Comic Cuts — 28 March 2025

Since January I've been working on a number of different projects. One is the 4-volume collection of Mytek the Mighty, which I'm hoping will have the first two volumes released next month, pending approval from Rebellion. Above is the cover for volume two.

The second is an index to a title that we haven't covered before, Express Weekly, but it is a tricky one to tackle as I have only a very limited number of copies and a fairly sketchy knowledge of all the ins and outs that went on behind the scenes. I've written up what I can about the early years, but there are still quite a few gaps and it may require a trip up to London to the British Library to fill them.

But while I was waiting on proof copies of the Mytek books, I thought I'd have a change of pace and get some work done on a third project that I've mentioned to one or two people in the past. Back in 2007 Book Palace published The War Libraries, which has been out of print for a little while now. I'm asked about copies every now and then and say the same thing: I'll get around to putting out the information somehow, some time in the future, in some format or other.

Well, I'm thinking that I can now maybe do a nice full colour book, having experimented last year with two titles (Beyond the Void and Dreaming of Utopia). The idea now is to do a volume for each of the main three libraries — Air Ace, Battle and War — expand and correct any information on artists and writers that we've discovered over the past nearly twenty years, and incorporate more examples of both black & white interiors and colour covers.

Back in 2005, the artwork for a huge number of covers sat in a warehouse at Iron Mountain in Canning Town, while more could be found sitting in the basement of the Blue Fin Building in Southwark. One or two busy cameras photographed as much as possible and I'm hoping to use lots of those photos as illustrations.

I'm working on Air Ace, as that's the more compact series, with only 545 issues to worry about. The original lists had some gaps that I'm trying to fill; I've compiled an artist and author index, which was missing from the earlier book, and I'm planning to write some biographical sketches of some of the creators involved. I'm thinking of doing maybe a dozen, so that should break up the lists quite adequately, and make the book a bit more colourful and interesting. I'm thinking of maybe calling it The Air Ace Companion, or similar, and follow the same style for later volumes covering War, Battle and maybe others.

That's should keep me busy!

By the way, some of my Bear Alley Books will be available at the Glasgow Commando & British Weekly Comics Swapmeet (29th Glasgow Scouts, Cameron Hall, 147 Mossgiel Road, Glasgow G43 2BY) thanks to Karl Kennedy, who is driving up from Colchester and kindly offered to flog some books on my behalf. So if you want to have a look at some of the comic strip reprint titles we've released, including the most recent — The Phantom Patrol — head to Cameron Hall. It's £2 to get in (which is less than what it costs to post the books to customers) and you'll find plenty of people to meet, artwork to enjoy and comics to buy.

Commando 5839-5842

Spring has well and truly sprung, and if that isn’t enough to brighten your day, we’ve got a brand-new set of Commandos for your reading pleasure. They’re sure to put a spring in your step! Issues 5839-5842 will go on sale from today, Thursday 27th March 2025!

5839: No Surrender!

Egypt, 1942. The war in the desert was as hot as the blazing sun, with the Italians fighting the British in an all out battle for supremacy. The Long Range Desert Patrol was an ace in the hand of the Brits, and their raiding parties went behind enemy lines to cut off vital supplies to their Italian opponents.
    Little did they know they would soon be fighting shoulder to shoulder for survival against a common enemy – the German Afrika Korps!
    They say the enemy of your enemy is your friend, and boy does that theory get put to the test in this thrilling story! Friends will be betrayed, and unlikely alliances will form – you certainly won’t want to surrender your copy!

Story: Rossa McPhillips
Art: Kev Hopgood
Cover: Keith Burns

5840: The Sands of Fear

Lieutenant Bill Johnston had real trouble on his hands – in the shape of a know-it-all Yank out on patrol with Bill’s tough, desert wise LRDG men, who just didn’t take to big heads. And the American, Lieutenant Schnabel, thought he knew the lot.     
    So, as well as the desert and the Nazis, Bill had to tame Schnabel too. It looked like being some patrol...
    No one likes a know-it-all – especially in a combat situation! Another brilliant cover by Ian Kennedy graces this rip-roaring tale of desert combat, and what can happen when you bite off more than you can chew.

Story: Bullen
Art: Collado
Cover: Ian Kennedy

5841: Codename Warlord: Six of the Best

Britain’s finest spy, Lord Peter Flint, is on another top-hole adventure!
    After Warlord’s most disastrous mission yet, Flint ends up as the number one target of ‘six of the best’ assassins the world has ever seen!
    But why does the phrase ‘six of the best’ seem familiar to him? Who is the mysterious sixth assassin who is an ‘old friend’ of Flint’s?
    Will these questions be answered – or will this be the end of Codename Warlord?!
    Peter Flint’s return sees him battling some of the world’s greatest killers, all while speeding through Europe on an overnight train! Masterfully stylised by Carlos Pino and with yet another whip-smart script by Dominic Teague, this is one issue you’ll want to get onboard with!

Story: Dominic Teague
Art: Carlos Pino
Cover: Carlos Pino

5842: Someone Must Lead

 Cut off from their unit by the Japanese and in company with a leaderless group of Gurkhas, two British soldiers had to decide which of them would take command. Should it be Private Herbie Green, a seasoned veteran and the company scout, or Private Bob Chandler, a newcomer to the jungle?
The choice seemed obvious, but there was more to the situation than met the eye.
    From the desert to the jungle by way of a sleeper train, our final issue of the set shows a slightly different side to the Second World War in Asia. Not only that, it’s also our second Ian Kennedy cover of the round!

