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This is a sort of quick check catalogue of what BTCG has to offer as the UKs biggest publisher of black and white comics. The link to the online store is here (or click on the cover of a book you want more info on): http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/hoopercomicsuk Paperback: £4.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Victorian conjurer and man of mystery and deception, Chung Ling Soo has been marked for death by a Chinese Tong that never fails to get its man. So will Chung be able to escape death long enough to… More > Paperback: £4.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Its a world where if you stand up for what is right you’ll be lucky if its just a beating you get. A world where people are starving (if poor) and the rich live in luxury. A world where you have to… More > Paperback: £3.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days You like your comics a bit weird? A bit surreal? You like a comic with good art?
A comic that makes you think “WTF??” Jemma Webster’s AUTOPSIA is for you.
Adults only. Paperback: £4.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days John Tempus, a world travelling adventurer travels by ship to Gull Island, a desolate place on which stands an ancient, war-scarred tower, left to him by an uncle he never knew. An uncle that he soon… More > Paperback: £10.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days From Dead Aquatic (Humanoid) Creatures, the giant squid and yet undiscovered sea creatures;submarine and ships crews encountering true leviathans. Extinct animals at sea that have been re-discovered… More > Paperback: £3.50 Dispatched in 3–5 business days This is it! The final showdown with Zeitgeist -but with heroes already dead can D-Gruppe and the other heroes stop the world destroyer?? Plus -Kopfmann’s first appearance before D-Gruppe and the… More > Paperback: £10.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Follow-up to the hugely successful Some Things Strange & Sinister. For those interested in Ufology,cryptozoology,hominology,unusual natural history,ghosts and mysteries in general. The secret… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Each year Black Tower likes to bring you a little bit of extra horror/ghostly goodness in Tales of Terror. In the third volume there are contributions by Ben R. Dilworth -Krakos and Merriwether. … More > Paperback: £6.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days What can you possibly say about John Erasmus? He is a very under-rated artistic genius. And Dervish Ropey? One of the great action/adventure characters to emerge from the UK in the last 25 years… More >  Paperback: £10.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Up-dated 2011 edition includes section on sarcoptic mange in foxes and treatment plus a list of wildlife sanctuaries and rescue centres in the UK. By the 1700s the British fox was on the verge of… More > Paperback: £6.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Previously available as two seperate volumes and now collected into one 146 pages volume! Vol 1 Centaur -the short-lived publishing house of some of the first and most unique Golden Age heroes that… More > MAEVE By Terry Hooper & David Gordon
Paperback: £8.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Maeve longs for the exciting, fast-paced life of the big city. However, she has a greater destiny ahead of her (see The Darke Child). While travelling on a train, Maeve is attacked by a servant of… More > eBook (ePub for Adobe Digital Editions): £4.99 From a huge selection of interviews covering the Small Press,Independent Comics from the UK,Europe and US,here are a few of the best from over 25 years. Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days This is it! The pulse pounding, bullet riddled, high octane finale to the first Purple Hood series since 1967! Ben R. Dilworth guides the generational Purple Hood line from era to era fighting Great… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days The second part of Ben Dilworth’s Purple Hood trilogy shows just how crime and international terror ought to be handled -with gloves. Not “kiddy gloves” of appeasement but Purple gloves of… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days The First part of a new series! How do you follow up Return Of The Gods? “The Cross Earths Caper” is how! in the final part Xendragon confronts the Legacy of Frankenstein. And there are… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days It began during the 1500s and The Dutch Wars. A man donned a purple hood and vowed to be Englands protector at whatever cost. Generation after generation of the Britton family have taken on the… More >  Paperback: £2.50 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Paul Ashley Brown, renowned co-creator of the 1980s cult Vigilante Vulture and in more recent years the Browner Knowle series and Laurie Bird (amongst others), wrote and drew a weird and disturbing… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days The Silvermaigne line is said to go back to the time of the Ancient Britons. Silvermaignes ancestors were part of a druidic clan based in the great forest that is today known as Leigh Woods,… More > Paperback: £2.50 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Ben Dilworth returns with twelve illustrated text stories of horror and the ghostly introduced by none other than The Phantom Detective and guest starring Exndragon! Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days A Fan Project. The Owl. Created by Frank Thomas in 1940 for Crackajack Funnies:this book contains three Golden Age stories including the rare first appearance of Owl Girl plus the rare 1967 Owl Man… More > Paperback: £2.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Osaka Brutal. Illustrated Japanese Haiku by a very tall Englishman living in Osaka, Japan Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days He was the first British comics investigator of the supernatural. Dene Vernon -Man Of Mystery! Dene Vernon gets his first adventure in 60 years. Set in the late 1940s, Vernon is recovering from a… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Yes! Now at issue 6 and bringing you more lost strips of the British Golden Age of Comics. There’s a collection of strips featuring non other than TNT Tom and one of the weirdest UKGA characters -the… More > Paperback: £3.50 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Now gathered at The Place Of The Gods, D-Gruppe meet heroes from other worlds that have been attacked or face attack by the Zeit-Geist. Sent to seek out the enigmatic being, the group realises that… More > Paperback: £2.50 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Five previously lost strips from the 1980s found and cleaned up for 2011! Earthquakes, nuclear meltdowns,TV scandals, unemployment. The depressing thing is that over 20 years later these strips are… More > Paperback: £3.50 Dispatched in 3–5 business days It’s all change as, after the events of issue 1,the new D-Gruppe are suddenly confronted by strange phenomena and equally strange abductors. But can the new line-up deal with the worlds-shattering… More >  Paperback: £2.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days In a world with ever increasing population and food resources being stretched to the limit unemployment is a major problem. A drastic solution is needed. Ben Dilworth delivers a warning and is back… More > Paperback: £2.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Once a very tall man in Japan decided to do a version of Aesop’s Fables that he could read to his young daughter. He wrote it, illustrated it and decided that it was too “dark” for a little… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Yes! It’s 80 page Giant time! The final chapter in Return Of The Gods:Twilight Of The Super Heroes! Thaddeus Twatt faces the Ultimate Crystallid! The Purple Hood versus The flame! Whatever Happened… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Germanys first super team created in the 1970s when there were no German created super heroes. D-Gruppe first saw print in the 1980s in this story “The Revenge Of The Ice Queen” written… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Marvel, Timely, Atlas, Charlton, ACG, MLJ/Archie Dennis the Menace (US) -one man published them all. Alan Class. Who? Class is legendary for bringing black and white reprints of US comics to a… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days It’s the penultimate part of RETURN OF THE GODS:TWILIGHT OF THE SUPER HEROES and on Earth and in space heroes confront the invading Boarmen! Kotar and Sabuta try to have a quiet night in… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Originally drawn back in the 1980s, this story of the coming out of two life long friends has never been properly published. Up-dated for 2011 with story and pencils by Terry Hooper and inks by Ben… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days The follow-up to the hugely successful Dilworth’s Western Yokai is here! Text accompanied by some superb illustrations by Ben Dilworth of supernatural beings interwoven in Japanese culture such as… More > Paperback: £10.