Probably the best comedy comic coming out of America at the moment, Boneyard relates the odd life of Paris, a sensitive young man who has inherited his grandfather’s cemetery in the distinctly odd town of Raven Hollow. Along with the actually grounds came the residents, many of whom are still distressingly ambulatory and some who become the closest thing to Family that Paris has ever known.
As well as Glump the demon, assorted monsters, skeletons, gargoyles, witches, werewolves and swamp creatures there’s also Abbey, a beautiful vampire who Paris really, really likes.
In the previous volumes (ISBN13: 978-1-56163-427-9 and ISBN 1-56163-487-5) the young lad only just settled in before thwarting The Devil himself, which drew him to the attention of the even more sinister US Internal Revenue Service. An eleventh hour offer from the luscious Roxanne Allen to buy the Boneyard was revealed as another nefarious plot, but Glump had a plan to save the day…
The irascible little demon’s plan is now reluctantly put into play and the assorted ladies of Boneyard doff their clothes for a “Swim Suit Issue†(in salacious Swamp Siren Nessie’s case that actually means putting more stuff on) but Glump – who has never abandoned his dream of world conquest – has more on his mind than just seeing chicks undressing…
And when Roxanne reveals her true identity to Abbey the fur – and fangs – fly…
There’s great merit in combining horror and comedy, and Richard Moore has shown that this vein is still largely untapped. This volume collects issues #9-11 and the Swimsuit issue of the brilliant comic series, combining cartooning with a wicked sense of slapstick and screwball humour. When filtered through a lens of cynical modernism, and with a slowly developing romance, this becomes an absolute masterpiece of a funnybook.
This edition is printed in colour for all those fools who wouldn’t buy it when it was first released in the original black and white.
By Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino & various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-4012-0780-9
The Silver Age “thinking man’s hero†returns in this second compilation of adventures on other worlds, reprinting tales from Mystery in Space #66-80.
For me, Adam Strange, more than any other character, epitomises the Silver Age of Comics. An Earth archaeologist who, whilst fleeing from enraged natives in Peru, jumped a 25 ft chasm only to be hit by a stray teleport beam from a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri. He materialised on another world, filled with monsters, fabulous civilisations and non-stop peril for which brains, not brawn, were the only solution.
Witty, sophisticated, gloriously illustrated and fantastically imaginative: And there was always the woman named Alanna, beautiful, but somehow unattainable. The happy-ever-after was always just in reach, but only after one last adventure…
After the bravura of the first Adventures on Other Worlds (see Adam Strange Archives volume 1, ISBN: 1-4012-0148-2) the far-flung fantasy continued with ‘Space Island of Peril’ by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella, a duel with an alien super-being who plans to throw Rann into its sun, followed in #67 by the deceptive ‘Challenge of the Giant Fireflies’ when Adam’s adopted home is menaced by thrill-seeking creatures who live on the surface of our sun.
Murphy Anderson returned as inker-in-residence for ‘The Fadeaway Doom’ wherein Rannian General Kaskor made a unique attempt to seize power by co-opting the Zeta Beam itself. ‘Menace of the Aqua-ray Weapon!’ had a race from Rann’s primeval past return to take possession of their old world, whilst #70 saw ‘The Vengeance of the Dust Devil’ threaten not just Rann but also Earth itself.
‘The Challenge of the Crystal Conquerors’ (inked by Giella) was a sharp game of bluff and double-bluff with the planet at stake but #72 was a radical departure from the tried and true formula. ‘The Multiple Menace Weapon’ found Adam diverted to Rann in the year 101,961AD to save his descendents before dealing with the threat to his own time and place. This was followed by the action-packed mystery thriller ‘The Invisible Raiders of Rann!’
The puzzles continued with #74’s complex thriller ‘The Spaceman who Fought Himself!’, inked by the back-for-good Murphy Anderson, leading to MiS #75 and a legendary team-up with the freshly-minted Justice League of America against the despicable Kanjar Ro in ‘Planet that came to a Standstill’, indisputably one of the best tales of DC’s Silver Age and a key moment in the development of cross-series continuity.