Story: RA Montague
Art: Carrion
Cover: Ian Kennedy

Rebellion Releases — 26 Marchj 2025

He’s one of the most recognisable names in comics – a titanic talent who burst onto the scene in the late 1980s with his groundbreaking work on ABC Warriors: The Black Hole and Sláine: The Horned God. In the first of a two-part exclusive interview, The 2000 AD Creator Tapes – the new podcast series from the 2000 AD Thrill-Cast – heads to Simon’s studio to talk directly with him about his work, his beginnings, his style, and his philosophy in a wide-ranging and in-depth discussion set against his feeling of renewed artistic vigour!

Part two of this interview will go live on 29 April 2025.

Hosted by 2000 AD Brand Manager Michael Molcher, The 2000 AD Creator Tapes brings you fascinating in-depth interviews with many of the biggest names in comics. With new episodes on the fourth Saturday of every month, The 2000 AD Creator Tapes is perfect for weekend listening, when you’re burning through your chores, or if you’re looking to learn more about the artists who make 2000 AD the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic! Subscribe now on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast app!

Here's the podcast on YouTube.

And here are this week's releases...

2000AD Prog 2425
Cover: Ben Willsher.

JUDGE DREDD // THE SHIFT by Ken Niemand (w) Nick Percival (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FULL TILT BOOGIE // BOOK THREE by Alex de Campi (w) Eduardo Ocana (a) Giulia Brusco (a) Simon Bowland (l)
PORTALS & BLACK GOO // A QUORUM OF FIENDS by John Tomlinson (w) Eoin Coveney (a) Jim Boswell (c) Simon Bowland (l)
ROGUE TROOPER // THE STACK by Karl Stock (w) John McCrea (a) Jack Davies (c) Jim Campbell (l)

Battle Action #8
Cover: Torunn Grønbekk.

JOHNNY RED // A COUPLE OF HEROES by Garth Ennis (w) Keith Burns (a) Jason Wordie (c) Rob Steen (l)
NINA PETROVA AND THE ANGELS OF DEATH // THE LUCKY ONES by Torunn Grønbekk (w) Patrick Goddard (a) Matt Soffe (c) Rob Steen (l)

Nemesis the Warlock: Definitive Edition Volume 3 by Pat Mills (w) Kevin O'Neill, Bryan Talbot (a
Rebellion ISBN, 26 March 2025, 224pp, £24.99. Available via Amazon.

The Definitive series of the Nemesis the Warlock saga continues with Nemesis's continuing battle against the wicked forces of Termight’s mad tyrant Torquemada, alien freedom fighter Nemesis The Warlock is joined by his bloodthirsty son Thoth and war robots, the A.B.C. Warriors, for a nightmarish adventure across the terrifying Time Wastes.
    Written by Pat Mills (Marshal Law) and drawn by Kevin O’Neill (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and Bryan Talbot (Sandman, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright), this edition compiles the entire series in order, with the colour centre-spread pages reproduced in their original form.

The Fantastic Art of Ron Turner

Landing with a hefty thump on my doormat, The Fantastic Art of Ron Turner is a comprehensive and hugely informative biography of the artist by his long-serving friend and agent, John Lawrence. The book was a long time in the works as John spent years meticulously studying Turner's work. Sadly, he will not see the book in its printed form—he died shortly after completing the text in 2023. The final book was shepherded into production by Philip Harbottle and editor Stephen James Walker and it stands as a tribute to both Ron Turner and John Lawrence.

Ron Turner was a private man—and his agent, Greg Hall, made sure nobody got to talk to him—and little was known about him for the decades that he was active—the 1950s through the 1970s—and it wasn't until John became his agent in the mid-1980s that snippets of information began to sneak out. For some years it was thought that his name was Roland Turner, which is how he signed one of his early book covers (Denis Gifford listed him as Rowland Turner in his British Comic Catalogue, just to confuse matters further).

Turner's life was at times joyful, at times tragic. He was born in Norwich but grew up in Southend-on-Sea, showing an early talent for drawing, stimulated by reading science fiction. His mother arranged an interview at Odhams, who took him on as a junior, which meant making tea, delivering art, and running errands. Eventually he was allowed to produce spot illustrations for Modern World and received his first commission for a spread featuring German aircraft in 1941. Unfortunately, one of the planes he depicted dropped a bomb on Odhams, destroying the building. Miraculously, the artwork survived the bombing, only to be turned into papier-mâché by rain.

After his own close call with German weaponry (he was shot in the leg whilst serving in Italy) led to him being "excused boots", Turner spent some time in the Far East, returning to Odhams in 1947. In 1948, he began drawing comic strips for Scion, which led to producing dozens of covers for that company's paperbacks, quickly establishing himself as the best SF cover artist of the paperbacks.

His technical background and interest in hardware meant that his covers had an authenticity to them that most lacked, even if it all came from Turner's imagination. Whether it was a comic strip drawn for the Tit-Bits Science Fiction Comics series, or the latest Vargo Statten or Volsted Gridban novel, Turner threw himself into creating futuristic images that dazzled the reader.

Success meant Turner could buy his dream car (a Jowett Jupiter Sports) and move out of the family home in Romford. Working on 'Space Ace' and 'Rick Random' kept him busy, as did marriage and a growing family in the late 1950s. However, Rick's adventures came to an end in 1959 and Turner turned to war strips to keep his career on track and even produced a sample SF strip for Buster which only now sees the light of day.

