Category: TV Adaptations

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Flash Gordon Annual 1969


By anonymous staff of the Mick Anglo Studio, Dick Wood, Al Williamson, Don Heck & various (World Distributor’s [Manchester] Ltd.)
No ISBN – B06WGZR1KX

By most lights, Flash Gordon is the most influential comic strip in the world. When the hero debuted on Sunday January 7th 1934 (with the superb if now-dated Jungle Jim running as a supplementary “topper”) in response to revolutionary, inspirational, but clunky Buck Rogers (by Philip Nolan & Dick Calkins and which had also began on January 7th but back in 1929), a new element was added to the realm of fantasy wonderment: Classical Lyricism.

Where Rogers had traditional adventures and high science concepts, this new feature reinterpreted Fairy Tales, Heroic Epics and Mythology. It did so by spectacularly draping them in the trappings of the contemporary future, with varying esoteric “Rays”, “Engine” and “Motors” substituting for trusty swords and lances – although there were also plenty of those – and exotic flying craft and contraptions standing in for Galleons, Chariots and Magic Carpets.

Most important of all, the sheer artistic talent of Raymond, his compositional skills, fine line-work, eye for concise, elegant detail and just plain genius for drawing beautiful people and things, swiftly made this the strip all young artists swiped from.

When all-original comic books began a few years later, literally dozens of talented kids used the clean lined Romanticism of Gordon as their model and ticket to future success in the field of adventure strips. Most of the others went with Milton Caniff’s expressionistic masterpiece Terry and the Pirates (which also began in 1934 – and he’ll get his go another day).

At the time of this annual a bunch of Gold Key and King Features Syndicate licenses were held by Mick Anglo, who provide strip and prose material for UK weekly TV Tornado. It combined British-generated material with US comic book reprints in an era when the television influence of shows like Tarzan and Batman, and veteran features like Flash Gordon – who had a small screen presence thanks to frequent re-runs of his cinema chapter plays. The project was extremely popular, even though not always of the highest quality…

In 1966, newspaper monolith King Features Syndicate briefly got into comic book publishing again: releasing a wave of titles based on their biggest stars. These were an ideal source of material for British publishers, whose regular audiences were profoundly addicted to TV and movie properties. Moreover, thematically they fitted with World Distributors’ other licensed properties, which repackaged Western’s comics material like Star Trek, Beverly Hillbillies and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea with domestically generated material – generally by Mick Anglo’s packaging company Gower Studios.

This Anglo-American (tee-hee!) partnership fulfilled our Christmas needs for decades, generating a wealth of UK Annuals, comics and the occasional Special, mixing full-colour US reprints with prose stories, puzzles, games and fact-features on related themes.

Flash Gordon Annuals appeared sporadically over the next few decades with this release from 1968 (and forward-dated for 1969) being the second. Like the previous book it leaned heavily on generic space opera adventure in prose-based illustrated vignettes leavened with some truly stunning comics tales recasting Flash, Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov as generalised space explorers undertaking non-stop voyages to the unknown by saving lesser civilizations from mischance, misfortune and monsters sentient and not.

The action opens with a prose return to last year’s main comic feature. Sporting full-colour illustrations peppered with mini general knowledge/science factoids, ‘The Terror of Krenkelium’ sees Flash and Zarkov head back underground to a subterranean kingdom where first-timer Dale meets her rival for Flash’s attention. Happily, Princess Darla regains her equilibrium and common sense when usurper Mogulari tries to kill the court and take over only to meet stern and fatal resistance from the upworlders…

‘Plague of the Underground Forest’ then finds our heroes revisiting a formerly idyllic aboriginal paradise planet whose deeply spiritual people are now racked with famine thanks to an invasion of super-rats. The problem is not destroying the immediate menace but convincing the despondent survivors to leave their ancestral lands for somewhere that can actually support them in the solution’s aftermath…

Astronautics quiz ‘Space Probe’ and a page of ‘Fun Time’ cartoons presage a switch to 2-colour illustration as prose thriller ‘The Idol of Zatamandoo’ sees the star travellers uncover the dark underbelly of another apparent paradise planet where a godlike being trades peace and perfection for the occasional human sacrifice. After a traditional quiz – ‘Know Your Sport’ – Flash, Dale and Zarkov return to Mongo to save Earth from being drowned by ‘The Floating Desert’ before prose pauses and this year’s strip quotient begins. Originating in US comic book Flash Gordon #6 (cover-dated July 1967) as ‘Cragmen of the Lost Continent’, here Bill Pearson & Reed Crandall’s sublime romp becomes ‘Flash Gordon meets the Cragmen of the Lost Continent’ as a trek through unknown regions of Mongo sees Dale in charge and kicking alien butt when Flash is swallowed by a monster and the old doctor breaks his leg.

Striving against uncredible beasts and hostile conditions she eventually rescues her captive hero from sinister mountain dwellers and is bringing him to safety when…

An abrupt return to words follows a full-colour board game delivering ‘Danger in Space’ (as long as you can find dice and counters) after which diversion our dynamic trio scotch ‘The Micro-Men Plot’: an invasion scheme by a despot able to shrink his all-conquering forces.

An activity page of conjuring tricks shares the how-to of ‘Magic by Illusion’ before strip thrills blast back with a short spy story also taken from Flash Gordon #6. Written by Gary Poole and limned by either Mike Roy and/or Frank Springer, it tells of Secret Agent X-9 in Japan to obtain at all costs ‘The Third Key of Power’.

It’s back to 2-tone visions and peerless prose as our heroes endure the strangest case of their lives after encountering an advanced culture of ants. ‘The Swarming Peril’ proves so fearsome Flash has his brain inserted into an insect’s skull to complete his mission…

‘Time For a Laugh’ affords more cartoon buffoonery before The Mazzlins try to eradicate humankind in a ‘Deluge!’, after which thrills pause for general knowledge and testing in ‘Flash Puzzles’ and ‘Strange But True’.

Prose poser ‘Return to Krenkelium’ finds the human heroes again going underground, with Princess Darla’s embattled people invaded by The Snakemen of Syndromeda – beings from even deeper in the planet’s core…

Crossword ‘Out of This World’ segues into comics and the conclusion of the Cragmen crisis as Flash faces ‘The Totem Master!’ before this slice of Christmas past fades away with another board game situated in a ‘City Under the Sea.’

Once upon a time this type of uncomplicated done-in-one media-tasty package was the basic unit of Yule fuel, entertaining millions of British kids, and still holds much rewarding fun for those looking for a simple and straightforward nostalgic escape.
MCMLXVII, MCMLXVIII by King Features Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved throughout the world. The Amalgamated Press.

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The Rise of Ultraman


By Kyle Higgins, Mat Groom, Francesco Manna, Espen Grundetjern with Michael Cho, Gurihiru, Ed McGuiness, Alex Ross, Jorge Molina & various (MARVEL WORLDWIDE, INC.)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-2571-0 (TPB/Digital edition)

In the spirit of completeness here’s a modern reinterpretation in comics form written by Kyle Higgins (Batman: Gates of Gotham, Radiant Black) and Mat Groom (Inferno Girl Red, Self/Made), illustrated by Francesco Manna (Avengers), and coloured by Espen Grundetjern. Released as a 5-part miniseries this volume includes a trytich of sidbar tales fleshing out the revised concept…

It all begins with a flashnack to 1966 when pilot Dan Moriboshi crashed into a UFO and something miraculous and awful happened…

Now it’s 2020, and Cadet Kiki Fuji of the United Science Patrol is abruptly seconded from gruntwork to an actual mission. The job – and indeed organsation – is top secret. The general public are utterly unaware that the USP’s enemy is Kaiju: giant monsters that sporadically invade earth to make trouble. Thankfully, the USP are equipped with mysterious but infallible K-Ray weapons which utterlt eradicate the terrifying titans…

Her first field job goes wrong fast and Fuji is humiliatingly rescued by Shin Hayata, an old friend who scrubbed out of training for reasons even he is not aware of. A brilliant inventor, Shin has gone solo hunting monsters and developed some very disturbing theories about kaiju, and the way the USP handles them…

Hayata continually inserts himself into missions and joins now Fuji and her abrasive superior Captain Muramatsu when another incursion occurs. This this one is different. A glowing giant humanoid in a ball of light, the invader seems benign and when Shin chooses to talk rather than shoot it, the Being of Light merges with his human form…

The Ultra Being has come to examine what happened to its brother 54 years previously. By probing Shin’s memories it learns how Kiki and his human host first became involved in the secret war against monsters as children. Then the alien exposes the truth about the Kaiju crisis and what it really means, which Muramatsu and Fuji indadvertantly confirm by tracing how the Ultra reached Earth and uncover a shocking cover-up at the USP…

When they retaliate, Kiki must soldier on alone, tracking down Dr. Yamamoto – who was also permenentlychanged by the 1966 event and has been building to counteract a repeat of the incursion ever since.

