{"id":33406,"date":"2025-07-26T08:00:57","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T08:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=33406"},"modified":"2025-07-23T16:41:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T16:41:27","slug":"the-10000-disasters-of-dort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/07\/26\/the-10000-disasters-of-dort\/","title":{"rendered":"The 10,000 Disasters of Dort"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Mike Butterworth, Luis Bermejo<\/strong>, Jos\u00e9 Ortiz Moya<\/strong> & various (Rebellion)
\nISBN: 978-1-78618-949-3 (TPB\/Digital Edition)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for another sortie down memory lane for us rapidly diminishing oldsters, but hopefully opening a fresh, untrodden path for new fans of the fantastic seeking a typically quirky British comics experience.<\/em><\/p>\n

British comics have always enjoyed an extended love affair with what can only be described as \u201cunconventional\u201d (for which feel free to substitute \u201cbizarre\u201d or \u201ccreepy\u201d) stars. So many notional role models in our strips have been outrageous or just plain \u201coff\u201d: self-righteous voyeur\/vigilantes like Jason Hyde<\/strong>, sinister masterminds in the manner of The Dwarf<\/strong> or Black Max<\/strong>, arrogant ex-criminals like The Spider<\/strong> or outright racist overmen such as fearsome white ideologue Captain Hurricane<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

At first glance, prior to the advent of game changers Action<\/strong> and 2000AD<\/strong>, British comics seemingly fell into fairly ironclad categories. Back then, you had genial and\/or fantastic preschool fantasy; a large selection of licensed entertainment properties; action; adventure; war; school dramas, sports and straight comedy strands. Closer examination would confirm that there was always a subversive merging, mixing undertone, especially anarchic antiheroes like Dennis the Menace<\/strong> or our rather strained interpretation of costumed crime-busters. Just check out Phantom Viking<\/strong>, Kelly\u2019s Eye<\/strong> or early Steel Claw<\/strong> stories\u2026<\/p>\n

Following post-war austerity, the 1950s ushered in a comics revolution. With British printing and paper restrictions gone, a steady stream of titles emerged from companies new and old, aimed at the many different levels of childish attainment from pre-school to young adult. When Hulton Press launched Eagle<\/strong> in April 1950, the very concept of what weeklies could be changed forever. That oversized prestige package with photogravure colour was expensive, however, and when London-based publishing powerhouse Amalgamated Press retaliated, it was a far more economical affair. I\u2019m assuming AP only waited so long before the first issue of Lion<\/strong> launched (cover-dated February 23rd<\/sup> 1952) to see if their flashy rival was going to last. Lion<\/strong> – just like Eagle<\/strong> – was a mix of prose stories, features and comic strips and even offered its own cover-featured space-farer in Captain Condor – Space Ship Pilot<\/strong>. Initially edited by Reg Eves, Lion<\/strong>\u2019s 1156 weekly issues ran until 18th<\/sup> May 1974, when it merged with sister-title Valiant<\/strong>. Along the way, in the tradition of British publishing which had always subsumed weaker-selling titles to keep popular strips going, Lion<\/strong> absorbed Sun<\/strong> (1959) and Champion<\/strong> (1966) before going on to swallow Eagle<\/strong> itself in April 1969, with the result soon thereafter merging with Thunder<\/strong> (1971).<\/p>\n

In its capacity as one of the country\u2019s most popular and enduring adventure comics, the last vestiges of Lion<\/strong> only vanished in 1976 during Valiant<\/strong>\u2019s amalgamation with Battle Picture Weekly<\/strong>. Despite that demise, there were 30 Lion Annuals<\/strong> between 1953 – 1982, benefitting from our lucrative Christmas market, and combining original strips with historical prose adventures; sports, science\/general interest features; short humour strips and – increasingly from the 1970s – reformatted reprints from IPC\/Fleetway\u2019s back catalogue.<\/p>\n

Of course, our pictorial kids\u2019 stuff was always unlike any other kind: always enjoying -especially when \u201chomaging\u201d such uniquely American fare as masked superheroes – a touch of insouciant rebelliousness. Until the 1980s, UK comics employed an anthological model, offering variety of genre, theme and character. Humour vehicles like The Beano<\/strong> and Dandy<\/strong> were leavened by action-heroes such as Billy the Cat <\/em>or General Jumbo<\/em> whilst adventure papers like Smash<\/strong>, Hotspur <\/strong>or Valiant<\/strong> offered palate-cleansing gagsters including The Cloak<\/em>, Grimly Feendish<\/em>, Mowser<\/em> and sundry other titter-treats. Originally presenting a cosy fa\u00e7ade of genial comedic antics or school follies, cheery cowboys, staunch soldiery and moonlighting light entertainment stars, before long there increasingly lurked behind and below the surface dark and occasionally utterly deranged fantasy fare. These included marauding monsters and uncanny events upsetting a comfy status quo. Perhaps it was all just a national shared psychosis triggered by war, rationing, nightly bombing BUT NO SUCCESSFUL INVASION SINCE 1066, DAMMIT!…<\/p>\n

