealing fire vs. water headlining team-up in the October 1939 Marvel Comics #1 (which renamed itself Marvel Mystery Comics from #2 onwards). The amphibian antihero shared honours and top billing with The Human Torch, having debuted (albeit in a truncated, monochrome version) in the aforementioned promotional booklet designed to be handed out to moviegoers earlier in the year. Our late-starter antihero rapidly emerged as one of the industry’s biggest draws, winning his own title at the end of 1940 (cover-dated Spring 1941).

His appeal was baffling but solid and he was one of the last super-characters to vanish at the end of the first heroic age.

In 1954, when Atlas (as the company then was) briefly revived its “Big Three” line-up – the Torch and Captain America being the other two – Everett returned for an extended run of sublimely dark, mordantly moody, creepily contemporary fantasy fables. Even so, his input wasn’t sufficient to keep the title afloat and eventually Sub-Mariner sank again. In 1961, as Stan Lee & Jack Kirby were reinventing superheroes with their Fantastic Four, they revived and reimagined the awesome, all-but-forgotten aquanaut as a troubled, angry semi-amnesiac. Decidedly more bombastic, regal and grandiose, this returnee despised humanity: embittered and broken by the loss of his subsea kingdom, which had been (seemingly) destroyed by American atomic testing. His urge for rightful revenge was infinitely complicated after he became utterly besotted with the FF’s Susan Storm…

Namor knocked around the budding Marvel universe for years, squabbling with star turns such as The Hulk, Avengers, X-Men and Daredevil before securing his own series as one half of Tales to Astonish. From there he graduated in 1968 to his own solo title again.

Cumulatively spanning cover-dates June 1972 to September 1974, this subsea selection trawls Sub-Mariner #50-72, signalling the end of another era and rising dominance of genre fare in the superhero-saturated market of that period. Also dredged up and tipped in is a tentative attempt to revive his solo star status as seen in Marvel Spotlight #27 (April 1976) just as horror-heroes began to wither away in the light of shiny space operas and resurgent superheroes as we all unwittingly bided our time until the advent of Star Wars unleashed a wave of Science Fiction sagas. Here, however, we see the triumphant glorious last hurrahs of originator Everett in salty sagas and dry land dramas…

Previously, Namor had endured months of escalating horror as old enemies including Prince Byrrah, Warlord Krang, Attuma, Dr. Dorcas and sinister shapeshifter Llyra perpetually assaulted his sunken kingdom. They were soundly defeated, but these constant clashes led to the murder of Namor’s bride-to-be Lady Dorma. He had been betrayed by his most trusted ally and, heartsick, angry and despondent, abdicated the throne, choosing to pursue the human half of his hybrid heritage as a surface dweller. The decision was fraught with more potential grief, leading to battles with surface world authorities; deranged psionic hermit Stephan Tuval and mind-tyrant Turalla; monster-maker Aunt Serr, M.O.D.O.K. and AIM. Namor seldom fought alone and initial clashes with old friends like Diane Arliss and Walt Newell (part-time undersea Avenger Stingray), Spider-Man, Daredevil and Human Torch Johnny Storm ultimately resulted in refreshed alliances, culminating in a poignant but brief reunion with his long-lost father Leonard McKenzie, a man Namor had for his entire life believed killed by Atlanteans in 1920.

When that tragic hostage to fortune was murdered by post-human horror Tiger Shark & Llyra, twice-orphaned, traumatised Namor lost his memory again, and was exploited as cannon fodder by Doctor Doom before eventually breaking free to retrench in bitter confusion and ponder his future…

Thus , a fresh start begins in #50 as Everett resurfaces to ask ‘Who Am I?’, with the bewildered amphibian reeling in confusion at the beach until his heroic instincts kick in and he saves a drowning teenager from seaweed and pollution. His actions are completely misunderstood and she savagely attacks him, before swimming off right out to sea…

Lesson learned, Namor concentrates on his own woes and sets off for Antarctica, eventually fetching up in the Ross Sea to explore the crumbling remains of the original Atlantis. His reveries are shattered when he is attacked by mutant crab creatures guarding the tomb of his beloved long-lost cousin and WWII partner in crimefighting Namora…

Confronting sinister leader Salamar the Sustainer, Namor discover a bizarre scheme to exploit the vast oil reserves under the ocean floor, and learns old foes are shaping events: treacherous cousin Byrrah and seemingly unkillable Llyra. He also meets again that abrasive teenager and discovers she is Namora’s wayward daughter…

As all hell breaks loose, former prince and newfound cousin Namorita make a break for it in a hail of blaster fire as ‘Armageddon… at Fifty Fathoms Full!’ (scripted by Mike Friedrich) exposes a scaly hidden hand behind the carnage. Byrrah is allied with the alien Brotherhood of Baddoon, who want the (radioactive!) oil reserves, albeit not for the reasons they share with the usurper. Ultimately, the aliens, Byrrah, and Salamar’s savage crab people can’t agree and the seagoing cousins are participants in a shattering showdown that results in environmental catastrophe…

Seeking to confirm Namorita’s account of how Namora died whilst dumping her with his old girlfriend Betty Dean Prentiss, Sub-Mariner cruises into a clash with ultra-nationalist Japanese mutant and future X-Man Sunfire as ‘The Atomic Samurai!’ – ever receptive to deranged patriotic ranting – falls under the sway of war criminal demagogue Dragon-Lord, last of the samurai. He plans to unleash his new Nipponese army and deadly defoliants upon America, a tactic that might destroy the oceans…

After a spectacular new incidence of the classic Golden Age “Fire vs Water” duel, Everett took full creative control for follow-up ‘…And the Rising Sun Shall Fall!’ wherein Sunfire sees sense and switches sides to save the seas, leading to all-out war in concluding half-chapter ‘Now Comes… the Decision!’,: a brief battle that leaves room in #54 for a “Mighty Marvel Mini Classic!” with Friedrich & Alan Weiss detailing how ‘Namor the First, Prince of Atlantis battles The Mer-Mutants’: a light but lovely puff piece involving a mermaid acting as a subsea honey trap for her hungry kin…

NtSM #55 sees Namor at last wave goodbye to “Nita” & Betty before revisiting Antarctica and enduring an unexpected and brutal encounter with scavenging wrecker ‘The Abominable Snow-King!’ The literally monstrous Torg’s ambition is to pit enslaved sea life against humanity but sinks once the Sub-Mariner gets involved, after which Friedrich & veteran illustrator Dan Adkins steer the abdicated Prince back to his forsaken kingdom in ‘Atlantis, Mon Amour!’ Sadly, he’s too late to stop his former subjects making a tragic fear-fuelled mistake that results in atrocity and genocide after aquatic alien refugee beg for aid…

When Everett returned he opened the doors to Marvel’s Atlas era-past with a tempestuous yarn that would eventually affect the entire continuity. ‘…In the Lap of the Gods’ reintroduced 1950s sensation Venus, whose impact would ripple out across the MU and ultimately reveal her hidden history as part of the Agents of Atlas sub-franchise.

It begins in a shattering storm as Namor rescues a lovely mystery woman stranded on a rock and stumbles into a long-running grudge match between the Hellenic gods of Love and War. A contemporary tale of dissent and unrest, the story reunites him with Namorita, who, in his absence, has become a college student and activist. Moreover, her favourite lecturer – Humanities Professor Victoria N. Starr – also has a concealed alter ego and lethal stalker: malign divinity and former pantheon mate Ares…

Having held at bay one angry god, Namor returns to Atlantis, resolved to restore the undersea nation to forefront of civilisation but his program of changes is stalled when ‘Hands Across the Waters, Hands Across the Skies…’ (Everett supervising, steering and inking dialoguer Steve Gerber & layout artist Sam Kweskin) uncovers a survivor and witness to the recent massacre of alien ambassadors by Atlanteans. Tamara of the Sisterhood claims to offer forgiveness and seek understanding, but many of the perpetrators would rather there were no testimony or recriminations to deal with. Most tellingly, the superstrong survivor and her pet monster have their own plans and soon the prince is sucked into more pointless battle…

With John Tartaglione inking Everett’s plot, Gerber & Kweskin forecast ‘Thunder Over the Seas!’, a tale of tragic miscomprehension as Namor again clashes with the surface world. As the Sub-Mariner’s new advisor, Tamara is targeted by Atlantean scout Lorvex – who is driven wild by her exotic beauty and rarity. Obsessively stalking and assaulting her, Lorvex drives her into Russian trawler nets where the rubicund refugee becomes a prized possession after the vessel and its contents are impounded by the US Coast Guard. Now Tamara is a cause célèbre and topic of heated debate at the United Nations…

Having dealt with Lorvex, Namor seeks out his new friend, and crashes into chaos as the war of words over the alien mermaid triggers the usual bellicose response amongst humans. By the time surface-dwelling Namorita summons her cousin to rescue Tamara, founding Avenger Thor has stepped in to keep the peace. Sadly it’s too late to stop ‘The Invasion of New York!’ (Everett, Gerber, Kweskin & Jim Mooney), with Lorvex exploiting the campaign to regain position and secretly abduct Tamara from UN custody. Enraged and resigned, Sub-Mariner acts decisively and violently to end the crisis, and accepts at last the fate he has been really fighting, finally accepting once more the throne and responsibilities of ruling Atlantis.