In the early 1960s, Turner was employed drawing paint-by-numbers guides for Craft Master, to the detriment of his comic strip output. That changed in 1965 when he began drawing Gerry Anderson tie-in strips and was then offered 'The Daleks'. He returned to Fleetway for 'The Robot Builders' but this lasted only six months and Turner found himself filling his time drawing for annuals and dot-to-dot books.

He was rescued from this drudgery by Bob Paynter, editor of Whizzer & Chips, who hired Ron to draw 'Wonder-Car'. Commissions for annuals and fill-ins kept Turner going until Tiger again came to the rescue with 'The Tigers', that ran for three years (1971-74). Whizzer & Chips and war libraries kept him busy until the call came from Pat Mills to draw 'The Robot Wars', a classic early Judge Dredd yarn. While Turner was able to adapt to the open panel style of 2000 AD (something he had developed in 'The Daleks', using bodies and machinery as panel borders and having Daleks burst out of the page), his was the gleaming utopian future he dreamt of in the years after WW2, not the grimy, grungy, overcrowded dystopian future of punk-era 2000 AD.

Thankfully he was offered 'The Spinball Slaves' in Action, which survived the transition to Battle-Action as 'The Spinball Wars'. Meanwhile, an attempt to revive 'Rick Random' at 2000 AD came to a grinding halt as Turner let the deadline for the final episode slip past and the editor had to turn to Carlos Ezquerra to draw the last few pages. Similarly, a potential line of work with Dr Who Weekly was lost when Turner chose 'Journey to the Stars' in Speed, letting down the editor of Who at the very last minute. The editors of Britain's two longest-running science fiction titles chose to never employ him again. DC Thomson took a similar attitude when Turner's agent prevaricated over Turner's brief work for Scoop, and decided not to offer him more work.

The arrival of 'New' Eagle in 1982 might have been perfect for Turner had his agent not nixed any notion of editor Barrie Tomlinson meeting with Turner in order to explain what precisely he wanted for the new Dan Dare strip. Gerry Embleton was hired instead. It was around this same time that Turner was divorced from his wife and moved to a small house on the Thames and then to a dilapidated houseboat on the river.

He was cajoled into accepting work on 'Action Force'. He argued that he would not be able to keep up the supply of four pages a week but was persuaded to take it on... and suffered an attack of angina as a result. Hall, too, was not well, and a stroke left him incapacitated and Turner, completely cut off from the industry, with no work. Not that Hall was solely to blame.... Turner himself could be temperamental and unpredictable, ignoring commissions where he didn't like the script and stopping work on a war story when he discovered that it had been written by a woman (probably Mary Feldwick).

Thankfully, by then John Lawrence had tracked down Turner to his houseboat and managed to introduce himself. This led to the final phase of Turner's career as John and Phil Harbottle kept Turner busy with their own stories (Nick Hazard, Kalgan the Golden), colour recreations of Turner's earlier book covers and a  number of new commissions. There were also many disappointments over the next few years, many false starts and let downs; even Turner's houseboat was condemned as unsafe and he was forced back onto land.

For a few years, Turner was the cover artist for dozens of reprint sf and crime novels published in America by Gary Lovesi's Gryphon Book (I arranged and introduced a couple of crime reprints for him and was very happy when copies turned up with Turner's fabulous covers). His finest work, however, was perhaps his return after thirty odd years to drawing a new Daleks strip for Doctor Who Magazine in 1997.

Turner was hospitalised after suffering a stroke the following year and a second stroke shortly after returning home proved fatal.

The book, of course, goes into far greater detail over its 384 pages. You'll learn the background of names like Vargo Statten and Rick Random, what Turner's reaction was to saving the life of a child, the blame game battle between artist and agent, and what he really thought of some of the strips he worked on. It's an astonishingly honest portrait of all involved. This is not a hagiography, but nor is it a a knife to the back. It honestly portrays the highs and lows of Turner's career and how the artist, as flawed a human as we all are, reacted to each turn of events. Forewords by his four children offer some deeply personal views and stories that help reveal Turner's character.

Like most, I'm also here for the art and you won't be disappointed. Having designed a book or two myself, I know it isn't always easy as you want to use the best quality artwork for your full-page pictures. This means they tend to be Turner's recreations of covers rather than the original covers themselves. That said, the cover reproductions are never more than four to a page, which means that they are still great to look at.

Comic strips, on the other hand, suffer a little depending on the size of the original. A Rick Random has legible text, but you might strain to read a page reproduced from Tiger.

I should add that the book covers are amazing. A lot of my Vargo Statten's have old tape marks and other defects which are beyond my Photoshopping skills. It speaks to the quality of the books that they have been read and re-read over a period of 75 years. To finally have the covers all in mint condition is a joy. In fact, the whole book is a joy from first page to last.

The Fantastic Art of Ron Turner by John Lawrence.
Telos Publishing ISBN 978-184583235-3, 15 March 2025, 384pp, £49.99. Available via Amazon.

Comic Cuts — 21 March 2025

Normally I write the Comic Cuts columns on a Thursday, but I spent yesterday reading a book for review. So this is really just a placeholder, and there will be a fairly lengthy look at the book either later today or tomorrow.

However, I didn't want you to leave disappointed, so our header is the cover to the first of the upcoming Mytek the Mighty books. Cover art by the mighty Martin Baines. We're nearly there, folks.

Rebellion Releases — 19 March 2025

One of 2000 AD’s most unpredictable, visceral and impressive stories, the complete tale of Shakara is now coming to collection into a single incredible volume!