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days After more than 30 years as an investigator and more than forty as a naturalist,the author has opened some of the many files he has accumulated dealing with such things as.. The Terrifying EventsAt… More > Paperback: £3.50 Dispatched in 3–5 business days In the 1940s, deep in the South American jungles, Rodney Dearth,inventor and adventurer, is searching for the lost explorer Percy H. Fawcett and City Z. Then he hears the stories that terrify his… More >  Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Krakos takes care of some burglars! The Purple Hood deals with a suicide banker! Kotar & Sabuta rescue a young woman in Antarctica,the action gathers pace in Return Of The Gods. Thaddeus… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Things get grim as heroes begin to fall and the truth is realised in Return Of The Gods:Twilight Of The Super Heroes part 3. Lady Sivana and Tarot help Kotar & Sabuta tackle a nasty lycanthrope… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Ben Dilworth is back! And in this one-off he recounts his favourite stories of ghosts,demons and other Western Yokai -all accompanied by Dilworth’s stylish illustrations! This is fun and quirky at… More > Paperback: £8.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Tom Elmes,one of the UKs most under-rated comic artists has produced a must buy for fans of horror,zombies or the two combined with science fiction! Only one prisoner aboard a space craft awakes from… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Chung Ling Soo. World’s greatest conjurer and said to be an American stage magician in disguise. Or was he? In this story,Chung Ling Soo is called in by Scotland Yard to investigate a gruesome… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days At the end of Merriwether:Gods Demon-Thumper,the Reverend had been confronted by Satan and as a consequence lay fatally injured. Star of 1980s comics,Benjamin R. dilworth,takes us through the… More > GoBo By Terry Hooper-Scharf Paperback: £3.50 Dispatched in 3–5 business days GoBo -He’s Pink! He’s Pan-dimensional. As he’d/it would say: Go toho jo ko li lo yo to-po! The Small Press best seller of 2009 is resized and reprinted along with a whole new Go Bo as he explains… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Meet Finlands own mystical hero -Kapteeni Kuolio or,if you prefer English:Captain Gangren! Learn about the terror of The Machine! “What is the meaning of This?” Find out. The… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Tom Elmes,one of the most under-rated British comic creators began drawing comics back in the 1980s and earned the title “King of the Zine Nasty”! This book contains a whole new True… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Things begin to pick up apace as Thaddeus Twatt and Tomas go on foot to explore Friggia. The mystery and action continue in Return Of The Gods:Twilight Of The Super Heroes. We learn why using… More >  Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days It’s back! Twenty-eight years ago the digest sized Black Tower Adventure first appeared featuring some later-to-be top UK talents and the title was put on hiatus in 2007. Now it’s… More > Paperback: £7.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days The fourth volume of this series features some great finds of the lost era of British comics: Ace Hart The Atom Man Captain Comet -Space Ranger TNT Tom Clive Lynn -Space… More > Paperback: £7.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days William McCail’s 1940 classic is reprinted for the first time in 60 years. If you are into British Golden Age comics or early comics in general this is for you. Robert Lovett rises from the… More > Paperback: £7.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days The second collection of British 1940s comic strips featuring Maxwell The Mighty,Slicksure,Iron Boy, Alfie,Ace Hart and more. Featuring the work of Alf Farningham and Harry Banger. Specifically… More > Paperback: £7.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days This is the third volume in Black Tower Comics’ collection of Golden Age British comic strips that have not seen print for 50-60 years! Included in this volume is a bumper crop of Ace Hart:The… More > Paperback: £7.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days For the first time in 60 years some of the lost gems of the British Golden Age of Comics are reprinted! Scanned and cleaned to the best standard possible -see The Phantom Raider,Ace Hart,Secrets Of… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days The complete Merriwether series,originally published in Black Tower Adventure and A Little Midnight Horror–but with three strips never before published:including the Reverend’s battle… More > Paperback: £6.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days If you have any interest in history or the development by the pioneers of hot-air ballooning,including the first use of parachutes in the 1800s,then this collection of articles by John Lea from 1905… More > Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days In 1941,The Bat sets about modernising the backward Duchy of Stahl,over which his dynasty has ruled since 1410 A.D.. The Bat is soon involved in experiments with the infamous Count Cogliostro. One of… More > Paperback: £6.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days The main feature,”The Curse Of The McQuilligans”, starring Xendragon,leads off this collection of horror, ghostly and twist-in-the-tail stories. The classic Torch Of Vengeance is a tale of… More >  Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Created by William A. Ward for Swan Comics in the 1940s,Krakos was one of Ward’s supernatural anti-hero types. Used,with Swan’s permission,in Black Tower Adventure strips in the… More > Paperback: £8.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Only two issues were published of The Adventures of Mark Tyme. As with the companion title,The Purple Hood,the artist was Michael Jay who has since faded into obscurity. Join Mark Tyme on his Paperback: £5.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days Metapsychophysics meets comics. Its the next natural evolutionary step in comic books! For the first time all three parts of the highly acclaimed Dr. Morg Trilogy are combined into one volume:WORDS… More > Paperback: £8.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days It was the Swinging Sixties! Britain was hip as hip could be -The Beatles ruled Pop! And everyone was looking toward a bright future…if there wasn’t a nuclear war! Middle Eastern… Paperback: £10.00 Dispatched in 3–5 business days
From a huge selection of interviews covering the Small Press,Independent Comics from the UK,Europe and US,here are a few of the best from over 25 years.
Having worked, as usual, through Christmas I’m glad to say that I am up to page 156 of the new book - Strange & Sinister: A Naturalists viewpoint.What’s in the book? Well, a huge chaptter looking at what Ufologists call “Light Wheels” at sea, USOs, Sea monsters, giant squid and all things oceanic. I also take a look at Sasquatch from gathering hard evidence down to the Patterson-Gimlin footage of 1967.I’ll also be looking at the whole “star child” hoax. A few other things I’m working on but the book should be available February-March if the Mayans predicted its release correctly. The other books are still available: Paperback, 202 pages maps, photographs Ships in 3–5 business days
Up-dated 2011 edition includes section on sarcoptic mange in foxes and treatment plus a list of wildlife sanctuaries and rescue centres in the UK. By the 1700s the British fox was on the verge of extinction and about to follow the bear and wolf having been hunted for sport for centuries. The answer was to import thousands of foxes per year for sport. But foxes kept dying out so jackals were tried. Some were caught, some escaped. Even wolves and coyote were released for hunting.
The summation of over 30 years research reveals the damnable lie of “pest control” hunting but also reveals the cruelty the animals were subject to and how private menageries as well as travelling shows helped provide the British and Irish countryside with some incredible events. The Girt Dog of Ennerdale is also dealt with in detail.
Some Things Strange & Sinister | maps, photographs & illustrations | Ships in 3–5 business days After more than 30 years as an investigator and more than forty as a naturalist,the author has opened some of the many files he has accumulated dealing with such things as.. The Terrifying EventsAt The Lamb Inn,The Ghosts Of All Saints Church,Dead Aquatic Creatures of Canvey Island,captured bigfoot like creatures in India -all exclusively presented for the first time and with new added research previously unseen. PLUS a vastly expanded section on Spring-heeled Jack! Photographs,maps,line drawings and up-dated to make 358 pages looking at Things truly Strange and Sinister. Cryptozoologist,Ghost Hunter,Ufologist or Fortean:this book has something for everyone -including the just plain inquisitive!