It was an open secret that Everett was dying at this time, but his Marvel friends and employers allowed him to work on until he couldn’t. Thus Sub-Mariner #61’s The Prince and the Pirate!’ – credited to Gerber, Everett, Win Mortimer & Mooney – opens with the old master pictorially revealing revelry in the subsea kingdom as Namor’s coronation ends before a new storyline starts on page 4 as Namorita and human guardian Betty Prentiss are abducted along with an entire passenger plane. The voyagers are victims of deranged geneticist Dr. Hydro who mutates them all (bar already amphibian Nita) into human-merman hybrids to populate his army of environmental conquest. When Namor tracks the ongoing abductions and invades mobile island Hydrobase to save his cousin, he is soundly defeated by the maniac’s super science. Moreover, the failed assault inspires Hydro to invade Atlantis and make it his new stronghold from which to convert the rest of humanity…

The drama plays out in #62 as Gerber, Sam Kweskin & Frank Giacoia explore ‘A Realm Besieged!’ before Tamara in Atlantis and Nita on Hydrobase thwart Hydro’s schemes; leaving the Sub-Mariner to ponder what to do with the hundreds of innocent, unwilling scaly amphibian freaks that neither Atlanteans or surface-dwellers want anything to do with…

Steve Gerber was a uniquely gifted writer who combined a deep love of Marvel’s continuity minutiae with dark irrepressible wit, incisive introspection, barbed socio-cultural criticism, a barely reined-in imagination and boundless bizarrely wilful surrealism. His stories were always at the extreme edge of the company’s intellectual canon and never failed to deliver surprise and satisfaction, especially when he couched his sardonic sorties in thinly veiled attacks on burgeoning cultural homogenisation and commercial barbarity.

With critical success Man-Thing he was holding up a mirror to many cordoned-off and taboo subjects and weaving history from scattered snippets of Marvel’s continuity. With his final stint on Sub-Mariner, Gerber expanded that universe exponentially, building by exploring pre-cataclysm history, aided by Howard Chaykin in back-up series ‘Tales of Atlantis!’ Here the first chapter – inked by Joe Sinnott – sees antediluvian, human-built Atlantis losing its war with rival superpower Lemuria and Emperor Kamuu and his bride Zartra prepare for the bloody end…

Over Everett’s posthumous plot, Gerber, Kweskin & Syd Shores produce #63 as ‘…And the Seas Shall Explode!’ sees seemingly dead Dr Hydro return to destroy the Atlanteans by triggering a volcano under their city and compelling Namor to take no chances and offer no mercy to save his subjects once and for all, Tales of Atlantis resumes as Gerber, Chaykin & Sinnott reveal how the fate of the first Atlantis is sealed by ‘Cataclysm!’ As hand-to-hand combat peaks, the city sinks beneath the seas, but its heritage is saved, carried away by missionary sorceress Zered-Na and her devout disciples; for which you need to scope out Gerber’s other contemporaneous assignments: Son of Satan in Marvel Spotlight and Man-Thing in Adventures into Fear. We’ve covered them elsewhere so feel free to scroll away in the search engines…

Here, though, and wading off at a weird tangent, Gerber, Don Heck & Don Perlin play with satire and pop culture in #64’s ‘Voyage into Chaos!’ When intolerant Atlanteans intern the aimless, despondent amphibian victims of Dr. Hydro, furious, ashamed Namor responds with a fit of fury, just as cool heads are needed to assess another astounding incursion. Soon, a quartet of strange visitors from magical dimension Zephyrland – Ariel the Musician, Ibbar the Scolar, Kabal the Wizard & Zargus the Warrior – are petitioning the Sub-Mariner to hop in their Golden Submarine and help them liberate their enslaved homeland from bestial, tone-deaf horror Virago the She-Beast. Willing and even eager to go for many reasons Namor joins them but is ambushed and defeated as soon as arrives in the land of golden meanies…

Third Tales of Atlantis episode ‘In the Wake of the Warriors!’ reveals how, five millennia later, nomadic clans of water-breathing Homo Mermanus settle in the ruins of the sunken city-continent and clash constantly, thanks to the enmity of sworn enemies Widow-Queen Elanna and King Stegor. They cannot see waves of destiny pushing their battle-hardened children towards an incredible coalition. Successive instalments ‘The Lurker in the Ruins!’ (Gerber, Mooney & Frank Chiaramonte in #65 and concluding chapter ‘The Sword in the Throne!’ inked by Sinnott in #66) ended the series abruptly as those children – destiny- touched Kamuu and Elanna’s daughter Zartra – after meeting ghosts and battling demons, unite the tribes to create the dynasty of sunken Atlantis that will lead millennia later to the coming later of Namor…

Back in the now, the series was struggling, sparking a rapid radical rebrand as Prince Namor, the Savage Sub-Mariner and #65 offering ‘The Cry of the She-Beast!’ as Gerber, Heck & Perlin detail how Virago crushes resistance at home, physically humiliates Namor and launches an attack across dimensions upon Atlantis. Her departure sparks a successful but so-costly revolution in Zephyrland and (with valiant Namor clinging to her hurtling Golden Submarine) provokes a shocking resurrection after splashing down on Earth in #66. ‘Rise, Thou Killer Whale’ (Gerber, Heck & Perlin) sees Virago driven away from Atlantis at great cost, only to stumble upon the tomb of defeated – but apparently only dormant – Orka the (humanoid) Killer Whale – who unites with a clearly kindred spirit to devastate the sunken city with an armada of crazed cetaceans…

The catastrophic clash leads to the Sub-Mariner again falling, but this time amidst toxic nerve gas dumped by surface dwellers. The chemical poisons alter his body chemistry, making it impossible to breathe air or maintain body moisture. Moreover, as the cloud of death expands currents wash it over Atlantis, plunging all within the perimeter – Virago and Orka included – into comas in landmark tale ‘Seawinds of Change!’ (Gerber, Heck & Frank Bolle).

Thankfully, whilst dying Namor heads for the surface to be found by old ally Triton of The Inhumans, who brings Namor to former foes the Fantastic Four. Smartest Man Alive Reed Richards swiftly diagnoses and rapidly constructs a bodysuit to provide constant artificial respiration – over Namor’s churlish and violent protests – and he heads home to finish his fight. Sadly, what he finds in #68 (January 1974, Mooney inks) leaves him ‘On the Brink of Madness!’ Only Tamara, Nita and Hydro’s amphibians escaped the nerve agent’s effects and now must calm down the bereft monarch. To stabilise the crisis, they relocate to vacant Hydrobase and direct Namor to a human scientist whose forcefield researches might provide a means to protect dormant Atlanteans from predators and further harm.

After seeking spiritual guidance from patron god Father Neptune, Namor sets off, but when the king without a kingdom seeks out Dr Damon Walthers, he discovers the genius’ works stolen by his assistant. Shot from the sky by neophyte supervillain Force, their initial clash is inconclusive but does draw the attention of passing student Peter Parker…

Meanwhile in Zephyrland, the war goes badly and the survivors consider calling in Sorcerer Supreme Stephen Strange…

George Tuska & Vince Colletta illustrate Prince Namor, the Savage Sub-Mariner #69 as Gerber rapidly wraps up his hanging plot threads in anticipation of a sudden cancellation. ‘Two Worlds …and Dark Destiny!’ sees Dr Strange offer aid, a pointless battle between spider hero and fishman and a final encounter with Force that leaves Namor victorious, in control of Walthers’ forcefield tech and Atlantis safely stored “under glass” until a cure can be found – an inauspicious but satisfactory stopping point. Confoundingly the series still had three issues to run with Marv Wolfman, Tuska & Colletta depicting ‘Namor Unchained!’ in #70 whilst adding further safeguards to sleeping Atlantis, until targeted by now-independent mutated fishmen grown by Dr. Dorcas under the guidance of an ambitious aquatic atrocity. The brutal duel delivers more deaths and butchery as #71 clamours ‘Comes the Pirahna!’ and the series finally sank with #72 (dated September 1974 and on sale from 18th June) as Steve Skeates, Dan Adkins & Colletta catered an alien encounter as Namor faced obnoxious humans and a lost interstellar shapeshifter in ‘From the Void It Came…’

The antihero resurfaced in Giant-Sized Super-Villain Team-Up #1 (cover-dated March 1975), revived as one half of a tag-team with fellow misunderstood autocrat Doctor Doom whilst seeking a cure for his people and his own condition. That sustained momentum led to the last tale here, a solo exploit taken from Marvel Spotlight #27 (April 1976) as Bill Mantlo & Mooney revealed ‘Death is the Symbionic Man!’ Incorporating Prime Earth’s military industrial villain Captain Simon Stryker (of alternate Earth epic Deathlok the Demolisher) the pacy yarn saw Sub-Mariner hunted for potential spare parts and powers by the messianic maniac and battling Stryker’s most deadly killer-cyborg yet…

Bonus material includes covers by Everett, John Romita, Rich Buckler, Sal Buscema, Al Weiss, Jim Starlin, Larry Lieber, Joe Sinnott, Gil Kane, Frank Giacoia, Mike Esposito, Vince Colletta, & Al Milgrom, supplemented with original art pages and personal commissions by “Wild Bill”. Also on view are House ads; the editorial page from #67 wherein Gerber explained the costume change plus Romita’s original designs for the new outfit. Special treats comprise Everett’s unused cover watercolour rough for Marvel Comics (1939) #2; the Everett cover and Franc Reyes frontispiece of Marvel Index #7b (1978); a stellar Venus pinup from Marvel Spotlight #2 (1972) and – following the announcement of Everett’s death – a visual memorial from editor and friend Thomas, limned by Marie Severin & Giacoia as it appeared in Sub-Mariner #65 (September 1973).

