Comic Scene #5 (August 2019)

This issue celebrates summer and, for comics' fans, that mean Summer Specials. If the phrase doesn't take you back to your childhood, you're also too young to remember that we used to have dozens of comics on the shelves aimed at boys and girls and nearly all of them would release a bumper issue in time for the school holidays to see you through boring car trips to castles you'd never heard of (most of which had collapsed in on themselves centuries ago), zoos with a few motheaten big cats or lakes (too dangerous to swim in) with mountains behind them (too lofty to climb)... just for the view. The VIEW?

Lew Stringer's lead article on Comic Scene #5 (in shops now) revels in the glory days of the sixties and seventies when the Summer or Holiday Special had their heyday. I remember the first specials I read were thick, 96 page monsters that you had to talk your mum into buying (and then talk aunts and nans into buying others) because, at 2/6, they were out of the pocket money range of many.

Rebellionhave been doing their best to revive the tradition of the summer special and their latest combines the worlds of Tammy and Jinty, two classic seventies girls' titles. Editor Lizzie Boyle explains how the two have been combined to create the latest summer anthology comic in their Treasury line and hopefully we'll see more.

Peter Gouldson's article about Spider-Man's trips to the UK is timely reminder that the movie Spiderman: Far From Home isn't his first time he's visited these shores; Irmantas Povilaika looks at Leo Baxendale's Sweeny Toddler; Stephen Jewell talks to Geoff West about his picture library reprints; Martin Dollard's series about Batman reaches the 1970s; Joel Meadows looks at the Spiderman movie; and there is the usual exceptionally good round-up of independent comics.

Comic strips for this issue include dashing highwaywoman Lady Flintlock and Andy Clifts's Captain Cosmic (launched via a Kickstarter in 2018), plus Phil Elliott provides the artwork for The Dummy, which is more samhain than summer solstice, I'd suggest.

Altogether it's another excellent package, even if it lacks the acerbic comments of Pat Mills which have been a feature of early issues. Perhaps he's taking a summer holiday.

Details about subscriptions can be obtained from www.comicscene.org. Rates for print issues for the UK are £5.99 for one issue; £35 for 6 issues; £68 for 12 issues.You can get a pdf version for £3.99 (1), £22 (6) or £40 (12).

Payment can be made via PayPal to comicsceneuk@gmail.com. For other options, and for international rates for the print edition, visit the website.