Over and over British oddness seemingly combined with or reacted to our long-standing familiarity with soft oppression, leading to stories of overwhelming, imminent conquest and worse. With our benighted shores existentially threatened, the response from entertainment sources was a procession of doughty resistors facing down doom from the deepest depths of perfidy and menace… especially from the stars. Moreover, thanks to an economic downturn and spiralling costs in publishing, the mid 1960s and 1970s were particularly wild and desperate for UK comics: inspiring a wave of innovation most fondly remembered for darkly off-kilter heroes, beguiling monsters and charismatic villains. The 10,000 Disasters of Dort<\/strong> pretty much ticks all those boxes.<\/p>\n

A trained artist, Mike Butterworth wrote for many comics titles: historical strips such as Buffalo Bill<\/em>, Max Bravo, the Happy Hussar<\/em>, Battler Britton<\/strong> and Billy the Kid<\/em> as well as the epic Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire<\/strong>. He simultaneously and latterly became a Crime and Gothic Romance novelist with more than 20 books to his assorted pen names. The 10,000 Disasters of Dort<\/strong> was simply another bread-&-butter B-feature assignment; albeit an extremely popular one that probably took off thanks not just to his terse, imaginative scripts and the tone of the times but also the astounding visual vivacity of its illustrators, Luis Bermejo and Jos\u00e9 Ortiz…<\/p>\n

The astoundingly gifted Luis Bermejo Rojo was a star of Spanish comics forced to seek work abroad after their domestic market imploded in 1956. He became a prolific contributor to British strips, working on a succession of moody masterpieces across many genres. These included The Human Guinea Pig<\/em>, Mann of Battle<\/em>, Pike Mason<\/em>, Phantom Force Five<\/em> and Heros the Spartan<\/strong>, in Girls Crystal<\/strong>, Tina<\/strong>, Tarzan Weekly<\/strong>, Battle Picture Library<\/strong>, Thriller Picture Library, Eagle<\/strong>, Buster<\/strong>, Boys World<\/strong>, Tell Me Why<\/strong>, Look and Learn<\/strong> and many more. Bermejo finally achieved a modicum of his long-deserved acclaim in the 1970s, after joining fellow studio mates Jos\u00e9 Ortiz, Esteban Maroto & Leopoldo Sanchez who all worked on adult horror stories for US magazines Creepy<\/strong>, Eerie<\/strong> and Vampirella<\/strong> and their Spanish spin-offs.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Ortiz Moya\u2019s 60 plus year career began after he won a contest in Spanish magazine Chicos<\/em><\/strong>. In the 1950s, he worked on digest strips for Editorial Maga, including Capitan Don Nadie<\/em><\/strong>, Pantera Negra<\/em><\/strong> and Jungla<\/em><\/strong>, and agency work saw him produce several strips for foreign publishers, particularly Britain. Here he memorably illustrated Caroline Barker, Barrister at Law <\/em>for The Daily Express<\/strong>; Smokeman <\/strong>and UFO Agent<\/strong> in Eagle<\/strong> magazine and The Phantom Viking<\/strong> in top seller Lion<\/strong>. Over the 1970s & 1980s Ortiz worked on several popular British strips including The Tower King<\/em> and House of Daemon<\/em> for the new Eagle<\/strong>, Rogue Trooper<\/strong>, The Helltrekkers<\/strong> and Judge Dredd<\/strong> for 2000 AD<\/strong> and The Thirteenth Floor<\/strong> for Scream!<\/strong> This last was another stunning horror-show Ortiz co-created with John Wagner & Alan Grant. Whilst doing all of this work on UK kid\u2019s comics, in the US Ortiz was also working on – and is arguably best known for – stories for Warren\u2019s Eerie<\/strong> and Vampirella<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Here the meat of the matter is enthralling episodes delivering a stunning nostalgia-punch via Rebellion\u2019s superb Treasury of British Comics<\/strong> imprint, collecting a seminal sci fi shocker unleashed on the \u201cJuvenile Boys\u2019 periodical\u201d as the print equivalent of Saturday night at the movies…<\/p>\n

This slim tall tome gathers the original saga as played out in Lion<\/strong> from 18th<\/sup> May to 23rd<\/sup> November 1968, and also includes the altered ending added when the saga was rerun eight years later. Rebellion have spared readers from redundancy by only adding the episodes from Lion<\/strong> for 11th<\/sup> & 18th<\/sup> May 1974, but have also kindly included pertinent items from Lion Annuals <\/strong>for 1970 & 1971; ta very much…
\n\"\"
\nThe premise is simple and effective, as decades from \u201cnow\u201d on March 18th<\/sup> of super-advanced year 2000 AD, the last great Atlantic liner HMS Royalty approaches New York City, only to see the mega metropolis crumble to ruin before succumbing to disaster herself. Scientists around the world rally to investigate and Cambridge Professor Mike Dauntless<\/em> discovers that all the steel for 50 miles around the city had become like rubber…<\/p>\n

