Comic Cuts

A few upcoming books announced:

Aurum Press Ltd.

Incredibly Strange Comics by Paul Gravett & Peter Stanbury. ISBN 978-1945133207, Sep 2008.

From purple people-eaters to surreal Japanese baseball dramas, you won't believe your eyes when you look inside "Incredibly Strange Comics". From the creators of "Graphic Novels" and "Great British Comics", this is a delirious collection of the 50 most weird and wonderful comics ever published. Notorious comic book brainiacs Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury have scoured the world to bring together the strangest comics to be found. Gigantic alien monsters in swimming trunks rub up against the Leather Nun; hip-hop superheroes fight street crime, while peasant-girl Hansi worships the swastika. Also included alongside long-running series are bizarre one-off titles such as "Barnyard of Fear", "Chaplains at War", "Amputee Love" and "Cannibal Romance". Following an entertaining and informative introduction which places the comics in context, Gravett & Stanbury present an ever-changing parade of 50 rare and crazy comics, each featured in a colourful double-page spread with the eye-popping cover shown at full size."Incredibly Strange Comics" will make the perfect quirky gift for comics fans, collectors of curiosities - and anyone with a taste for offbeat humour.

Roy of the Rovers: The 'Biography' by Mick Collins. ISBN 978-1845133610, Sep 2008. Who is Mick Collins? Well, he's the author of various books on sports: The Rise and Rise of Charlton Athletic (2002), Chasing the Chariot: How Clive Woodward Won a World Cup, Changed English Rugby... Then Left (2004) and All Round Genius: The Unknown Story of Britain's Greatest Sportsman (2006), a biography of Max Woosnam. He's obviously a keen fan of Roy of the Rovers and a member of the Roy of the Rovers Fan Club.

Following on from his bestselling "All-Round Genius" about a real life sports man who resembled a comic strip hero, Mick Collins turns his attention to a comic strip hero that many thought was a real life striker. "Roy of the Rovers" delighted fans from the early '50s right up to the strip's closure in the 1990s. This affectionate, entertaining book takes the reader through Roy's many incarnations and gets the inside stories from the editors, illustrators and story creators who worked on the comic through the years. It also has memories and contributions from sports celebrities involved in the comic, such as Bobby Charlton and Gary Lineker. This is a 'biography' of Roy, but it sets the comic in the context of the times showing how the rise in computer games eventually spelled the death knell for Britain's most famous sporting hero. Written in a light, entertaining style and illustrated with strips from across the years and a colour plate section, "Roy of the Rovers" is the perfect guilty pleasure for every childhood fan who is now a nostalgic adult.


Titan Books

Modesty Blaise: Green Cobra. ISBN 978-1845764203, Sep 2008.
Charley's War: Return to the Front. ISBN 978-1845767969, Oct 2008.
James Bond: Polestar. ISBN 978-1845767174, Nov 2008.