J C B Knight

J.C.B. KNIGHT

by

Robert J. Kirkpatrick

J.C.B. Knight could be said to have had three careers as an illustrator – firstly as a cartoonist during the 1920s, then as an illustrator of children’s stories throughout the 1930s, and finally as an illustrator of children’s reference books during the 1950s and 1960s. He was also the longest-living illustrator of his era, dying just short of his 100th birthday.

He was born on 27 September 1897 in Reigate, Surrey, and christened James Charles Burdett Knight. His father, Frank Royal Knight, was born in Southwark in May 1870, and followed his father’s career as a draper in Reigate (he had taken over a draper’s store there, at 8-10 Bell Street, in 1883). In 1894, he married Mary Burdett, born in Guildford, Surrey, in 1869, the daughter of a builder. (Frank and Mary had met whilst Frank had been an apprentice in Guildford). They went on to have two children: Frances Mary Burdett, born in 1896, and James.

At the time of the 1901 census, the family was living at 43 Bell Street, Reigate. James was being educated at Reigate Grammar School, where he played in the Cricket XI. It is not known where he received his art training (if he received any, that is), but he appears to have begun his professional career as a cartoonist in the early 1920s. For four or five years, he specialised in sporting cartoons for Punch, and he later contributed cartoons to The Bystander and The Sketch. In the mid-1920s he began providing illustrations for the Amalgamated Press’s Boys’ Friend, and he later illustrated several of Charles Hamilton’s “Rio Kid” stories for The Popular. He also provided illustrations for Young England.

On 7 November 1928 he married Evelyn Elliott (born on 20 April 1904) at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Redhill, Surrey. As far as is known, they had only one child, John, born in 1931.

Shortly before his marriage, his first book illustrations had appeared, in a volume of adventure stories published by John F. Shaw & Co. Knight went on to illustrate 17 more books for Shaw, all historical, adventure and school stories, including six books by F. A. M. Webster, a prolific author of novels and works on athletics. After the collapse of John F. Shaw in the mid-1930s, Knight went on to work for other publishers, most notably Blackie & Son, for whom he illustrated five stories by Percy F. Westerman.

Knight was also a musician, playing the violin with the Reigate Orchestral Society (of which his wife became leader) throughout the 1920s.

In the 1939 Register Knight was recorded at 109 Blackborough Road, Reigate, with a note to the effect that he was a member of the Reigate Special Constabulary. He was still working as an illustrator, and after the war he began his third career, illustrating children’s school books and reference books, most of which were published by A. & C. Black. These included titles such People in History (in four books), A History of Houses, Travel by Road Through the Ages, and Looking at History (four books), all written by R. J. Unstead, and biographies of Louis Pasteur and Mozart.

Having apparently retired in the mid-1960s, Knight remained at 109 Blackborough Road, Reigate, for the rest of his life. His father, who had been the Chairman of the local Holmedale Building Society between 1933 and 1957, died in 1963; his wife died in February 1974; his sister, who had worked in the family drapery business, died in December 1987; and Knight himself died in January 1997, and was buried in the churchyard of St. Mary’s Church, Reigate.