In another place and space, Shin learns that what the USP has been doing with K-Rays has gradually set up Earth for a monumantal monster surprise attack and voluteers to accept union with the Being of Light. The result is a giant champion of last resort… Ultraman!

In human form, however, Shin is still niave and trusting, allying himsef with USP top brass who prove to be untrustworty and scheming, even as they help him track down Kiki and Dr. Yamamoto. They have become prime targets of the kaiju – now revealed as far more than dumb marauding brutes – and when the horrors’ patient scheme finally pays off and beasts roam through Tokyo, Ultraman is there to fight for humanity…

To Be Continued…

As well as a barrage of variant and photo covers by Alex Ross, Jorge Molina, Adi Granov, Ed McGuiness, Yuji Kaida, Skottie Young, John Tyler Christopher, Olivier Ciople & Romulo Fajardo Jr., Stanley “Artgerm” Lau, Arthur Adams & Jason Keith, Masayuki Gotoh, Kim Jacinto & Rachelle Rosenberg, E.J. Su and Kia Asamiya, plus a selection of comedic ‘Kaiju Steps’ strips with cute terror Pigmon, the books also offers historical and biographical background in Eiji Tsuburaya: Lord of Giants and bonus strip ‘Ultra Q’. Drawn by Michael Cho, it reveals a dark moment in the 20th century and the formation of the USP, and peeks forward with ‘Things to Come’…

Timeless and ever renewing, Ultraman is sheer cathartic wonder no thrill fan should miss…
© 2023 Tsuburaya Productions. Published by MARVEL WORLDWIDE, INC.

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Doctor Who Graphic Novels volume 15 – Nemesis of the Daleks


By Richard Starkings, John Tomlinson, John Freeman, Paul Cornell, Dan Abnett, Steve Moore, Simon Jowett, Mike Collins, Andrew Donkin, Graham S. Brand, Ian Rimmer, Tim Robins, Lee Sullivan, John Ridgway, Steve Dillon, David Lloyd, Geoff Senior, Art Wetherell & Dave Harwood, Andy Wildman, John Marshall & Stephen Baskerville, Cam Smith & many and various (Panini Books)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-531-4 (TPB)

Despite the strangely quarked variety of entangled quantums, if you prefer your reality in a sequential manner, this year will always be the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who. Thus there is/has been/will be a bunch of Timey-Wimey stuff on-going as we celebrate a unique TV and comics institution in a periodical manner …

The British love comic strips, adore “characters” and are addicted to celebrity. The history of our homegrown graphic narratives includes an astounding number of comedians, Variety stars and television actors: such disparate legends as Charlie Chaplin, Arthur Askey, Charlie Drake and so many more I’ve long forgotten and you’ve likely never heard of.

As much adored and adapted were actual shows and properties like Whacko!, Supercar, Pinky and Perky, The Clangers and literally hundreds more. If folk watched or listened, an enterprising publisher made printed spectacles of them. Hugely popular anthology comics including Radio Fun, Film Fun, TV Fun, Look-In, TV Comic, TV Tornado, and Countdown readily and regularly translated our light entertainment favourites into pictorial joy every week, and it was a pretty poor star or show that couldn’t parley the day job into a licensed strip property…

Doctor Who debuted on black-&-white televisions across Britain on November 23rd 1963 with the premiere episode of ‘An Unearthly Child’. In 1964, a decades-long association with TV Comic began: issue #674 heralding the initial instalment of ‘The Klepton Parasites’.

On 11th October 1979, Marvel’s UK subsidiary launched Doctor Who Weekly. Turning monthly magazine in September 1980 (#44) it’s been with us – via various iterations – ever since. All proving the Time Lord is a comic star of impressive pedigree, not to be trifled with.

Panini’s UK division ensured the immortality of the comics feature by collecting all strips of every Time Lord Regeneration in a uniform series of over-sized graphic albums – although we’re still waiting for digital versions. Each time tome focuses on a particular incarnation of the deathless wanderer, with this one gathering stories originally published in Doctor Who Magazine #152-156, 159-162, The Incredible Hulk Presents #1-12, Doctor Who Weekly #17-20, #27-30 and Doctor Who Monthly #44-46 communally spanning 1980-1990) and nominally starring Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy.

Also on show are awesome ancillary stars from the monolithic Time Lord “Whoniverse” including the eponymous trundling terrors of the title, legendary cosmic crusaders The Star Tigers and the long-revered tragic, demented antihero Abslom Daak, Dalek-Killer.

Delivered beauty-contest style in reverse order, the magnificent magic opens with the cataclysmic ‘Nemesis of the Daleks’ (DWM #152-155) as Richard and Steve Alan – AKA Richard Starkings & John Tomlinson – deliver a definitive and classic clash between the nomadic chrononaut and the ultimate foes of life, wherein deadly Daleks enslave a primitive civilisation. This is done by driving the pitiful, primitive Helkans to the brink of extinction in forced labour to construct a Dalek Death Wheel armed with the universe’s most potent and toxic Weapon of Mass Destruction.

Grittily illustrated by Lee Sullivan, the blockbuster opens with the valiant last stand of stellar champions the Star Tigers, before the peripatetic Doctor accidentally arrives in the right place at the wrong time – no surprise there then – joining death-obsessed Abslom Daak in a doomed attempt to stop the Emperor of the Daleks from winning supreme power.

Filled with evocative do-or-die heroics, this is a battle only one being can survive…

In a complete change-of-pace, ‘Stairway to Heaven’ (#156 from January 1990, by John Freeman, Paul Cornell & Gerry Dolan) takes a wry, merrily murderous poke at modern art and the slavish gullibility of its patrons that still holds true now – and probably always will…

The Incredible Hulk Presents was a short-lived reprint weekly from Marvel UK that launched on September 30th 1989. It targeted younger readers with 4 media-fed features. As well as the Big Green TV sensation, it also reprinted American-produced stories of Indiana Jones and GI Joe/Action Force, but the mix was augmented by all-new adventures of the Gallant Gallifreyan crafted by a rotating roster of British creators.

The plan was to eventually reprint the Who stories in DWM – thus maximising the costly outlay of new material at a time in British comics publishing where every penny counted. It didn’t quite go to plan and the comic folded after 12 issues, with only a couple of the far simpler – though no less enjoyable – offerings making it into the mature magazine publication.

It began with ‘Once in a Lifetime’ by Freeman & Geoff Senior, wherein an obnoxious alien reporter learns to his dismay that some stories are too big even for the gutter press, after which issues #2-3 saw Dan Abnett & John Ridgway depict ‘Hunger From the Ends of Time!’ as the Doctor and Foreign Hazard Duty (the future iteration of UNIT) save the Universal Library from creatures who literally consume knowledge.

‘War World!’ by Freeman, Art Wetherell & Dave Harwood finds the irascible time-traveller uncharacteristically fooled by an (un)common foot soldier, whilst in Abnett & Wetherell’s ‘Technical Hitch’ the Doctor saves a lonely spacer from unhappy dreams of paradise…

Freeman & Senior concocted a riotous monster-mash for ‘A Switch in Time!’ whilst ‘The Sentinel!’ (Tomlinson & Andy Wildman) finds the Time Lord helpless before a being beyond the limits of temporal physics. Claiming to have created all life in the universe, he still needs a little something from Gallifrey to finish his latest project…

Another 2-parter in #8-9 declared ‘Who’s That Girl!’, as the Doctor’s latest regeneration apparently results in a female form just as the Time Lord is required to stop inter-dimensional war between malicious macho martial empires. Of course, there’s more than meets the eye going on in a silly but engaging thriller by Simon Furman, John Marshall & Stephen Baskerville.