His rash deduction that Earth was under attack from space is confirmed 24 hours later as a colossal crystal cylinder materialises outside Moscow and a giant extraterrestrial calling itself Ratta, Dictator of Dort<\/em> serves notice to humanity. With its own world doomed to expire in 50 years, Ratta intends to move his subjects to Earth. The resident population can move or endure 10,000 manufactured super-science generated trials and terrors that will sufficiently depopulate the region and thin the herd…<\/p>\n

Responding to the sadistic ultimatum, Dauntless determines to foil or counter each \u201cdisaster\u201d, and is soon called to Paris to destroy rampaging giant vines erupting from the sewers, consequently gaining a teen sidekick in newly orphaned Gaston<\/em>…
\n\"\"
\n… And that how the drama proceeded with Mike & Gaston plus occasional local co-stars countering or at least stalling each of smugly gloating Ratta\u2019s doom ploys, and facing the best and worst of human behaviours as society crumbles. The star assaults include enlarging beasts and birds in Melbourne, drenching Britain with waves of hatred turning the population into marauding murderers by tainting the nations favourite tipple and dropping irresistible superweapons into the greedy hands of desert bandits in Central Arabia. In every instance Dauntless manufactures solutions at the risk of his life, never having time enough to stop, think, anticipate or plan a counter attack…<\/p>\n

As Mike leads a spirited ground defence of Cairo, Ratta ups the stakes with a global attack that neutralizes electricity and follows up with a new ice age before teleporting to Earth and walking amongst embattled humanity to enjoy the agonies of his victims. The Dictator of Dort also infiltrates Mike Dauntless\u2019 team with a view to ending the world\u2019s resistance in one stroke, but shoots himself in the scaly foot after playing chess to decide humanity\u2019s fate… and losing…<\/p>\n

Temporarily stalled but undeterred, Ratta resumes his attacks by unleashing a billion bugs on Bavaria and going on to inundate Earth in ants, after which the alien turns the unchecked power of the sun upon the world. This Ninth Disaster necessitates Mike & Gaston seeking a solution in orbit and when they are posted as lost in space, newly-appointed alien attack tsar Tom Burley<\/em> is quickly overwhelmed when men and women begin devolving into brutes and beasts…
\n\"\"
\nConvinced of victory, Ratta declares the war over and orders all Dort to be evacuated and sets forth for the newly conquered territory, but the Dictator has made a grievous error…<\/p>\n

With Earth ultimately saved, the feature ended, but under approved kids\u2019 comics protocols was rerun after five years. Editorial policy dictated the entire readership would change approximately every 4 to 5 years as they grew older and sought other entertainments. Deemed still of interest despite the time required for a complete turnover of readership the Disaster unfolded again but with a new more relevant conclusion. Included here are the two new episodes commissioned and tacked on to the run which spanned 22nd<\/sup> December 1973 to May 4th<\/sup> 1974.<\/p>\n

Sadly we don\u2019t know wrote or drew the instalments for 11th<\/sup> & 18th<\/sup> May, and can only assume who was responsible for complete yarn \u2018Plague of Locusts\u2019<\/em>: a comics sidebar story set in the same continuity as the main story included Lion Annual 1970<\/strong>, which would have been published in autumn 1969.<\/p>\n

Here, Dauntless & Gaston aid London\u2019s war against massive marauding monster locusts and learn that not all threats to humanity originated on Dort, before Lion Annual 1971<\/strong> provides a tantalising text feature by artist and writers unknown asking \u2018Do You Believe in Flying Saucers?<\/em> and gathering in evidence a number of documented close encounters.
\n\"\"
\nAlso on view is s stirring Cover Gallery, Creator biographies <\/em>and an always-welcome excerpt from Siegel & Bunn\u2019s The Spider\u2019s Syndicate of Crime vs. The Crook from Space<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

An exciting, engaging, done-in-one delight that\u2019s undemanding and rewarding is a rare treat these days. If that appeals, this is what you want. What you really, really want…
\n\u00a9 1968, 1970, 1971, 1974 & 2023 Rebellion Publishing IP Ltd. All Rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mike Butterworth, Luis Bermejo, Jos\u00e9 Ortiz Moya & various (Rebellion) ISBN: 978-1-78618-949-3 (TPB\/Digital Edition) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. It\u2019s time for another sortie down memory lane for us rapidly diminishing oldsters, but hopefully opening a fresh, untrodden path for new fans of the fantastic seeking a typically quirky … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The 10,000 Disasters of Dort”<\/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":[191,42,239,225,127,107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-best-of-british","category-drama","category-mystery","category-nostalgia","category-science-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8GO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33406","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=33406"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33413,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33406\/revisions\/33413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}