After that 25 page extravaganza it was back to 14 pages for #76’s ‘Challenge of the Rival Starman!’ as Adam becomes the involuntary tutor and stalking-horse for an alien Champion. ‘Ray-Gun in the Sky!’ is an invasion mystery that invited readers to solve the puzzle before our hero did, and ‘Shadow People of the Eclipse’ pitted the Earthman against a bored alien thrill-seeker. Issue #79’s ‘The Metal Conqueror of Rann’ saw him fighting a much more personal battle to bring Alanna back from the brink of death.
The book closes with ‘The Deadly Shadows of Adam Strange’ wherein an old enemy returns to wreak a bizarre personal revenge on the Champion of two Worlds.
These short-story thrillers from a distant time still hold great appeal and power for the wide-eyed and far-seeing. The deluxe Archive format makes a fitting home for the extraordinary exploits of Adam Strange: by far and away some of the best written and drawn science fiction comics ever produced.
Whether for nostalgia’s sake, for your own entertainment or even to get your own impressionable ones properly indoctrinated, you really need these books on your shelves.
By Berni Wrightson (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 0-930193-68-7
This review is continued from Back for More (ISBN: 0-93158-22-30-X) and The Mutants (ISBN: 0-937848-00-X) both of which I recently covered, and serves to show that you should always check your facts and the most unassailable area of your bookshelves before sounding off.
In 1988 Fantagraphics Books gathered the superb contents of those two rare tomes into one splendid compendium (although a few portfolio drawings seem absent to my tired eyes) and even included a rather pedestrian movie-parody from a contemporary humour magazine to boot.
Although Beneath the Dignity of the Apes (scripted by Marv Wolfman) is less than stellar, the merits of Mother Toad, The Task, Limstrel, The Game That Plays You, A Case of Conscience, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (co-illustrated by Jeff Jones and Alan Weiss), Stake Out, The Reaper of Love, Out on a Limb, Conjure Woman, Maudlin Love Comix, Nosferatu, Ghastly Horror Comix, the Last Hunters, Feed It!, Wrightson’s Revolting Rhymes, Breathless, King of the Mountain, Man, Ain’t she Sweet? and Uncle Bill’s Barrel, not to mention the aforementioned selection of drawings, taken from Web of Horror and other sources are exceptional efforts from a major talent, having lost little of their punch or ghastly appeal.
Also I know that both eBay and Amazon have copies for sale if you’re tempted…
A new edition wouldn’t be a waste of time either…
By Gardner Fox, Joe Kubert, Murphy Anderson & various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-4012-1280-3
With the superhero revival in full swing by 1961, Julius Schwartz turned to reviving one of DC’s most visually arresting and iconic Golden Age characters. Once again eschewing mysticism for science fiction (the original Hawkman was a reincarnated Egyptian prince murdered by a villainous priest), he selected scripter Gardner Fox and artist Joe Kubert to build a new hero for the Space Age.
Katar Hol and his wife Shayera Thal are police officers on their own planet of Thanagar. They’ve travelled to Earth from the star system Polaris in pursuit of a spree-thief named Byth who has assaulted a scientist and stolen a drug that gives the user the ability to change into anything. Thus the scene was set in ‘Creature of a Thousand Shapes’ which appeared in The Brave and the Bold #34 (cover-dated February-March 1961), a spectacular work of graphic magic, with the otherworldly nature of the premise rendered captivatingly human by the passionate, moody expressiveness of Kubert’s art. It is a minor masterpiece of comic storytelling, and still a darned good read.
The high-flying heroes returned in the next issue, stationed on Earth to study Terran police methods. In ‘Menace of the Matter Master’ they defeat a plundering scientist who has discovered a means to control elements, whilst ‘Valley of Vanishing Men’ takes them to the Himalayas to discover the secret of the Abominable Snowmen. B&B #36 saw them defeat a modern day wizard in ‘Strange Spells of the Sorcerer’ and save the world from another Ice Age whilst defeating ‘The Shadow Thief of Midway City’.
With the three-issue try-out finished the publishers sat back and waited for the fan letters and sales figures. And something odd happened: fans were vocal and enthusiastic, but the huge sales figures just weren’t there. It was inexplicable. The quality of the work was plain to see on every page but somehow not enough people had plunked down their dimes to justify starting a Hawkman series.