Simon Jowett & Wildman offered a light-hearted salutary fable as ‘The Enlightenment of Ly-Chee the Wise’ proves some travellers are too much for even the most mellow of meditators to handle, after which Mike Collins, Tim Robins & Senior prove just how dangerous fat-farms can be in ‘Slimmer!’, before The Incredible Hulk Presents ended its foray into time-warping with the portentous ‘Nineveh!’ by Tomlinson & Cam Smith.

There and then, the Tardis is ensnared in the deadly clutches of the Watcher at the End of Time – an impossibly mythical being who harvests Time Lords after their final regeneration…

For most of its run and in all its guises the Doctor Who title suffered from criminally low budgets and restricted access to concepts, images and character-likenesses from the show (many actors, quite rightfully owning their faces, wanted to be paid if they appeared in print! How’s that work today?) but diligent work by successive editors gradually bore fruit and every so often fans got a proper treat…

Crafted by Andrew Donkin, Graham S. Brand & John Ridgway, ‘Train-Flight’ ran in DWM #159-161 (April to June 1990), benefitting from slick editorial wheeler-dealing and the generosity of actor Elizabeth Sladen (who allowed her Sarah Jane Smith character to be used for a pittance) in a chilling tale of alien abductions. Here, a long overdue reunion between The Doctor and his old Companion is derailed when their commuter train is hijacked by marauding carnivorous insects…

‘Doctor Conkerer!’ (#162 by Ian Rimmer & Mike Collins) terminates this tome’s Time Lord travails in a humorous escapade describing the unsuspected origins of that noble game played with horse chestnuts so beloved by British schoolboys (of 40 years or older), assorted aliens and, of course, Vikings of every stripe…

There’s still plenty of high quality action and adventure to enjoy here, however, as the complete saga of ‘Abslom Daak, Dalek-Killer’ follows. A potent collaboration between Steve Moore and artists Steve Dillon & David Lloyd from Doctor Who Weekly #17-20 (February-March 1980; Doctor Who Weekly #27-30 (April 1980) and Doctor Who Monthly #44-46, (December 1980 to February 1981) the epic fills in the blanks on the doomed defenders of organic life everywhere…

In the 26th century the Earth Empire is in a death struggle with voracious Dalek forces, yet still divided and focused on home-grown threats. One such is inveterate, antisocial killer Abslom Daak, who – on sentencing for his many crimes – chooses “Exile D-K”: being beamed into enemy territory to die as a “Dalek Killer”. As such, his life expectancy is less than three hours – and that suits him just fine. Materialising on an alien world, the madman eagerly expects to die but finds an unexpected reason to live until she too is taken from him, leaving only an unquenchable thirst for Dalek destruction…

The initial ferociously action-packed back-up series led to a sequel and ‘Star Tigers’ found the manic marauder winning such improbable allies as a rebel Draconian Prince, a devilish Ice Warrior and the smartest sociopath in Human space, all willing to trade their pointless lives to kill Daleks…

As always, this compilation chronicle is supplemented with lots of text features, and truly avid fans can also enjoy a treasure-trove of background information in the 17-page prose Commentary section at the back: story-by-story background, history and insights from the authors and illustrators, supplemented by scads of sketches, script pages, roughs, designs, production art covers and photos.

This includes full background from former DWM editor/scripter John Freeman on the stories, plus background on the guest stars in ‘Tales from the Daak Side’ by John Tomlinson.

More details and creator-biographies accompany commentaries on The Incredible Hulk Presents tales. and there’s a feature on ‘Hulk meets Who’, explaining that odd publishing alliance, plus reminisces from editor Andy Seddon and even more info on the legendary Dalek killer and his Star Tiger allies to pore and exult over.

None of which is relevant if all you want is a darn good read. However all creators involved have managed the ultimate task of any artisan – to produce engaging, thrilling, fun work which can be equally enjoyed by the merest beginner and the most slavishly dedicated and opinionated fans imaginable.

This is another marvellous book for casual readers, a fine shelf-addition for dedicated fans of the show and a perfect opportunity to cross-promote our particular art-form to anyone minded to give comics one more go.

All Doctor Who material © BBCtv. Doctor Who, the Tardis and all logos are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and are used under licence. Licenced by BBC Worldwide. Tardis image © BBC 1963. Daleks © Terry Nation. All commentaries © 2013 their respective authors. Published 2013 by Panini Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Superman Adventures volumes 1


By Paul Dini, Scott McCloud, Rick Burchett, Bret Blevins, Mike Manley & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-5867-2 (TPB/Digital edition)

At their primal hearts heroes like Batman and Superman appeal directly and powerfully to the little kids in us all, who helplessly rail at forces that boss us around and don’t let us be ourselves. Maybe that’s why the versions ostensibly and specifically made for youngsters are so often the most vivid and rewarding…

Almost a decade after John Byrne re-galvanised, reinvigorated and reinvented the look and feel of the Man of Steel, animator Bruce Timm returned to comicbook country to meld modern sensibility and classic mythology with Superman: The Animated Series.

With Paul Dini, he had already designed and overseen Batman: The Animated Series: a 1993 TV show which captivated young and old alike, breathing vibrant new life into an old concept. In 1996 lightning struck a second time. The show was another masterpiece and led to a tranche of sequels and spin-off including The New Batman/Superman Adventures, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.

Although the Superman cartoon show (originally airing in the USA from September 6th 1996 to February 12th 2000) never got the airplay it deserved in Britain, it remains a highpoint in the character’s long, long animation history, second only to 17 astounding, groundbreaking shorts produced by the Max Fleischer Studio in the 1940s.

These stylish modern visualisations became the norm, extending to the Teen Titans, Legion of Super Heroes, Young Justice and Brave and the Bold animation series that so successfully followed.

The broad stylisation – dubbed “Ocean Liner Art Deco” – also worked magnificently in static two dimensions for the spin-off comic book produced by DC as seen in this first of four compilations, curating Superman Adventures #1-10 (November 1996-August 1997).

With no further ado, the all-ages action opens with ‘Men of Steel’ by show writer Paul Dini, illustrated with dash and verve by Rick Burchett & Terry Austin. Because they know their audience, the editors wisely treated prior animated episodes and comic releases as equally canonical, and here shady mega-billionaire Lex Luthor is a public hero even whilst covertly organising clandestine criminal deals, international coups and a secret war against the Man of Tomorrow.

The devil’s brew of dark deeds culminates here in the oligarch’s creation of a new secret weapon: a hyper-powerful robot-duplicate of Superman, which he uses to initially discredit and ultimately attack the Caped Kryptonian. If it manages to kill him, Lex can mass-produce them and sell them to warlords around the world…

Comics grand master Scott McCloud came aboard as regular scripter with the second issue as ‘Be Careful What You Wish For…’ sees the return of Kryptonite-powered cyborg Metallo. The mechanical maniac – like the rest of Metropolis – erroneously believes lonely, attention-seeking Kelly to be Superman’s girlfriend, but his sadistic revenge scheme hasn’t factored in how Lois Lane might react to the fraudulent claim…

Computerised Kryptonian relic Brainiac resurfaces in ‘Distant Thunder’, having placed its malign consciousness into Earth artefacts (such as robot cats!) before building a new body to facilitate a renewed assault on the Metropolis Marvel. As ever, Brainiac’s end goal is assimilating data, but Superman quickly realises how to turn that programmed compulsion into a weapon ensuring the computer tyrant’s defeat…

Apprentice photo-journalist Jimmy Olsen’s dreams of success and stardom get a big boost in issue #4’s ‘Eye to Eye’. After Luthor orchestrates another lethal attack on Superman – with an enhanced gravity-weapon – the cub reporter learns his job is as much about grit and guts as being in the right place at the right time…

Bret Blevins pencils ‘Balance of Power’ as electrical villain Livewire awakes from a coma and sets about equalizing gender inequality by taking over the world’s broadcast airwaves. With all male presences edited out thanks to her galvanic gifts, the sparky ideologue returns to her original agenda and attempts to eradicate too-powerful men like Superman and Luthor…

McCloud, Burchett & Austin reunite for the astoundingly gripping ‘Seonimod’ wherein Superman utterly fails to save Metropolis from complete annihilation. All is not lost, however, as Fifth Dimensional imp Mr. Mxyzptlk has trapped the hero in a backwards-spiralling time-loop, allowing the Man of Tomorrow one last chance to track a concatenation of disasters back to the inconsequential event that initially triggered the string of accidents which wiped out everything he cherishes…

‘All Creatures Great and Small part 1’ opens a titanic 2-part tale which sees Krypton’s Phantom Zone villains General Zod and Mala escape a miniaturised prison Superman had incarcerated them in. In the process they also shrink our hero to a few centimetres in height, but the endgame is far more devilish that that.