Hello and here is wishing all of you out there a Merry Christmas and great 2012 (unless the Mayas got it right in which case we’re all stuffed)! There are currently three new releases from BT Comics and they are: John Erasmus Paperback, A4 B&W 95 pages Ships in 3–5 business days What can you possibly say about John Erasmus? He is a very under-rated artistic genius. And Dervish Ropey? One of the great action/adventure characters to emerge from the UK in the last 25 years apart from Denizen Ark (which also happens to be an Erasmus creation). Join Dervish on his latest adventure and kick yourself if you never got a copy of The Maximin Sword!  TALES OF TERROR 3 B.R. Dilworth, P.A. Brown, Darron Northall etc. Paperback, A4 62 pages B&W Ships in 3–5 business days Each year Black Tower likes to bring you a little bit of extra horror/ghostly goodness in Tales of Terror. In the third volume there are contributions by Ben R. Dilworth -Krakos and Merriwether. While Paul Ashley Brown brings us the tales of The Worlds Best Mom and revisits his fear of trees! Darron Northall and Danny Jenkins bring us the horrific tale of Bud and Lou Go To Hell while George McQueens The Bat deals out justice and Art Wetherell’s one pager is designed to make men wince! And, preparing for a big 2012 event, Terry Hooper-Scharf finally includes issue 1 of The Paranormals to make this a true horror/ghost fest book! Yes, Tales of Terror 3 is out now and you can order via the blog roll link. D-Gruppe 4 b&w Comic Album (A3) £3.50 Ships in 3–5 business days This is it! The final showdown with Zeitgeist -but with heroes already dead can D-Gruppe and the other heroes stop the world destroyer?? Plus -Kopfmann’s first appearance before D-Gruppe and the origin of The Mummy -and a new feature The D-Gruppe Fact File. You want more???? You ain’t getting it! Now, these are all at the usual “just published” discount. For 2012 three new prose books are planned: Strange & Weird -A Naturalists Viewpoint as well as The Naturalist At Home and one big project we are not telling anyone about yet! Comic-wise, Black Tower Adventure will continue and, to celebrate the past couple decades or so we’ll be up-dating and republishing the origin tale of no less a personnage than Chronos: Watchman. Illustrated by Ben Dilworth and based on Terry Hooper’s 1983 origin strip. another one-off from BTCG. There is more in the way of Dilworth work for 2012 including the Dark Night Detectives (so plenty of violence and harsh words from the Big Man). Fingers crossed that the long-awaited Krakos versus The Bat one off will appear around May. Ahh, but which Bat you ask?? There is more news but I’m worried you’ve eaten too much trifle and might get over excited and vomit. So, relax…you’ll read about it all soon enough! And I’m off for a two day stay with Donald Hamilton and an interview to follow…I hope! Ebenezer Hooper
I would like to say an even more special THANK YOU to all of the regular CBO visitors who have made Comic Bits Online the top site for Independent comics, the Small Press and comics in general! You’ve all broken the counter at times but I love you all! And another THANK YOU for those of you who have been visiting t6he Blogger site that will eventually take over from this one. Thank you (yesterday 5378 visits!). Now, though I don’t do Christmas -off with you and enjoy your Christmas and New Year fun!! Terry
A bit of a treat again this week. The front page of The Comet (published by J. B. Allen) in 1947. Sadly, trying to get a hold of weekly issues or even a collection of scans of weekly comics/strips from this period seems to be near impossible so my thanks to "Jimpy" for this clearer version of the murky scan I have. I think sticking with "Jungle Lord" works better than "Dick". Good to see Bibi, though -British jungle lords tended not to have many female companions. A note. PLEASE, I know a LOT of people are visiting this site and I'd very much like to know what you think of the articles or strips posted here. Thanks.   Derek has been in touch regarding an obituary for Mick Anglo:
“An obituary has been written about Mick Anglo by a Marvelman friend of mine, Pádraig Ó Méalóid, and he has sent me the link to the Forbidden Planet site where he has placed it. The link is”
It is a good tribute though I do disagree with Padraig’s final summation of Anglo who DID influence many creators, kids and the UK industry. 
Derek Wilson (The Marvel Comics archivist indexer who put together the Marvel Man Finest/Young Marvelman/Marvel Man Classic volumes)has just informed me that the legendary Mick Anglo died on Oct 31st 2011, aged 96. Born on the 19th June, 1916, Maurice Anglowitz, Mick later went on to be a mainstay of the home grown British comic industry reprinting French strips in English and exporting English strips to Europe. 
There can be little doubt that his most famous creation was Marvel Man –a character that replaced Fawcetts Captain Marvel reprints in his books. So much has been written about the later history, its twists and turns, and all have taken focus off of what the strip was –FUN! Hopefully he enjoyed some of the benefits of the sell off to Marvel Comics recently. There is an interview by Derek and Roger Dicken in Alter Ego magazine #87.
Condolences go to his family. Tempus fugit
STEVE DOWLING INTERVIEW Around 1999, I had an email from the grandson of Steve Dowling who was living in Canada. I learnt that Steve had been bumped out of his job simply because he had reached 65 years of age (only in the UK!). He then spent many years living off a poor pension. Steve had no original art from his newspaper strip days to show his family -it’s why I was contacted because of my British Comic Books Archive project. Apparently the family had asked the Daily Mirror newspaper if it could just get some photocopies of the pages for themselves. No. They asked then editor Piers Morgan (can I spit?) who basically responded that he had no time to waste of dumb comic strips (his hatred of them is well recorded). I lost the email from the family when my old computer blew. IF Steve’s family in Canada read this then I have Garth strips I can offer on share file. But now, the interview: 
Published in ‘Ally Sloper’ #1, 1976, and reprinted in ‘Comic Bits’ #1, 2001. Denis Gifford conducts an on-stage interview at ‘Comics 101′ on 20 March 1976 with Garth creator Steve Dowling, who died in 1986. STEVE: I might say that it’s been more than worthwhile to come all this way, because I thought nobody knew me any more, let alone thought me worthy of an award! Everybody’s been so kind to me and said so many nice things that I’ve really been rather overwhelmed by it all. Thank you very much, everyone. DENIS: Well, we’ll get on to the British newspaper strip, which you were almost solely responsible for. You worked under several different names and different styles. How did it all start? STEVE: It started by my going riding with a friend who did a strip called ‘Tich’ in the Daily Mirror, the ideas for which were supplied by my brother, Frank. Coming back from this event, rather full of liquor, unfortunately there was a car accident and the artist, Martin, died. And so I had to step into his shoes and was plummeted into the strip business in a rather shaky condition, having gone through the roof of a car! ‘Tich’ ran for some years. [from 1931 - DG] 
DENIS: But you were an artist before this? STEVE: I was in advertising. As a matter of fact, I was at the time Assistant Art Director for Dorland Advertising at the age of 24. I gave up my job at Dorland’s because I could do ‘Tich’ in one day a week – there were very few lines in the thing, very slick little drawings – and then I could go down by the seaside and put my feet up for the rest of the week, which was very nice indeed! DENIS: There were strips in the Mirror before ‘Tich’, ‘Dud’ and ‘Jinks’ and so on – but after ‘Tich’ strips seem to blossom. 
STEVE: Well, old Guy Bartholomew who was chairman of the Mirror was mad hot about strips. Having been an artist himself he regarded the strips as the main part of the paper. His opinion was that most people couldn’t read, anyway, and liked looking at pictures! DENIS: What was the genesis of ‘Ruggles’, your first real strip? 
STEVE: I think having seen American continuity strips. I got the idea for this character ‘John Ruggles’, an ordinary chap, and my brother who had quite a gift for humorous writing,wrote the words. In point of fact I think ‘Ruggles’ was the first continuity strip to appear in a national daily. The others were all daily incidents. The idea of having a serial story run in picture form was new in this country, although, of course, it had been done in America. I remember Cecil King, who was rather small-fry then, always wanted me to make ‘Ruggles’ build a shed in his garden, because his 14 year-old son had suggested the idea! If I had taken King’s advice ‘Ruggles’ garden would have been so stiff with sheds that he wouldn’t have been able to move! DENIS: Did you sit down and create ‘Ruggles’ as the average man with an average family? STEVE: Very average! In fact we were trying to write down to the readers, a thing one should not do! Trying to make the strip as like the family life as we could. After a time my brother gave it up – he became the editor of the Picture Post instead – and I took it over. I tried to strengthen the storyline and some of the humour went out of it.  Steve Dowling receiving an Ally Sloper award from Denis Gifford and Bob Monkhouse at Comics 101
DENIS: Why did you sign it with a pseudonym: ‘Ruggles – by Blik’? STEVE: Oh, that was just a short name like: ‘Tich – by Dart’. DENIS: And: ‘Belinda Blue Eyes – by Gloria’? STEVE: Oh, I was just one of a long line of Glorias! That was actually written in the first place by Bill Connor, who later became Sir William, ‘Cassandra’. He wrote it to order for Bartholomew the chairman. Everybody took a hand in those days. Basil Nicholson, the editor, who was the man who re-modelled the Mirror, his idea of having a comic strip was to have a different person every day slipping on a banana skin. One day a clergyman, the next day a policeman; he thought that was the level of public understanding. DENIS: Later ‘Ruggles’ featured the public actually in the strip. How did that unique series come about? STEVE: They thought the strip was flagging a bit and Philip Zec, who was then the strip editor, asked me to come up with a twist. Well, Wilfred Pickles on the radio was then ‘Meeting the People’ and I thought I would try this in strip form. I took some roughs into Zec, who didn’t think much of the idea. He took it to the chairman, and next day I got a telegram from Zec: “Please draw some more along the lines I suggested.” Well, I did, and Zec got into trouble for claiming it was his idea – it became the chairman’s idea! But I must say that the idea eventually reverted to me – when they found that the series didn’t go down very well!! DENIS: Why did ‘Ruggles’ come to an end? STEVE: Well, they felt it wasn’t pulling. They asked for letters and, of course, more people will write and say they don’t like a thing than those who do, so ‘Ruggles’ went. DENIS: And so, we come, at last to Garth. How and why did he begin? STEVE: I had been writing and drawing ‘Belinda . . .’ and not enjoying it very much. Then they found another artist, Tony Royle, to take it on, so they asked me to produce another strip in order to justify my salary. It took me about three months to think up Garth and draw the first three weeks’ strips. The chairman thought that was rather too long – so he docked my pay! 