A year later they tried again. The Brave and the Bold #42 (cover-dated June-July 1962) featured ‘The Menace of the Dragonfly Raiders’ and found Katar and Shayera returning to Thanagar just in time to encounter a bizarre band of alien thieves. Here was superhero action in a fabulous alien locale and the next issue maintained the exoticism – at least initially – before Hawkman and Hawkgirl returned to Midway City to defeat a threat to both worlds – ‘The Masked Marauders of Earth’. One last B&B issue followed (#44, October-November 1962), with two splendid short tales, ‘Earth’s Impossible Day’ and the eerie doomsday adventure ‘The Men who Moved the World’, and then the Hawks vanished again. It certainly looked like this time the magic had faltered.
That however, is not the end of the saga. Convinced he was right Schwartz retrenched. Enjoying some success with the new Atom title, and mindful of the response when he had teamed the Flash and Green Lantern in the summer of 1962, Schwartz had writer Fox include the Winged Wonder in ‘The Case of the Cosmic Camera’ (The Atom #7, June/July 1963), an interplanetary thriller illustrated by Gil Kane and Anderson, which ranged from the depths of space to Earth’s most distant past. This new clean-limbed version clearly found fan-favour and in 1963 Hawkman returned! Again!
Mystery in Space had been the home of Adam Strange since issue #53 (see DC Archive: Adam Strange vol. 1, ISBN: 1-4012-0148-2, vol. 2, ISBN: 1-4012-0780-9) and with #87 (November 1963) Schwartz moved the Winged Wonders into the back-up slot, and even granted them occasional cover-privileges. Still written by Fox, Kubert’s moody art had been superseded by the clean, graceful line-work of Murphy Anderson. ‘The Amazing Thefts of the I.Q. Gang!’ was followed a month later by ‘Topsy-Turvy Day in Midway City!’
With the management now on board, guest appearances to maximise profile were easier to find. Hawkman returned to The Brave and the Bold with issue #51 (cover-dated December 1963-January 1964) to team with Aquaman and face the ‘Fury of the Exiled Creature!’ This quirky tale of monsters, magic and mayhem in sunken Atlantis was written by Bob Haney and illustrated by the criminally neglected Howard Purcell, and then it was back to Mystery in Space #89 and the ‘Super-Motorized Menace!’ the month after that.
These were brief, engaging action pieces but issue #90 was a full length story teaming the Hawks and Adam Strange in a legendary End-of the-World(s) epic. ‘Planets in Peril!’, illustrated by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson, was the last Hawkman back-up. From the next month, and after three years of trying, Hawkman would star in his own title.
Cover-dated April-May 1964, Hawkman #1 is a gem of an issue by Fox and Anderson. Two of the most visually arresting characters in comics, the Hawks had one of the most subtle and sophisticated relationships in the business. Like Sue and Ralph Dibney (Elongated Man and wife) Katar and Shayera are equal partners, (both couples were influenced by the Nick and Nora Charles characters of the Thin Man movies) and the interplay is always rich in humour and warmth.
In ‘Rivalry of the Winged Wonders’, and whilst accommodatingly recapping their origins for newcomers, the couple decide to turn their latest case into a contest. Hawkgirl would use Thanagarian super-science to track and catch a band of thieves whilst Hawkman limited himself to Earth techniques and tools in solving the crime. This charmingly witty yarn is balanced by the action thriller ‘Master of the Sky Weapons’ as Chac, an ancient Mayan warrior, threatens the world with alien super weapons.
‘Secret of the Sizzling Sparklers!’ is a another action-packed thriller concerning trans-dimensional invaders, and issue #2 closes with ‘Wings across Time’ a mystery revolving around the discovery of the flying harness of the legendary Icarus. Another brain-teaser opened the third issue. Scientific bandits proved less of a menace than ‘The Fear that Haunted Hawkman’ and ordinary thugs and an extraordinary alien owl resulted in our heroes becoming ‘Birds in a Gilded Cage’.
Issue #4 opened with a tale that would revolutionise DC comics. ‘The Girl who Split in Two!’ introduced Zatanna, daughter of a magician who had fought crime in the 1940s only to “mysteriously disappearâ€.