When scientific savant Professor Hamilton and top cop Dan “Terrible” Turpin join Lois in using a growth ray to restore Superman, Zod intercepts them and transforms himself into a towering colossus of chaos and carnage. Utterly overmatched and without options, the tiny Man of Tomorrow is forced into the most disgusting and risky manoeuvre of his career to bring the gigantic General low in the concluding ‘All Creatures Great and Small part 2’…

Mike Manley pencils Superman Adventures #9 as ‘Return of the Hero’ focuses on an idealistic boy whose two heroes are Superman and Lex Luthor. However, as a series of arson attacks plagues his neighbourhood, Francisco Torres learns some unpleasant truths about the billionaire that shatter his worldview and almost destroy his family. Happily, the Caped Kryptonian proves to be a far more reliable role model…

Wrapping up this first cartoon collection is a classic clash between indomitable hero and deadly maniac, as a twisted techno-terrorist y returns, peddling Superman action figures designed to plunder and rob their owners’ parents. ‘Don’t Try This at Home!’ – by McCloud, Burchett & Austin – once again proves that no amount of devious deviltry can long deter the champion of Truth, Justice and the American Way…

Breathtakingly written and spectacularly illustrated, these stripped-down, hyper-charged rollercoaster-romps are pure, irresistible examples of the most primal kind of comics storytelling, capturing the idealised essence of what every Superman story should be. It’s a treasury every fan of any age and vintage will adore.
© 1996, 1997, 2015 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Doctor Who volume 2: Dragon’s Claw


Illustrated by Dave Gibbons, Mike McMahon & Adolfo Buylla, scripted by Steve Moore & Steve Parkhouse (Panini Books)
ISBN: 978-1-904159-81-8 (TPB)

It’s the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who so there is/has been/will be a bunch of Timey-Wimey stuff on-going as we periodically celebrate a unique TV and comics institution…

The British love comic strips and they love celebrity and they love “characters.” The history of our homegrown graphic narratives includes a disproportionate number of radio comedians, Variety stars and television actors: such disparate legends as Charlie Chaplin, Flanagan & Allen, Arthur Askey, Winifred Atwell, Max Bygraves, Jimmy Edwards, Charlie Drake and so many more I’ve long forgotten and you’ve likely never heard of.

As much adored and adapted were actual shows and properties like Whacko!, ITMA, Our Gang, Old Mother Riley, Supercar, Thunderbirds, Pinky and Perky, The Clangers and literally hundreds of others. If folk watched or listened to something, an enterprising publisher would make print spectacles of them. Hugely popular anthology comics including Radio Fun, Film Fun, TV Fun, Look-In, TV Tornado, TV Comic and Countdown readily translated our light entertainment favourites into pictorial joy every week, and it was a pretty poor star or show that couldn’t parley the day job into a licensed strip property…

Doctor Who premiered on black-&-white televisions across Britain on November 23rd 1963 with the premier of ‘An Unearthly Child’. In 1964, a decades-long association with TV Comic began: issue #674 heralding the initial instalment of ‘The Klepton Parasites’.

On 11th October 1979 (although adhering to the US off-sale cover-dating system so it says 17th), Marvel’s UK subsidiary launched Doctor Who Weekly. Turning monthly magazine in September 1980 (#44) it’s been with us – under various names and iterations – ever since. All of which only goes to prove the Time Lord is a comic star not to trifled with.

Panini’s UK division has ensured the immortality of the comics feature by collecting all strips of every Regeneration of the Time Lord in a uniform series of over-sized graphic albums. Originally published between July 10th 1980 and January 1982, these monochrome yarns are mainly by Dave Gibbons: spanning #39-57 and 60, plus a fill-in yarn in #58-59.

This was drawn by Mike McMahon (Judge Dredd, Sláine, Alien Legion, Tank Girl, The Last American,) and inked by Spanish veteran Adolfo Buylla AKA Adolfo Álvarez-Buylla Aguelo. He worked internationally on strips like Diego Valor, Yago Veloz, Inspector H. Diario de un Detective, G.I. Combat, House of Mystery, Creepy, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Twilight Zone, Space: 1999, Knights of Pendragon and others.

These were amongst the last regular comics work the artist created for the British market before being scooped up by the Americans as part of the Eighties’ “British Invasion”.

The comics kick off with a wry romp written by Steve Moore (Rick Random, Dan Dare, Axel Pressbutton, Tharg’s Future Shocks, Father Shandor, Tales of Telguuth, Fortean Times). Set in China circa 1522 AD, ‘Dragon’s Claw’ (DWW #39-45) carried the periodical from weekly to monthly schedule, with the Fourth Doctor – as played by Tom Baker – and companions K-9 and Sharon Davies (from 20th century English town Blackcastle) uncovering old enemies bending history by providing alien ordnance to a Shaolin monk with big dreams.

After stymying the star conquerors, the garrulous Gallifreyan resumed his self-appointed task of getting Sharon home in shorter sagas better suiting monthly outings. DWM #46 found the travellers accidentally ensnared by a cosmic anthropologist and his bored and lonely robot companion before generating a deadly alternate reality in ‘The Collector’…

Two-part tale ‘Dreamers of Death’ (#47-48) then sees a world of oneiric escapism imperilled by telepathic infiltrators and close to ruination. The spectacular solution saves lives but ultimately sunders the Time Lord’s connection to Sharon forever…

Spanning #49-50, ‘The Life Bringer!’ takes The Doctor and K-9 far into the past where they liberate Prometheus from godly punishment and clash with beings who think themselves gods. The prisoner’s “crime” was scattering seeds of life throughout the universe and he will do it again now, but what The Time Lord really needs to know is has he intervened before or after Prometheus reached Earth…

‘War of the Words’ (#51) sees the TARDIS “vwoorp” into a space conflagration over library planet Biblios. The clash between Vromyx and Skluum has been raging for eternity and the fed-up Gallifreyan thinks he has a way to end it all forever…

Those pesky arrogant Earthlings pop up again in DWM #52’s monster mash ‘Spider-God’ as Terran Survey Vessel Excelsior lands on an unknown planet and immediately jumps to a wrong conclusion about the relationship between idyllic idealised humanoids and the six-legged beasties that apparently prey on them. Even the doctor can’t stop the humans making the same tragic mistakes they have always made…

Steve Parkhouse signed on as regular scripter with #53 as ‘The Deal’ as the TARDIS materialises amidst the madness of the Millennium Wars and tragically becomes a target of all sides, before ‘End of the Line’ (#54-55) sees the usually-happy wanderer lost on a ruined world – beneath it, actually – fleeing cannibal gangs hunting for unwary sustenance on the still-running underground train system…

Luckily there’s a few ninja-like “Guardian Angels” on patrol, saving lives and planning their exodus to the dream-inspiring “countryside”. Or is it lucky?

At the annual Festival of Five Planets, The Doctor meets many fellow cosmic voyagers in what became the backdoor pilot for a spinoff comics series. Whilst enjoying the convention’s many attractions, the Gallifreyan is conned into a race contest, testing the TARDIS against the star vehicle of mercenary/stunt pilot team the ‘Free-Fall Warriors’.

Encompassing DWM #56-57, the wild ride intersected a sneak attack by marauding Rebel Raiders which meant all bets were off and there was hell to pay…

McMahon/Abylla fill-in ‘Junk-Yard Demon’ (#58-59) follows as the Time Lord’s trusty vessel comes to the attention of space salvage ship Drifter. Captain/builder/pilot Flotsam, and crew-beings Jets and Dutch think they’ve scored big. They’re most apologetic when The Doctor affably introduces himself and really, really sorry when the Time Lord’s presence activates a presumed broken Cyberman…

Things get really tense when it then tries compelling them to repair its legion of shattered comrades. Thankfully, the man with the scarf has a plan…

This epic onslaught of wonders ends on a prologue as Gibbons returns to realise the first sally of a proposed ambitious multi-part Parkhouse saga. On a futuristic world, civilisation falls to barbarism as it always does, with ‘The Neutron Knights’ (DWM #60) butchering each other with highly advanced primitive weapons. Plucked from the time stream by a mysterious wizard, The Doctor watches helplessly as the old story unfolds once more. Reawakening back at his point of origin, the baffled Gallifreyan is forced to accept the incident as real when Merlin reappears, warning these are portents and they will meet again…

Sheer effusive delight from start to finish, this is a splendid book for casual readers, a fine shelf addition for dedicated fans of the show and a perfect opportunity to cross-promote our particular art-form to anyone minded to give comics another shot…

All Doctor Who material © BBCtv. Doctor Who, the Tardis, Dalek word and device mark and all logos are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and are used under licence. Dalek device mark © BBC/Terry Nation 1963.All other material © its individual creators and owners. Published 2004 by Panini. All rights reserved.

