Roger Zelazny cover gallery

This covers only Zelazny's early books, although he managed to cram in 16 novels (one a collaboration) and 3 short story collections in his first 11 years. For more on Zelazny and a listing of his later titles, try the Science Fiction Encyclopedia or Wikipedia.

This Immortal (New York, Ace Books, 1966)
Panther Books 0586-02531-6, 1968, 187pp.
Methuen 0413-56840-7, 1985, 177pp.
Victor Gollancz 0575-07115-X, 2000, 174pp.

The Dream Master (New York, Ace Books, 1966)
Panther Books 0586-02630-4, 1968, 156pp.
Methuen 0413-56850-4, 1985, 168pp.

Lord of Light (Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday & Co., 1967)
Panther Books, 1968
Panther Books 0586-03518-4, 1971, 251pp. Cover by Michael Johnson
Panther Books 0586-03518-4, 1973, 250pp.
Methuen 0413-58250-7, (Mar) 1986, 261pp, £2.50.
Millennium 1857-98820-5 [SF Masterworks 7], 1999, 319pp.
Gollancz 0575-07901-0, 2006, xii+303pp.
Gollancz 0575-09421-4 [SF Masterworks], 2010, ix+290pp.

Four For Tomorrow (New York, Ace Books, 1967; as A Rose For Ecclesiastes, London, Rupert Hart-Davis, 1969) Collection
Panther 0586-02920-6, 1969, 189pp.

Creatures of Light and Darkness (Garden City, Doubleday & Co., 1969)
Arrow Books 0099-06750-1, 1972, 189pp.

Damnation Alley (New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1969)
Sphere, 1973. Cover by Gordon C. Davies
Sphere 0722-19424-2, 1974. Cover by Eddie Jones
Sphere 0722-19425-0, 1976, 157pp. Cover by Chris Foss
Sphere 0733-19438-2, 1979, 157pp.
---- [xth imp.] Aug 1989, 157pp, £2.99. Cover by Chris Foss
Gollancz 0575-07346-2, 2003, 157pp.

Isle of the Dead (New York, Ace Books, 1969)
Arrow Books 0099-07230-0, 1973, 192pp.
Methuen 0413-41550-3, (Aug) 1986, 192pp, £2.50.

Nine Princes in Amber (Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday & Co., 1970)
Corgi Books 0552-09554-0, 1974, 190pp. Cover by Patrick Woodroffe
Sphere 0722-19439-0, 1981, 190pp, £1.25.

Jack of Shadows (New York, Walker & Co., 1971)
Corgi 0552-09608-3, 1974, 157pp.

The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth and Other Stories (Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday & Co., 1971)
Corgi 0552-10021-8, 1975, 271pp.
Methuen 0413-40970-8, (Jan) 1987, 270pp, £2.50.

The Guns of Avalon (Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday & Co., 1972)
Corgi Books 0552-09906-6, 1975, 203pp. Cover by Patrick Woodroffe
Sphere 0722-19440-4, 1982, 203pp.

To Die in Italbar (Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday & Co., 1973)
Corgi Books 0552-10463-9, 1977, 174pp. Cover by Chris Achilleos
Methuen 0413-40980-5, (Aug) 1986, 182pp, £2.50.

Today We Choose Faces (New York, Signet Books, 1973)
Futura/Orbit 0860-07838-8, 1973, 174pp. Cover by Peter Jones

Sign of the Unicorn (Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday & Co., 1975)
Sphere 0722-19422-6, 1978, 186pp. Cover by Fox

Bridge of Ashes (New York, Signet Books, 1976)
(no UK paperback?)

Doorways in the Sand (New York, Harper & Row, 1976)
Star 39724

My Name is Legion (New York, Ballantine Books, 1976)
Sphere 0722-19421-8, 1980, 205pp.
---- [xth imp.] (Oct) 1987, 204pp, £2.75.

Deus Irae, with Philip K. Dick (Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday & Co., 1976)
Sphere 0722-12964-5, 1978, 220pp.