The galaxy is in turmoil. Once a place of peace and order, now a time of terror has descended upon it, with races waging war upon one another unchecked by any authority. Planets, civilizations, even entire star systems face total annihilation or enslavement. But a vengeful figure has emerged from the chaos, striking at targets with a ruthless determination. This alien being calls itself Shakara and it is seemingly bent on wreaking revenge on those responsible for the destruction of its people.

Shakara is the most feared entity in the universe, the living embodiment of a murdered species and an unstoppable killing machine determined to bring vengeance upon those responsible for annihilating a whole species – and not a single entity in the whole of known universe will be able to stop it! The Shakara were thought to be long dead – but retribution is coming from beyond the grave!

Written by Robbie Morrison (The Authority, Nikolai Dante) and featuring the incredible art of Henry Flint (Zombo, Judge Dredd), Shakara is a modern 2000 AD saga, a visually outrageous and impossibly epic tale of shocking violence and destruction!

Out now, this complete collection of Shakara is available to order from all good book stores and online retailers, as well as direct from the 2000 AD webshop!

And now, this week's releases...

2000AD Prog 2424
Cover: Nick Percival.

JUDGE DREDD // THE SHIFT by Ken Niemand (w) Nick Percival (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FULL TILT BOOGIE // BOOK THREE by Alex de Campi (w) Eduardo Ocana (a) Giulia Brusco (a) Simon Bowland (l)
PORTALS & BLACK GOO // A QUORUM OF FIENDS by John Tomlinson (w) Eoin Coveney (a) Jim Boswell (c) Simon Bowland (l)
NU-EARTH WAR TALES // OVERWATCH by Gordon Rennie (w) Mike Walters (a) Matt Soffe (c) Jim Campbell (l)

Judge Dredd Megazine 478
Cover: Anthony Williams.

JUDGE DREDD // MESSIAH COMPLEX by Ian Edginton (w) Paul McCaffrey (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
DEATH CAP // FRONTIER JUSTICE by T.C. Eglington (w) Boo Cook (c) Simon Bowland (l)
FARGO & MCBANE // NEW YORK'S FINEST by Ken Niemand (w) Anna Readman (a) Quinton Winter (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
DEVLIN WAUGH // TWO MONTHS OFF by Alex Kot (w) PJ Holden (a) Jack Davies (c) Jim Campbell (l)
ROK OF THE REDS by John Wagner & Alan Grant (w) Dan Cornwell (a) Abby Bulmer (c) Jim Campbell (l)
ATOMFALL by Jonathan Howard (w) Anthony Williams (a) Steve Canon (c) Rob Steen (l)
RILEY'S REBELS by Honor Vincent (w) Stewart K. Moore (c) Simon Bowland (l)
LAWLESS // A TOWN CALLED BADROCK by Dan Abnett (w) Phil Winslade (a) Simon Bowland (l

Comic Cuts — 14 March 2025

Time for the big reveal.

I have been dropping hints for a couple of months that I was working on something big – and I do mean literally BIG – but I wanted to play my cards close to my chest until I was close to completion. Well, I'm close enough and confident enough to want to finally pull back the curtain. And if you're wondering why I'm rabbiting on, it's so that when I cross-post this column to Facebook, there's enough text to make sure the surprise isn't spoiled.

So... Bear Alley Books is reprinting the whole of MYTEK THE MIGHTY across four volumes. Each volume is 180-200 pages, with the first two volumes to be released together as the opening three stories were epics that ran for a total of 25 months, with artist Eric Bradbury turning out 2 1/2 pages of astonishing artwork every week.

Because the second story ran for a year, I've had to split it in two, and juggle some additional material – stories from the Valiant Summer Special and the Valiant Space Special, and some introductory material. Volume one has a foreword and the first part of a biographical essay on Tom Tully, while the second has part two of Tully and a second essay on the career of Eric Bradbury. The Tully is (like the early Mytek stories) a bit of an epic, the first substantial look at his career in and out of comics, I believe.

I would also add that there are some fascinating details about Eric Bradbury's life thanks to the opportunity I've had recently to talk to his daughter as well as drawing on a couple of chats I had with Eric himself back in 1993/94.

Moving on, we then have volumes three and four drawn by Bill Lacey. This has some of my favourite stories because it was during this period – Bradbury had moved over to House of Dolmann – that I started reading Valiant. There's one story in particular that you'll find in volume four that utterly blew me away when I was seven years old and had only recently discovered the joy of reading comics. (I should say here that I had corrective eye surgery when I was seven, so everything became a lot clearer!) The Steel Claw was battling The Scarecrow, Tim Kelly was battling Genghis Khan, Sexton Blake was battling a character known as the Black Vulture... The Shrinker, Raven on the Wing, The Wild Wonders, The Secret Champion, Bluebottle & Basher, Sporty, Billy Bunter, The Crows and The Nutts... every page was glorious!

And alongside all of these, was maybe my favourite of all... the story of Mytek the Mighty on the planet Umbra, tracking down two lost astronauts who have crash-landed on the planet. Almost immediately after landing, Mytek's shadow comes to life and creeps away and squeezes into a cleft in the rocks before Mytek can chase after and catch it.

Just WOW!

I hadn't read or seen anything like that before and you can never recapture the thrill of those early boyhood moments. I still remember the first episode of The Steel Claw that I read, the first episode of Thunderbirds I watched. I still love The Steel Claw (and Thunderbirds) today with a passion that's undiminished by the years.