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Rick and Morty: Sometimes Science Is More Art Than Science – The Official Colouring Book


Illustrated by Austin Baechle (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-1-80336-598-5 (PB)

Multi award-winning Adult Swim (the grown-up after-dark division of Cartoon Network) animated comedy science fiction series Rick and Morty was created by Justin Roiland & Dan Harmon. It was developed from the former’s parody short of Back to The Future in 2006, and with Harmon’s eventual collaboration was unleashed on the universe – arguably all of them – in December 2013. We’re up to Season 7, with 3 more contracted for.

The show combines edgy domestic comedy with outrageous fantasy spread across all of reality, as moral and impressionable Rick Smith is consistently lured into incredible and upsetting situations by his grandfather Morty Sanchez: an alcoholic and extremely brilliant mad scientist who lives with the Smith family. It’s all very funny, wildly imaginative and better read than talked about. (Un)Naturally, there’s a comic book tie-in too, and even a crossover series with the Dungeons & Dragons franchise that you can try too…

This decidedly peculiar and utterly interactive tribute to a strange time all around offers over 60 lusciously large and madly memorable images inspired by the show. Ranging from bizarrely disturbing to profoundly comic, these cartoon confabulations include weird places, odd characters, the Smiths in all their hoary glory, icky, sticky things, dragons, monsters and so much more, all delivered by animator Austin Baechle (Pre Fab), who preloads the magic of the grand parade through time, space, parallel dimensions and the backyard and bedroom in seductive style to delight the already dedicated and entice the uninitiated…

It’s never too soon or too late to unhinge your personal reality and get in touch with your visually expressive side, and the only way this wonderfully whacky experience could be improved is with crayons, paints and pens. Or maybe glue, glitter, fur and precious metals? No digital edition as yet, so if you want to play on a computer, you’ll need to get scanning. However, if you can work a keyboard and acclimatise to Rick and Morty’s many worlds you can surely get by…

Irreverent, subversive and appallingly addictive, the combination of great characters, compelling pictures and mirthful attention-seizing is a welcome way to while away the hours between life and the beyond…

Forget video-games – buy this (renewably resourced) book. If you’re worried about exercise, do the colouring-in standing up and if a mess (or winged dinosaur invasion) ensues, you can boost your cardio rate by cleaning it all up.

Challengingly eccentric and modernistically retro wonderment, this is a fun you can’t imagine …but can purchase.

© 2023 Cartoon Network. RICK AND MORTY and all related characters and elements are © & ™ Cartoon Network.  All Rights Reserved.

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Doctor Who Graphic Novels volume 14: The Child of Time


By Jonathan Morris, Mike Collins, David A. Roach, Roger Langridge, Martin Geraghty, Dan McDaid, Rob Davis, Geraint Ford, Adrian Salmon, & James Offredi (Panini Books)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-460-7 (TPB)

Multimedia monolith Doctor Who launched on television with the first episode of ‘An Unearthly Child’ on November 23rd 1963. Happy 60th Anniversary, Time Lord!

Within a year, a decades-long run in TV Comic began in issue #674: and the premier instalment of ‘The Klepton Parasites’. On 11th October 1979 (but adhering to the US off-sale cover-dating system, so it says 17th), Marvel’s UK subsidiary launched Doctor Who Weekly, which regenerated into a monthly magazine in September 1980 (#44) and has been with us under various names ever since.

All of which only goes to prove that the Time Lord is a comic hero with an impressive pedigree…

Marvel UK – and latterly Panini – spent a lot of effort (and time!) compiling every strip from its archive into a uniform series of oversized graphic albums, each concentrating on a particular incarnation of the deathless nomad of infinity.

This one gathers stories short and long which, taken together, comprise a 2-year extended epic. From Doctor Who Magazine (or DWM) #421-441 (originally published in 2010-2011), this run details the strip debut of Matt Smith’s incarnation of the far-flung, far-out Time Lord as well as his capable companion Amy Pond as played by Nebul Karen Gillan.

None of which is relevant if all you want is a darn good read. All involved have successfully accomplished the ultimate task of any comics creator by producing engaging, thrilling, fun stories which can be equally enjoyed by the merest beginner and the most slavishly dedicated – and opinionated – fans imaginable.

Written by Jonathan Morris (with liberal input from editors Scott Gray & Tom Spilsbury), coloured by James Offredi and lettered by Roger Langridge, the time trek kicks off in ‘Supernature’ (illustrated by Mike Collins & David A. Roach), as first espied in DWM #421-423 (May-July 2010).

Arriving on a jungle paradise world, The Doctor and Amy soon discover Earthling colonists in the midst of a terrifying plague. The humans – all convicts press-ganged to turn the planet into a suitable home before being abandoned – are transforming into uncanny mutant beasts, and even the Time Lord and his new companion are “monster-ised” before the crisis is solved. However, when they depart they take part of the problem with them…

A rare but welcome illustrative role for regular letterer Langridge delivers a bizarre yet wonderful spoof on ‘Planet Bollywood!’, when warring factions of an ancient empire – and a romantic leading man – jointly struggle to possess a sexy humanoid device. The bewildering tool compulsively compels all who hear it to break out in song and dance routines…

On the go again afterwards, a trip to Tokyo finds fresh horror for the travellers in the metamorphosis of innocent – if educationally lacking – children being converted into a deadly fifth column in ‘The Golden Ones’ (Martin Geraghty & Roach in #425-428). This is a grand old-fashioned blockbuster invasion saga with a huge body-count, valiant armed resistance by dedicated UNIT soldiers, a classic villain’s return, brilliant scientific solutions and a slew of subtle clues to the greater saga unfolding. And just who is that strange little girl who keeps popping up everywhen?

From #429 comes literary fantasy-homage ‘The Professor, the Queen and the Bookshop’ (Rob Davis & Geraint Ford) as our heroes meet a reclusive writer and evacuee children whilst Amy – and hubby-to-be Rory – encounter a strange man in an infinite shop which can travel anywhere…

It’s back to Paris circa 1858 for Dan McDaid’s ‘The Screams of Death’ when aspiring but hopeless singer Cosette is taken under the wing of impresario Monsieur Valdemar, and develops a voice that could shake the Opera House to its foundations. Of course, this Svengali-like Fugitive from the Future has far grander plans for his many captive songbirds …until Mam’selle Pond and M’sieu le Docteur turn up to foil another mad scheme to rewrite history…

The over-arching storyline takes a big step forward in #432’s ‘Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night’ (offering a welcome full-art outing for the splendidly gifted David Roach) as the Tardis turns up in an old people’s home staffed by robots, haunted by children and plagued by a rapidly diminishing roster of residents. Adrian Salmon then gets his freak on in trippy terror-tale ‘Forever Dreaming’ (#433-434) as Amy is apparently trapped in a 1960’s seaside town with a dark secret, a phantom octopus and a legion of psychedelic icons who really should be dead…

The saga swings into full acceleration with ‘Apotheosis’ (DWM #435-437 and limned by McDaid) when the Doctor and Amy land aboard a derelict space station and walk into the closing act of a galaxy-spanning war between humanity and their scheduled replacements: the awesome autonomous androids of Galatea.

Aboard the station, a cadre of warrior Space Nuns seek an ultimate weapon to tip the scales of the conflict, but with lethal sanitation robots everywhere and rogue time-distortion fields making each step a potential death-march, their hunt is hard going. With everybody – even the Time Lord – hyper-aging at vastly different rates, and the Tardis mutating into something impossible, the stage is set for the spectacular nativity of a true threat to all of creation…

Of course, before the big finish, Machiavellian, monstrously manipulative and atrociously amoral creature Chiyoko must carry out a number of crucial appointments in Eternity to ensure the existence and consolidate the celestial dominance of ‘The Child of Time’ (art by Geraghty & Roach from DWM #438-441 spanning August to November 2011).