PUBLICATIONS

Illustrated by J C B Knight
Cool Courage, John F. Shaw & Co., 1928
Daring Deeds by F.A.M. Webster, John F. Shaw & Co., 1928 (with other artists)
Stirring Stories for Boys by F.A.M. Webster, John F. Shaw & Co., 1928 (with other artists)
The Grammar School Hotspurs by R.A.H. Goodyear, John F. Shaw & Co., 1930
The Adventurous Voyage: Telling of the Deeds of Some Famous Heroes by Maurice Kerr, Religious Tract Society, 1930
In Times of Peril: Girls’ Adventure Stories by various authors, John F. Shaw & Co., 1930(?)  (with other artists)
School Before All by R.A.H. Goodyear, John F. Shaw & Co., 1931
Brave Days by F.A.M. Webster, John F. Shaw & Co., 1931
Stirring Adventures by F.A.M. Webster, John F. Shaw & Co., 1931 (with other artists)
The Scouts of Windhaven by Geoffrey Prout, Blackie & Son, 1931
Mistress High and Mighty by Constance Harvey, John F. Shaw & Co., 1931
The Riddle of Rockview School by Bertha Leonard, John F. Shaw & Co., 1931
The Girls of Stone View School by Charles Herbert, John F. Shaw & Co., 1931
Wolf Cub Trails by F.A.M. Webster, John F. Shaw & Co., 1932
Pam Wins Through by Constance Harvey, John F. Shaw & Co., 1932
The School that was Different by Sibyl Owsley, John F. Shaw & Co., 1932
The Surprise Book for Boys by F.A.M. Webster, John F. Shaw & Co., 1932 (with other artists)
Stirring Adventures for Girls by various authors, John F. Shaw & Co., 1932 (with other artists)
True as Steel, John F. Shaw & Co., 1933
Millding College: A Story of School Life by F.A.M. Webster, John F. Shaw & Co., 1935
Rags the Invincible by Anton Lind, Sampson Low, Marston & Co., 1937
In the Land of the Mogul: A Story of the East India Company’s First Venture in India by Geoffrey Trease, Basil Blackwell, 1938
Pilots of the Sixth and Other Stories of School and Adventure, The Epworth Press, 1938 (with Fred Wilson)
The “Q” Plane and Other Stories of School and Adventure, The Epworth Press, 1938(?) (with Richard Ogle)
Bradley of the Fifth and Other Stories of School and Adventure, The Epworth Press, 1939
The Missing Merchantman by Harry Collingwood, Blackie & Son, 1939 (re-issue) (dustwrapper)
When Allies Swept the Seas by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1940
Sea Scouts at Dunkirk by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1941
On Guard for England by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1942
The Phantom Submarine by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1947
Castle Rhanby by Meta Shaw, Hutchinson & Co., 1949
Sunshine Stories by various Authors, Blackie & Son, 1950  (with other artists)
Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington & Mable Esther carter, Longmans, Green & Co., 1952
The Story of Ousama, by Himself, Longmans, Green & Co., 1952
Pioneers of Progress by C.S.S. Higham, Longmans, Green & Co., 1952
Makers of Civilisation by Margaret Irene Potts, Longmans, Green & Co., 1953
Louis Pasteur by Evelyn Attwood, Longmans, Green & Co., 1954
White Nile (Reader 2) by J.A. Bright, Longmans, Green & Co., 1954
People in History, Book 1: From Caractacus to Alfred by R.J. Unstead, A. & C. Black, 1955
People in History, Book 2: From William the Conqueror to William Caxton by R.J. Unstead, A. & C. Black, 1955
People in History, Book 3: Great Tudors and Stuarts by R.J. Unstead, A. & C. Black, 1955 (with other artists)
People in History, Book 4: Great People of Modern Times by R.J. Unstead, A. & C. Black, 1955 (with other artists)
A History of Houses by R.J. Unstead, A. & C. Black, 1958
Travel by Road Through the Ages by R.J. Unstead, A. & C. Black, 1958
London: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day by John Trevor Hayes, A. & C. Black, 1959 (with other artists)
Pete’s Night Ride, and Other Stories by John Harrison, A. & C. Black, 1959
The Honey Siege by Gil Buhet, trans. By Geoffrey Sainsbury, Chatto & Windus, 1960
Adventure in Sicily by John Finnemore, A. & C. Black, 1960
Pirates Aboard by John Finnemore, A. & C. Black. 1960
The Ruby Hunters by John Finnemore, A. & C. Black, 1960
Stories of the Greek Heroes by Michael West, Longmans, Green & Co., 1960
Looking at History: 1. From Cavemen to Vikings by R.J. Unstead, A & C. Black, 1961
Looking at History: 2. The Middle Ages by R.J. Unstead, A & C. Black, 1961
Looking at History: 3. Tudors and Stuarts by R.J. Unstead, A. & C. Black, 1961
Monasteries by R.J. Unstead, A & C. Black, 1961
Living in Town and Country by A. Arkinsall & N.V. Brindley, Chatto & Windus, 1961
Travel by Sea Through the Ages by Robert J. Hoare, A. & C. Black, 1961 (with other artists)
A Commentary Upon the Holy Bible by Matthew Henry & Thomas Scott, Religious Tract Society, 1961 (re-issue)
Living in Other Lands by A. Arkinsall & N.V. Brindley, Chatto & Windus, 1962
Looking at History: 4. Queen Anne to Queen Elizabeth II by R.J. Unstead, A & C. Black, 1962
Good English Prose by Brian Jackson, Chatto & Windus, 1963
Williver’s Luck by Alice Mary Hadfield, Chatto & Windus, 1964
Looking at East Africa: The 20th Century by Zoë Marsh, A. & C. Black, 1964
Let’s Write an Essay (Book 1) by John Webber, Chatto & Windus, 1965
Looking at East Africa: The 19th Century by John S.B. Osogo, A. & C. Black, 1965
Mozart: A Biography for Children by Irene Gass, A. & C. Black 1966
Great Prime Ministers by John Whittle, A. & C. Black, 1966 (with other artists)
Living in Britain by A. Arkinsall & N.V. Brindley, Chatto & Windus, 1968
Living in the World at Large by A. Arkinsall & N.V. Brindley, Chatto & Windus, 1968
This Wonderful World by Agnes Nightingale, A. & C. Black, 1968

Cam Kennedy: From the Drawing Board

Cam Kennedy: From the Drawing Board.Video of Cam Kennedy's talk at the University of Dundee. Please note: the sound quality is not brilliant.

Comic Cuts - 27 April 2018

This will be brief as I have little to report. I'm still on the lookout for work and have sent out a couple of applications, but I'm not finding a huge number of jobs that fit the criteria of being both interesting and something I'm qualified for. If I can discover nothing online within the next couple of weeks, I will start hitting up the local recruitment agencies to see what they have.

In between, I've been cracking on with another essay for what will eventually be Volume 4 of the Forgotten Authors series. This one is about someone I've been meaning to write up for years. I knew of him as a publisher and miner writer in the teens of the 20th century before doing a little digging many years ago. It turned out he was one of the subjects of a book called Wild Men of Sydney by Cyril Pearl, which I tracked down a copy of in 2001. I still have my handwritten notes from reading the book which painted him as a hard-drinking, argumentative, opinionated, crooked politician who eventually landed in the UK in 1911 and began writing mostly about social problems but with the occasional novel thrown in.