Zatarra was a magician-hero in the Mandrake mould who had fought evil in the pages of Action Comics for over a decade beginning with the very first issue. During the Silver Age Gardner Fox had Zatarra’s young and equally gifted daughter, Zatanna, searching for the missing magician by teaming up with a selection of superheroes Fox was currently scripting (if you’re counting, these tales appeared in Hawkman #4, Atom #19, Green Lantern #42, and the Elongated Man back-up strip in Detective Comics #355 as well as a very slick piece of back writing to include the high-profile Caped Crusader via Detective #336 – ‘Batman’s Bewitched Nightmare’. The saga concluded in Justice League of America #51‘Z – As in Zatanna – and Zero Hour!’ )
This wide, long-running experiment in continuity proved to the creators – and publishers – that there was a dedicated fan-base out there with a voracious appetite for experimentation and relatively deep pockets. Most importantly it finally signalled the end of the period where DC heroes lived and battled in a world of their own.
‘The Machine that Magnetized Men!’ is another fine tale, as the winged Wonders use reason and deduction to defeat thieves who are impossible to touch. ‘Steal, Shadow– Steal!’ in number #5 is the first full-length thriller in the run, as the ruthless Shadow thief returns to seek revenge, believing that causing the next Ice Age is an acceptable consequence of his schemes. Issue #6 is another long tale, and one that turned DC’s peculiar obsession with gorillas into a classic adventure.
‘World Where Evolution Ran Wild!’ draws our heroes to fabled Illoral where a scientist’s explorations have stretched Selection to un-natural limits. Bold, brash and daft in equal proportions, this is a fabulous romp and seeing again the cover where Hawkman struggles for his life against a winged gorilla makes the adult me realise those DC chaps might have known what they were doing with all those anthropoid covers!
By issue #7 (April-May 1965) the world was gripped in secret agent fever as the likes of James Bond, the Man from U.N.C.L.E., and a host of others suaved across our TV screens, and even comics were not immune, though spies had been a staple threat there for nearly two decades. Before Hawkman joined that crowd however he had to deal with the rather mediocre threat posed by ‘The Amazing Return of the I.Q. Gang!’ They were quickly returned to prison and the Hawks moved on to face the ‘Attack of the Crocodile-Men!’, a high-octane super-science thriller that introduced C.A.W. – the Criminal Alliance of the World!
Another supremely captivating cover adorned #8 as the Hawks had to defeat an ancient Roman artificial intelligence built by the not-so mythical Vulcan himself in ‘Giant in the Golden Mask!’, and then defeat an alien Harpy who’d been buried for half a million years in ‘Battle of the Bird-Man Bandits’. Issue #9 saw The Atom guest star as an old villain returned with a seemingly perfect revenge plan in the full-length super-thriller ‘Master Trap of the Matter Master!’, whilst #10 saw a playful Gardner Fox at his best in both ‘Hawkman Clips the Claws of C.A.W!’, another espionage drama with a delicious subplot as the Winged Wonder aids a sexy CIA agent with a big secret of her own, and then solved ‘The Magic Mirror Mystery’: a fair-play tale brainteaser with lots of high-flying action to balance the smart stuff.
This first volume closes with another superb full-length epic when ‘The Shrike Strikes at Midnight!’ as the trail of a super-powered winged bandit leads all over the world and on to the star system Mizar in a gripping tale of crime, super-villainy, aliens, revolutions and even dinosaurs.
Hawkman grew to be one of the most iconic characters of the second superhero boom, not just for the superb art but also because of a brilliant, subtle writer with a huge imagination. These tales are comfortably familiar but somehow grippingly timeless. Yet comics are a funny business; circumstances, tastes and fashions often mean that wonderful works are missed and unappreciated. Don’t make the same mistake readers did in the 1960s. Whatever your age, read these astounding adventures and become a fan. It’s never too late.
By Mizuho Kusanagi (TokyoPop)
ISBN: 978-1-5981-6829-7
This unassuming blend of romantic comedy and high fantasy sees young and cute Yayoi Suzuka assume her hereditary mantle as Earth’s pre-eminent mystic guardian and demon hunter (the 78th in her family line) just in time to bind Ura, a demon prince into the form of a cat (also cute) and make him her pet.