Two years of cleverly-concocted mystery and imagination then wrap up in a staggering, creatively-anachronistic display of temporal hocus-pocus steered by scripter Morris as The Doctor, Amy and stalwart allies Alan Turing and the Bronte Sisters ward off the unmaking of time, the end of humanity and eradication of all life in the universe before a tragic finale and Happy-Ever-After… of sorts…

Dedicated fans will enjoy a treasure-trove of background information in the 25-page Commentary section at the back, comprising chapter-by-chapter background, history and insights from the author and each illustrator, supplemented by sketches, roughs, designs, production art and even excised material from all concerned.

We all have our private joys and hidden passions. Sometimes they overlap and magic is made. This is a superb selection of supremely satisfying strips, starring an absolute Pillar of the British Fantasy pantheon. And even if you’re a fan of only one, The Child of Time will certainly spark your hunger for the other. A fabulous book for casual readers, this is also a fine shelf addition for devotees of the show, an ideal opportunity to cross-promote our particular art-form and the perfect present for the Telly Addict haunting your house…

All Doctor Who material © BBCtv. Doctor Who logo © BBC 2012. Tardis image © BBC 1963. Doctor Who, Tardis and all logos are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and are used under licence by BBC Worldwide. Published 2012 by Panini Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Doctor Who Graphic Novels volume 13: The Crimson Hand


By Dan McDaid, Martin Geraghty, Jonathan Morris, Mike Collins, David A. Roach, Sean Longcroft, Rob Davis, Paul Grist, Ian Culbard, Roger Langridge & various (Panini Books)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-451-5 (TPB)

Doctor Who launched on television with the first episode of ‘An Unearthly Child’ on November 23rd 1963. Happy 60th, Time Lord!

Within a year, his decades-long run in TV Comic began with issue #674 and the premier instalment of ‘The Klepton Parasites’.

On 11th October 1979 (although adhering to the US off-sale cover-dating system so it says 17th) Marvel’s UK subsidiary launched Doctor Who Weekly, which became a monthly magazine in September 1980 (#44) and has been with us under various names ever since.

All of which only goes to prove that the Time Lord is a comic hero with an impressive pedigree…

Marvel/Panini spent a lot of effort – and time! – collecting every strip from its archive in a uniform series of over-sized graphic albums, each concentrating on a particular incarnation of the deathless wanderer.

This one gathers stories from Doctor Who Magazine (AKA DWM) issues #394 & 400-420 plus The Doctor Who Storybook 2010 (originally published between 2008 and 2010): all featuring the escapades of the recently re-enlisted David Tennant incarnation of the Galloping Gallifreyan.

This is actually the third and final collection of strips featuring “the Tenth Doctor” and whether that statement made any sense to you largely depends on whether you are an old fan, a new convert or a complete beginner.

None of which is relevant if all you want is a darn good read. All the creators involved have managed the ultimate “Ask” of any strip creator – to produce engaging, thrilling, fun yarns that can be equally enjoyed by the merest beginner and the most slavishly addicted fan.

After an effusive introduction from Russell T. Davies, the full-colour graphic grandeur begins with a one-off romp from 2008 entitled ‘Hotel Historia’ by writer/artist Dan McDaid, wherein the Good Doctor fetches up in a spectacular resort for time-travellers.

Here he first encounters pushily obnoxious corporate raider Majenta Pryce and uses her shoddy and slipshod time-technology to counter a threat from the chronal brigands known as the Graxnix.

This is riotously followed by a delightful clash with ‘Space Vikings’ (by Jonathan Morris, Rob Davis & Ian Culbard, taken from the 2010 Christmas Doctor Who Storybook) wherein slave-taking star-rovers prove to be far less than they appear…

The main body of stories here formed something of an experiment as DWM #400-420 were designed as an extended story-arc leading up to the big change on television wherein Matt Smith would replace Tennant as “The Eleventh Doctor”.

Therefore McDaid was tasked with scripting the entire 21-issue run and began by reintroducing scurrilous money-mad chancer Majenta Pryce in ‘Thinktwice’ (#400-402, illustrated by Martin Geraghty & David A. Roach); an intergalactic penal institution with some decidedly off-kilter ideas on reforming prisoners.

Pryce is a prisoner but has amnesia. So does her cellmate Zed and – in fact – most of the convicts aboard. The supposedly cushy debtor’s prison is actually a horror-house of psychological abuse where suicide is endemic, cunningly maintained by creepy Warden Gripton who is messing with inmates’ memories to satisfy the hungers of something he calls “memeovax”…

Luckily, new prison doctor “John Smith” is a dab hand with a Sonic screwdriver…

With her memory far from restored, wickedly entrepreneurial Majenta becomes the unlikeliest of Companions, demanding that the “legally liable” Doctor makes restitution for all the trouble he’s caused by ferrying her to planet Panacea where she can be properly cured.

As we all know however, the Tardis goes where She wants and at Her own pace…

‘The Stockbridge Child’ (#403-405 and illustrated by Mike Collins & Roach) deposits the unhappy partners to that peaceful English village where three different incarnations of the Time Lord have encountered incredible alien incursions.

When the Doctor is reunited with outcast skywatcher Maxwell Edison they uncover at last the ancient horror beneath the hamlet which has made the place such a magnet for madness and monsters, before finally despatching the brooding anti-dimensional threat of the Lokhus…

Meanwhile Majenta’s big secret hasn’t forgotten her, and is rapidly closing in…

DWM #406-407 featured ‘Mortal Beloved’ – limned by Sean Longcroft – wherein the Doctor and “Madge” arrive at a decrepit asteroid mansion on the edge of the biggest storm in creation.

Amidst the flotsam and jetsam lurk poignant clues to Pryce’s past, as tantalisingly revealed by the robots and holograms left to run the place after a far younger Majenta jilted brilliant playboy industrialist Wesley Sparks. Of course, after such an immense length of time, even the most devoted of loves and programs can falter, doubt and even hate…

‘The Age of Ice’ (#408-411, by McDaid, Geraghty & Roach) brings the Last Time Lord and Lost Executive to Sydney Harbour for a fond reunion with Earth Defence Force UNIT, just as time-distortions begin dumping dinosaurs in the sunny streets, and crystalline knowledge stealers The Skith once more attempt to assimilate all the Doctor’s vast and varied experiences. Majenta too finds an old friend in the shape of her long-lost junior associate Fanson, who admits to wiping her memory. When he becomes part of the huge body-count before revealing why, Madge thinks she would lose what was left of her mind…

‘The Deep Hereafter’ (#412, by Rob Davis with above-and-beyond calligraphy from letterer Roger Langridge) is a scintillating space detective story, pastiching classic Will Eisner Spirit Sunday sections, but still succeeds in advancing the overarching plot as Madge and the Doctor complete the last case of piscine P.I. Johnny Seaview and chase down the threat of the reality warping World Bomb…

DWM #413 (Collins & Roach) exhibits ‘Onomatopoeia’ and pits the reluctant pair against space-rats and out-of-control pest prevention systems in a clever and heart-warming fable told almost exclusively without dialogue.

The superb ‘Ghosts of the Northern Line’ (#414-415) follows with Paul Grist working his compositional magic in a chilling yarn of murderous phantoms slaughtering tube passengers in present day London. Obviously they can’t be spirits, so what is the true cause of the apparitions?

This yarn leads directly into the big payoff as the assembled forces of galactic Law and Order suddenly show up to arrest Majenta, plunging the voyagers into a spectacular epic ending as the stroppy impresario at last regains her memory and acquires the power to reshape all of reality. It’s all the fault of the cosmic consortium known and feared as ‘The Crimson Hand’ (DWM #416-420, by McDaid, Geraghty & Roach)…

This blockbuster rollercoaster epic perfectly ends the saga of Majenta Pryce and signs off the Tenth Doctor in suitable style, but dedicated fans still have a wealth of added value bonuses in the posterior text section, which includes a commentary from editor Tom Spilsbury, the origins of the saga from McDaid, Doctor Who Story Notes, the Majenta Pryce “Pitch” and an annotated story background section: copiously illustrated with behind-the-scenes photos, sketches and production art.