DENIS: Did you set out to create a British equivalent to ‘Superman’? STEVE: No, ‘Terry and the Pirates’ was my great influence, if anything. I was rather interested in Tibet, and the Forbidden City, and the magic that was there. For instance, in the beginning Garth was resuscitated by the ‘kiss of life’ from a rather attractive young woman called Gala. Well, the ‘kiss of life’ was not known here then, but I had read about it in a book on Tibet. DENIS: Garth was a man of mystery. Did you have a solution in mind from the start? STEVE: Oh, no. I had no solution at all. I had no more idea who Garth was than the reader! DENIS: One mystery was that Garth drifted in from the sea, and there is no sea around Tibet! STEVE: Artistic licence! DENIS: Another striking feature was the constantly bared bosom of one of Garth’s girlfriends. STEVE: One had to fight to show a little in those days. DENIS: A “little”? I’d call it a lot! I suppose the exposure was very calculated? STEVE: Oh yes. I certainly enjoyed drawing it. DENIS: Why did you stop drawing Garth? STEVE: I had to. I was freelance up to 1949. Then I joined the staff to get a pension, and when I reached the age of 65 I had to go. That was the rule, so I went.  Self drawn illo for Ally Sloper Magazine.
143 pages Paperback £7.00 Ships in 3–5 business days Previously available as two seperate volumes and now collected into one 146 pages volume! Vol 1 Centaur -the short-lived publishing house of some of the first and most unique Golden Age heroes that still live on in legend today! The Eye Sees! Truly weird and bizarre! The Clock! Airman! The Sparkler! The Blue Lady! Plymo! The Arrow! And others. Volume 1 is a treat for all Golden Age comic fans and a must have! Volume 2 The Skull,The Shark,The Blue Lady and Amazing Man! These were part of the First Wave of US Golden Age comics that also includes Mini Midget and Mighty Man. This book also reprints the one and only appearance of the very first comic book Owl from 1940! A must for comic fans and Golden Age buffs!
Hooper & Wetherell A4 b&w Paperback 85pp £8.00 STRICTLY ADULT ONLY Ships in 3–5 business days Almost a millennium ago, two women from different classes fell in love and carried on a passionate affair. Jayne was a brunette Saxon princess with a reputation for dabbling in witchcraft. Marian was a blonde, Norman peasant girl. They were meant to be lovers forever and to fulfil a prophecy. and to allow this, a wizened witch cast an ancient spell. In future lives, in future centuries, the pair were destined to meet again and again. 2 Hot Girls on a Hot Summer Night was an erotic, four-issue mini-series created by Terry Hooper and Art Wetherell for Eros Comics in 1991. It became a huge seller but the trilogy only saw part 1 and 2 completed…until now. For adults only, this is part 1 of the trilogy which includes MAEVE and the never before revealed final story in The Darke Child. Terry Hooper & David Gordon A4 Paperback b&w 87pp £8.00 STRICTLY ADULTS ONLY Ships in 3–5 business days Maeve longs for the exciting, fast-paced life of the big city. However, she has a greater destiny ahead of her (see The Darke Child). While travelling on a train, Maeve is attacked by a servant of The Dark Disciple but is rescued in time by none other than M and J (Two Hot Girls On A Hot Summers Night). The duo have been guided there by the goddess and Maeve takes refuge with them. “Communing” with a pagan witch wasn’t enough and, under M and Js tutelage, Maeve finds herself in Otherworld and becoming lover of the goddess herself. Drawn by “The British Manara”, David Gordon, this book abounds in adult adventures in bondage and much much more. STRICTLY ADULTS ONLY
Art Wetherell & Terry Hooper A4 Black and white 99 pages Paperback £8.00 ADULTS ONLY Ships in 3–5 business days Published by Eros Comix in 1997, Sizzlin’ Sisters continued the company’s line of books aimed directly at the adult market. Each issue, Sizzlin’ Sisters puts the spotlight on erotic tales featuring the sexual exploits of women with each other. There are various plot devices of sorts that are used to place the women in, shall we say “compromising positions,” of which they happily, of course, take full advantage. The use of large panels, isn’t just to succeed in making sure that the reader has little doubt with regard to the action that is taking place in the story, this series was based on the original Two Hot Girls script written and rejected by Terry Hooper. Here, for the first time, are all the issues in one volume. STRICTLY FOR ADULTS ONLY!!!
 Adventure 7 various 60pp A4 paperback B&W £5.00!!!
The First part of a new series begins this issue! How do you follow up Return Of The Gods? “The Cross Earths Caper” is how!Zom the Mystic calls upon Earths heroes to help out those on another Earth and, against their better judgement, some of those still active after the Gods saga agree. Part 1:”The Ages Of Swing, Pop and Techno” In the final part Xendragon confronts the Legacy of Frankenstein and has to re-assess some of his old beliefs. But with a cracked Frankenstein creating creatures and a werewolf on the loose will Xendragon survive? And there are tragic consequences for Thaddeus Twatt in the final part of The Jungle Planet.Any dry eyes left at the end of this tale will belong to heartless swine! Silvermaigne tracks down a vampyre. The Thinker over thinks. And more. This is The Black Tower Age Of Comics! http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/adventure-7/17143438?productTrackingContext=author_spotlight_338105_  Purple Hood 3 (of 3) Ben R. Dilworth Black Tower A4 Paperback B&W 27pp £5.00 This is it! The pulse pounding, bullet riddled, high octane finale to the first Purple Hood series since 1967! Ben R. Dilworth guides the generational Purple Hood line from era to era fighting Great Britains enemies and hinting at future possibilities. The hit comic of 2011 This is it! The pulse pounding, bullet riddled, high octane finale to the first Purple Hood series since 1967! Ben R. Dilworth guides the generational Purple Hood line from era to era fighting Great Britains enemies and hinting at future possibilities. http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/purple-hood-3-rule-britannia/17277095?productTrackingContext=author_spotlight_338105_ The hit comic of 2011  Purple Hood 2 (of 3):Glory Ben R. Dilworth Black Tower A4
Paperback 27pp
B&W
£5.00 The second part of Ben Dilworth’s Purple Hood trilogy shows just how crime and international terror ought to be handled -with gloves. Not “kiddy gloves” of appeasement but Purple gloves of justice and retribution! We see the Hood finally closing in on the European warlord responsible for the deaths of aid workers in a massacre. Whether at Home of Abroad the Purple Hood cannot be beaten… …and sales figures agree!
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-purple-hood-2glory/17272613?productTrackingContext=author_spotlight_338105_  Purple Hood 1 (of 3):Land Of Hope Ben R. Dilworth Black Tower A4 Paperback 25pp b&w £5.00
It began during the 1500s and The Dutch Wars. A man scarred while thwarting the Dutch invasion plans dons a purple hood and vowed to be Englands protector at whatever cost. Generation after generation of the Britton family have taken on the role. The cost has been heavy but not one Purple Hood has ever bemoaned this. The 1960s incarnation was one of many to wear the hood and in this first of a three part series, Ben Dilworth explores the past and present of the Purple Hood and what it takes to wear that hood. this is non-stop action and adventure! http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-purple-hoodland-of-hope/16789044?productTrackingContext=author_spotlight_338105_ The first original Purple Hood comic since 1967. Seriously, “2-4 days” to get a tech problem THEY created sorted out..but that was 26th AUGUST. It is now the 18th September and despite daily emails -nothing. The Authors Spotlight page THEY moved me to still has multiple listings over 10 pages. The page keeps re-arranging itself. Books vanish but some do return. Some do not. I got a review in a national magazine of The Red Paper. I’ve had lots of emails asking why its not available and the magazine has had 20 emails asking the same thing. Its hit-or-miss if you find it on search. Placed a trial order this morning -”No content available”. So I’ve lost coming up to £400 in sales. Lost. I doubt after weeks of trying anyone is going to be interested in trying again. So, lulu.com is still UTTER CRAP in dealing with “its” authors problems. THIS POSTING IS ALSO GOING TO MY FIVE OTHER BLOGS AND ALL OF MY YAHOO AND OTHER GROUPS I RUN. AWFUL CUSTOMER SERVICE REQUIRES GOOD PUBLICITY.
