{"id":19213,"date":"2018-11-07T09:00:35","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T09:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=19213"},"modified":"2018-11-06T14:57:36","modified_gmt":"2018-11-06T14:57:36","slug":"black-max-volume-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2018\/11\/07\/black-max-volume-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Max volume 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\"\"
\nBy Frank S. Pepper<\/strong>, Ken Mennell<\/strong>, Eric Bradbury<\/strong>, Alfonso Font<\/strong> & various (Rebellion Studios)
\nISBN: 978-1-78108-655-1<\/p>\n

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Astounding Air Ace Action\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s time for another sortie down memory lane for us oldsters and, hopefully a new, untrodden path for fans of the fantastic in search of a typically quirky British comics experience.<\/p>\n

This stunning paperback (and eBook) package is another stunning nostalgia-punch from Rebellion’s superb and ever-expanding Treasury of British Comics<\/strong>, collecting all episodes of seminal shocker Black Max<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The strip debuted in the first issue of Thunder<\/strong> and ran the distance – spanning October 17th<\/sup> 1970 – 13th<\/sup> March 1971. It then survived cancelation and merger, continuing in Lion & Thunder<\/strong> until that magazine finally died.<\/p>\n

This book carries those stories, beginning with March 20th<\/sup> up to May 8th<\/sup> 1971 and the period perils are rounded out with a brace of longer yarns taken from Lion & Thunder<\/strong> Holiday Special<\/strong> 1971 and Thunder Annual<\/strong> 1972. These eerie enthralments are preceded by a warmly reminiscent Introduction<\/em> from Font that adds a very human dimension to the freaky flying thrills.<\/p>\n

The series is typical of the manner in which weekly periodicals functioned back then: devised by screenwriter, veteran Editor and ubiquitous scripter Ken Mennell (Cursitor Doom<\/strong>, Steel Claw<\/strong>, The Spider<\/strong> and so many more) with the first episode limned by the company’s star turn for mood and mystery Eric Bradbury (Invasion<\/strong>, The Black Crow<\/strong>, Cursitor Doom<\/strong>, Hookjaw<\/strong>, House of Dolman<\/strong> and dozens more). Then the whole kit and kaboodle was handed off to another team to sink or swim with, which they did until 1974: a most respectable run for a British comic<\/p>\n

The attrition rate of British comic strips bore remarkable similarities to casualty figures\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

This particular serial was well-starred: the developing writer was the legendary Frank S. Pepper. He’d begun his professional comics career in 1926 and by 1970 had clocked up a few major successes such as Dan Dare<\/strong>, Rockfist Rogan<\/strong>, Captain Condor<\/strong>, Jet-Ace Logan<\/strong> and Roy of the Rovers<\/strong> to name but a very, very few.<\/p>\n

Even the series illustrator Alfonso Font – a relative newcomer – was a ten-year veteran, albeit mostly for European publications. Based in Spain, he worked not just for Odhams\/Fleetway but on strips for US outfits Warren and Skywald and on continental classics such as Historias Negras<\/em><\/strong> (Dark Stories<\/strong>), Jon Rohner<\/strong>, Carmen Bond<\/strong>, Bri D’Alban<\/em><\/strong>, Tex Willer<\/strong>, Dylan Dog<\/strong> and more\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Because of the episodic nature of the material, generally delivered in sharp, spartan 3-page bursts, I’m foregoing my usual self-indulgent and laborious waffle and leaving you with a pr\u00c3\u00a9cis of the theme\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and what a cracker it is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

In 1917 the Great War is slowly being lost by Germany and her allies and in the Bavarian schloss of Baron Maximilien von Klorr<\/em>, the grotesque but brilliant scientist and fighter ace has devised a horrific way to tip the scales back in favour of his homeland\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

His ancient family have long had an affinity with bats and the mad man has bred a giant version that will fly beside him to terrify and slaughter the hated English\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The only problem is that his beloved monsters are vulnerable to gunfire so he must keep that as a most secret weapon\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

That scheme is imperilled on a weekly basis by thoroughly decent young Brit Tim Wilson<\/em>. A former performer in a peacetime flying circus, the doughty lad is possibly the best acrobatic flyer on the Western Front and narrowly escapes his encounter with the colossal chiropteran\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Of course, he cannot convince his superiors of the fearsome bio-weapon’s existence, but the Baron knows he’s out there and devotes an astonishing amount of time and effort to killing the lad – when not butchering Allied fliers and ground troops in vast numbers.<\/p>\n

As the cat-&-mouse game escalates, both men suffer losses and achieve victories but the odds seem to shift after von Klorr finally manages to mass-produce his monsters, supplemented by ever more incredible inventions like his flying castle\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Most strikingly, some of Tim’s most fervent support comes from the ordinary German soldiers enslaved to the Baron’s vile program\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

As previously stated, this initial collection also includes two longer, complete stories from seasonal specials. The first comes from Lion & Thunder<\/strong> Holiday Special<\/strong> 1971: an extra-sized summer treat which revealed how crashed English aviator Captain Johnny Craig<\/em> experienced a night of extreme terror in the bio-horror filled home of Black Max, whilst Thunder Annual<\/strong> 1972 revealed how Captain Rick Newland<\/em> of the Royal Flying Corps sought bloody revenge for the brutal bat-winged butchery of his comrades\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

These strip shockers are amongst the most memorable and enjoyable exploits in British comics: smart, scary and beautifully rendered. This a superb example of war horror that deserves to be revived and revered.
\n\u00c2\u00a9 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 & 2018 Rebellion Publishing Ltd. Black Max and all related characters, their distinctive likenesses and related elements are \u00e2\u201e\u00a2 Rebellion Publishing Ltd. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Frank S. Pepper, Ken Mennell, Eric Bradbury, Alfonso Font & various (Rebellion Studios) ISBN: 978-1-78108-655-1 Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Astounding Air Ace Action\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 9\/10 It’s time for another sortie down memory lane for us oldsters and, hopefully a new, untrodden path for fans of the fantastic in search of a typically quirky British comics … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Black Max volume 1”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[42,66,132,93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-of-british","category-horror-stories","category-older-kids","category-war-stories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-4ZT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19213\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}