Hopefully, if you read Mytek as a kid, having the entire collected saga in your hands will bring back those intense memories from childhood, and if you didn't get a chance to read the whole five year run back then, there are some "just WOW" moments ahead of you.

The four books are with Rebellion, awaiting approval. I have printed proof copies on the way (it usually takes a couple of weeks), so we should have some release news in the not too distant future. Phew!

Commando 5835-5838

Football in a Commando? Just when you think we can’t go any more left field! We can’t wait to see how many other curveballs we throw you in this set! Issues 5835-5838 go on sale from Thursday 13th March 2025!

5835: Leagues Apart

Footballers Jimmy Harris and Danny Meggs hated each other’s guts. They were bitter rivals on and off the pitch, but things all came to a head at the qualifying match for promotion to the next division. With talent scouts watching, Danny performed a devastating tackle on Jimmy which landed with a sickening crunch.
The injury caused Jimmy to be out of the beautiful game… but with World War Two looming, he wouldn’t be out of action for long!
    Remember Football Picture Story Monthly? Well this is those classic football stories mixed with Commando! You know we love to have a ball, so we’re kicking off this set with a truly original story from the champions Dave and Jim Turner. Hopefully our two sporting heroes can succeed in giving those Nazis a red card!

Story: Dave and Jim Turner
Art: Paolo Ongaro
Cover: Simon Pritchard

5836: The Death or Glory Mob

There had always been a Wild in the Wessex Rifles — always an officer from this family who proved to be as courageous as his ancestors and earned for himself the glorious name... “The Wild One”.
    Major Jason Wild was the man who carried on the tradition in the Second World War, and he was as tough as any of the others. And then, for the first time in history, there appeared a Wessex officer even braver than The Wild One.
    This is his amazing story...
    This set’s Gold issue is quite the wild ride! Thrills, chills and derring-do – and dare we say… a ghost? There’s more than meets the eye to this classic story, and we’re not just talking about the amazing artwork!

Story: Motton
Art: Franch
Cover: Penalva

5837: Looters!

France, 1915. As trench warfare rages on between British and German forces, the stretcher-bearers are busier than ever. But while the casualties continue to pile up, fallen soldiers’ valuables have started to go walkabout – there are looters on the line! Enter Corporal Philip Baker, assigned by the top brass to go undercover and track down those responsible. But he soon finds out the trouble runs deeper than he could have ever imagined!
    We had loads of great puns for this issue, but they were stolen. Seriously though, this is one story you abso-LOOT-ly won’t want to miss! With Alejandro Garcia Mangana’s art gracing the cover and interior, you’ll want to keep your copy under lock and key – it really is a steal!

Story: Colin Maxwell
Art: Alejandro Garcia Mangana
Cover: Alejandro Garcia Mangana

5838: The End of the Line

Who was really responsible for the terrible train crash in the Boivert tunnel? Was it Marcel Lebrun, or was it the man who actually went to jail for the crime?
    Some years later, in the French Resistance, Marcel lay waiting for an enemy arms train speeding towards Boivert. But a lonely figure clutching a rifle lay patiently in wait for him.
    Here’s an a-TRACK-tive offering - nothing like a French resistance railway drama to let off some steam.  An ENGINE-ious story of betrayal and revenge, with an incredible Jeff Bevan cover – this issue is really off the rails!

Story: CG Walker
Art: Ibanez
Cover: Jeff Bevan

Rebellion Releases — 12 March 2025

Garth Ennis on the 50th anniversary of Battle Picture Weekly:

The very first issue of Battle Picture Weekly went on sale fifty years ago this month, dated 8th March 1975. It continued under various titles, most notably Battle Action, for roughly the next decade, before being merged to death some time in the late eighties. Which means the issue you hold in your hands is the latest incarnation of a comic that’s been around for half a century.

The phrase been around is doing some heavy lifting there. For fifteen years there was little beyond the occasional annual or special, or a run of reprints now and again. Then Titan Books acquired the license and started putting out nice hardcover editions of the classic strips, thus proving there was still an audience for Battle. There followed some new material, then, when Rebellion bought the whole back catalogue, more collected volumes and new Battle and Action specials. At which point someone had a bright idea… which more or less brings us up to date.

By now the saga should be familiar enough: in the mid-seventies comic sales were slipping, so IPC publisher John Sanders brought in young hotshots Pat Mills and John Wagner to shake things up. The success of Battle led to Action, which led by a roundabout route to 2000 AD. At some point Alan Moore noticed. The Yanks noticed him, and others like him. And lo, there was Watchmen, Swamp Thing, the Vertigo imprint, all the rest.

Back in the day the editor was Dave Hunt, to whom Battle’s creators handed the reins. He employed writers like Tom Tully, Alan Hebden and Gerry Finley-Day, not to mention Mills and Wagner themselves; the art was by Joe Colquhoun, John Cooper, Mike Western, Eric Bradbury, Mike Dorey, Pat Wright, Carlos Ezquerra, Cam Kennedy, Geoff Campion, many more. Now you’ve got Oliver Pickles, Rob Williams, Dan Abnett, Torunn Gronbekk, Keith Burns, Chris Burnham, PJ Holden, John Higgins, Paddy Goddard, Dan Cornwell, Henry Flint, and- among others- Wagner and Dorey again.

In its classic era, Battle was smarter, grittier, livelier, that bit less well-behaved than the comics that came before it.  Alan Grant described 2000 AD around the same time as being very obviously for kids, but with a clearly identifiable adult sensibility behind it. The same is true of its big brother. A war comic first and foremost, of course, and that was why we loved it, but in amongst all the shot and shell there was something else going on.