We’ve all got our little joys and hidden passions. Sometimes they overlap and magic is made. This is a superb sequence of strips, starring an undeniable bulwark of British Fantasy. If you’re a fan of only one, this book might make you an addict to both. The Crimson Hand is a fabulous book for casual readers, a fine shelf addition for devotees of the show and a perfect opportunity to cross-promote our particular art-form to anyone minded to give comics another go.

If only someone would get around to getting these tales digitised…
All Doctor Who material © BBCtv. Doctor Who logo © BBC 2009. Tardis image © BBC 1963. Doctor Who, the Tardis and all logos are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and are used under licence. © Marvel. Published 2012 by Panini Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Flash Gordon Annual 1967


By anonymous staff of the Mick Anglo Studio, Dick Wood, Al Williamson, Don Heck & various (World Distributor’s [Manchester] Ltd.)
No ISBN – ASIN B000ZOP1GY

By most lights, Flash Gordon is the most influential comic strip in the world. When the hero debuted on Sunday January 7th 1934 (with the superb but rather dated Jungle Jim running as a supplementary “topper”) as response to revolutionary, inspirational, but clunky Buck Rogers (by Philip Nolan & Dick Calkins and which had also began on January 7th but in 1929), a new element was added to the realm of fantasy wonderment: Classical Lyricism.

Where Rogers had traditional adventures and high science concepts, this new feature reinterpreted Fairy Tales, Heroic Epics and Mythology. It did so by spectacularly draping them in the trappings of the contemporary future, with varying esoteric “Rays”, “Engine” and “Motors” substituting for trusty swords and lances – although there were also plenty of those – and exotic flying craft and contraptions standing in for Galleons, Chariots and Magic Carpets.

Most important of all, the sheer artistic talent of Raymond, his compositional skills, fine line-work, eye for concise, elegant detail and just plain genius for drawing beautiful people and things, swiftly made this the strip all young artists swiped from.

When all-original comic books began a few years later, literally dozens of talented kids used the clean lined Romanticism of Gordon as their model and ticket to future success in the field of adventure strips. Most of the others went with Milton Caniff’s expressionistic masterpiece Terry and the Pirates (which also began in 1934 – and he’ll get his go another day).

At the time of this annual a bunch of Gold Key and King Features Syndicate licenses were held by Mick Anglo, who provide strip and prose material for UK weekly TV Tornado. It combined British generated material with US comic book reprints in an era when the television influence of shows like Tarzan and Batman, and venerable features like Flash Gordon – who also had a small screen presence thanks to frequent re-runs of his cinema chapter plays. The project was extremely popular, even though not always of the highest quality…

In 1966, newspaper monolith King Features Syndicate briefly got into comic book publishing again: releasing a wave of titles based on their biggest stars. These were an ideal source of material for British publishers, whose regular audiences were profoundly addicted to TV and movie properties. Moreover, thematically they fitted with World Distributors’ other licensed properties, which repackaged Western’s comics material like Star Trek, Beverly Hillbillies or Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea with domestically generated material – usually crafted by Mick Anglo’s packaging company Gower Studios.

This Anglo-American (tee-hee!) partnership filled our Christmas needs for a generation, producing a range of UK Annuals – and the occasional Special – mixing full-colour US reprints with prose stories, puzzles, games and fact-features on related themes.

Flash Gordon Annuals appeared sporadically over the next few decades beginning with this release from 1967 which leaned heavily on generic prose space opera adventure leavened with some truly stunning comics tales.

In opening yarn, ‘The Tanks of Triton’ Flash, Dale Arden and Dr. Zarkov are recast as general space explorers and their voyage to unknown world Athene sees them saving an advanced and cultured pacifist species from barbaric underseas invaders, after which the explorers pop back to Mongo and visit the Unexplored Continent just in time to scotch the conquest plans on tyrants in waiting ‘The Doom Men’ .

Thus far the fictive text had been augmented by full-colour painted illustrations (and inset epigrammatic facts about Space) but the first full photo feature of rocket science takes centre stage in ‘Britain’s Contribution to Europe’s Satellite’ comes next, counterpointed by maze puzzle ‘Earth in Danger’ before vertical take-off jets are reviewed in ‘Look – No Runway!’

Natural history feature ‘It All Depends!’ discusses relative lifespans before prose yarn in two tone line art ‘Undersea Peril’ sees Flash, Dale and Zarkov discover yet another hidden aquatic kingdom and depose another crazed would-be world conqueror before we enjoy board game ‘Space Flight to Mongo’ and themed crossword ‘Space Fill-In’.

Full-colour comics wonderment begins with the eponymous lead strip from King Comics’ Flash Gordon #1, cover-dated September 1966. Possibly scripted by Archie Goodwin (or Larry Ivie?) ‘Flash Gordon’ was latterly credited to majestic illustrator Al Williamson. While we’re being detailed, the last page is supposedly inked by Gray Morrow…

The strip sees our terrific trio returned to Mongo, in search of desperately needed Radium to stave off a crisis on Earth. Packed with all the vast cast of the series it depicts how the visitors arrive just in time to thwart a coup d’état in frozen kingdom Frigia…

Williamson was one of the greatest draughtsmen to ever grace the pages of comic books and newspaper strip sections. He was born in 1931 in New York City, after which his family relocated to Columbia just as the Golden Age of syndicated adventure strips began.

The lad’s passion for “the Comics” – especially Raymond’s Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim – broadened as he devoured imported and translated US material and the best that Europe and Latin America could provide in anthology magazines as Paquin and Pif Paf. When he was twelve the Williamsons returned to America where, after finishing school, the prodigy found work in the industry that had always obsessed him.

In the early 1950s he became a star of E.C. Comics’ science fiction titles beside kindred spirits Joe Orlando, Wally Wood, Roy G. Krenkel, Frank Frazetta & Angelo Torres. He drew Westerns Kid Colt and Ringo Kid for Atlas/Marvel and during the industry’s darkest days found new fame and fans in newspaper strips, firstly by assisting John Prentice on Rip Kirby – another Raymond masterpiece – and, from 1967, on Secret Agent Corrigan.

Williamson drew Flash Gordon for King Comics and worked on mystery tales and westerns for DC whilst drawing Corrigan; eventually becoming go-to guy for blockbuster sci-fi film adaptations with his stunning interpretations of Blade Runner and Star Wars.

His poetic realism, sophisticated compositions, classicist design and fantastic naturalism graced many varied tales, but in later years he was almost exclusively an inker over pencillers as varied as John Romita Jr., Larry Stroman, Rick Leonardi, Mark Bright, José Delbo and a host of others on everything from Transformers to Spider-Man 2099, Daredevil to Spider-Girl. His magical brushes and pens also embellished many of Marvel’s Graphic Novel productions – such as The Inhumans and Cloak and Dagger: Predator and Prey.

Williamson died in June 2010.

In this Annual, it’s back to prose & painted illos for ‘The Green Horde’ as our heroes discover a new planet just in time to foil a secret invasion of Earth, after which ‘The Black Beasts of Prey’ takes the wanderers to planet Zeus in time to save a dying race of humanoids from fluing dinosaurs and set evolution back on its destined track…

US comic book Flash Gordon #1 also had a back-up starring fellow legendary stalwart Mandrake the Magician and it appears here: crafted by Dave Wood, Don Heck & Andre LeBlanc. ‘Midnight with Mandrake’ sees a gang of thieves unleash sleeping gas on a city crowd, only to have Mandrake change it from soporific to an hallucinogen that sends everyone on the trip of their lives…

It’s back to 2-tone and peerless prose as our heroes find ‘Ming the Merciless’ loose on Earth and stealing weapons tech to reconquer Mongo, after which gag page ‘Laughs in Space’ segues into a text told war of liberation for marsh dwelling primitives in ‘The Last of the Claymen’ and a ‘True or False ’ brain teaser page before we spectacularly end with the last strip from Flash Gordon #1, as the Terran Trio test Zarkov’s new mole machine and discover a lost civilisation deep under the crust of Mongo. Sadly, the locale of Krenkellium might be fresh and new but power, politics and peril seem to play out in a universal manner in ‘Flash Gordon and the Mole Machine’ (by Archie Goodwin & Williamson).

This kind of uncomplicated done-in-one media-tasty package was the basic unit of Christmas entertainment for millions of British kids at one time and still holds plenty of rewarding fun for those looking for a simple and straightforward nostalgic escape.
© MCMLXVI, MCMLXVII by King Features Syndicate, Inc. The Amalgamated Press.