The Hand of Oberon (Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday & Co., 1976)
Sphere 0722-19419-6, 1979, 181pp.

Comic Cuts - 28 March 2014

The introduction for the Countdown to TV Action book sailed past 20,000 words earlier in the week and I still have some way to go. The first 13,000 words are even in the right order! The rest are made up of large chunks of notes and some finished sections that still need to be linked together . . . and you'll be pleased to hear that there is some element of "counting down" within the introduction. Or you may not even care.

Next week I'm hoping that I can even start thinking about the layout of the pages and putting together a cover. Does anyone know of any surviving pages from Countdown or TV Action in the hands of fans?

Random scans . . . I fancied a break last night, so I've cleaned up a few more covers from gangster yarns published back in the early 1950s. Griff and Ben Sarto have been almost regulars here over the past month, since I put up two articles on Kindle (you can find them at the Bear Alley Books page). From the top we have Bullets for Snoopers by Griff (Modern Fiction, 1953) with a cover by Len Potts, Chicago Dames by Ben Sarto (Modern Fiction, 1946) with a cover by H. W. Perl, One False Move by Ricky Drayton (Milestone Publications, 1954) with a cover by Len Gard, and Handle With Care by Hans Lugar (Scion, 1952) with a cover by ... well, I don't know, but I like it!

5

Coming Soon: a new Paul Temple adventure. If I have time over the weekend I'll get to work on the scans. I might not be able to start it running from Monday, but I'll do my best.

Commando issues 4691-4694

Commando issues on Sale 27th March 2014

Commando No 4691 – The Fighting Sappers

Young recruits Harry Blake and Charlie Yates had signed up for the infantry but ended up being sent to a tunnelling unit on the Western Front, part of a team of Royal Engineers — or “Sappers” as they were more commonly known.
   Although the Sappers usually laboured beneath the trenches, rather than in them — their work was every bit as dangerous. And soon the pals realised that the fighting underground could be every bit as fierce as that on the surface...

Story: Ferg Handley
Art: Vila
Cover: Janek Matysiak

Commando No 4692 – The Executioners

It was known to British and Germans alike in that bullet-raked valley as “The Villa In No-Man’s-Land” — a bleak, deserted house commanding vital sections of each front line. But this was no ordinary house…
   Nazi officers who took possession of it were found stiff and dead at their dinner-table. British patrols who moved up to investigate were never seen again. There were rumours of mysterious sounds heard underground, of secret passages and tunnels, of invisible voices and footsteps.
   Then Sergeant Gunson and three Commandos were detailed to investigate — and execute — whoever or whatever was haunting the “Villa In No-Man’s-Land”.

Introduction
Chaco’s cover and the title tell you the whole story, don’t they? A Commando squad on an assassination mission ready to strike…except that this Powell story has an unexpected surprise which takes the whole plot in a different direction. It does something that is difficult to pull off in a Commando story; it has all its action compressed into a short time frame and takes place in a very small area. That could easily be a recipe for a long series of repetitive pictures but, thanks to the skill of the author and artist Bielsa, it’s not.
  Go on, read it and see if you agree.

Calum Laird, Commando Editor

Story: Powell
Art: Bielsa
Cover: Chaco
Originally Commando No 118 (May 1964), re-issued as No 647 (May 1972)

Commando No 4693 – Hi-Jacked!

By 1945, Sergeant Joe Kellis and his Sherman tank crew knew that the end of the war in Europe was in sight. They were hoping that it might end quietly for them.
   Then their tank was hijacked by a couple of Italian deserters and they found themselves mixed up in a dangerous scheme involving stolen gold that could see them on the run from both sides.
   A quiet end to the War…? Not a chance!

Story: Ferg Handley
Art: Morahin
Cover: Janek Matysiak

Commando 4694 – Sabotage Mission

The raiders’ objective was vital. If they reached and destroyed their target, it would be a bitter blow to the enemy. But the greatest danger the forward recce party faced came from within their own ranks…the result of an old grudge which could only mean BIG trouble.