In comics, the best thing about “the Mighty falling” is that so often another time throws up fresh ideas and creators who will regenerate faded concepts. It a cycle as timeless and relentlessly repeating as the tides. The venerable Sub-Mariner always comes back stronger and more appetising, and you owe it to yourself to be ready for the next wave by getting to know these classics. Many early Marvel Comics are more exuberant than qualitative, but this volume, especially from an story-lover’s point of view, is a wonderful exception: historical treasures with narrative bite and indescribable style and panache that fans will delight in forever.
© 2025 MARVEL.

Today in 1923 French creator Jean Graton (Michel Vaillant) was born, sharing natal celebrations with comics genius Eddie Campbell (Alec, Bacchus, From Hell) in 1955 and colourist Christie Scheele in 1957.

Losses include cartoonist Virgil Partch in 1984; Belgian writer Henri Gillain (Il y a un sorcier à Champignac, Le Trésor d’Alaric, Nègre Blanc) in 1999; Mad mainstay Jerry DeFucchio in 2001 and Filipino artist Mar Amongo (DC anthologies, Noli Me Tangere, The Tiger’s Fang, Talons of Time) in 2005.

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DC Finest: Wonder Woman – Introducing Wonder Woman


By William Moulton Marston, Harry G. Peter, Alice Marble, Sheldon Moldoff, Frank Godwin, Frank Harry & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7995-033-6-1 (TPB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Wonder Woman debuted as a special feature in All Star Comics #8, cover-dated December 1941, but actually on sale from October 21st of that year). The book was home to top-sellers the Justice Society of America and where she would immediately be invited to join the team, albeit only as “club secretary”…

Officially, she was conceived by psychologist/polygraph pioneer William Moulton Marston and realised and unilaterally illustrated by Harry G. Peter, in a calculated attempt to offer girls a positive and forceful role model and, on forward-thinking Editor M.C. Gaines’ part, to sell more funnybooks to girls. Later research has since disclosed much of her genesis was due to Moulton’s wife – attorney turned psychologist Sarah Elizabeth Marston (née Holloway) who had worked with him to create the systolic lie detector process – with further input from their live-in partner Olive Byrne.

Despite all the complexities and confusion surrounding her genesis, Wonder Woman was an instant hit and catapulted from the try-out into her own series as the cover-featured character of new anthology Sensation Comics one month later. The unstoppable Amazon then won her own eponymous supplemental title some months after that, cover-dated summer 1942, as well as a lead position in bumper anthology book Comics Cavalcade (December 1943).

Using nom de plume Charles Moulton, Marston – and his domestic writing partners – scripted all her many and miraculous adventures until his death in 1947, whereupon Robert Kanigher officially took over the writer’s role. Venerable co-creator H.G. Peter illustrated almost every WW tale until his own death in 1958.

Spanning cover-dates December 1941 to June 1943, this compelling full-colour compilation collects her debut from All Star Comics #8, and every iconic adventure plus pertinent extras from Sensation Comics #1-18; Comics Cavalcade #1-2 and Wonder Woman #1-4. Of course, we begin with ASC #8 and ‘Introducing Wonder Woman’…

On a hidden island of immortal super-women, an aviator crashes to Earth. Near death, US Army Intelligence officer Captain Steve Trevor is nursed back to health by young Princess Diana. Fearing her daughter’s growing obsession with the man, fiercely maternal Queen Hippolyte reveals the hidden history of the Amazons to the child. Diana learns how her people – all women – were seduced and betrayed by men in ancient times but rescued by the goddess Aphrodite on condition that they thenceforward isolate themselves from the rest of the world and devoted their eternal lives to becoming ideal, perfect creatures.

Now however, after Trevor explains the perfidious spy plot which accidentally brought him to the Island enclave, divine Athena and Aphrodite appear, ordering Hippolyte to assign an Amazon warrior to return with the American and fight for global freedom and liberty. The Queen diplomatically and democratically declares an open contest to determine the best candidate and – despite being forbidden to participate – Diana enters and wins. Accepting the will of the gods, the worried mother outfits her in the guise of Wonder Woman and sends her out to Man’s World…

A month later the saga continued where the introduction left off. Sensation Comics #1 declared ‘Wonder Woman Comes to America’, seeing the eager immigrant repatriating the recuperating Trevor to the modern World. She also trounces a gang of bank robbers and falls in with a show business swindler. One major innovation here is the newcomer perpetrating identity theft by buying her secret identity. Lovelorn Army nurse Diana Prince elegantly allows the Amazon to be close to Steve by becoming her, enabling the heartsick medic to join her own fiancé in faraway South America. Even with all that going on, there’s still room for Wonder Woman & Trevor to stop a spy ring attempting to use poison gas in a Draft induction centre, before Steve breaks his leg and ends up in hospital again, where “Nurse Prince” is assigned to tend him…

Sensation #2 debuted a deadly enemy agent and recurring villain in ‘The Menace of Dr. Poison’ – a cannily crafted tale which also introduced the most radical comedy sidekicks of the era. The plucky “fun-loving gals” (sweets, dancing and spanking mostly) of the Holliday College for Women and their chocolate-gorging Beeta Lamda sorority-chief Etta Candy would find trouble and save the day in equal proportions for years to come: constantly demonstrating Diana’s – and Marston’s – philosophical contention that girls, with correct encouragement, could accomplish anything that men could…

With War raging and in a military setting, espionage and sabotage were inescapable plot devices. ‘A Spy in the Office’ sees Diana arranging a transfer to the office of General Darnel as his secretary so she can keep a closer eye on finally fit Steve. She isn’t there five minutes before uncovering a ring of undercover infiltrators amongst the typing pool and saving her man from assassination. Unlike most comic stars of the period, Wonder Woman tales sought tight continuity. ‘School for Spies’ in #4 shows some of those fallen girls murdered by way of introducing inventive genius/Nazi master manipulator Baroness Paula von Gunther. She employs psychological ploys to enslave impressionable women to her will and sets otherwise decent Americans against their homeland. Even Diana succumbs to her machinations – until Steve and the Holliday Girls crash in…

America’s newest submarine is saved from destruction and cunning terrorists brought to book in ‘Wonder Woman versus the Saboteurs’ before SC #6 has Diana accepting a ‘Summons to Paradise’ to battle her immortal sisters in Kanga-riding duels before receiving her greatest weapon: an unbreakable Lasso of Truth which compels and controls anyone who falls within its golden coils. It proves quite handy when Paula escapes prison and uses an invisibility formula to wreak havoc on US coastal defences…

‘The Milk Swindle’ is pure 1940s social advocacy drama, with homegrown racketeers and Nazi von Gunther joining forces to seize control of America’s milk supply with the incredibly long-sighted intention of weakening the bones of the country’s next generation of soldiers. Closely following in Sensation #8 is ‘Department Store Perfidy’ wherein the Perfect Princess goes undercover in the monolithic Bullfinch emporium to win better working conditions and fair pay for the girls employed there. There was a plethora of surprises in #9 too, with ‘The Return of Diana Prince’ from South America. Now Mrs Diana White, the young mother needs her job and identity back until her inventor husband can sell his latest invention to the US army. Luckily, Wonder Woman and an obliging gang of saboteurs can expedite matters…

The next major landmark was the launch of the Amazon’s solo title. The first quarterly Wonder Woman opens here with twinned text features ‘Introducing Miss Alice Marble as Associate Editor of Wonder Woman’ before wordy primer ‘Wonder Woman: Who is She?’ focuses on the Amazon’s pantheon of godly patrons after which comic action commences with a greatly expanded revision of her first appearance in ‘The Origin of Wonder Woman’. This precedes a beguiling mystery tale as in ‘Wonder Woman Goes to the Circus!’ Diana solves the bizarre serial murders of the show’s elephants before Paula von Gunther rears her shapely head again in ‘Wonder Woman versus the Spy Ring’ wherein the loss of the Golden Lasso almost causes Diana’s demise and ultimate defeat of the US Army…

In ‘The Greatest Feat of Daring in Human History!’ Diana and Etta head for Texas, only to become embroiled in a sinister scheme involving Latin Lotharios, lady bullfighters, lethal spies and a Nazi attempt to conquer Mexico, after which the inaugural issue ends with new feature Wonder Women of History wherein a biography of ‘Florence Nightingale, Angel of the Crimea’ is supplied by Miss Marble & Sheldon Moldoff.