He is, of course, W. N. Willis of The White Slave Trade fame. I'm about 9,000 words in, but still have some way to go.

We've been ploughing through a few TV series lately. We've finally caught up with season 2 of Preacher and the Danish series Under the Surface. We've just started Lost in Space, which we're enjoying but I think suffers from having children in it. Yes, I know that it is meant to be about the Robinson family, and I know it's meant to be family-friendly viewing, but still...

We've reached a point where the SF aspects of a TV show should be seamlessly integrated into the storyline – so the spaceship looks great and the robot is truly marvellous, leaving the writers to tell an actual story. Unfortunately, I suspect every episode is going to involve the parents fretting about the kids, the kids will overcome some worry or fear by the end of an episode so that they do the right thing and make their parents proud, and an endless supply of countdowns. Everyone is going to do at least one dumb thing to keep the plot going, despite the fact that these are meant to be the smartest of the smart.

We're only three episodes in, although I suspect we've found the level that the show is pitched at. On the plus side we have a matriarchal set-up, with engineer Maureen Robinson heading up the family as career army dad John has spent so much time away.  Dr Smith is now Parker Posey, who is driven by self-preservation but hasn't otherwise stood out as a villain. And, talking of standing out, that robot may look great but he literally stood outside a door for the whole of episode 3.

Hopefully the show will pick up, but I dialled down my expectations of "science" the moment the temperature dropped so rapidly it froze the water around one of the daughters (so presumably at least -40°F), yet the others still had bare flesh exposed to these sub-zero temperatures and rain falls as rain. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the "fiction" bit – the plots and storytelling – makes up for it.

Also just started The Terror, based on the Dan Simmons novel. Now this is  more like it. Again, I'm three episodes in but I'm finding this gripping. The year is 1846 and two ships, the Erebus and the Terror, are sent to find the Northwest Passage. The expedition is led by Sir John Franklin, who is consumed with the need for success.

The two boats are trapped in ice over winter and deep into the following year with no sign that the ice is breaking up. Aboard the Terror, Captain Francis Crozier, more cautious than his commander, warns that the boats could be crushed if they are trapped for a second winter. Parties sent out from the boats find no evidence that the ice is melting and Franklin wants to send a party out to seek rescue. Franklin disagrees.

At the same time, it becomes clear that something is hunting the men. One of the men is lost and an Inuit is accidentally shot by one of the crew thinking him to be the creature. When the men return, they believe they may have led the creature back to the boats. Franklin sets a trap baited with rats, but the armed crew are unable to prevent Franklin from being snatched by the creature.

I'm finding this show absolutely gripping. There's not much to see when you have two sailing ships trapped in ice, but an air of menace quickly develops thanks to the freezing isolation, the tensions between Franklin and Crozier and between elements of the crew, and the attentions of the creature, which may be a starving polar bear or something more supernatural.

Brilliant so far, I may just have to binge watch the rest over the weekend while Mel is attending a show.

Rather than trying to sort out some random scans this week, I thought I'd repost my cover gallery for Dan Simmons, as it has been updated with a few covers since it was first posted on 2 November 2014. Just scroll down.

Dan Simmons cover gallery

NOVELS

Song of Kali (1985)
Headline 0747-23044-7, Aug 1987, 311pp, £2.95.
---- [?2nd imp.] Nov 1990, £3.99.
Gollancz 0575-07659-3, Mar 2005, 311pp, £7.99. Cover by Richard Carr
Gollancz 978-0575- 08307-3, Aug 2008, 277pp, £7.99.

Carrion Comfort (1989; revised 2010)
Headline 0747-27986-1, Apr 1990, 690pp, £8.95. Cover by Karen Simmons
Headline 0747-23405-1, Nov 1990, 992pp, £4.99. Cover by Karen Simmons
Quercus 978-1849-16221-0, Jul 2010, 767pp, £8.99. Cover photo by Ken Rosenthal

Phases of Gravity (1989; rev. 1991)
Headline 0747-27979-9, Dec 1990, 282pp, £7.99.
Headline 0747-23602-X, Jun 1991, 344pp, £4.50.

Hyperion (1989)
Headline 0747-37983-7,  Jul 1989, 346pp, £7.99.
Headline 0747-23482-5, Dec 1990, 502pp, £4.99.
---- [?2nd imp.] Apr 1991, 502pp, £4.99.
Gollancz 0575-07637-2, Dec 2005, 473pp, £7.99. Cover by Larry Rostant.
Gollancz (Future Classics) 978-0575-08114-7, Aug 2007, 467pp, £7.99.
Gollancz (SF Masterworks) 978-0575-09943-2, May 2011, xii+473pp, £8.99/ Cover by Larry Rostant
Gollancz (Gollancz 50) 978-0575-11677-1, Apr 2012, vi+473pp, £8.99. Design by Bob Hollingsworth

The Fall of Hyperion (1990)
Headline 0747-27964-0, Apr 1991, 468pp, £7.99.
Headline 0747-23604-6, Feb 1992, 632pp, £5.99. Cover by Lee Gibbons
Gollancz 0575-07638-0, Dec 2005, 535pp, £7.99. Cover by Larry Rostant
Gollancz 978-0575-07638-9 [7th imp.] £9.99.
Gollancz (SF Masterworks) 978-0575-09948-7, Apr 2012, xi+535pp, Cover by Larry Rostant

Summer of Night (1991)
Headline 0747-27957-8, Feb 1991, 473pp, £8.99.
Headline 0747-23653-4, Nov 1991, 560pp, £4.99.