Introduction
What’s in a name? Or rather, a title?
   Here, author Peter McKenzie’s working title was “A Question Of Trust”. Personally, I think that’s a great title  —  one which neatly sums up the underlying theme of this tough action-packed tale.
   However, as good as it is, that title doesn’t quite match up with artist Jeff Bevan’s inventive, offbeat cover. The more robust, straight-forward “Sabotage Mission” fits the bill perfectly. Where possible we would always try to use a writer’s original title but the Commando editorial team from 1989 made the right decision in changing it. 

Scott Montgomery, Deputy Editor

Story: Peter Mckenzie
Art: Ibanez
Cover: Jeff Bevan
Originally Commando No 2321 (October 1989)

Trailer Park: The Graphic Novel Man and Hercules

Trailer for the upcoming DVD about Bryan Talbot. The Graphic Novel Man will be available from Digital Story Engine from 12 May 2014 and should be available to pre-order – from here – shortly.

First trailer for the upcoming movie based on Steve Moore's Hercules: The Thracian Wars, directed by Brett Ratner and starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

Fountains of Paradise at the Ends of the Earth

One of our readers, Jake Gilmore, dropped me a line yesterday to say that he recognised one of the covers from my Lucius Shepard gallery as the same Chris Moore cover on a classic Arthur C. Clarke novel. Well, it was news to me, but I've managed to dig out a scan of said cover that I did when I was putting together the Nebula Award Winners cover galleries and the Hugo Award Winners galleries. My thanks to Jake and his amazing memory. Now, what was I doing again?

The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke. Pan 0330-25984-9, 1980, 234pp, £1.25.
The Ends of the Earth by Lucius Shepard. Millennium 1857-98125-1, 1994, 484pp, £8.99.
The Ends of the Earth by Lucius Shepard. Millennium 1857-98169-3, 1994, 484pp.

Lucius Shepard (1943-2014)

Lucius Shepard has an odd connection with British story papers as he was a youthful contributor to Collins' For Boys and Girls, later renamed Collins Young Elizabethan. Shepard's story 'Pasture for a Horse' was the winner of the Overseas Prize for the paper's short story contest in 1953. By the time the story appeared the following year, Shepard had already been a growing star in the paper for around 14 months.

His final tally was four short stories and four non-fiction pieces: "We Meet a Native" (June 1952), "Camp Greenville" (January 1953), "Fidgets" (September 1953), "Florida Island" (October 1953), "A Journey to Cuba" (May 1954), "Pasture for a Horse" (August 1954), "Losing and Finding Fidgets" (September 1954) and "The House in the Woods" (January 1955).

Shepard later claimed that he was born in 1947, and that these youthful contributions were actually the work of his father. However official US records – and his appearance in a 1945 Florida census! – make it clear that Lucius Taylor Shepard was born in 1943. The son of William and Lucia Shepard, he was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, but raised in Daytona Beach, Florida, where he attended Seabreeze High School, Daytona Beach.

When compiling the listing below, I was surprised to discover that Shepard was one of a number of leading SF authors (John Varley being another) whose work dries up as far as British publishers are concerned. The last of his collections to appear was in 1997 and the last three books listed – against my usual policy of only showing paperback covers – were from specialist publisher PS Publishing. Perhaps his preference for short stories works up to novella length worked against him in a publishing climate that favours novels over shorter works.

Green Eyes
Chatto & Windus 0701-13055-5, 275pp, £3.95. Cover by Donald Macpherson
Grafton/Panther 0586-07104-0, 1987, 332pp, £3.50. Cover by Gino D'Achille
Orion 0752-81613-6, 1998, 275pp, £5.99.