Over in Sensation Comics #10 (October 1942) ‘The Railroad Plot’ celebrates Steve & Wonder Woman’s first anniversary by exposing a sinister plan devised by Japanese and German agents to blow up New York City using the labyrinth of subway tunnels under the metropolis, after which ‘Mission to Planet Eros’ launches the Princess’ long line of cosmic fantasy exploits. The Queen of Venus requests Diana’s aid in saving an entire planetary civilisation from gender inequality and total breakdown, before ‘America’s Guardian Angel’ (Sensation #12) sees the Warrior Princess accepting an offer to play herself in a patriotic Hollywood movie, only to find production infiltrated by insidious Paula and her latest gang of slave-girls…

Preceded by prose/photo introduction ‘Boys and Girls! Here are the Men Behind Wonder Woman!’ and an illustrated prose piece about ‘The Spirit of War’, Wonder Woman #2 comprises a 4-chapter epic introducing the Amazon’s greatest enemy in ‘Mars, the God of War’. He apparently instigated World War from his HQ on the distant red planet but chafes at the lack of progress since Wonder Woman entered the fray on the side of the peace-loving allies. He now opts for direct action, no longer trusting his earthly pawns Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito…

When Steve goes missing, Diana allows herself to be captured and ferried to Mars. Here she starts disrupting the efficient working of the war-god’s regime and fomenting unrest amongst the slave population, before rescuing Steve and heading home to Earth. ‘The Earl of Greed’, one of Mars’ trio of trusted subordinates, takes centre stage for the second chapter, with orders to recapture Steve and Diana at all costs. As the duo attempt to infiltrate Berlin, Greed uses his influence on Hitler to surreptitiously redirect the German war effort, using Gestapo forces to steal all the USA’s gold reserves. With Steve gravely injured, the Amazon returns to America and whilst her paramour heals, uncovers and foils the Ethereal Earl’s machinations to prevent much-needed operating funds from reaching Holliday College, where young girls learn to be independent free-thinkers. With Greed thwarted, Mars dispatches ‘The Duke of Deception’ to Earth, where the spindly phantom impersonates Wonder Woman and frames her for murder. Easily escaping from prison, the Princess of Power not only clears her name but also finds time to foil a Deception-inspired invasion of Hawaii, leaving only ‘The Count of Conquest’ free to carry out Mars’ orders.

His scheme is simple: through personal puppet Mussolini, the Count tries to brutalise and physically overpower the Amazing Amazon with a savagely bestial giant boxing champion, even as Italian Lothario Count Crafti attempts to woo, seduce and suborn her. The latter’s wiles actually work, too, but capturing and keeping her are two different things entirely, and after breaking free on the Red Planet, Diana delivers a devastating blow to Mars’ war effort…

This issue ends with a sparkling double page patriotic plea when ‘Wonder Woman Campaigns for War Bonds’ after which Marble & Moldoff detail another historical all-star in ‘Clara Barton, Angel of the Battlefield’.

Cover-dated January 1943, Sensation Comics #13 claims ‘Wonder Woman is Dead’ as a corpse wearing her uniform is discovered, and astounded Diana Prince discovers her alter ego’s clothes and the irreplaceable magic lasso are missing. The trail leads to a diabolical spy-ring working out of Darnell’s office and explosive confrontation in a bowling alley, before ‘The Story of Fir Balsam’ in #14 delivers a seasonal saga concerning lost children, an abused mother and escaped German aviators. All is happily resolved around a lonely pine tree, after which the Immortal Warrior celebrated her next publishing milestone…

The 1938 debut of Superman propelled National Comics to the forefront of their fledgling industry and a year later the company was licensed to produce a commemorative comicbook celebrating the opening of the New York World’s Fair. The Man of Tomorrow prominently featured on the appropriately titled New York World’s Fair Comics among such four-colour stars as Zatara, Butch the Pup, Gingersnap and The Sandman. In 1940, another abundant premium emerged with Batman and Robin augmenting the roster, and the publishers felt they had an item and format worth pursuing commercially.

The spectacular card-cover 96-page anthologies had been a huge hit and convinced editors that an over-sized anthology of their pantheon of characters, with Superman & Batman prominently featured, was a worthwhile proposition. Thus, format was retained for a wholly company-owned, quarterly high-end package, retailing for the then-hefty price of 15¢. Launched as World’s Best Comics #1 in Spring 1941, the book morphed into World’s Finest Comics from #2, beginning a stellar 45-year run which only ended as part of the massive decluttering exercise that was Crisis on Infinite Earths. During the Golden Age, however, it remained a big blockbuster bonanza of strips to entice and delight readers…

At this time National/DC was in an editorially-independent business relationship with Max Gaines that involved shared and cross promotion and distribution for the comicbooks released by his own outfit All-American Publications. Although technically competitors if not quite rivals, the deal included shared logos and advertising and even combining both companies’ top characters in the groundbreaking All Star Comics as the Justice Society of America.

However, by 1942 relations between the companies were increasingly strained – and would culminate in 1946 with DC buying out Gaines, who used the money to start EC Comics.

All-American thus decided to create its own analogue to World’s Finest, featuring only AA characters. The outsized result was Comics Cavalcade. Cover-dated December 1942-January 1943 – and following Frank Harry’s gloriously star-studded cover to Comic Cavalcade #1 – Wonder Woman’s fourth regular star slot began with the superstar solving the ‘Mystery of the House of the Seven Gables’ (as ever the fruits of “Marston” & Peter’s fevered imaginations) wherein Diana Prince stumbles upon a band of Nazi spies. All too soon, the Amazon needs the help of some plucky youngsters to quash the submarine-sabotaging brutes…

Wonder Woman #3 then dedicates its entirety to the return of an old foe; commencing with ‘A Spy on Paradise Island’ as undergrads of Holliday College for Women – including Etta Candy – are initiated into some pretty wild Amazon rites on Paradise Island. Sadly, the revels inadvertently allow an infiltrator to gain access and pave the way for an invasion by Japanese troops. Naturally Diana and the Amazons prevail on the day, but the exposed sinister mind behind it all strikes back in ‘The Devilish Devices of Baroness Paula von Gunther’.

Whilst alert Amazons build a women’s prison to known as “Reform Island”, Wonder Woman, acting upon information received by the new inmates, trails Paula and is in time to crush her latest scientific terror: an invisibility ray. Then ‘The Secret of Baroness von Gunther’ offers a rare peek at a villain’s motivation when the captured super-spy reveals how her little daughter Gerta has been a Nazi hostage for years and remains a goad to ensure the genius’ total dedication to the German cause. Naturally, the Amazing Amazon resolves to reunite mother and child at all costs, after which ‘Ordeal of Fire’ confirms the Baroness aiding Diana & Steve in dismantling her spy network and slave-ring the Nazis had spent so long building in America… albeit at great personal and physical cost to the repentant Paula…

Much has been posited about subtexts of bondage and subjugation in Marston’s tales – and, to be frank, there really are lots of scenes with girls tied up, chained or about to be whipped – but I just don’t care what his intentions (subconscious or otherwise) might have been: I’m more impressed with the skilful drama and incredible fantasy elements which are always wonderfully, intriguingly present. I mean, just where does the concept of giant war-kangaroos come from?

This issue closes with another Marble & Moldoff biography lesson this tome focussed on ‘Nurse Edith Cavell’, before Sensation #15’s ‘Victory at Sea’ pits Diana & Steve against lethal saboteurs set on halting military production and working with shady lawyers, whilst in #16 ‘The Masked Menace’ is one of very few stories not illustrated by H.G. Peter, but rather the work of illustrator and strip cartoonist Frank Godwin. He was called in as the crushing workload of an extra 64-page comic book every couple of months piled pressure on WW’s artistic director. The tale sees steadfast Texan Etta Candy ready to elope with slick, sleazy Eurotrash Prince Goulash, until Diana & Steve crash the wedding party to expose spies infiltrating across the Mexican border and a plot to blow up the invaluable Candy family oil-wells…

Inescapable war-fervour was tinged with incredible fantasy in Wonder Woman 4, which opened with ‘Man-Hating Madness!’ wherein a Chinese refugee from a Japanese torture camp reaches America and draws the Amazon into a terrifying scheme to use biological weapons on the American Home Front. Cruel, misogynistic ‘Mole Men of the Underworld’ then kidnap collegiate Holliday Girls sidekicks, before Diana and reformed, recuperated former-Nazi genius Baroness Paula rescue them, liberate a race of female slaves and secure America’s deepest border from further attack.