Thanks to the total lack of support from lulu.com, who seem to want to break the “wait-a-month” for help record, I’m listing all the books here and the links will take you to the ordering page. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE AUGUST/SEPTEMBER COVER PRICE REDUCTION ENDS 30th SEPTEMBER AS DO THE LIMITED NUMBER OF BOOKS AVAILABLE AS DOWNLOADS -SO ORDER BEFORE THEN! COMICS & COMIC ALBUMS Black Tower Adventure 1 Ships in 3–5 business days It’s back! Twenty-five years ago the digest sized Black Tower Adventure first appeared featuring some later-to-be top UK talents and the title was put on hiatus in 2007. Now it’s back,bigger and better than ever! Part 1 of the mega Return Of The Gods:Twilight Of The Super Heroes comes in at 43 pages! Thaddeus Twatt In The Twatt-Verse -first part of a truly microscopic titanic tales [which makes sense if you read it!]. Kotar & Sabuta race to face The Deadly Dilemma Of Sigismund Benfriggisund! The cold war between China and Russia couldn’t get any hotter as The Phoenix Team stumble into the evil Salamander’s plan. And more? Of course. Comics ARE Fun! Add to Basket Black Tower Adventure 2 Ships in 3–5 business days Things begin to pick up apace as Thaddeus Twatt and Tomas go on foot to explore Friggia. The mystery and action continue in Return Of The Gods:Twilight Of The Super Heroes. We learn why using reptilean DNA to replace human limbs might not be a good idea. The Crimson Cowl packs a punchline. Kotar & Sabuta confront…the Ghost We learn the deadly secret of Yucca Plants. And there is much,much more -at a bargain price! Add to Basket BLACK TOWER ADVENTURE 3File Download, PDF Format Things get grim as heroes begin to fall and the truth is realised in Return Of The Gods:Twilight Of The Super Heroes part 3. Lady Sivana and Tarot help Kotar & Sabuta tackle a nasty lycanthrope problem. Will Thaddeus Twatt and Tomas escape The Fearful Fate Of Friggia? Ben Dilworth provides not one -not two -THREE Purple Hood strips. Is there more? Can there possibly be more? YES!!!!! Add to Basket Black Tower Adventure 4 Ships in 3–5 business days Krakos takes care of some burglars! The Purple Hood deals with a suicide banker! Kotar & Sabuta rescue a young woman in Antarctica,the action gathers pace in Return Of The Gods. Thaddeus Twatt and nephew Tomas land on The Jungle Planet -and it looks as though this could be their deaths! The Thinker decides that thinking alone can get a little boring while one of China’s Phoenix Team has to deal with..well,you’ll see! What more could you ask for?! Add to Basket Black Tower Adventure 5 Ships in 3–5 business days It’s the penultimate part of RETURN OF THE GODS:TWILIGHT OF THE SUPER HEROES and on Earth and in space heroes confront the invading Boarmen! Kotar and Sabuta try to have a quiet night in but..well… Xendragon (see Tales of Terror 1)investigates the Legacy of Frankenstein. Thaddeus Twatt and Tomas are held by the Crystallids and we hear of their origins. Lord of the Flies teaches a very naughty boy a lesson. The Iron Warrior rushes to the rescue down the Amazon way whiile The Bat (II) and Reverend Merriwether, God’s Demon Thumper put in an appearance. Its 60 pages of Black Tower Action! Add to Basket Black Tower Adventure 6Yes! It’s 80 page Giant time! The final chapter in Return Of The Gods:Twilight Of The Super Heroes! Thaddeus Twatt faces the Ultimate Crystallid! The Purple Hood versus The flame! Whatever Happened To Mark Tyme? Atomic Tommy! Dr Sorrow! And the origin of Runestone! It’s 80 pulse-pounding pages of graphic delineation! Add to Basket ADVENTURE 7 Ships in 3–5 business days The First part of a new series! How do you follow up Return Of The Gods? “The Cross Earths Caper” is how! in the final part Xendragon confronts the Legacy of Frankenstein. And there are tragic consequences for Thaddeus Twatt in the final part of The Jungle Planet. Silvermaigne tracks down a vampyre. The Thinker over thinks. And more. This is The Black Tower Age Of Comics! The Tall Trees Ships in 3–5 business days Paul Ashley Brown, renowned co-creator of the 1980s cult Vigilante Vulture and in more recent years the Browner Knowle series and Laurie Bird (amongst others), wrote and drew a weird and disturbing strip for a Black Tower anthology. No way was this being hidden amongst other strips. Here it is in all its lush black and white goryness! Silvermaigne:Knight Ghoul Hunter Ships in 3–5 business days The Silvermaigne line is said to go back to the time of the Ancient Britons. Silvermaignes ancestors were part of a druidic clan based in the great forest that is today known as Leigh Woods, overlooking the River Severn entering (today) Bristol. All the members of the tribe had white hair from birth and they were known as the mwng arian (Silver Manes). Even the druids bowed to their knowledge of demons, spirits and things of the darkness. But at a point several centuries ago the family split and took two paths -one embraced magik for its own fight against evil. For the first time Ben Dilworth looks at this branch of the family and what one of them endures to keep the fight Holy! THE OWL -MASTER OF THE NIGHT Ships in 3–5 business days A Fan Project. The Owl. Created by Frank Thomas in 1940 for Crackajack Funnies:this book contains three Golden Age stories including the rare first appearance of Owl Girl plus the rare 1967 Owl Man and Owl Girl in their own comic. Black and white,text features and more. DENE VERNON THE THING BELOW Ships in 3–5 business days He was the first British comics investigator of the supernatural. Dene Vernon -Man Of Mystery! Dene Vernon gets his first adventure in 60 years. Set in the late 1940s, Vernon is recovering from a previous case when he is called upon to investigate mystery deaths in London dockland. Despite the assistance of one of the Silvermaigne family, famous werewolf, demon and vampire hunters, it looks as though the threat of Lorimed may be the Man of Mystery’s last…. Add to Basket Merriwether:God’s Demon-Thumper Ships in 3–5 business days The complete Merriwether series,originally published in Black Tower Adventure and A Little Midnight Horror–but with three strips never before published:including the Reverend’s battle with the ultimate Evil! From The Horror Of Hob Street to The Village Of Demons and Varney the Vampyre to The Fallen Angel himself,see how one Church of England vicar deals hard-fisted [and various spiked objects] justice to the ungodly…and the ultimate price!!! If you were into Charlton Horror Comics or any horror comic then this one is for you! Add to Basket Merriwether:The Test Of Satan Ships in 3–5 business days At the end of Merriwether:Gods Demon-Thumper,the Reverend had been confronted by Satan and as a consequence lay fatally injured. Star of 1980s comics,Benjamin R. dilworth,takes us through the fleeting seconds before death as Merriwether has flash backs showing just why he took on the career he did. Be prepared for horror and a little tongue-in-cheek humour. Horror fans will love this. Add to Basket Chung Ling Soo 1 Ships in 3–5 business days Chung Ling Soo. World’s greatest conjurer and said to be an American stage magician in disguise. Or was he? In this story,Chung Ling Soo is called in by Scotland Yard to investigate a gruesome series of deaths -all amongst a party who discovered a Jade Dragon statuette in China. Is the statuette cursed -and can Chung stop any other deaths? Story by Terry Hooper-Scharf Art by Gavin Ross Let the Deception Begin! Add to Basket D GRUPPE 1File Download, PDF Format Germanys first super team created in the 1970s when there were no German created super heroes. D-Gruppe first saw print in the 1980s in this story “The Revenge Of The Ice Queen” written and pencilled by Terry Hooper-Scharf and inked/lettered by Ben R. Dilworth. The back-up strip is Deutscher Michael in “Carnival of Death” by John Erasmus. Add to Basket D GRUPPE 2 Ships in 3–5 business days It’s all change as, after the events of issue 1,the new D-Gruppe are suddenly confronted by strange phenomena and equally strange abductors. But can the new line-up deal with the worlds-shattering menace of Zeit Geist? First part of the Zeit Geist story arc. Add to Basket D-Gruppe 3Now gathered at The Place Of The Gods, D-Gruppe meet heroes from other worlds that have been attacked or face attack by the Zeit-Geist. Sent to seek out the enigmatic being, the group realises that something is wrong -and Zeit-Geist strikes from within! Add to Basket DIM EVENINGFive previously lost strips from the 1980s