Charley’s War said that war is evil, not just hell, and that the establishment might just possibly not have our best interests at heart. In Darkie’s Mob we saw that the underdog could be every bit as bad, and that vengeance was a kind of madness, sometimes born of self-hatred. HMS Nightshade had men fighting on when hell froze over, with no choice but to forge on into the nightmare, while Hellman never flinched from the truth that behind the German war effort lay a thing beyond all horror. In my personal favourite, Johnny Red, we witnessed the sacrifice that the Russian people made for victory, in the service of a regime of monsters undeserving of such devotion. And we learned that women fought, too.

Such is Battle’s legacy. Kept alive in fits and starts, often dormant, for a long time unknown to most and only half-remembered by many. But still the greatest war comic ever published, still the beginning of a genuine revolution in the medium. Something we who continue that legacy with Battle Action will never forget. So fifty years, albeit kind of on-and-off: that’s not too bad.

That’s not too bad at all.

— Garth Ennis, Blighty, January 2025

Rebellion are celebrating the anniversary of Battle Picture Library with the release of brand new t-shirts and other merch. They have also published a reading list of reprints that Rebellion have published over the past few years that gather some of the best stories that appeared in Battle, including Charley's War, The Sarge, Major Eazy, Rat Pack, Hellman and others.

And now, this week's releases...

2000AD Prog 2023
Cover: Tiernen Trevallion.

JUDGE DREDD // THE SHIFT by Ken Niemand (w) Nick Percival (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FULL TILT BOOGIE // BOOK THREE by Alex de Campi (w) Eduardo Ocana (a) Giulia Brusco (a) Simon Bowland (l)
PORTALS & BLACK GOO // A QUORUM OF FIENDS by John Tomlinson (w) Eoin Coveney (a) Jim Boswell (c) Simon Bowland (l)
FUTURE SHOCKS // LAST CHANCE TO SEE by Paul Goodenough (w) Luke Horsman (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FIENDS OF THE WESTERN FRONT // WILDE WEST by Ian Edginton (w) Tiernen Trevallion (a) Jim Campbell (l)

Judge Dredd: The Movie by Andrew Helfer, Ken Niemand (w) Carlos Ezquerra, Richard Elson (a) Michael Danza (c)
Rebellion ISBN 978-183786433-1, 12 March 2025, 80pp, £15.99. Available via Amazon.

“I AM THE LAW!”
In the Third Millenium, the world changed. Climate. Nations. All were in upheaval. Humanity itself turned as violent as the planet. Civilisation threatened to collapse. And then… a solution was found. The crumbling legal system was merged with the overburdened police, creating a powerful and efficient hybrid. These new guardians of society had the power to dispense both justice and punishment. They were police, jury, and executioner all in one. They were the Judges!
    When Mega-City One erupts in violent block wars, there’s only one man Justice Department can rely on to suffocate the flames of rebellion. His name is Judge Dredd.
    But when the city’s brightest beacon of justice is convicted of breaking the very law he’s been entrusted to uphold, he’s sentenced to spend the rest of his life rotting in the Aspen Penal Colony.
    In order to clear his name, Dredd must escape captivity, make his way across the toxic Cursed Earth, break back into the city, and find the familiar foe that framed him. All in a day’s work for Judge Dredd.
    Featuring art by legendary Judge Dredd co-creator Carlos Ezquerra (Preacher) and a script by Andrew Helfer (The Shadow), this is the official adaptation of Judge Dredd, the 1995 movie written by William Wisher, Jr. (Terminator 2: Judgement Day) and Steven E. de Souza (Die Hard).

Comic Cuts — 7 March 2025

With any luck I'm close to finally announcing the title of the four-volume set that I have been hinting at for the past few months. All four books are almost done. The internal pages are now with the copyright holder to be checked over to make sure they're happy and we're not accidentally using something that is not theirs to license. 

I'm working on the covers. I had volume one ready to go, but I wasn't happy with what I'd done with the rear cover. I had a chance to play around with it on Wednesday and came up with something that works with the various logos that have to be included. Selling direct to customers, even through eBay and Amazon, means that I don't have to worry about a barcode. And it saves a pound per book because to buy a single ISBN costs almost £100 and I can only license books in limited numbers.

To take Phantom Patrol as an example of this perilous form of publishing, say (for ease of the maths) I make £10 per book and license 100 copies. The license plus the cover cost me £550. So you have to write off the first 55 copies, after which you make your profit. I've sold about 70 copies, so for the six weeks or so that it took to scan, clean and retouch, write introductions, design, and negotiate a price that was affordable to readers, I've made £150.... but that's not quite the case as I had to supply the copyright holder with a number of printed copies and sent some to Chris, who did the beautiful cover, and there are a couple of proof copies sitting on my shelf that can't be sold, so my profit on the book is closer to £100 to date and I'm looking at a total of £400 by the time the license runs out.

I would not recommend getting into publishing! I must be mad.

Anyway, expect an announcement in the next week or two.

We had a cheerier week this week, with friends over from Canada and a trip out to the Colchester Arts Centre to see Andy Zaltzman (The Bugle, The News Quiz), who I have wanted to see for years. It topped off what had been a little bit of a miserable week (funeral, low levels of enthusiasm) with a bit of political satire, pun-filled gags and general silliness of a kind that hit just the right note. Oh, and there was a stuffed penguin sitting on a suitcase on stage for over half the set. A penguin in a tinfoil hat. This is why I love Andy Zaltzman. And should he stumble across this (I don't know if he Googles his own name), please send Alice Fraser.