‘The Rubber Barons’ provide a rousing romp wherein greedy corporate profiteers attempt to hold the Government and war effort to ransom with a new manufacturing process in a high-tech tale involving mind-control, gender role-reversal and behaviour modification, as only a trained and passionate psychologist could promote them, before the drama concludes with ‘The Treachery of Mavis’ as Paula, now fully accepted into Amazon society, is attacked by one of her erstwhile spy-slaves. The traumatised victim then abducts her ex-mistress’ daughter Gerta and Wonder Woman, burdened with responsibility, is compelled to hunt her down. Again the issue closes with a Marble & Moldoff history moment sharing the triumphs of ‘Lillian D. Wald, “The Mother of the East Side”’…

A revered classic from Sensation #17 follows. ‘Riddle of the Talking Lion’ (limned by Godwin) finds Diana Prince visiting an ailing friend and discovering that Sally’s kids have overheard a zoo lion speaking… and revealing strange secrets. Although Steve & Diana dismiss the tall tale, events take a peculiar turn when the beast is subsequently stolen with the trail leading to Egypt and a plot by ambitious Nazi collaborator Princess Yasmini…

Next, following the Frank Harry cover of Comics Cavalcade #2, Wonder Woman’s Godwin illustrated offering ‘Wanted by Hitler, Dead or Alive’ pits her against devious Gestapo agent Fausta Grables before another from Sensation Comics #18 closes out this epic compilation: one last yarn illustrated by superbly gifted classical artist Godwin with Diana saving a lost Mesolithic tribe from despotic theocracy and ancient greed in ‘The Secret City of the Incas’.

Exotic, baroque, beguiling and uniquely exciting, these Golden Age adventures of the World’s Most Famous woman superhero are timeless and pivotal classics in the development of comics books and still provide lashings of fun and thrills for anyone looking for a great nostalgic read.
© 1941, 1942, 1943, 2025 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Today in 1883, global cartooning force of nature Rube Goldberg as born, sharing the day with prolific British letterer Ellie DeVille in 1947; artist David Finch (CyberForce, Moon Knight, New Avengers) in 1971 and David Petersen (Mouse Guard) in 1977.

The date saw the deaths of career cartoonist Art Sansom (Chris Welkin-Planeteer, The Born Loser) in 1991 and in 2005 today premiered Tyler Martin’s long-running webcomic Wally and Osborne (formerly On the Rocks).

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Jess Bradley’s Squid Bits! : That’s a Nice Hat!


By Jess Bradley with Emily Kimball, Kate Brown & various (DFB/Phoenix)
ISBN: 978-1-78845-395-0 (TPB)

The Phoenix has been the shining saving grace of traditional British kids’ comics since 2012, regaling rabid readers with anthology strips for girls, boys and all points between, offering humour, adventure, quizzes, puzzles and educational material in a joyous parade of cartoon fun and fantasy. Although pretty strong in its action and mystery yarns, the publication is probably best known for its award-winning comedy stylings, and has always offered perplexing pages of puzzles, fun facts and info downloads in cartoon form.

And then there’s Squid Bits.

Concocted by Jess Bradley (Comic Strip Science series, Super Dweeb, A Day in the Life of…), the composite self (un)help feature offers advice, suggestions, recipes, style tips, listicles, little snippets of information and much more by dredging up (more like making up!!!) countless tips from all human knowledge: history to astrology, science to economics, baking to nonsense and beyond. These articles are all purportedly supplied by mystery cartoonist The Squid and THEY CANNOT BE TRUSTED!

At the height of the Ritalin* Generation and after years of periodical dis, mis and even hiss information (there’s lots of stuff on lizards and reptiles) across many pages of octopoidal excess, the mix-&-match wonderment and sheer randomised inventiveness – undoubtedly sparked by an excess of imagination and too much tea and confectionary – has been compiled and curated into an almanac of absurdity, unleashed upon the reading public as Jess Bradley’s Squid Bits: That’s a Nice Hat. The perpetrators even have the temerity to threaten more books coming!

The seemingly utilitarian assemblages of pictorial bric-a-brac are manipulated and wrangled on-page by a Greek chorus of stick-figure doodles called “The Doodles” (individually Dog, Cat, Lizard, Rabbit, Mouse & Goat) seeking to please, placate and ingratiate their multi-tentacled Master/Benefactor/Employer. However, as the graffiti gang introduce themselves in an introductory chapter, old rivalries emerge and the linear sextet are consumed by millinery madness. From this point onwards all six lie, cheat, create, purloin, commandeer, otherwise obtain and steal – especially steal – a succession of staggering titfers and chapeaus to impress their unseen overlord.

Amidst and in between all bouts of hat madness and 2-dimensional personal quests for validation, a vast selection of exemplary, data-drenched drawings from the Squid Bits feature bombards your-ever-expanding brainpan, technically making you smarter, but absolutely no use at all in any kind of crisis…

Recurring features within the strip include the life of ‘Red Panda – Nature’s Jerk!’; the lectures of piscine critic ‘Art Shark’; the indescribable ‘Banana!’; ‘The Amazing Lizard Bros!’; ‘Werewolf Problems!’; ‘President Dog!’; ‘Undercover Pigeon!’; ‘Dr. Bacon, M.D.’; ‘Cecil P. Wombat – Expert on Everything!’;‘Adventures in Opposite Land!’ and so very much you never needed or wanted to know about slugs, shopping, fighting, monsters, ghosts, flatulence, vampires or other staples of modern childhood.

Also incrementally improving reader’s lives are such perennial favourites as ‘Totally Real Nature Guide’; ‘Squid Bits Horoscopes’; ‘In the Olden Days’; ‘Squid Bits Weather Report!’ ‘That Escalated Quickly…’; ‘For Sale!’; ‘Squid Bits Homework Help!’; ‘Job Interviews!’; ‘Monster Fashion!’; excerpts from ‘The Adventurer’s Guide’ and the ever-topical and handy “Check List!” of things you probably don’t need for a far better life.

These are counterbalanced by occasional or one-off events such as ‘5th Annual Nudibranch Festival!’, ‘Cut ‘n’ Keep Gentle Reminder!’; a visit to ‘The Evil Forest!’; ‘Stick Insect Romance!’ and ‘Time Travel Foibles’; ‘Too Many Guinea Pigs’ and ‘What Were You Before the Experiment?’…

As always, wrapping up these multi-pronged life-lessons and graphic shenanigans are opportunities to get creative and construct your own Fake News. This timely opportunity appears as activities offered under the aegis of the Phoenix Comics Club. Bring paper, pencils, a ruler, no respect for rules and especially You to a compact online course (QR code provided!), Alternatively, do it in the ancient ways as all aspects of comic strip creation are presented and supervised “in-book” by Bradley herself. The section details ‘How to Draw the Squid Bits Way!’ and individual lessons and topics include the draughting delights of Red Panda, Banana & Art Shark.

Also in view are ‘How to Draw Expressive Doodles’, ‘How to Draw Expressions’, ‘Have Fun With Hairstyles’, ‘Let’s Talk Body Language’, ‘Bringing it All Together’, ‘Lost in a Haunted House’, ‘Blowing Bubbles’, ‘Tentacle Attack’, plus extension specialisms ‘Guinea Pig Balancing Champions’ and – most crucially of all – ‘Sulky Pie Dropper’. Won’t get nowhere sketch-wise without knowing that one, Just ask Art Shark…

Hugely funny, infinitely (for a given value of infinite, of course) inventive and addictively, daftly and deftly drawn, Jess Bradley’s Squid Bits: That’s a Nice Hat is a wondrous “dipping book” and another item that your kids will have to explain to you. Thus, you’d be ill-advised to let your kids have a copy if you’re driving anywhere with them in the back. Otherwise, it’s great and worth your keenest attentions. I tip my hat to it, of course…
Text and Illustrations © Jess Bradley, 2026.

*Other forms of Methylphenidate are available, but should not be considered as a an alternative to study and diligent parenting.

Today in 1949, British all-rounder comics creator John Higgins (Judge Dredd, Watchmen, World Without End, Dr Who, Batman: The Killing Joke, Razorjack) was born, sharing the date with both Underground Commix star Bobby London (Dirty Duck, Air Pirates, Popeye) and writer-turned-producer & Dark Horse Comics founder Mike Richardson (The Mask, Star Wars, Aliens, Predator, Cravan: Mystery Man of the 20th Century, Deep Gravity) in 1950. In 1951 Dean of Disney Duck delights Don Rosa arrived, as did realist comics artist Bo Hampton (Greylore, Viking Glory, Batman: Castle of the Bat) in 1954 and Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman, Young Avengers) in 1967.

1985 today saw the last published edition of UK comics bastion Jack and Jill after more than 1640 weekly issues.

Today in 1888, American cartoonist turned Comics pioneer Frank Bellew died, as did immortal legend Steve Ditko in 2018.

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Blackhawk Archives volume 1


By Will Eisner, Dick French, William Woolfolk, Bob Powell, Chuck Cuidera, Reed Crandall & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-700-9 (HB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

The early days of the US comic book industry were awash with both opportunity and talent, and these factors beneficially coincided with a vast population craving cheap entertainment. Comics had practically no fans or collectors; only a large marketplace open to all varied aspects of yarn-spinning and tale-telling. Thus, even though America loudly proclaimed its isolationism and remained more than six months away from active inclusion in World War II, creators like Will Eisner and publishers like Everett M. (known to all as “Busy”) Arnold felt Americans were ready for a themed anthology title such as Military Comics.