The Hollow Man (1992)
Headline 0747-27940-3, Nov 1992, 312pp, £8.99. Cover by Adrian Chesterman
Headline 0747-23814-6, Jul 1993, 376pp, £4.99. Cover by Adrian Chesterman

Children of the Night (1992)
Headline 0747-27925-X, Aug 1992, 408pp, £8.99.
Headline 0747-23899-5, Feb 1993, 408pp, £4.99.

Fires of Eden (1994)
Headline 0747-25005-7, Jul 1995, 503pp, £5.99.

Endymion (1996)
Headline 0747-23826-X, Oct 1996, 600pp, £6.99.
Gollancz 0575-07634-8, Dec 2005, 983pp, £12.99. Cover by Larry Rostant
Gollancz 0575-07639-9, Nov 2006, 617pp, £7.99. Cover by Larry Rostant

The Rise of Endymion (1997)
Headline 0747-27666-8, Oct 1997,  600pp, £9.99
Headline 0747-25893-7, Apr 1998, 756pp, £6.99
Gollancz 0575-07640-2, Nov 2006, 804pp, £7.99. Cover by Larry Rostant

The Crook Factory (1999)
(no UK paperback)

Darwin's Blade (2000)
(no UK paperback)

Hardcase (2001)
(no UK paperback)

Hard Freeze (2002)
(no UK paperback)

A Winter Haunting (2002)
(no UK paperback)

Hard as Nails (2003)
(no UK paperback)

Ilium (2003)
Gollancz 0575-07260-1, Aug 2003, x+576pp, £10.99. Cover by Larry Rostant
Gollancz 0575-07560-0, Mar 2004, xi+642pp, £7.99. Cover by Larry Rostant.
Gollancz 978-0575-08330-1, Apr 2009, 629pp, £7.99. Cover by Sandra Zahirovic

Olympos (2005)
Gollancz 0575-07262-8, Jun 2005, 690pp, £10.99. Cover by Larry Rostant
Gollancz 0575-07882-0, Jun 2006, 825pp, £7.99. Cover by Larry Rostant

The Terror (2007)
Bantam Press 978-0593-04763-6, Feb 2007, 766pp, £12.99.
Bantam Books 978-0553-81820-8, Jan 2008, 935pp, £7.99. Cover by Urii Konoval Oleksandrovich and Menna

Drood (2009)
Quercus 978-1847-24795-7, Mar 2009, 771pp, £14.99.
Quercus 978-1847-24932-6, Oct 2009, 771pp, £7.99.

Black Hills (2010)
Quercus 978-1849-16090-2, Jan 2011, 618pp, £7.99. Cover photo by Corbis

Flashback (2011)
Quercus 978-0857-38346-4, Sep 2011, 553pp, £14.99.
Quercus 978-1780-87095-3, Apr 2012, 549pp, £8.99.

The Abominable (2013)
Sphere 978-1847-44556-8, Oct 2013, 672pp, £13.99.
Sphere 978-0751-54870-9 Jan 2014, 723pp, £6.99. Cover photo by Corbis

The Fifth Heart (2015)
Sphere 978-0751-54875-4, (Jan) 2016, 672pp, £7.99.

COLLECTIONS

Prayers to Broken Stones (1991)
Headline 0747-27935-7, Feb 1992, 311pp, £8.99. Cover by Steve Crisp
Headline 0747-23816-2, Nov 1992, 469pp, £5.99. Cover by Steve Crisp

Lovedeath: Five Tales of Love and Death (1993)
Headline 0747-27866-0, Nov 1993, 306pp, £8.99. Cover by Chris Moore
Headline 0747-024345-X, May 1994, 468pp, £5.99. Cover by Chris Moore

Worlds Enough and Time: Five Tales of Speculative Fiction (2002)
(no UK paperback)

Rebellion releases (2000AD)

Rebellion releases for 25 April 2018.

2000AD Prog 2078
Cover: Carlos Ezquerra
JUDGE DREDD: FLAWS by Michael Carroll (w) Staz Johnson (a) Abigail Bulmer (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
JAEGIR: IN THE REALM OF PYRRHUS by Gordon Rennie (w) Simon Coleby (a) Len O'Grady (c) Ellie De Ville (l)
SINISTER DEXTER: THE DEVIL DON'T CARE by Dan Abnett (w) Steve Yeowell (a) John Charles (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
ANDERSON, PSI DIVISION: UNDERTOW by Emma Beeby (w) Mike Collins/Cliff Robinson (a) Jose Villarrubia (c) Simon Bowland (l)
STRONTIUM DOG: THE SON by John Wagner (w) Carlos Ezquerra (a) Ellie De Ville (l)

E S Hodgson

E.S. HODGSON

by

Robert J. Kirkpatrick

E.S. Hodgson was a well-known artist in Dundee in the 1890s, but became better-known as an illustrator of boys’ adventure stories from around 1900 to the late 1930s. He was particularly associated with Percy F. Westerman, illustrating 17 of his books between 1908 and 1936.