Despite her awesome powers and the 108 spirits that she controls, she’s still little more than a girl and as the forces of darkness line up to challenge her, she finds herself developing an unwanted relationship with Ura’s humanoid form (yeah, also cute). He reveals that demons are attracted to magical humans because they need to consume their energy, and swears that all he wants to do is eat her. But inside he’s conflicted…
As her demon-vanquishing career proceeds Yayoi discovers that there is civil war in the demon realm and that Ura has a sound reason for wanting her power. Moreover she still finds herself fighting demons but is it for Humanity’s sake or for her pet demon prince…?
A gentle RomCom, Mugen Spiral is very easy on the eye, but rather predictable, which won’t deter dedicated fans of the genre, but might disappoint a more casual or critical reader. This book is printed in the ‘read-from-back-to-front’ manga format.
By David S. Goyer, Geoff Johns & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-56389-937-X
Some books you can talk about, but with others it’s simply a waste of time. This is one of the latter. If you’re aware that the Justice Society of America was the industry’s first super-team formed to fight in World War II, and are now an organisation who regularly save the world whilst mentoring the next generation of superheroes, whilst the Justice League of America are the World’s Greatest Superheroes (and have all the characters who’ve appeared on TV and in movies) then you have all the background you need to read this wonderful example of fights ‘n’ tights fiction.
The JLA and JSA have gotten together to celebrate Thanksgiving when the alien conqueror Despero attacks them and the entire world by releasing the Seven Deadly Sins who promptly possess Batman, Power Girl, Mr. Terrific, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern, Plastic Man and Captain Marvel.
Can the remaining heroes defeat the sins without killing their friends, and save the world from total destruction? Of course they can, that’s the point. But seldom have they done it in such a spectacularly well written and beautifully illustrated manner.
This is a piece of pure, iconic genre narrative that hits every target and pushes every button it should. If you love superhero comics you should own this lovely book.
By Jim Starlin & Berni Wrightson (Marvel)
ISBN: 0- 87135-299-0
I can’t recall the last time Marvel published an all-original graphic novel as opposed to a collection, but not so very long ago they were a market leader in the field with an entire range of “big stories†told on larger than normal pages (285 x 220 mm rather than the now customary 258 x 168 mm) featuring not only proprietary characters but also licensed assets like Conan and even creator-owned properties like Jim Starlin’s Dreadstar.
This one is full-on Marvel Madness and a wonderfully comedic outing for two of the industry’s biggest names. Released in 1987 it teamed old friends and young turks Jim Starlin and Berni Wrightson on a big kids dream project as Marvel’s top monstrous strongmen the Hulk and the Thing are abducted by a cosmic civil servant of the Federation of Matriculon. He needs a couple of tough guys for a bit of Repo work.
Promised two wishes, good for anything their hearts desire, our bellicose heroes are tasked with recovering a fabulous new product (“Mall Addy’s Nutritional Big Changeâ€) from the worst monster on a world full of monsters.
Beautifully painted art and wicked, tongue-in-cheek humour garnish what is basically one great big fight comic. In the immortal words of Tiswas, “this is what they want!â€
Fast. Furious. Funny. This proves that – at least in comics – violence does solve some things! Fabulous!
By Mike Baron, Jeff Butler, Bill Reinhold & various (IDW Publishing)
ISBN: 978-1-6001-0129-8
During the huge creative outburst of the early 1980s a number of independent publishers sprang up with an impressive variety of high quality concepts and packages. One of the very best of these was Mike Baron’s captivating psycho-warrior The Badger. Originally part of the superb Capital Comics line (other class acts included Baron and Steve Rude’s Nexus and Steven Grant & Rich Larson’s Whisper) the series – all of them – were snatched up by highly perspicacious First Comics when Capital closed its publishing division to concentrate on distribution.