Mel is away at a convention, so I'm thinking of doing a binge watch of something or try to catch up on some movies. The calm before the storm. Hopefully I'll have some news next week.

Rebellion Releases — 5 March 2025

2000AD publisher Rebellion are having a big sale on collections of British comic book classics in the Treasury of British Comics sale!

You can get 75% off.

Choose from some of the finest comics from the Rebellion archive, including House of Dolmann, Adam Eterno, Karl the Viking, The Steel Claw, Concrete Surfer, The Best of Cat Girl, Tammy & Jinty: Remixed, The Best of Jane Bond, Spell of Trouble, and the Cor! Buster Bumper Fun Book!

Plus there’s up to 80% off issues of Monster Fun!

And now, this week's releases...

2000AD Prog 2422
Cover: Cliff Robinson / Dylan Teague.

JUDGE DREDD // THE SHIFT by Ken Niemand (w) Nick Percival (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FULL TILT BOOGIE // BOOK THREE by Alex de Campi (w) Eduardo Ocana (a) Giulia Brusco (a) Simon Bowland (l)
PORTALS & BLACK GOO // A QUORUM OF FIENDS by John Tomlinson (w) Eoin Coveney (a) Jim Boswell (c) Simon Bowland (l)
HAWK THE SLAYER // THE LAST OF HER KIND by Alec Worley (w) Simon Coleby (a) Gary Caldwell (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FIENDS OF THE WESTERN FRONT // WILDE WEST by Ian Edginton (w) Tiernen Trevallion (a) Jim Campbell (l)

• 15 Mar. Gail Simone has revealed that her brief run on The Legion was not intended to bring the series to an end, and she believed she was just standing in to give Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning a break. "That editor is long since gone but that was a really mean thing to do to the regular creative team. And it was the first time I'd ever been manipulated like that."
• 10 Mar. British cartoonist R.E. (Becky) Burke has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during her four-month backpacking trip around North America. She tried to cross the border into Canada on February 26, but was denied entry due to a visa issue. Returning to the US, she was arrested as an illegal alien and has been held in detention in Tacoma, Washington. Her father has written an urgent appeal (available at the second link). "Burke is known in the comics community, setting up at Thought Bubble, writing for Broken Frontier and making some pretty good comics." An update has revealed that her troubles began when she mentioned at the Canadian border that she was staying with a family "in exchange for doing light household duties", which constituted work under the letter of the law. UPDATE: Becky has now been safely returned to the UK.
• 5 Mar. More on the Neil Gaiman allegations as he tries to have the court dismiss the case. "[His accuser, Scarlett] Pavlovich filed her lawsuit to district courts in Wisconsin, New York and Massachusetts; Gaiman filed the motion to dismiss in Wisconsin."
• 3 Mar. Frank Quitely has been drawing a series of illustrations based on myth for Bowmore since 2021 which are used across labels and boxes for their whisky.
• 25 Feb. Geek Retrospective has an interview with Mike Collins who "has worked for some of the biggest names in comic publishing (Marvel, DC Comics, and 2000 AD). He has illustrated such characters as Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Judge Dredd, Sláine, and Rogue Trooper. As well as a series based on Star Trek, Doctor Who, Transformers, Zoids and… Well the list goes on and on!" (video, 46m)
• 24 Feb. Bill Morrison has posted a fascinating article about the highs and lows of his adaptation of Yellow Submarine (Titan, 2018), first mooted for publication on the film's 30th anniversary, later expanded for the 50th anniversary and still missing pages from a planned expanded version. "I decided that if I could make certain pages of the book resemble psychedelic posters in their design, I might be able to create an adaptation of Yellow Submarine that would be faithful, but also offer Beatles fans something new and exciting."
• 18 Feb. A look at Steven Appleby's latest exhibition. "Steven has had many solo shows but this is the biggest to date and covers all aspects over such a long and varied career."
• 16 Feb. Keir Starmer has said that his favourite "book" was Roy of the Rovers, while visiting a Ukrainian school. "It's a fabulous book—well known in Anfield. I love football, so all my books are about football."
• 16 Feb. Want to know some of the financial details about Diamond Comic Distributors (UK), formerly Titan Distributors... their 62 staff distribute comics and other goods to 400 accounts in the UK, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. More at Rich Johnson's Bleeding Cool website.
• 15 Feb. Martin Rowson explains why he is cutting back on his committments to The Guardian and announces a new subscription service to obtain prints of his cartoons. "Given that half the UK’s national daily newspapers now no longer publish a daily political cartoon, the Guardian’s commitment to and support for cartoons needs acknowledging, as does their quiet nurturing of new and diverse cartooning talent."
• 14 Feb. Forbidden Planet has bought out Mega City Comics from retiring Martin Kravetz. The Camden Town store will close briefly for a refit before reopening in a few week's time as Forbidden Planet Camden.

Comic Cuts — 28 February 2025

I've had to treat this week as almost like a holiday. Apart from a bit of work completing the insides of the upcoming comic reprints from Bear Alley, I didn't manage to do a great deal after writing last week's post.

I had to travel on Sunday to stay overnight with my sister in Surrey as there was a family funeral on Monday. It was quite an interesting night as I woke up at four in the morning knowing that if I went for a pee it would set off the hounds and everyone would be awake. So I lay there and at five was visited by one of my sister's three dogs, who wandered over, accepted a bit of petting and then lay down on the "bed" (a mattress on the floor). She wandered off a little while later and I managed to hold out until six before desperation got the better of me and the subsequent barking made sure everyone was awake.