Hodgson was born on 25 April 1866 in Arbroath, Forfarshire, Scotland, and christened Edward Smith Hodgson. His father Alfred was a machine-maker, born in Bordeaux, France, in 1825; his mother, Jessie Hanton, née Dryden, born in Arbroath in 1825, was formerly a flaxspinner who became a midwife. They had two other children: Paul, born on 3 January 1857, and Alfred, born in 7 June 1861.

At the time of the 1871 census Jessie and her three sons were living at 30 Grange Place, Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, with Paul being an apprentice draper. Alfred was living in West Calder, Lanarkshire, working as a mechanic. Whether or not Alfred and Jessie had separated at that time is not known.

Alfred Hodgson died in 1881, and in that year’s census Jessie was living at 2 Junction Place, Alloa, with her son Paul working as an engineer’s clerk. Her other sons, Alfred and Edward, had moved to London, where they were both working as shipping clerks and boarding with John Henly Lock, a bank messenger, and his family, at 8 Stafford Place South, Westminster.

According to a brief obituary in The Dundee Evening Telegraph after his death in 1937, Edward Hodgson “began his career as a sailor, but owing to an accident to his leg he was forced to give up the sea.” He subsequently studied at the Dundee School of Art from around 1882 to 1885. He worked in oil, watercolour and pastel, and went on to exhibit regularly in Dundee in the late 1880s and throughout the 1890s. He joined the Dundee Art Club in 1888, and in 1889 he was one of the founder members of the Dundee Graphic Arts Association, becoming its vice-president the following year. As well as being a painter, he also became an etcher, producing numerous engravings of his own work. He also taught art at several local schools.

At the time of the 1891 census Hodgson was working as a landscape artist and living with his mother at Baldovan Villa, Strathmarine, Angus (just north of Dundee), in the household of John and Mary Stephen, John being a retired shipping agent. Hodgson was also working out of a studio at 61 Reform Street, Dundee.

On 4 June 1894 he married Mary Wilson Crowe at St. Peter’s Church, Dundee. Born on 14 February 1871 in Dundee, she was the daughter of David Crowe, a wine and spirit merchant. They went on to have three children: David, born in 1895; Ronald, born in 1899 (both in Arbroath); and George, born in Bushey, Hertfordshire in 1902. The family had moved to Falconer Road, Bushey, to enable Edward to study under Professor Hubert Herkomer, a German-born portrait painter who was a member of the Royal Academy, the Royal Watercolour Society and a former Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford University.

Hodgson’s career as an illustrator appears to have begun in 1896, when he illustrated a re-issue of Victor Hugo’s The Toilers of the Sea. (He had earlier, in 1891, self-published Round About The Steeple, a collection of sketches of Dundee). Four years later, he began a long association with Cassell’s Magazine, and he went on to provide illustrations for The Pall Mall Magazine, The Sketch, The Sphere, The Illustrated London News, The Sunday Strand, The Wide World Magazine, The Strand Magazine (from 1904 onwards, and for which he provided 6 black and white illustrations for Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story "Danger!" in 1914), The Captain, Little Folks and The Quiver.

He also began illustrating boys’ adventure stories, most of which were sea-faring tales, such as Alexander Macdonald’s The Pearl Seekers: A Tale of the Southern Seas (1907), Harry Collingwood’s With Airship and Submarine (1907), John Barrow’s abridgement of Captain Cook’s Voyages (1908), T.T. Jeans’s Mr Midshipman Glover, R.N.: A tale of the Royal Navy of Today (1909), and Three Girls on a Yacht by E.E. Cowper (1910).

By the time of the 1911 census Hodgson had moved to St. Ninian’s, Finch Lane, Bushey. During the First World War he worked for The Graphic, mainly producing black and white pictures of the war at sea. He also had illustrations in Pearson’s Magazine, and after the war he worked for The Royal Magazine, The Windsor Magazine, The Girls’ Realm and Chums. He also continued illustrating boys’ adventure stories, becoming one of the most prolific illustrators of Percy F. Westerman’s stories, although his output declined at the beginning of the 1930s. His work also occasionally appeared in boys’ annuals, such as Blackie’s Boys’ Annual and Herbert Strang’s Annual.

Hodgson died in April 1937 at the Watford Peace Memorial Hospital, and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on 23 April 1937. His wife died two years later.