Norbert Sykes is a Vietnam veteran and expert in many forms of martial arts. On his return to Madison, Wisconsin after his tour of duty he is institutionalised for maiming some frat boys he caught torturing ducks in a park. In the asylum he meets an immortal Celtic wizard named Ham (full name Hammaglystwythkbrngxxaxolotl – and I only typed that to teach my spellchecker a lesson) and case worker Daisy Fields. Norbert has at least seven distinct personalities and can communicate with animals; Ham likes to cause trouble and Daisy… Daisy hates being patronised by imbeciles in positions of authority…
Recently awoken from a fifteen hundred year coma, Ham engineers his and Norbert’s release, hires Daisy as his assistant and uses his magic to amass real 20th century power – vast wealth. Deep down though the wizard is still the anarchic, amoral druid who plays with weather systems by spilling innocent blood…
And thus begins one of the strangest superhero comics ever crafted. Raw, rebellious, rambunctious and never conventional, this is an engaging and unique take on men in tights best described by the series own tag line ‘Put on a costume and fight crime? You’d have to be Crazy!’
This collection assembles the four Capital issues and the next two from pick-up publisher First and although there are few problems with the early colour reproduction, it’s a delight to see Madison’s Finest back on the shelves. Mike Baron has a profound love for Hong Kong cinema with its spectacular fights and impenetrable internal logic, and that “go with the flow†attitude is evident in this glorious, manic riot of comedy, sly commentary, frank character-play and all-out action.
After the necessary introductions of the first issue the narrative rockets along as the new associates set up house in the ugliest mansion in Wisconsin. Norbert resumes his career as a street vigilante, Ham plays nasty games with the eco-system and, from Tibet, agents from the ancient Society to Obliterate Sorcery come a-calling…
The second issue also featured a couple of vignettes – more shaggy-dog stories than actual adventures – by Baron, Rick Burchett, Charles Truog and Butler, and these provide some fine insights into the cast and characters.
The third issue ‘The Day the Comics Fell’ (pencilled by Burchett and inked by Dennis Wolf) is an action extravaganza that devolves into high satire when the Reverend Leopold Grabbitt hits town determined to save the “Chillun of Amercuh†from the sinful horrors of comic books. Would that his fate at the hands of Ham could be reproduced in the real world…
That issue was topped off by a further delving into the 4th Century origins of the weather wizard by Baron and Butler, and the last Capital issue deals with the repugnant world of dog-fighting in salutary and satisfactory fashion. The creators frequently used the comic as vehicle for satisfying scores – and more power to them!
At the end of the issue Badger was literally banished to Limbo and when First Comics picked up the series months later they first guested Norbert in the already established Nexus (issues #6-7). Unfortunately that tale isn’t reprinted here, but the action does pick up with issue #5. The Badger’s return to Earth coincides with Ham’s battle to save a 1600 year old tree from an energy conglomerate that plans to turn rural Wisconsin into an experimental Uranium refinery.
That battle takes the remaining two issues in this first volume (crafted by the new creative team of Baron, Bill Reinhold and Jeff Dee) and grippingly escalates into one of the strangest environmental campaigns of all time, but the resolution isn’t a comfortable ending and this volume ends on something of a cliffhanger, but that’s only a minor annoyance, isn’t it?
This is another big box of comics delight: frantic, captivating and deliciously habit-forming. If you crave angst-free, full-on fun and excitement The Badger is well worth tracking down.
Illustrated by Craig Cameron (Egmont)
ISBN: 978-1-4052-3750-5
One of the absolute best bits about being a comics fan – or any kind of collecting hobbyist – is the semi-obsessive thrill that comes from chasing a set. We’re all suckers for the thrill of hunting a missing number and that’s all the better if the book in question is a great read and visually memorable.
And it’s never too early to start. Roley and the Woodland Walk is a surprisingly well written book for the very young based on the popular TV series featuring the affable steamroller and all the animals in Sunflower Valley in a delightful comedy of errors, with sensible Bob once again having to come to the rescue.
Designed for small hands, the book is 34 pages plus covers and has 13 lavish, eye-catching full-page illustrations. It is number #5 in the Bob the Builder Story Library, cunningly enumerated on the spine, and has ads for the other titles in the back, just like all the best comics do (eight to collect, so far, kids!).
In our electronic, post-literate culture, kids need every aid and inducement to pick up the reading bug, and these lush little pictorials are a perfect primer for a life of reading comics and books. They’re also superbly well crafted and re-readable if you’re the adult having to narrate them at bedtime.