They were right; but Nobody was ready for Blackhawk.

Military Comics #1 launched on May 30th 1941 (with an August off-sale/ cover-date) and included in its gritty, two-fisted line-up Death Patrol by Jack Cole; Elmer Wexler’s Miss America; Fred Guardineer’s Blue Tracer; X of the Underground; John Stewart & Bill Smith’s Yankee Eagle; Q-Boat; Klaus Nordling’s Shot and Shell; Archie Atkins and Loops and Banks by “Bud Ernest” (in actuality, aviation-nut and unsung comics genius Bob Powell), but none of the strips, not even Cole’s surreal and suicidal team of hell-bent fliers, had the instant cachet and sheer appeal of Chuck Cuidera, Eisner & Powell’s “Foreign Legion of the Air” led by a charismatic Dark Knight known only as Blackhawk.

Cuidera – already famed for co-creating The Blue Beetle for Fox Publications – drew ‘The Origin of Blackhawk’ for the premiere issue, wherein a lone, magnificently skilled pilot fighting the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939 is finally shot down by Nazi Ace Von Tepp. That sadistic killer then goes on to bomb a farmhouse sheltering the defeated pilot’s family. Rising from his plane’s wreckage, the distraught aviator vows vengeance…

Two years later, with the Nazis in control of most of Europe, Von Tepp’s unassailable position is threatened by a mysterious paramilitary squadron of unbeatable fliers, dedicated to crushing injustice and smashing the Axis war-machine…

Eisner wrote the first four Blackhawk episodes and Cuidera stayed aboard until issue #11 – although the artist would return in later years. Many of the stories were originally untitled but have been conveniently characterized with such stirring designations as issue #2’s ‘The Coward Dies Twice’, wherein the squadron – “the last free men of the conquered countries” – offer a deserter from a Spitfire Flight a chance to redeem himself. The easy mix of patriotism, adventure and slapstick was magnified by the inclusion of Chop-Chop in ‘The Doomed Squadron’: a comedy Chinaman extremely painful to see through modern eyes, but a stock type considered nearly as mandatory as a heroic leading man in those dark days… and sadly not just in comics, either…

Its scant comfort but at least this Asian man is a brave and formidable fighter both on the ground and in a plane… when not being used for cheap laughs…

‘Desert Death’ takes the team to Suez – for the first of many memorable Arabian adventures – as Nazi agitators attempt to foment revolution among the tribesmen in hopes that they will rise up and destroy the British. This tale is also notable for the introduction of a species of sexy siren beloved of Eisner and Quality Comics. She or similar seductresses of her ilk would populate the strip until DC bought the property in 1957. Also included here is also a secret map of Blackhawk Island, mysterious base of the ebon-clad freedom fighters.

With issue #5 Dick French assumed the writing role. ‘Scavengers of Doom’ is a biting tale of battlefield looters allied to a Nazi mastermind, united to set an inescapable trap for the heroic fliers. More importantly, French began providing distinct and discrete characters for the previously anonymous minor players. In MC #6 the rapidly gelling team joins a frantic hunt for a germ weapon the Gestapo are desperate to possess, resulting in spectacular alpine incident ‘The Vial of Death’, after which #7 (the first issue released after the US entered World War II although the stories had not yet caught up to reality) lands the lads on the Mongolian Steppe ranging on horseback to thwart ‘The Return of Genghis Khan’…

The saga in #8 was a striking maritime romp wherein the warring powers battle to occupy an island freshly risen from the Atlantic depths. The newborn landmass is strategically equidistant between the USA, Britain and Festung Europa (that’s what the Nazis called the enslaved stronghold they had made of mainland Europe), and no opponent or even ally can be trusted with control of ‘The Sunken Island of Death’.

Although complete in itself, the yarn is also the first of an experimental, thematic 3-part saga that stretched the way comics stories were told. Things changed rapidly back then, and many marvellously melodramatic touches to make the Blackhawks so memorable in the eyes of a wide-eyed populace of thrill-hungry kids were trialled. There was the cool, black leather uniforms and creepy peaked caps. The unique – yet real – Grumman F5F-1 Skyrocket planes they flew from their secret island base and their eerie battle-cry “Hawkaaaaa!” but perhaps the oddest idiosyncrasy to modern readers was that they had their own song which André, Stanislaus, Olaf, Chuck, Hendrickson & Chop-Chop would sing as they plunged into battle. … And just to be informative and inclusive, the sheet-music and lyrics were published in this issue and are re-presented here. Just remember this is written for seven really tough guys to sing while dodging bullets and weaving between bursts of flak…

Military #9 led with ‘The Man in the Iron Mask’ as the unflappable team discover that a fallen comrade did not actually die in combat, but was hideously disfigured saving them, and is back and seeking redress, whilst the next issue’s tale – ‘Trapped in the Devil’s Oven’ – is another desert adventure focusing on the still primitive science of plastic surgery to restore said hero to full fighting trim.

MC #11 – Cuidera’s last on Blackhawk for some time – saw the squadron turn their attention to Japan, as reality at last caught up with publishing schedules. Intriguingly, ‘Fury in the Philippines’ starts quietly with the entire team calmly discussing carrying on against the Nazis or switching their attentions to the Pacific Theatre of Operations, until comedy relief Chop-Chop sways the debaters with an impassioned stand. Though inarguably an offensive stereotype visually, the Chinese warrior was often given the best lines and most memorable actions. A sneakily subversive attempt on the part of the creators (frequently from immigrant backgrounds and ethnic origins) to shake up those hide-bound societal prejudices, perhaps?

Notwithstanding, the resultant mission against the Japanese fleet is a cataclysmic Battle Royale, full of the kind of vicarious payback that demoralized Americans needed to see following Pearl Harbor…

‘The Curse of Xanukhara’ added fantasy elements to the gritty mix of blood & iron as the group’s hunt for a stolen codebook leads them to occupied Borneo and eventually the heart of Tokyo; a classy espionage thriller marking the start of a superlative run of thrillers illustrated by the incredible Reed Crandall. The artist’s realistic line and the graceful poise of his work, especially on exotic femmes fatale and trustworthy girls-next-door, made his pages absolute joys to behold. ‘Blackhawk vs. The Butcher’ (Military #13, November 1942) was written by new regular scripter Bill Woolfolk and returned the Blackhawks to Nazi territory as a fleeing Countess turns their attention to the most sadistic Gauleiter (Nazi regional leader in charge of a conquered territory) in the German Army.

What follows is a spectacular saga of justice and righteous vengeance, whilst ‘Tondeleyo’ reveals a different kind of thriller as an exotic siren uses her almost unholy allure to turn the entire team against each other. Such quasi-supernatural overtones held firm in the stirring ‘Men Who Never Came Back’ – when the team travel to India to foil a Japanese plot – in a portmanteau report narrated by three witches. Trouble, Terror and Mystery were eerily presaging the EC horror classics that would cement Crandall’s artistic reputation more than a decade later…

‘Blackhawk vs. the Fox’ pits the flight of heroes against a Nazi strategic wizard (a clear reference to the epic victories of Erwin Rommel) in the burning sands of Libya, and remains one of the most authentic battle yarns in the canon; and precedes this sublime hardback volume’s concluding sortie: a racy tale of vengeance and tragedy wherein Japanese traitor Yoshi uses her wiles to punish the military government of Nippon, with Blackhawk as her unwitting tool in ‘The Golden Bell of Soong-Toy!’

These stories were produced at a pivotal moment in both comics and world history, delivering the blend of weary sophistication and glorious, juvenile bravado that comprised the best movies of the time: Casablanca, Foreign Correspondent, Freedom Radio, Captain of the Clouds, The Day Will Dawn, The First of the Few, In Which We Serve and all the rest. That understated, overblown way of accepting duty and loss permeates these primal, rousing Blackhawks tales, confirming the miracles good men can do when needed; and are some of the Golden Age’s finest moments. In fact, these are some of the best comics stories of their time and I sincerely wish DC had proceeded with further collections, or will resume and complete their comics casebooks for the benefit of us all…

Hunt this down and so will you.
© 1941-1942, 2001 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Today in 1916 unsung genius of line and mood Mort Meskin (Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, Vigilante, Wildcat, Starman, Johnny Quick, Black Terror, Boy’s Ranch, Captain 3-D, Golden Lad, Mark Merlin) was born, as was Italian artist Roberto Raviola AKA Magnus (Kriminal, Alan Ford) in 1939, US writers Mike W. Barr (Maze Agency, Batman, Camelot 3000, Star Trek) in 1952, Alan Brennert (Batman, Brave and the Bold, Batman: Holy Terror) in 1954 and Kevin Eastman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) in 1962.

On this date in 1993 we lost Little Lulu cartoonist “Marge” (Marjorie Henderson Buell) and in 1999, prolific comics scripter Paul S. Newman (Turok, Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom, Lone Ranger).

Today in 1985 Osamu Tezuka completed his landmark award-winning manga Adorufu ni Tsugu (Message to Adolf).