PUBLICATIONS
Round About the Old Steeple, Edward S. Hodgson, 1891  

Books illustrated by E.S. Hodgson
The Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo, George Routledge, 1896 (re-issue)
A Sweet Girl Graduate by L.T. Meade, Cassell & Co., 1902(?) (re-issue)
Facts and Phantasies of a Folio Grub by Herbert Compton, Anthony Treherne & Co., 1903 (with other artists)
Masterman Ready by Frederick Marryat, Collins, 1903  (re-issue)
The Pearl Seekers: A Tale of the Southern Seas by Alexander Macdonald, Blackie & Son, 1907
With Airship and Submarine: A Tale of Adventure by Harry Collingwood, Blackie & Son, 1907
A Lad of Grit: A Story of Adventure on Land and Sea in Restoration Times by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1908
A Middy in Command: A Tale of the Slave Squadron by Harry Collingwood, Blackie & Son, 1908
Captain Cook’s Voyages abridged by John Barrow,  Cassell & Co., 1908
Mr Midshipman Glover, R.N.: A Tale of the Royal Navy of Today by T.T. Jeans, Blackie & Son, 1909
First at the Pole: A Romance of Arctic Adventure by Frank H. Shaw, Cassell & Co., 1909
Peter the Whaler by W.H.G. Kingston, Cassell & Co., 1909 (re-issue)
Three Girls on a Yacht by E.E. Cowper, Cassell & Co., 1910
The Great Aeroplane: A Thrilling Tale of Adventure by F.S. Brereton, Blackie & Son, 1911
A Middy of the King by Harry Collingwood, Blackie & Son, 1911
The Hero of Panama: A Tale of the Great Canal by F.S. Brereton, Blackie & Son, 1911
A Kingdom of Dreams by J.J. Bell, Cassell & Co., 1911
The Sea Monarch by Percy F. Westerman, A. & C. Black, 1912
Sister-in-Chief by Dorothy à Beckett Terrell, Cassell & Co., 1912
Sons of the Sea: A Story for Boys by Frank H. Shaw, Cassell & Co., 1912
Violet Forster’s Lover by Richard Marsh, Cassell & Co., 1912
War and the Woman by Max Pemberton, Cassell & Co. 1912
Two Gallant Sons of Devon: A Tale of the Days of Queen Bess by Harry Collingwood, Blackie & Son, 1912
The Lighthouse by R.M. Ballantyne, Blackie & Son, 1912 (re-issue)
Turned Adrift: An Adventurous Voyage by Harry Collingwood, Blackie & Son, 1913
Kidnapped by Moors: A Story of Morocco by F.S. Brereton, Blackie & Son, 1913
The First Mate: The Story of a Sea Cruise by Harry Collingwood, Blackie & Son, 1914
Herbert Strang’s Book of Adventure Stories , Oxford Universoty Press, 1914 (with other artists)
Wonders of Land and sea by Graeme Williams, Waverley Book Co., 1914
The Nameless Island: A Story of Some Modern Robinson Crusoes by Percy F. Westerman, C. Arthur Pearson, 1915
British Battles on Land and Sea by Sir Evelyn Wood, Cassell & Co., 1915 (with other artists)
Ned Myers, or A Life Before the Mast by James Fenimore Cooper, Collins, 1915(?) (re-issue)
Rounding up the Raider: A Naval Story of the Great War by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1916
The History of the Great War by Newman Flower, Waverley Book Co., 196-1921 (with other artists)
Under the White Ensign: A Naval Story of the Great War by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1917
The Submarine Hunters: A Story of Naval Patrol Work in the Great War by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1918
The Secret Channel and other stories of the Great War by Percy F. Westerman, A. & C. Black, 1918 (with other artists)
Winning His Wings: A Story of the R.A.F. by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1919
A Sub and a Submarine: The Story of HM Submarine R19 in the Great War by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1919
The Salving of the Fusi Yama: A Post-war Story of the Sea by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1920
Brian of Synton: A Tale for Boys by H.S. Whiting, Arthur H. Stockwell, 1920
The Third Officer: A Present-day Pirate Story by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1921
Footplate Luck: Stories of Railway Adventure at Home and Abroad by Thompson Cross, Blackie & Son, 1922
Clipped Wings by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1923
Unconquered Wings by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1924
A Young Sea Rover by E.R. Spencer, Cassell & Co., 1925
A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne, Blackie & Son, 1925 (re-issue)
Deep Down: A Tale of the Cornish Mines by R.M. Ballantyne, Blackie & Son, 1925(?) (re-issue)
Whaling North and South by F.V. Morley, Century & Co., 1926
In Defiance of the Ban by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1931
A Book of Sea Stories by J.G. Fyfe, Blackie & Son, 1931
Captain Fosdyke’s Gold by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1932
Midshipman Raxworthy by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1936
Captain Flick by Percy F. Westerman, Blackie & Son, 1936
The Lighthouse by R.M. Ballantyne, Blackie & Son, 1938 (re-issue)

Comic Cuts - 20 April 2018

Nothing much to report as I've spent part of the week looking for work and the rest getting another essay written for what will be Volume 4 of the Forgotten Authors series. I've a short list of people that I've been meaning to write up – some of them for years – and I've been doing at least one of them in each volume. Bracebridge Hemyng in the second volume was based in part on something I'd written back in 2003; I'd been meaning to write up the Anonyma series of novels for a decade before getting the opportunity to include the anonymous writer in Volume 1; and the chance to write up the mysterious Michael Storm and then include three other authors hiding behind the same name for Volume 3 was too good an opportunity to miss.

I'm zeroing in on a couple of names for this next volume that I've never tackled before. The one just finished was meant to get me back into the swing of writing 1,000 words a day again. The next one will take a bit of researching before I can even start as the story begins in Australia before we get into a lot of publishing fun in the tens and teens of post-Edwardian Britain. It's a delightful tale of blackmail, fraud and obscenity... perfect for a Forgotten Authors essay!

As I've been writing about books and authors for the last ten or so months, it might seem that I've left comics behind. Not true, although I haven't had much chance to write anything for ages. There's the Don Lawrence book coming up from Book Palace in the next few weeks and there are a couple of other books that we could be doing. After that it might be a while before I can get any more books out, but we shall just have to see what I can manage.