Edited by Marcus Morris (Mermaid Books)
ISBN: 0-7181-22119 (trade paperback) ISBN:0-7181-1566X (hardback)
A little hard to find but well worth the effort is this upbeat pictorial memoir from the conceptual creator of arguably Britain’s greatest comic. Eagle was the most influential comic of post-war Britain, and launched on April 14th 1950, running until 26th April 1969.
It was the brainchild of a Southport vicar, The Reverend Marcus Morris, who was worried about the detrimental effects of American comic-books on British children, and wanted a good, solid, Christian antidote. Seeking out like-minded creators he jobbed around a dummy to many British publishers for over a year with little success until he found an unlikely home at Hulton Press, a company that produced general interest magazines such as Lilliput and Picture Post.
The result was a huge hit spawning clones Swift, Robin and Girl which targeted other demographic sectors of the children’s market, as well as radio series, books, toys and all other sorts of merchandising.
A huge number of soon-to-be prominent creative figures worked on the weekly, and although Dan Dare is deservedly revered as the star, many other strips were as popular at the time, and many even rivalled the lead in quality and entertainment value.
At its peak Eagle sold close to a million copies a week, but eventually changing tastes and a game of “musical owners†killed the title. In 1960 Hulton sold out to Odhams, who became Longacre Press. A year later they were bought by The Daily Mirror Group who evolved into IPC. In cost cutting exercises many later issues carried cheap Marvel Comics reprints rather than British originated material. It took time but the Yankee cultural Invaders won out in the end…
With the April 26th 1969 issue Eagle was merged into Lion, eventually disappearing altogether. Successive generations have revived the title, but never the success.
Here Morris has selected a wonderfully representative sampling of the comic strips that graced those pages of a Golden Age to accompany his recollection of events. Being a much cleverer time, with smarter kids than ours, the Eagle had a large proportion of scientific, historical and sporting articles as well as prose fiction.
Included here are over 30 pages reprinting short text stories, cut-away paintings (including the Eagle spaceship), hobby and event pages, sporting, science and general interest features – and it should be remembered that the company produced six Eagle Novels and various sporting, science and history books as spin-offs between 1956 and 1960. Also on show are many candid photographs of the times and the creators behind the pages.
Of course though, the comic strips are the real gold here. Morris has selected 130 pages from his tenure on Eagle that typify the sheer quality of the enterprise. Alongside the inevitable but always welcome Hampson Dan Dare are selections from his The Great Adventurer and Tommy Walls strips.
Other gems include The Adventures of PC. 49 by Alan Stranks and John Worsley, Jeff Arnold in Riders of the Range, by Charles Chilton & Frank Humphris, Chicko by Norman Thelwell, Professor Brittain Explains…, Harris Tweed and Captain Pugwash by John Ryan, Cortez, Conqueror of Mexico by William Stobbs, Luck of the Legion by Geoffrey Bond & Martin Aitchison, Storm Nelson by Edward Trice & E. Jennings and Mark Question (The Boy with a Future – But No Past!) by Stranks & Harry Lindfield.
There are selections from some of the other glorious gravure strips that graced the title: Jack o’Lantern by George Beardmore & Robert Ayton, Lincoln of America by Alan Jason & Norman Williams, The Travels of Marco Polo by Chad Varah & Frank Bellamy, The Great Charlemagne and Alfred the Great (both by Varah & Williams).
Extracts from Bellamy & Clifford Makin’s legendary Happy Warrior and the less well known The Shepherd King (King David), run beside The Great Sailor (Nelson) by Christopher Keyes, as well as The Baden Powell story (Jason & Williams) and even David Livingstone, the Great Explorer (Varah & Peter Jackson), and the monochrome They Showed the Way: The Conquest of Everest by Peter Simpson & Pat Williams makes an appearance.
The book is peppered with nostalgic memorabilia and such joys as George Cansdale’s beautiful nature pages plus a host of cartoon shorts including the wonderful Professor Puff and his Dog Wuff by prolific Punch cartoonist David Langdon. Also included is The Editor’s Christmas Nightmare by Hampson, a full colour strip featuring every Eagle character in a seasonal adventure that is fondly remembered by all who ever saw it…
These may not all resonate with modern audiences but the sheer variety of the material should sound a warning note to contemporary publishers about the fearfully limited range of comics output they’re responsible for. But for us, it’s enough to see and wish that this book, like so many others, was back in print again.