found and cleaned up for 2011! Earthquakes, nuclear meltdowns,TV scandals, unemployment. The depressing thing is that over 20 years later these strips are still up-to-the-minute! Add to Basket The Purple Hood CollectionIt was the Swinging Sixties! Britain was hip as hip could be -The Beatles ruled Pop! And everyone was looking toward a bright future…if there wasn’t a nuclear war! Middle Eastern threats,Eastern European fascists,flying saucer flying megalomaniacs and super mole machines and others threatened our little island. But we had the ultimate answer to these:The Purple Hood -International crime-smasher! Michael Jay’s Purple Hood now collected into over a hundred pages of action and text back-up. This is THE ultimate collection! Add to Basket The Purple Hood:Land Of Hope Ships in 3–5 business days It began during the 1500s and The Dutch Wars. A man donned a purple hood and vowed to be Englands protector at whatever cost. Generation after generation of the Britton family have taken on the role. The cost has been heavy but not one Purple Hood has ever bemoaned this. The 1960s incarnation was one of many to wear the hood and in this first of a three part series,Ben Dilworth explores the past and present of the Purple Hood and what it takes to wear that hood. this is non-stop action and adventure! Journey Of The ID:The Dr Morg TrilogyMetapsychophysics meets comics. Its the next natural evolutionary step in comic books! For the first time all three parts of the highly acclaimed Dr. Morg Trilogy are combined into one volume:WORDS WITHIN WORLDS,AFTER ORWELL and the final explosive THE DEATH OF DR. MORG! Add to Basket The Job Interview Ships in 3–5 business days In a world with ever increasing population and food resources being stretched to the limit unemployment is a major problem. A drastic solution is needed. Ben Dilworth delivers a warning and is back on great frorm with his latest one-off! Add to Basket Liz & Jen Ships in 3–5 business days Originally drawn back in the 1980s, this story of the coming out of two life long friends has never been properly published. Up-dated for 2011 with story and pencils by Terry Hooper and inks by Ben R. Dilworth Add to Basket Black Tower Presents 1 Ships in 3–5 business days Tom Elmes,one of the most under-rated British comic creators began drawing comics back in the 1980s and earned the title “King of the Zine Nasty”! This book contains a whole new True Stories feature and a rare Elmes interview from 1990. Like good art,good story and a bit of violence -here you go! Add to Basket Black Tower Presents 2:DESCENT Ships in 3–5 business days Tom Elmes,one of the UKs most under-rated comic artists has produced a must buy for fans of horror,zombies or the two combined with science fiction! Only one prisoner aboard a space craft awakes from stasis alive. All the others are dead..well,the living dead! Can the lone surviving prisoner and the guards survive the zombie onslaught? Who knows -but we can tell you this is the most zombie fun you’ll get outside of the Resident Evil movies!! Add to Basket The Ultimate Centaur CollectionPreviously available as two seperate volumes and now collected into one 146 pages volume! Vol 1 Centaur -the short-lived publishing house of some of the first and most unique Golden Age heroes that still live on in legend today! The Eye Sees! Truly weird and bizarre! The Clock! Airman! The Sparkler! The Blue Lady! Plymo! The Arrow! And others. Volume 1 is a treat for all Golden Age comic fans and a must have! Volume 2 The Skull,The Shark,The Blue Lady and Amazing Man! These were part of the First Wave of US Golden Age comics that also includes Mini Midget and Mighty Man. This book also reprints the one and only appearance of the very first comic book Owl from 1940! A must for comic fans and Golden Age buffs! Add to Basket The Iron Warrior Vs Big BongIn the 1940s, deep in the South American jungles, Rodney Dearth,inventor and adventurer, is searching for the lost explorer Percy H. Fawcett and City Z. Then he hears the stories that terrify his native bearers. There is a city -guarded by Big Bong! But Dearth is not afraid -he has his own creation to protect him -THE IRON WARRIOR! Ben Dilworth continues the adventures of the Iron Warrior, created by William A. Ward,presenting an action romp featuring one of the UKs most violent characters -tongue firmly in cheek. We think! Add to Basket GoBoGoBo -He’s Pink! He’s Pan-dimensional. As he’d/it would say: Go toho jo ko li lo yo to-po! The Small Press best seller of 2009 is resized and reprinted along with a whole new Go Bo as he explains Einstein’s Universe in Sub-Dogonian! Be part of the Go Bo craze! Add to Basket THE BAT TRIUMPHANT! Ships in 3–5 business days In 1941,The Bat sets about modernising the backward Duchy of Stahl,over which his dynasty has ruled since 1410 A.D.. The Bat is soon involved in experiments with the infamous Count Cogliostro. One of these experiments involves suspended animation;The Bat deciding he will be the test subject. When he wakes,The Bat finds that not days have gone by but 51 years! Worse,his kingdom is in ruins and an enclave of Kamora. The Bat tries politics to win back his homeland and when that fails he decides to fight for it! However,he is unaware that some old,and new,enemies are lying in wait to stop him and all of them want one thing:The Bat dead! Originally a back up strip in Black Tower Adventure in 1994,The Bat proved very popular as an anti-hero. The story was never completed. It is now. New edition -added art pages Krakos -Sands Of Terror!Created by William A. Ward for Swan Comics in the 1940s,Krakos was one of Ward’s supernatural anti-hero types. Used,with Swan’s permission,in Black Tower Adventure strips in the 1980s/1990s,this is the character’s first solo outing. But will Krakos fulfill the Goddess Isis’ dream and become the new pharoah of a New Egyptian Kingdom that will encompass all of the Middle East? Did anyone actually ask Krakos? The book contains information on Ward and his work plus sample pages rescued after 60 years of neglect! Add to Basket Black Tower British Gold Collection 1 Ships in 3–5 business days For the first time in 60 years some of the lost gems of the British Golden Age of Comics are reprinted! Scanned and cleaned to the best standard possible -see The Phantom Raider,Ace Hart,Secrets Of The Super Sargasso Sea,Phantom Maid,Electrogirl,Skybolt Kid,Wonder Boy,Dene Vernon,Professor Atom and many,many others! Its fun and action all the way -The British Golden Age shines through! Black Tower British Gold Collection 2 Ships in 3–5 business days The second collection of British 1940s comic strips featuring Maxwell The Mighty,Slicksure,Iron Boy,Alfie,Ace Hart and more. Featuring the work of Alf Farningham and Harry Banger. Specifically designed to feature more humour than the previous volume this should be a treat for all comic collectors. Reprinting the full content of The Meteor and The Rocket Comics from 1948. Add to Basket Black Tower British Gold Collection 3 Ships in 3–5 business days This is the third volume in Black Tower Comics’ collection of Golden Age British comic strips that have not seen print for 50-60 years! Included in this volume is a bumper crop of Ace Hart:The Atom Man strips and an article on the character. A complete 1949 comic in Smugglers Creek;Denis Gifford’s Search For The Secret City and science fiction legend Bryan Berry’s rendition of Kid Carter -Teenage Tec! A must for all comic collectors and historians. Add to Basket UK GOLD COLLECTION 4 Ships in 3–5 business days The fourth volume of this series features some great finds of the lost era of British comics: Ace Hart The Atom Man Captain Comet -Space Ranger TNT Tom Clive Lynn -Space Reporter Superstooge “The White Gorilla” Atomic Tuffy Cast Iron Chris Sigord and many others! Add to Basket Black Tower Gold 5:Back From The Dead Ships in 3–5 business days William McCail’s 1940 classic is reprinted for the first time in 60 years. If you are into British Golden Age comics or early comics in general this is for you. Robert Lovett rises from the dead and finds he has some startling powers:deaths follow,as does a determined Scotland Yard detective determined to track down the mysterious killer! Add to Basket Black Tower Gold 6 Ships in 3–5 business days Yes! Now at issue 6 and bringing you more lost strips of the British Golden Age of Comics. There’s a collection of strips featuring non other than TNT Tom and one of the weirdest UKGA characters -the Iron Boy. Ever heard