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Garth: The Cloud of Balthus (volume 1)


By Frank Bellamy & Jim Edgar, with John Allard (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-0-90761-034-2 (Album TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Frank Alfred Bellamy (21st May 1917 – 5th July 1976) is one of British Comics’ greatest comics artists. In the all-too-brief years of his career he produced magnificent, unforgettable visuals for Eagle, TV21, Radio Times (Doctor Who) before taking over The Daily Mirror newspaper strip Garth in 1971. He turned that long-running yet meandering and occasionally lacklustre strip into a magnificent masterpiece of unmissable adventure fantasy, with eye-popping, mind-blowing monochrome art other artists were proud to boast they swiped from. However, after only 17 stories, Bellamy died suddenly in 1976; and it’s absolutely criminal that his work isn’t in galleries, let alone in permanent collected book editions.

Bellamy was born in 1917 but didn’t begin comic strip work until 1953: the Monty Carstairs strip for Mickey Mouse Weekly. From there he moved on to Hulton Press and drew features starring Swiss Family Robinson, Robin Hood and King Arthur for Swift, the “junior companion” to Eagle. In 1957, he moved on to the star title, producing standout, innovative work on a variety of strips, beginning with a biography/hagiography of Winston Churchill. ‘The Happy Warrior’ was followed by ‘Montgomery of Alamein’, ‘The Shepherd King – the story of David’ and ‘The Travels of Marco Polo’, from which Bellamy was promptly pulled only a few months in. As Peter Jackson took over the back page historical adventure, Bellamy was on his way to the front cover and The Near Future.

When Hulton were bought by Odhams Press there soon manifested irreconcilable differences between Frank Hampson and the new management. Dan Dare’s creator left his superstar baby and Bellamy was tapped as replacement – although both Don Harley & Keith Watson were retained as Frank’s assistants. For a year Bellamy produced “The Pilot of the Future”: redesigning the entire look of the strip at management’s request, before joyfully stepping down to fulfil a lifetime’s ambition.

For his entire life Frank Bellamy had been fascinated – almost obsessed – with Africa. When asked if he would like to draw a big game hunter strip he didn’t think twice and Fraser of Africa debuted in August 1960, a single page per week in the prestigious full-colour centre section. Fraser of Africa was an artistic landmark and Bellamy’s techniques of line and hatching, in conjunction with sensitive, atmospheric colours, and even his staging and layout of pages, led to majestic Heros the Spartan and eventually the bravura creativity displayed in Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet strips for TV21, before he opted for the strictures of monochrome and a single tier of 3-4 panels a day…

British Superman Garth first appeared in The Daily Mirror on Saturday, July 24th 1943, the creation of professional cartoonist Steve Dowling and BBC radio producer Gordon Boshell, at the behest of the editor who wanted an adventure strip to complement their other comic strip features: Buck Ryan, Belinda Blue Eyes, Just Jake and immortal, demi-immoral, morale-boosting Jane.

A blond giant and physical marvel with no memory of who he was, Garth washed up on an island shore and into the arms of a pretty girl… Gala. Nonetheless, he saved the entire populace from a brutal tyrant and a legend began. Boshell never had time to write the series, so Dowling – already producing successful family strip The Ruggles – scripted Garth until a new writer could be found. Don Freeman dumped the amnesia plot in ‘The Seven Ages of Garth’ (which ran from September 18th 1944 until January 20th 1946) by introducing imposing jack-of-all-sciences Professor Lumiere, whose subsequent psychological experiments regressed the burly hero back through some past lives.

In the next tale ‘The Saga of Garth’ (January 22nd 1946 – July 20th 1946) the origin was revealed. As an infant, “Garth” had been found floating in a coracle off the Shetlands and adopted by a kindly old couple. When full grown he became a Navy Captain until he was torpedoed off Tibet in 1943…

Freeman continued as writer until 1952 (‘Flight into the Future’ was his last tale), and was briefly replaced by script editor Hugh McClelland (who only wrote ‘Invasion From Space’) until Peter O’Donnell took over in February 1953 with ‘Warriors of Krull’. O’Donnell penned 28 adventures until resigning in 1966 to devote more time to his own strip: a little something called Modesty Blaise. His place was taken by Jim Edgar; a short-story writer who also scripted such prestigious newspaper strips as Matt Marriott, Wes Slade and Gun Law.

Dowling retired in 1968 and his long-time assistant John Allard took over the strip until a suitable permanent artist could be found. Allard completed ten complete tales until Frank Bellamy began a legendary run with the 13th instalment of ‘Sundance’ (which ran from 28th June to 1 October 11th 1971). Allard remained as background artist and assistant until Bellamy took full control during ‘The Orb of Trimandias’.

One thing Professor Lumiere had discovered and which gave this strip its distinctive appeal even before the fantastic artwork of Bellamy elevated it to dizzying heights of graphic brilliance, was Garth’s involuntary ability to travel through time and re-experience past and future lives. This simple concept lent the strip an unfailing potential for exotic storylines and fantastic exploits, pushing it beyond its humble beginning as a British response to Siegel & Shuster’s American phenomenon Superman.

The tales in this criminally out of print monochrome tome begin with the aforementioned ‘Sundance’ as mighty Garth is drawn back to 1876 to relive his life as an officer of George Custer’s 7th Cavalry on the eve of the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

The time-tossed titan has a brief but passionate love affair with Indian maiden Falling Leaf before dying valiantly for his beliefs and their love. It is an evocative, powerful tale that totally captures the bigotry, arrogance and futility of the White Man and the tragic demise of the Indian way of life…

Then eponymous epic ‘The Cloud of Balthus’ shows the potent but simple elegance of the narrative concept sustaining Garth. Whilst vacationing in the Caribbean our hero becomes embroiled in an espionage plot involving freelance super-spies and a US space station, but even that is mere prelude to fantastic adventure and deadly terrors when he and delectable, double-dealing companion Lee Wan are abruptly abducted by nebulous energy beings in a taut, tension-fraught thriller.

‘The Orb of Trimandias’ plunges Garth back in time to Venice of the Borgias, when/where he becomes again English Soldier-of-Fortune Lord Carthewan: a decent man battling an insane and all-powerful madman for the secret of a supernaturally potent holy relic. This gripping, exotic yarn is replete with flamboyant action, historical celebrities, sexy men and women and magnificently stirring locales. It’s a timeless treasure of adventure that has the added fillip of briefly reuniting Garth with his star-crossed true love, ethereal Space Goddess Astra.

This lovely volume (long overdue for re-issue – at least in digital form if no other way is possible) concludes with a high-octane gothic horror story.

‘The Wolfman of Ausensee’ sees Garth as a rather reluctant companion of movie starlet Gloria Delmar on a shoot at the forbidding Austrian schloss (that’s a big ugly castle to you) of a playboy whose family was once cursed by witches. Despite the title giving some of the game away, this is still a sharp and savvy spook-fest comparing well to the best Hammer Horror films that no doubt inspired it, and just gets better with each rereading.

Garth is the quintessential British Action Hero: strong, smart, fast and good-looking with a big heart and nose for trouble. His back-story granted him all of eternity and every genre to play in, and the magnificent art of Frank Bellamy also made his too-brief tenure a stellar one.

Comic-strips seldom get this good, and even though this book and its sequel are still relatively easy (if not cheap) to come by, it is still a crime and an utter mystery that all these wonderful tales have been out of print for so long.
© 1984 Mirror Group Newspapers. All rights reserved.

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Garth: The Women of Galba (volume 2)


By Frank Bellamy & Jim Edgar (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-0-90761-049-6 (Album TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

A bold and daring blond giant and physical marvel, Garth was Britain’s answer to the blockbusting sensations of Superman, with the added advantage that the feature was officially aimed at adults rather than kids of all ages.

Originally released in 1985, this second Titan Books collection of Garth’s Frank Bellamy era spans 7th September 1972 to 25th October 1973 with the artist shown at the absolute peak of his powers, and opens with eerie chiller ‘The People of the Abyss’ wherein Garth and subsea explorer Ed Neilson are taken prisoner by staggeringly beautiful (what other kind are there?) naked women who drag their bathyscaphe to a city at the bottom of the Pacific. The undersea houris are at war with horrendous aquatic monstrosities and urgently need outside assistance, but even that incredible situation is merely prelude to a tragic love affair with Cold War implications…

Next up is eponymous space-opera romp ‘The Women of Galba’, wherein an alien tyrant learns to rue the day he abducted a giant Earthman to fight and die as a gladiator. Exotic locations, spectacular action and oodles more astonishingly beautiful females make this an unforgettable adventure for what the editors of the era still believed was a strip only grown men read…

‘Ghost Town’ is another western tale, and a very special one. When Garth, vacationing in Colorado, rides into abandoned mining outpost “Gopherville”, he is irresistibly drawn back to a past life as Marshal Tom Barratt who lived, loved and died when the town was a hotspot of vice and easily-purloined money. When Bellamy died suddenly in 1976 this tale – long acknowledged as his personal favourite – was rerun until Martin Asbury (who painted both Titan Book album covers here) was ready to take over the strip.