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Supernatural: Origins & Supernatural: The Dogs of Edinburgh


Supernatural: Origins
By Peter Johnson, Geoff Johns, Matthew Don Smith & various (DC/WildStorm)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1701-3 (TPB/Digital edition) 978-1-84576-754-7 (TPB Titan Books edition)

Supernatural: The Dogs of Edinburgh
By Brian Wood, Grant Bond, Matthew Don Smith & various (DC Entertainment)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3506-2 (TPB/Digital edition)

Comics have always enjoyed a long, successful affiliation and nigh-symbiotic relationship with television, but in these days when even the ubiquitous goggle-box business is paralysed and endangered by on-demand streaming, too many channels and far too much choice, the numbers and types of program that migrate to funnybooks is increasingly limited.

Excluding kids’ animation shows, cult fantasy adventure series now predominate in this dwindling arena and one of the best to make that transition to the printed page was the epic monster-fighting saga of two brothers literally on the road to Hell as they tracked down unnatural horrors, mystical malignancies and all the unexplainable things that treat humanity as fair game and delicious delicacies…

Over 15 seasons of 327 episodes and spanning from September 13th 2005 to November 19th, 2020, TV series Supernatural followed Sam and Dean Winchester whose lives were forever changed when a yellow-eyed demon killed their mother. The horrific event drove distraught John Winchester into a life of eternal wandering: stalking and killing impossible beasts and horrors he now knew lurked in every shadow.

Years later, rumours still abound that the show will return… soon!

After growing up from a baby on the road to hell, Sam got out of the life and tried to live a normal existence before being dragged back when his surly, alienated brother called to say that their dad had gone missing. It happened right about the time Sam’s girlfriend was killed by a fiery demon…

If you’re looking for a spooky, rowdy, funny binge watch, go no further. Moreover, as we do comics here and the series was rapidly picked up for a spinoff funnybook series, you could also enjoy some printed scary stories…

Supernatural: Origins is an impressive official prequel to the epic show, following the dysfunctional Winchester family in the days, months and years after the boys’ mother floated up into the air and spontaneously combusted. It left their father with unanswerable questions, a hunger for vengeance and two rather unnatural kids to raise…

After Mary’s death, John packs toddler Dean and baby Sam into his car and goes into a spin of booze and bar-fights, until he meets palm-reader Missouri Mosley. The prognosticator offers veiled answers and a glimpse into a world of mumbo-jumbo which is proven to be savagely real when an unseen thing kills Mary’s best friend Julie. She was babysitting the traumatised boys at the time of her demise, and lodged in her ghastly remains was a huge, rune-carved fang from no creature ever born on Earth…

Armed only with hints into the true nature of the world, the former marine begins a quest for the tooth’s owner and in Tempe, Arizona meets prickly, reclusive scholar Fletcher Gable. He identifies it as belonging to a Black Shuck… a Hellhound…

Sending the senior Winchester on to a reported sighting of such in California, the savant offers a further gift: a blank journal to record the notes, photos, clippings, drawings, thoughts and experiences that will inevitably occur and need reporting now that father and sons are irrevocably set on their particular road to Perdition…

The wise man and his latest student are both painfully unaware that Winchester is himself being hunted…

When Mary’s formidable brother Jacob comes looking for the boys and fearing the worst (although he has no idea of what the can worst actually be), he too is embroiled in the quest – to his eternal regret – and only the arrival of the mysterious shadower saves John from becoming the latest casualty of the hellhound…

‘Hunter’ – more job description than name – helps Winchester clear up the mess and cover up the evidence before introducing the now-doubly bereaved and shell-shocked single parent to the full horror of the hidden world of the Supernatural. It’s 1983 and all Hell’s breaking loose…

Winchester becomes part of an amorphous hidden association of loners known as Hunters: mortals who’ve lost loved ones, seen the truth and had the guts to look for payback. Partnered with his brusque and enigmatic mentor, John Winchester is still looking for a golden eyed demon and a hellhound with a missing fang as he tackles his first monster – a leaping carnivore known as a “Heeler” with Hunter and another clean-up man named Ichi.

Sadly, by the time the trio return to the grimly unique bar called Harvell’s Roadhouse – where Sam & Dean have been waiting under the lethally efficient care of waitress Ellen – John is a full-blooded monster killer. Good thing too, as Ichi isn’t friendly or human anymore…

Thus begins a perilous pattern: John and Hunter dumping the kids on someone oblivious or horribly in on the secret for a few days as they take care of business. That journal rapidly fills up with accounts of incredible horror…

Winchester learns fast and, after meeting a resurrected priest who grants him a few precious, tainted moments with Mary’s spirit, he and his extremely hands-on senior partner revisit Fletcher Gable with useful intel on the rune-carved fang. Before long they’re headed to one of the spookiest locations in America and an appalling gauntlet of terrors, a confrontation with the hellhound and its master, inevitable betrayal and an explanation for all that the bereaved father and his sons have endured…

Dotted with moving, telling “flashbacks” – like the moment in 1991 when independent, lethally dangerous Dean has enough and tries to run away, abandoning dad and little brother to an interminable legion of monsters – this initial chronicle also includes a short tale of the boys by Geoff Johns, Phil Hester & colourist JD Mettler.

‘Speak No Evil’ harks back to a day in 1989 when taciturn Sam asked his big brother just how their mother died. He might even have received an answer if a demon hadn’t smashed through the motel window just then, locked in a death grip with their father…

This rip-snorting, tense and moody thriller lives up to the demands of the dedicated TV following and still fulfils all that’s demanded of a horror comic for readers who haven’t tracked the torturous trail of the Winchesters, and this chilling compendium even offers in-process views of covers by Tim Sale, plus pin-ups, working drawings and sketches by series illustrator Matthew Dow Smith.

 

Supernatural: The Dogs of Edinburgh compiles volume 4 #1-6 from 2011, and was written by Brian Wood (DMZ, X-Men, Northlanders, Moon Knight), with art from Grant Bond (Revere, The Clockwork Girl) & Matthew Don Smith. It examines a different piece of the past and sees Sam returning to Scotland after years away.

Back then, he was no killer of killers but a student on a research grant from Stamford University. His journey of discovery to Edinburgh University was initially educational, but immensely brightened by meeting mysterious lass Emma – “of the Isles” – who seemed interested in exactly the same arcane nonsense he was. She was also really pretty…

It turned out that Emma was a Breaker – the Scottish equivalent of Hunters – and as they grew closer she showed him the mystic highlights of the ancient city. He found himself falling, but was also increasingly aware that Emma wasn’t like other girls…

Meeting ghosts and battling an immortal who ran with feral city demon-dogs and controlled numerous crime rackets, they got too close, ended a monster menace together and inevitably parted…

As opening arc ‘The Dogs of Edinburgh’ gives way to present-day sequel ‘Emma of the Isles’, Sam examines a stash of notes, photos and a plane ticket. After all this time Emma has sent them to him and now he’s heading back to Scotland…

The mystery trek leads him to a remote village on the coast and a reserved room at the Clachan Inn. There he reads decades of clippings about drowned girls, but finds no sign of Emma. By the time she finally makes contact, the Hunter has deduced what’s behind the countless deaths, if not why, and the ghastly dreams he’s been experiencing are starting to form a pattern..

A charming legend becomes ghastly truth after he is attacked by nocturnal predators and saved by Emma, who gradually shares the truth of her origins but not her plan to end an eternal cycle of death and procreation. All they have to do is survive a determined assault by an entire tribe of “Selkies”…

This time, however, Sam is no unseasoned kid. He’s a trained hunter, with a lethally-skilled brother who will drop everything and cross an ocean to save his family. All Sam has to do is stay alive and hope to divine what Emma really is and what she really wants…

With covers by Dustin Nguyen and a tranche of concept art by Grant Bond, this twisted romance is a powerful seasonal mystery yarn to delight fright fans and another example of the eerie adventures that made Supernatural such an undying delight.

Punchy, powerful and spookily addictive… get them before they get you…
© 2008 Warner Bros Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Supernatural and all characters, distinctive likenesses and related elements are © Warner Bros Entertainment, Inc.
© 2012 Warner Bros. Television Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Supernatural and all characters, distinctive likenesses and related elements are © 2011, 2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.