of Ingy Roob? Or his pet “Stretchy”? You will have if you read this issue. How about Dennis M. Readers Cat Girl? Two other UK comics are reprinted in full, both from 1946 and the only issues ever published:Lucky Dice and The Fudge. Black Tower -keeping UK comics history alive! Tower Tales Of TerrorThe main feature,”The Curse Of The McQuilligans”, starring Xendragon,leads off this collection of horror,ghostly and twist-in-the-tail stories. The classic Torch Of Vengeance is a tale of a wife’s rather Gothic vengeance while Graveyard is a cautionary tale for those curious to look into graves! Demons,time travel and much more. Add to Basket Tales Of Terror 2 Ships in 3–5 business days Meet Finlands own mystical hero -Kapteeni Kuolio or,if you prefer English:Captain Gangren! Learn about the terror of The Machine! “What is the meaning of This?” Find out. The Thinker..thinks! David Gordon brings us the first appearance of Callex -and she’s on a quest. And what happens if you Marry A Monster From Outer Space? Terror and fun the Black Tower way! Add to Basket The Adventures Of Mark Tyme CollectionOnly two issues were published of The Adventures of Mark Tyme. As with the companion title,The Purple Hood,the artist was Michael Jay who has since faded into obscurity. Join Mark Tyme on his time travelling adventures to Roman Britain,the Stone Age,a pirate island,9th century Britain,outer space and other destinations. Add to Basket Illustrated Prose Dilworths Aesop’s Fables Ships in 3–5 business days Once a very tall man in Japan decided to do a version of Aesop’s Fables that he could read to his young daughter. He wrote it, illustrated it and decided that it was too “dark” for a little girl. In England, a bearded gnome got a copy and published it. True story. Add to Basket DILWORTH WESTERN YOKAIBen Dilworth is back! And in this one-off he recounts his favourite stories of ghosts,demons and other Western Yokai -all accompanied by Dilworth’s stylish illustrations! This is fun and quirky at the same time. Add to Basket Dilworth’s Japanese YokaiThe follow-up to the hugely successful Dilworth’s Western Yokai is here! Text accompanied by some superb illustrations by Ben Dilworth of supernatural beings interwoven in Japanese culture such as “Kappa” the Water Monster; “Azuki Arai”;”Kuchi Saki Onna” (the Big Mouth Woman) and others. Into ghost stories or ghost comics then this will suit you to a terror! Add to Basket Dilworth’s Horror & Ghost Stories Ships in 3–5 business days Ben Dilworth returns with twelve illustrated text stories of horror and the ghostly introduced by none other than The Phantom Detective and guest starring Exndragon! The Amazing World Of Alan Class Ships in 3–5 business days Marvel, Timely, Atlas, Charlton, ACG, MLJ/Archie Dennis the Menace (US) -one man published them all. Alan Class. Who? Class is legendary for bringing black and white reprints of US comics to a country starved of the medium thanks to a certain war! From 1959-1989 Suspence, Sinister, Astounding and Uncanny gave us a comic fix for a few pennies. Learn more about the man and how Class Comics came about in the long awaited print version of Terry Hooper’s exclusive interview! Add to Basket Osaka Brutal Ships in 3–5 business days Osaka Brutal. Illustrated Japanese Haiku by a very tall Englishman living in Osaka, Japan Add to Basket Cruisers In The CloudsIf you have any interest in history or the development by the pioneers of hot-air ballooning,including the first use of parachutes in the 1800s,then this collection of articles by John Lea from 1905 and illustrated by H. J. Hodges,is for you. Add to Basket The Hooper Interviews Ships in 3–5 business days From a huge selection of interviews covering the Small Press,Independent Comics from the UK,Europe and US,here are a few of the best from over 25 years. Add to Basket Some Things Strange & Sinister Ships in 3–5 business days After more than 30 years as an investigator and more than forty as a naturalist,the author has opened some of the many files he has accumulated dealing with such things as.. The Terrifying EventsAt The Lamb Inn,The Ghosts Of All Saints Church,Dead Aquatic Creatures of Canvey Island,captured bigfoot like creatures in India -all exclusively presented for the first time and with new added research previously unseen. PLUS a vastly expanded section on Spring-heeled Jack! Photographs,maps,line drawings and up-dated to make 358 pages looking at Things truly Strange and Sinister. Cryptozoologist,Ghost Hunter,Ufologist or Fortean:this book has something for everyone -including the just plain inquisitive! Add to Basket Some More Things Strange & Sinister Ships in 3–5 business days Follow-up to the hugely successful Some Things Strange & Sinister. For those interested in Ufology,cryptozoology,hominology,unusual natural history,ghosts and mysteries in general. The secret history of gorillas -before they were ‘discovered’. Wild men of Europe, the UK and US. Hominology. Giant snakes. Amazons. The Giant serpent of Carthage. Girt Dog of Ennerdale. The Beast of Gevaudan. Crocodiles in the UK. Silent City of Alaska. And much more. Updated with extra pages and photographs. Add to BasketWILDLIFE
 Not a Sunday Rant but a Tuesday and very, very ***** off rant. According to lulu.com and ‘my’ Authors Spotlight I have 93 books spread over 10 pages. Let me explain. I had a storefront. There are 49 books –comic albums, prose and even Haiku. On the 26 th August I got an “email reminder” from lulu.com that they were moving me to an Authors Spotlight (I had no choice apparently) and my store front would be closed. Now, I check my Spam folder EVERY time I see something is in there so that’s several times a day but there was never ever any initial message from lulu.com about this change over. Also, I went through all the lulu.com emails in my folders. Not a word about this. So, I clicked on the link to my store front and…found a mess. My link was taking me to an Authors Spotlight. So, I went back to the lulu.com message and used THEIR link to my store front –same result. I found that I could not alter the look of the pages (!). I could add profile info, and image and a banner. I did those and since the 26 th August have had to do this several times –two witnesses last time! Also, Italian text keeps popping up!!!! My books are listed 2-3 times over the 10 pages, some times on the same page. Books that were in my store front have also vanished. If I search on my site I can find the books –customers cannot. So I pointed out the problem to lulu.com –hey, they changed things over so they needed to put things right. I got the usual “we’ll get back to you in 2-4 days”. From day 6 on I emailed every day pointing out every new problem to them. Not a single response. My wildlife book: Red Paper has been reviewed by the British Naturalists Association and another publication. I’ve been getting emails asking why I’ve withdrawn certain books that people tried to order? I have not. They are on lulu.com but not showing to customers. Today, 13 th September, I’ve had 10 emails from people who wanted to order the Red Paper –that is ten £10 orders -£100. I’m finally getting more and more people trying to buy but they can’t. I checked the site –its re-formatted itself AGAIN. Books are missing again. Suddenly TWO emails from lulu.com show up. Phew. They are going to sort things out? No. BOTH state that they’ll get back to me in “2-4 days” but point out they are busy so it might be longer. This should take it up to the one month since ****** up point. Meanwhile, I am losing customers and money. Something no publisher can afford. “Delete the extra copies?” I can’t. To do that I need to delete the book and as far as I know its delete one –delete all. What is the point of all this? I’ve had a number of problems with lulu.com before but I’ll not go into those here. I’m working 7 days a week, 365 days of the year –no kidding:my last holiday was when Chernobyl went up so mid 1980s? I promote, promote, produce new books and publicise and…people can’t buy them. NEVER EVER, if you have any choice, choose lulu.com to publish books through. Go anywhere else because until they get their act together its not worth the pain. And if a certain person writes to say they are a lulu.com author and have always found them trouble free and very quick to act –I have your ISP address from the last three times when I searched for this “author” but he was nowhere on lulu.com. Now, I’m off to prepare a complaint to the Better Business Bureau.