As a family we celebrate rather than mourn, and while it was still a sombre occasion, we still managed to smile and laugh our way through the day. We don't see each other that often (I think there was a 37-year gap in one case), but we're good when we do get together. Sadly, that now seems to only be for funerals. I'm of that age.

As we were driving to Epsom to meet up with everyone, we dropped in at Button House—actually West Horsley Place in West Horsley near Leatherhead. Button House was the location for Ghosts, the comedy series starring Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe as a couple who inherit Ritchie's ancestral home and try to turn it into a hotel. A bump on the head means that Ritchie can see the ghosts that are trapped in the house and gardens, some recently deceased, one a caveman. It ran for five series, ending in 2023 and inspired a not-bad American version that's still running.

Although it's out of season, visitors can still walk around the grounds and visit the building, but there are no tours at this time of year and no open coffee shop. But it was a nice chance to walk around, gather our thoughts and prepare ourselves ahead of the funeral.

Tuesday I planned as a day off, and spent the whole day just catching up on things; Wednesday I should have worked on the book covers that need designing, but I fancied doing some writing instead, so I put in a bit a time on the upcoming Express Weekly index. How many people do you know who get their pleasure from researching printer's strikes of the 1950s? One at least.

I did end up spending an extraordinary amount of time trying to locate the death dates of William Banks Levy and his family, without any luck or conclusion. Levy was an American who came to England in the early 1930s and was responsible for distributing and promoting Walt Disney's cartoons. He was the founder of Mickey Mouse Weekly, an innovative and hugely popular comic first published in 1936. Banks (born in Statesville, N. Carolina, on 19 December 1898) married Fehima Evelyn Suleiman (born in London on 16 September 1906) in 1932 and they had a son, Walter Neville Levy, born in 1938.

The problem is that they never died... well, they seem to disappear from official records in the UK and USA. Fehima Levy was naturalized as an American citizen in July 1957, but the last trace of her as far as I can see if a travel record from October 1962. She was travelling alone... the last time I can find her travelling with her husband in 1956, which makes me wonder whether William died at some point between 1956 and 1962 when he was in his late fifties or early sixties.

For someone who was such a major part of British Disney, there is still so little known about him. There is only one known picture, discovered by Didier Ghez and posted on his Disney History blog in 2012.

I'm going to stop banging my head against this particular brick wall. If anyone can tell me when each of them died (and why their son, despite being born in England, seems to have no birth record) I would be a very happy man.

And to cap the week off, we have someone coming over to check our electricity (part of the regular safety checks done by our landlady), so the power will be off and I'll only be able to work as long as the battery does in my laptop. The PC won't be working, the phones won't be working, and more importantly the kettle won't be working! Well, for part of the day, anyway. And I can boil water on the (gas) stove.

We have people over on Saturday, so it looks like I might not get back to normal until Sunday, and by then I'll probably want a day off! Expect a report about my lack of progress on everything next week!

Commando 5831-5834

To celebrate International Women’s Day, this set of Commandos is celebrating two of Commando’s most significant female writers: Mary Feldwick and Diana Garbutt. Issues 5831-5834 go on sale from today, Thursday 27th February 2025!

5831: Come Out Fighting

What does a fighting Irishman do when his luck deserts him just when he needs it most?
    If his name is Private Mick O’Connor, he just grits his teeth and fights on harder than ever!
    The first issue in this set comes from the masterful pen of Mary Feldwick. Feldwick was originally from East Sussex and was a prolific writer of comics during the 60s, 70s and 80s. Come Out Fighting is a perfect example of her knack for gripping narratives.

Story: Feldwick
Art: AC Kennedy
Cover: Penalva

5832: Way of Honour

Before the Second World War, few westerners had ever heard of the Japanese sport of karate, with its own rules, its own customs. But one young Englishman, Martin Hawkins, studied it when he lived and worked in Japan. So skilled was he that it wasn’t long before he was a black belt champion.
    The war broke out and Martin was forced to return home, little knowing that his expertise in karate was going to save his life one day.
    If you ask us, martial arts are often sorely lacking in Commando issues – how many tense standoffs could’ve been solved by a swift roundhouse kick? This second issue from Feldwick serves to showcase her kickass originality.

Story: Feldwick
Art: Enriquez
Cover: Ian Kennedy

5833: Panzer-Trap

Reckon you could stop a regiment of enemy tanks with your bare hands? No, probably not.
    Ray Peterson and Trevor Stanton didn’t think they had much of a chance either.
    But with the lives of thousands of their comrades at stake they weren’t going to give up trying.
    The second of our female writer showcase in this set, Diana Garbutt was born in Scarborough and cut her teeth writing war stories for the likes of Fleetway’s War Picture Library in the 50s and 60s. She began writing for Commando in the 80s – and we’re sure you’ll agree after reading this story that was a very good thing!

Story: Garbutt
Art: Ibanez
Cover: Robertson

5834: Lionheart

Dave Gardner wanted to be a soldier. He had always dreamed of carrying on the military tradition of his family by going into battle.
    However, when you’re small and thin, and you can’t see very well, it isn’t so easy. But even so, Dave was going to get his chance!
    A classic story of how big things can often come in small packages. This second story from Garbutt is a perfect example of her ability to craft engaging stories and find the heroic in the unlikeliest of places!

Story: Garbutt
Art: Blasco
Cover: Ian Kennedy