As I write I'm enjoying listening to Arthur Ranson interviewed by Mike Molcher on The 2000 AD Thrill-Cast – over 2 1/2 hours of interview over two parts. Arthur has always been one of my favourite artists, his work appearing primarily in Look-In and 2000 AD here in the UK, plus a period working on Batman and various X-characters for Marvel. Following a period of illness, Arthur retired a decade ago, but has kept busy writing regularly on his website.

Other podcasts I'm listening to at the moment, include James O'Brien's Unfiltered, where he interviews politicians, comedians and others on a variety of topics; and Danielle Ward's Any Stupid Questions has just returned for what I hope is a new, long series. Each episode features an expert on a certain topic – the NHS, Brexit, economics, cyber security – and tries to answer some of the questions we might all have about the subject. It's well worth listening to some of the earlier episodes. News Roast is an often interesting podcast with a single guest. Again, it's worth having a look through the back-catalogue.

I usually try to keep politics off this blog but these are podcasts discussing topics that will affect you whatever your political leanings are.

If you fancy something funnier, there's still Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast (RHLSTP) (RHLSTP), the latest episode featuring the insane Brian Blessed. You can stream video of this one at YouTube. And every week there are new episodes of No Such Thing As A Fish and The Bugle. Go support them and have a laugh along the way.

Random scans are a few books I've picked up over the past few weeks. I've not included the latest novels by Robert Harris and John Le Carre as I found hardbacks and haven't scanned the dust jackets. So these are just the paperbacks... a rather thin couple of weeks, thankfully, as I'm keen to get some stuff out of the house rather than trying to find ways to pack more in!

Commando 5115-5118

Brand new Commando issues are on slae today! Storm Jerry lines at Messines Ridge, blast Bettys in a Buffalo, tunnel under the trenches with Maori Miners, and defend a Scottish island from an infiltrating U-Boat! It’s all in a day’s work for our Commandos!

5115: To Win Just Once
On the 7th of June, 1917, at Messines Ridge, the largest explosion the world had ever seen was detonated. After battering Jerry with artillery fire through the night, the shells stopped just before dawn and the birdsong began. At 3:10am, over 450 tons of explosives went off under the German line. They could hear it in Paris, and they felt it in London. But the battle had only just begun…
    Andrew Knighton’s debut issue of Commando treats the First World War with gravitas, perfectly balancing developed characters and white-knuckle action. Accompanied by meticulous interiors from Vicente Alcazar, the intensity of the trenches is felt on every page, especially the prodigious wrap-around cover from Neil Roberts.

Story: Andrew Knighton
Art: Vicente Alcazar
Cover: Neil Roberts

5116: Buffalo Patrol
Dave Kerr just wanted to be an RAF pilot but, even though he was a skilled flyer, he failed every exam. Sent to Singapore along with his pilot friend Patrick Elliot, Dave ran to Patrick’s tent to wake him when the Squadron Leader called in a scramble but found him asleep, pushed to exhaustion. Dave knew what he had to do — he grabbed Patrick’s flying helmet and goggles and ran for his Buffalo!
    An unusually vibrant background for an Ian Kennedy cover, the burning orange sets an explosive backdrop for the duelling Buffalo and Betty, preparing us for the aerial onslaught Mira skilfully provides inside.

Story: Staff
Art: Mira
Cover: Ian Kennedy
Originally Commando No. 519 (December 1970).

5117: Tunnels of Arras
Digging the Medieval tunnels deep beneath Arras in France, the New Zealand infantrymen thought they were tunnelling into Hell itself. With the ground above them frosted, the caverns underneath were icy, but the soldiers made it their own. They knew that after the losses at Verdun and the Somme, their only chance of defeating the Germans above was to dig beneath them. But what if the Germans had the same plan?
    First time Commando writer Jason Cobley’s refreshing focus on the New Zealand Tunnellers and the Maori Pioneer Battalion in the First World War is compelling in its detail, including the graffiti and place names marked in the eponymous Arras tunnels, which Carlos Pino details in his claustrophobic, yet homely interiors.

Story: Jason Colby
Art: Carlos Pino
Cover: Carlos Pino

5118: In Trouble Again
When a U-Boat surfaces offshore from a remote Scottish island with nothing but a radio station run by the Royal Signals on it, Charlie Potter of the Intelligence Corps knew their only chance was to fight back. The invading SS waved the white flag, telling the Britishers that if they surrendered they would be spared, but Charlie knew that the Nazis would never take prisoners on to a submarine.
    With cover art from Mike Dorey of DC Thomson, IPC and 2000AD fame, the hazy fog and choppy waves surrounding the Scottish island are like something straight from ‘When Eight Bells Toll’. This combined with Mike Knowles' tale of trouble seeking anti-hero Charlie Potter and veteran Commando artist CT Rigby’s interiors makes this a classic boys’ adventure comic for any age.

Story: Mike Knowles
Art: CT Rigby
Cover: Mike Dorey
Originally Commando No. 2741 (March 1994).

Rebellion Releases (2000AD)

Rebellion releases for 18 April 2018.