SUNDAY 18th SEPT 11am – 4.30pm Entry £3 RAMADA HOTEL
( opp Ealing Common Tube Station ) In association with
 Sponsored by
 -  SUNDAY 18th SEPT 11am – 4.30pm Entry £3 RAMADA HOTEL
( opp Ealing Common Tube Station ) 
A SPECIAL EXPO ONE SHOT! Contact comicexpo@hotmail.co.uk With Guests MIKE CAREY
DAVID HINE
JOHN HIGGINS
RIAN HUGHES
SALLY HURST
ROGER LANGRIDGE COMIC EXPO EALING is delighted to host a very special DC LAUNCH Signing with PAUL CORNELL who will be signing copies of his STORMWATCH & DEMON KNIGHTS 1st issues!   
COMIC EXPO is delighted to welcome author DAVID J H SMITH who will be signing his 1st novel The TITANIC’S MUMMY
 …with MORE TBA! COMIC EXPO says CONGRATULATIONS to ROGER LANGRIDGE on not one but TWO HARVEY AWARDS! Best writer Thor: The Mighty Avenger (Marvel) Special award for humor in comics The Muppet Show (BOOM! Studios) 
EUROPEAN SPOTLIGHT
with
CINEBOOK 
Cinebook is the 9th Art publisher, bringing you a range of the greatest comic book titles available.
We carefully select and translate into English some of the finest bestsellers from France and Belgium. These outstanding titles entertain and enlighten all age groups–the young and young at heart as well as older readers.
We present rising stars in the comic-book world in their first English editions and also offer classic titles that parents and grandparents will remember from their youth! In 2011, Cinebook will publish 39 new titles. Welcome to the enriching wonders of the 9th Art! www.cinebook.co.uk RAZORJACK ATTACK! 
JOHN HIGGINS will be showcasing his signature title @ EXPO! John will be creating a piece of art during the show which will be won by one attendee! Visit John’s stand for the full details. ACE COMICS @ 30
The Ace 30th Birthday celebrations continue at Expo this September with special deals, give aways and a dedicated signing with MIKE CAREY 
Ace Comics was founded in 1981 by owner and managing director Martin Averre, with the flagship Colchester store being opened in 1982. Since then, Ace has expanded to four shops around the UK and become the third biggest direct market chain in Great Britain, while still retaining its independent spirit www.acecomics.co.uk
Markosia Enterprises Ltd 
EXpo EXclusive! COMIC EXPO is delighted that after the launch of BULLETPROOF COFFIN last year we have DAVID HINE giving us a EXpo EXclusive sneek peek @ the forthcoming second volume: The Bulletproof Coffin Disinterred  
GET A FREE MARKOSIA BACK ISSUE! ie Starship Troopers while stocks last Plus PREVIEW on MARKOSIA’S 2 NEW TITLES LAUNCHING IN OCT! 
The Vessel of Terror Magnus Aspli (writer) Dave Acosta (art)
Goran Kostadinoski (colors) 128 pages Full Color $17.99 / £12.99p Out in the Arctic Ocean, the research vessel Alesia manages to capture a mysterious Magnapinna squid, an animal never before captured by mankind. The researchers, led by Maria, decide to take the specimen back to port in Bergen, Norway. However, what they bring home isn’t just a scientific wonder but also a thing more horrific than Pandora’s Box. Soon, madness creeps into the crew of the Alesia and friends become monsters.
ISBN: 978-1-905692-57-6 
Unbelievable – The Man Who Ate Daffodils Simon Wyatt (story/art)
160 pages Black and White $17.99 / £12.99p
The close-knit community of Bryn Boncath has its share of local legends and half believed histories. It has also become the scene of a series of bizarre and mysterious deaths. People are afraid to go into out after dark and sightings of a monstrous beast are on the increase once again. What Ben Ellis took to be the tall tales of his grandfather may be more than just stories. ISBN: 978-1-905692-60-6 Founded in 2005, Markosia Enterprises Ltd is a multi-faceted publishing company specializing in sequential story-telling. From well known properties like King Kong and Starship Troopers to creator owned works like The Lexian Chronicles, The Young Sherlock Holmes Adventures, Midnight Kiss and Serpent Wars, Markosia has become known for quality art and stories.
Markosia have recently embarked on some exciting projects away from the comic book market also, including major contributions towards the acclaimed Doppleganger Chronicles series by G. P. Taylor that was expertly adapted by Tony Lee and superbly illustrated by Dan Boultwood. We have also entered the gaming and apps world, with Growing Up Enchanted now available as a game for download via iTunes, the first of many such projects coming to you soon. Our books now feature prominently on iTunes, Playstation Comics and Ave Comics, and will be featuring on many other platforms over this year www.markosia.com TRIPWIRE
TRIPWIRE is Britain’s longest-running comics and genre magazine, interviewing everyone from Will Eisner to James Robinson, Guillermo Del Toro to Alan Moore since 1992. Now publishing as a digital bi-monthly, it offers what no other comic magazine does… “Tripwire is pop-culture champagne, the one-stop must-have magazine for all that’s cool and classy in comics, film & TV. I’d be an uncultured loon without it.” – Christopher Fowler, writer Bryant & May TRIPWIRE commemorates 2011 with a brand new print edition featuring an exclusive Elric painted cover.
Come by and meet the creators of this Eagle-nominated magazine… 
www.tripwire-magazine.com MORE EXpo EXhibitors FORBIDDEN PLANET LONDON Forbidden Planet is the world’s largest and best-known science fiction, fantasy and cult entertainment retailer and the largest UK stockist of the latest comics and graphic novels. We specialise in selling action figures, books, comics, DVDs, graphic novels and toys and we offer all the best merchandise from the cult cream of movies and television. We have exciting stores in many major UK cities, including our famous London Megastore on Shaftesbury Avenue and Megastores in Bristol and Southampton. www.forbiddenplanet.com REED COMICS Reed Comics, the best online comic, graphic novel and original comic art shop and store experience in the UK stocking the latest comics from Marvel Comics, DC Vertigo, Wildstorm Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Image Top Cow Comics, IDW Publishing Comics and other Independent Comic Book Publishers. New stock is listed on Fridays in our Online UK Comics Shop and comics controlled by a live
stock system Plus original comic art by artists Simon Bisley,
Mike Ploog, Jim Lee, Gene Colan, Richard Corben, Michael Turner, Neal Adams, Mike Mignola, Frank Frazzetta www.reedcomics.com GENKI GEAR At Genki Gear we take the great style of Japanese culture, Anime, Sci-fi and gaming and mix with our unique “Genki” twist.
Our first range was launched in Jan ’06 and we are still going strong ensuring that our t-shirts follow our vision of fun and quirky
original designs.
Every Garment is top quality Fairtrade and is Silkscreen printed here in the UK. www.genkigear.co.uk THE COMIC MAN 1000’s of Back Issues at some of the best prices in the UK! SMALL PRESS
….. Spotlight .… FALLEN ANGEL MEDIA 
The Fallen Angel Media is an independent printing and publishing house based in Bristol Consisting of in-house and freelance artists and writers we create and distribute unique, engaging and thought provoking small press comics and books throughout the world Our subsidiary company PrintX is an independent printing studio specializing in self publishing and short order print runs for the small press comic and creative writing communities www.thefallenangel.co.uk CORVUS PRESS 
Corvus Press is a new independent publisher. Our aim is to produce limited series with story arcs between 4 to 6 issues in length, these will be released as individual comics and then as a collection in graphic novel format. Beginning with Special Operations Executive:”The Baker Street Irregulars” – Tasked to deal with the events the ordinary security services aren’t able to handle alien incursion and the paranormal are all in a day’s work for the Irregulars. However, when the population of an isolated community on the south west coast of England are discovered dead in the local church a chilling fact becomes clear. Something far darker and sinister is about to manifest. Brett Ewins will be selling art and signing his Amazon charted Art Of Brett Ewins book! 
Although Silvermaigne:Knight Ghoul Hunter and a revised The Tall Trees have been uploaded to lulu.com you can't see them. I cant see them. Lulu moved my page so that there are now 9 listing 90 books 990> Yes, 90 -because they've listed titles 2 or 3 times over the site.
I have to now wait to see what happens.
I can't even order anything and neither can other people. Wonderful.
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