The Jaguar Hunter
Paladin 0576-08719-2, 1988, 429pp, £5.95. Cover by Liz Wright

Life During Wartime
Paladin 0586-08797-4, 1989, 384pp.
Orion 0752-81614-4, 1998, 448pp.
Gollancz 0575-07734-4 [SF Masterworks 66], 2006, 418pp, £6.99. Cover by Dominic Harman

Kilimantan 
Legend 0712-62169-5, 1990, 160pp.

The Golden
Millennium 1857-98110-3, 1993, 216pp.

The Ends of the Earth
Millennium 1857-98125-1, 1994, 484pp, £8.99. Cover by Chris Moore *
Millennium 1857-98169-3, 1994, 484pp, £5.99. Cover by Chris Moore *
    * Same cover earlier used on Arthur C. Clarke's The Fountains of Paradise (Pan, 1980)

Barnacle Bill the Spacer and Other Stories
Orion 1857-98500-1, 1997, 292pp, £9.99.
Millennium 0752-81609-8, 1998, 304pp.

Floater
PS Publishing, 2003. h/c. Cover by Edward Miller

Dagger Key and Other Stories
PS Publishing 978-1904-61973-4, 2007. h/c. Cover by J. K. Potter

Viator Plus
PS Publishing 978-1848-63035-2, 2009. h/c. Cover by Jim Burns

Steve Moore: Fabulous Beasts

This is an interview I did with Steve Moore back in 2000 when he returned to regularly writing comics after a fifteen-year break. I used a pen-name (Neil Cooper, a veteran of Comic World) because I was also editing the paper and didn't want people to think I was just promoting the work of a friend. I hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane with one of Britain's finest comics scribes.

 

 

(* © Steve Holland 2000)

Comic Cuts - 21 March 2014

Another solid week of work on the Countdown/TV Action book. Thanks to Robin Hilborn, Countdown's first assistant editor, and Roger Perry, the paper's art editor, I have been able to add some colour to what might otherwise be a rather drab account of what strips appeared when. Anyone who has bought one of my previous indexes will know that I try to cram the introductions with lots of detail and what happened behind the scenes is as much fun to explore as the comics themselves.

On Wednesday I also did a little virtual street tour via Google Maps and Google Streetview to see if I could find the building in which Countdown was created. You can see the building above, although I'm hoping that someone in London who happens to be near Church Street Market with a camera might be able to get a better shot for use in the book.

Just think: out of that one set of offices came TV Comic, Pippin, Playland and Countdown. I believe Polystyle had offices there until late 1983 or 1984, and only moved elsewhere in the latter days of TV Comic. What it was like inside . . . well, you'll just have to wait for the book.

I was saddened to hear that Steve Moore died on Sunday at the age of 64. Steve had been an on/off correspondent since the 1990s and we'd last exchanged e-mails six weeks ago when I was running the Bionic Woman Annual strips he wrote for Ian Gibson.

Steve had a career in comics that lasted 45 years, from his early days as an office boy at Odhams in 1967, all the way through to the two Hercules mini-series that were published a couple of years ago. His novel Somnium appeared in 2011 and I believe he had completed work – or at least completed a first draft – of a non-fiction book about his passion, the moon-goddess Selene and her lover Endymion. He was also working with his best friend Alan Moore on a number of projects, editing Alan's novel Jerusalem and co-writing The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic for Top Shelf. Steve was the subject of Alan's Unearthing, released on CD in 2010.

I'm hoping to write something more substantial about Steve shortly so I'll leave it there for the moment. No random scans today. It's one o'clock in the morning and I still haven't really processed the news. I might post some more after I've had some sleep. We shall see.

Central African Pioneer part 13

(* artwork © Look and Learn Ltd.)

Central African Pioneer part 12

(* artwork © Look and Learn Ltd.)

Central African Pioneer part 11

(* artwork © Look and Learn Ltd.)

Central African Pioneer part 10

(* artwork © Look and Learn Ltd.)

Central African Pioneer part 9

(* artwork © Look and Learn Ltd.)