2000AD Prog 2077
Cover: Raid71
JUDGE DREDD: FLAWS by Michael Carroll (w) Staz Johnson (a) Abigail Bulmer (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
JAEGIR: IN THE REALM OF PYRRHUS by Gordon Rennie (w) Simon Coleby (a) Len O'Grady (c) Ellie De Ville (l)
SINISTER DEXTER: THE DEVIL DON'T CARE by Dan Abnett (w) Steve Yeowell (a) John Charles (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
ANDERSON, PSI DIVISION: UNDERTOW by Emma Beeby (w) David Roach (a) Jose Villarrubia (c) Simon Bowland (l)
STRONTIUM DOG: THE SON by John Wagner (w) Carlos Ezquerra (a) Ellie De Ville (l)

Judge Dredd Megazine 395
Cover: Brendan McCarthy
JUDGE DREDD: KRONG ISLAND by Arthur Wyatt (w) Jake Lynch (a) John Charles (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
THE RETURNERS: IRMAZHINA by Si Spencer (w) Nicolo Assirelli (a) Eva De La Cruz (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
CURSED EARTH KOBURN by Rory McConville (w) Carlos Ezquerra (a) Simon Bowland (l)
CHOPPER: WANDERING SOUL by David Baillie (w) Brendan McCarthy (a) Ellie De Ville (l)
DREDD: THE DEAD WORLD by Arthur Wyatt & Alex De Campi (w) Henry Flint (a) Chris Blythe (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
BONUS STORY: RAZORJACK - THE GLIMPSE OF SUMMER by Michael Carroll (w) John Higgins (a) Sally Hurst (c) Ellie De Ville (l)
Features: New Comics: 2000 AD Regened
BAGGED GRAPHIC NOVEL: Nemesis the Warlock: A Monograph by Matt Smith

Charley's War: Definitive Collection Volume 1 by Pat Mills & Joe Colquhoun
Rebellion ISBN 978-1781-08619-3, 18 April 2018, 323pp, £19.99. Available via Amazon.
Considered by many as the most important war story to appear in comics, Charley’s War follows the working class Charley Bourne who eagerly signs up to fight on the Western front in 1916. The idealistic sixteen-year-old experiences a hellish world of trench warfare where every day is a bitter fight for survival. Charley and his friends soon realise they have been thrust into a conflict where ordinary people are expected to throw away their lives to serve the selfish interests of those in power! Written by British comics legend Pat Mills and featuring the breathtaking artwork of Joe Colquhoun, this first volume of Charley’s War includes Charley’s harrowing participation in one of the bloodiest encounters in human history - The Battle of the Somme.

Michael Storme cover gallery

Michael Storme is one of the authors featured in my new book Forgotten Authors Volume 3.

Make Mine a Shroud
Archer Press, (May 1949), 96pp, 1/6. Cover by Heade

Unlucky Virgin
Archer Press, (Sep 1949), 96pp, 1/6. Cover by Thorpe

Make Mine a Harlot
Archer Press, (Oct) 1949, 128pp, 1/6. Cover by John Pollack

Make Mine Beautiful
Archer Press, (Nov) 1949, 128pp, 1/6. Cover by John Pollack

Make Mine a Virgin
Archer Press, 1949 (Jan 1950), 128pp, 1/6. Cover by John Pollack

Make Mine Dangerous
Archer Press, 1949 (Feb 1950), 128pp, 1/6. Cover by John Pollack

Make Mine a Corpse
Archer Press, (Jun) 1950, 128pp, 1/6. Cover by John Pollack

Sucker for a Red-Head
Archer Press, (Aug) 1950, 128pp, 1/6. Cover by Heade

Dame in my Bed
Archer Press, nd (1950), 128pp, 1/6. Cover by Heade

Satan Buys a Wreath
Archer Press, 1950 (Mar 1951), 128pp, 1/6. Cover by Heade

Hot Dames on Cold Slabs
Archer Press, (Dec) 1950, 128pp, 1/6. Cover by Heade

Elvira Digs a Grave
Harborough, nd (Mar 1952), 128pp, 2/-. Cover by Heade

Chicago Terror
Harborough, nd (Apr 1952), 128pp, 2/-. Cover by Heade

Lovelies are Never Lonely
Harborough, nd (Apr 1952), 127pp, 2/-. Cover by Heade

Stella Buys a Shroud
Harborough, nd (Apr 1952), 128pp, 2/-. Cover by Heade

Make Mine a Redhead
Harborough, nd (Oct 1952), 128pp, 2/-. Cover by Heade

Kiss the Corpse Goodbye
Harborough, nd (Nov 1952), 128pp, 2/-. Cover by Heade

Baby Don’t Love Hoodlums
Harborough, nd (Mar 1953), 128pp, 2/-. Cover by Heade

Dragons Come Expensive
Harborough, nd (Mar 1953), 128pp, 2/-. Cover by Heade

You’ll Be Better Off Dead
Harborough, nd (Mar 1953), 128pp, 2/-. Cover by Heade

Sweetheart with a Wreath
Harborough, nd (Jul 1953), 128pp, 2/-. Cover by Heade

Me and My Ghoul
Harborough, nd (Aug 1953), 128pp, 2/-. Cover by Heade

Tiptoe Thro’ a Graveyard
Harborough, nd (Aug 1953), 128pp, 2/-. Cover by Heade

Baby Don’t Say Goodbye
Harborough, nd (Oct 1953), 128pp, 2/-. Cover by Heade

The Devil Has a Racket
Harborough, nd (Jan 1954), 128pp, 2/-. Cover by Heade

(* Some of the scans here are from Stephen James Walker's The Art of Reginald Heade.)