The final adventure re-presented here – ‘The Mask of Atacama’ – sees Garth & Lumiere in Mexico City. Whilst sleeping, the blonde colossus is visited by the spirit of Princess Atacama (also beautiful, of course) who escorts him through time to vanished Aztec city Tenochtitlan where, as the Sun God Axatl, Garth attempts to save their civilisation from the voraciously marauding Conquistadores of Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano (as shortened for these brief 3-panel strip episodes to far more manageable Hernan Cortés)…

Tragically, neither Garth nor the Princess have reckoned on the jealousy of the Sun Priests and their High Priestess Tiahuaca…

Adding extra value to this volume are a draft synopsis and actual scripts for ‘The Women of Galba’, all liberally illustrated.. There has never been a better comic adventure strip than Garth as drawn by Bellamy: a daily rip-roaring romp combining action, suspense, glamour, mystery and the uncanny in a seamless blend of graphic wonderment. In recent years, the comic strip colossus has fallen from memory as well as favour, but I’m still fervently praying that one day, Garth (and while I’m dreaming, Jeff Hawke too) will make the jump to curated complete archive editions. Go on, make on old man happy why don’t you? There’s certainly a grateful, appreciative and vast audience waiting…
© 1985 Mirror Group Newspapers/Syndication International. All Rights Reserved.

This day in 1915 Henry Sunday page illustrator Don Trachte was born, followed two years later by British legend Frank Bellamy (Fraser of Africa, Dan Dare, Garth, Heros the Spartan, Thunderbirds) and Mancunian émigré Lee Elias (Beyond Mars, Black Cat, Flash, Green Arrow, Eclipso, Luke Cage, Human Fly, Goblin, Rook) in 1920.

In 1943 French writer-artist Jean-Claude Fournier (Spirou and Fantasio, Bizu) was born as was writer/publisher Gary Reed (Sherlock Holmes, Deadworld, Saint Germaine, Baker Street, Caliber Comics) in 1956.

We lost pioneering Canadian cartoonist and animator Vital Achille Raoul Barré in 1932 and in 1977 gained a UK animal icon when Gnasher’s Tale (by David Sutherland) began, launching the manky mutt into his own Beano series detailing his life as a puppy before being adopted by Dennis the Menace…

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Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives volume 1


By Bill Everett and others, edited and complied by Blake Bell (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-488-7 (HB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Thanks solely to modern technology and diligent research by dedicated fans, there is a sublime superabundance of collections featuring the works of too-long ignored founding fathers and lost masters of American comic books these days. A magnificent case in point is these curated chronicles (available in both print and digital formats) revisiting and yet barely touching upon the incredible gifts and achievements of one of the greatest draughtsmen and yarn-spinners our industry has ever seen.

You could save some time and trouble by simply buying them now rather than waste your valuable off-hours reading my preposterous blather and piffle, but since I’m keen to carp on anyway feel free to accompany me as I delineate just why these tomes need to join the books on your “Favourites” shelf.

The star under scrutiny here was a direct descendent and namesake of iconoclastic poet and artist William Blake. Bill was quite possibly the most technically accomplished artist in the US comic book industry and his tragic life and awe-inspiring body of work reveal how a man of privilege and astonishing pedigree was wracked by illness, addictive personality traits (especially alcoholism) and sheer bad luck, but nevertheless shaped an art-form. Bill Everett left twin legacies: an incredible body of superlative stories and art, and, more importantly, he redeemed many broken lives by becoming a dedicated mentor for Alcoholics Anonymous in his later years.

William Blake Everett was born in 1917 into a wealthy and prestigious New England family. Bright and precocious, he contracted tuberculosis at age twelve and was dispatched to arid Arizona to recuperate. This chain of events began a life-long affair with the cowboy lifestyle: a hard-drinking, chain-smoking, tall-tale-telling breed locked in a hard-to-win war against slow self-destruction.

All this and more is far better imparted in a scholarly, fact-filled, picture-packed Introduction by Blake Bell in Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives volume 1. This covers the development of the medium in ‘The Golden Age of Comics’; the history of ‘Bill Everett the Man’ and how they came together in ‘Centaur + Funnies Inc. = Marvel Comics #1’. The essay also includes an astounding treasure trove of found images and original art, including samples from 1940s Sub-Mariner, 1960s Daredevil and 1970s Black Widow stories, amongst many others.

Accompanied by the covers (that’s the case for most of the titles that follow: Everett was fast and slick and knew just how to catch a punter’s eye) for Amazing Mystery Funnies vol. 1 #1, 2, 3a, 3b and vol. 2 #2 (August 1938 – February 1939, from Centaur) are a quartet of rousing but muddled interstellar exploits starring sci fi troubleshooter Skyrocket Steele. These are followed by a brace of anarchic outer space shenanigans starring futuristic wild boy Dirk the Demon culled from Amazing Mystery Funnies (vol. 1 #3a and vol. 2 #3; November 1938 & March 1939 respectively).

The undisputed star and big draw at Centaur was always Amazing-Man who was a Tibetan mystic-trained orphan, adventurer and do-gooder named John Aman. After many years of dangerous, painful study that young man was despatched back to civilisation to do good… for a relative given value of “good”…

Aman stole the show in monthly Amazing Mystery Comics (#5-8, spanning September -December 1939) as seen in the four breakneck thrillers re-presented here and opening with ‘Origin of Amazing-Man’ followed by an untitled sequel episode with the champion saving a lady rancher from sadistic criminals; ‘Amazing-Man Loose’ (after being framed for various crimes) and a concluding instalment wherein the nomadic hero abandons his quest to capture his evil arch rival ‘The Great Question’ and instead heads for recently invaded France to combat the scourge of Nazism…

As previously stated, Everett was passionately wedded to western themes and for Novelty Press’ Target Comics he devised an Arizona-set, rootin’ tootin’ cowboy crusader called Bull’s-Eye Bill. Taken from issues #1 & 2 (February & March 1940), ‘On the trail of Travis Trent’ and ‘The Escape of Travis Trent’ has our wholesome yet hard-bitten cowpoke battling the meanest, most determined owlhoot in the territory. Accompanying the strips is an Everett-illustrated prose piece attributed to “Gray Brown” entitled ‘Bullseye Bill Gets his Moniker’.

Thanks to his breakthrough Sub-Mariner sagas, Everett became inextricably linked to water-based action adventures and immensely popular, edgy heroes. That’s why Eastern Comics hired him to create human waterspout Bob Blake, Hydroman for their bimonthly anthology Reg’lar Fellers Heroic Comics.

Here – spanning issues #1-5 and August 1940 to March 1941- are five spectacular, eerily offbeat exploits, encompassing ‘The Origin of Hydroman’ and covering his patriotic mission to make America safe from subversion by “oriental invaders”, German saboteurs and assorted ne’er-do-wells, after which a Polar Paladin rears his frozen head. Sub-Zero Man debuted in Blue Bullet Comics vol. 1 #2 cover-dated July 1940. He was a Venusian scientist stranded on Earth who, through myriad bizarre circumstances, became a chilly champion of justice. Everett is only credited with the episode ‘The Power of Professor X’ (vol. 1 #5, October 1940) but also included here are the cover of vol. 1 #4 and spot illustrations for the prose stories ‘Sub-Zero’s Adventures on Earth’ and ‘Frozen Ice’ (from Blue Bullet Comics vol. 1 #2 and vol. 2 #3).

The Conqueror was another quickly forsaken Everett creation: a Red, White & Blue patriotic costumed champion debuting in August 1941’s Victory Comics #1. Daniel Lyons almost died in a plane crash but was saved by cosmic ray bombardment which granted him astounding mental and physical powers in ‘The Coming of the Conqueror’. He promptly moved to Europe to “rid the world of Adolf Hitler!” with Everett’s only other contribution being the cover of issue #2 (September 1941). Accompanied by a page of original artwork from Reg’lar Fellers Heroic Comics #12 (May 1941), The Music Master then details how dying violinist John Wallace was saved by mystic musical means and becomes a sonic-powered superman righting injustices and crushing evil…

Rounding out this initial cavalcade of forgotten wonders are a selection of covers, illustrations and yarns which can only be described as Miscellaneous (1938-1942). These comprise the cover to the 1938 Uncle Joe’s Funnies #1; procedural crime thriller ‘The C-20 Mystery’ (from Amazing Mystery Funnies vol. 2 #7, June 1939) and ‘The Story of the Red Cross’ from True Comics #2 (June 1938). The cover for 1941’s Dickie Dare #1 is followed by a range of potent images from text tales beginning with three pages for ‘Sheep’s Clothing’ (Funny Pages vol. 2 #11, November 1940); a potent pic for ‘Birth of a Robot Part 2’ (Target Comics vol. 1 #6, July 1940); two pages from ‘Death in a Box’ courtesy of Reg’lar Fellers Heroic Comics #5 (March 1941) and two from ‘Pirate’s Oil’ in RFHC #13 (July 1942), before the unpublished, unfinished 1940 covers for Challenge Comics #1 and Whirlwind Comics #1 bring the potent nostalgia to a close.
© 2011 Fantagraphics Books. Introduction © 2011 Blake Bell. All art © its respective owners and holders. All rights reserved.