Bear Alley: Comic Cuts — 7 November 2025

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The Bill Kellaway Quartet by Gwyn Evans
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"The narrative is packed with action and I think readers will have a lot of fun with [Hercules, Esq.] and there are some genuine moments of laugh out loud humour. I can understand why the film rights for this book were snapped up and even today I could envisage it being a very enjoyable one-off TV series." — Cross Examining Crime.
"Although there’s some criminous stuff going on and Bill often finds himself vying against or working with various lawbreakers, the stakes are never really life and death in this book ... There is some slam-bang action, though, as well as a smart, really likable protagonist and a lot of really clever plot twists, but what really makes HERCULES ESQ. work is Evans’s style, which is consistently breezy, fast-paced, and funny." — James Reasoner, Rough Edges.

Friday, November 07, 2025

Comic Cuts — 7 November 2025

I spent longer than I anticipated on last week's video, and it was only by the skin of my teeth that I managed to post it Thursday night, in time for Friday's regular Comic Cuts column. I thought I'd start putting part two together a bit earlier this week, only to discover that the scans I thought I had a good run of were incomplete. Thankfully, the ever-helpful community of comic collectors came to my rescue (a big THANK YOU to Dave Hayward) and you'll see the results above.

I should also add that those issues helped solve a little mystery and confirm that there was a small error in the Lion: King of Picture Story Papers book where, on page 129, I say that Joe Colquhoun was the artist on Paddy Payne except for Gino D'Antonio between 24-10 and 21-11-59. That should be 28-11. Gino did six issues, not five. It's always good to make sure these little errors are corrected.

While I was waiting to finish off the video, I cracked on with the Action Index, which is now mostly written. I've still to tidy up the details on the second run of the title, but I've now re-read almost all the stories (I'm halfway through '"Jinx" Jackson', which is the last series I need to read). Next up, I'll be going through issue-by-issue to see if there were any interesting features that need to be mentioned. Then I've got to go through the whole thing from word one to make sure it all makes sense. It'll be interesting to see what I wrote, as I started this five years ago and I've slept since then.

I've now had the contract for MYTEK THE MIGHTY Volume 4, so I'll be gearing production on that title next week, alongside the AIR ACE PICTURE LIBRARY COMPANION, which I'm now waiting on. They could be on sale as early as next week if I risk having them sent directly again. I'm tempted, as it means I can offer a discount for everyone who picks up the book(s) ahead of Christmas. Yes, Christmas. Apologies if this comes as a shock, but we're only six, seven (geddit?) weeks away from Christmas Day.

Question is, what should I do for the Bear Alley Christmas Party, and will I let myself go to the pub for lunch, or will I force myself to work through until Christmas Eve? Never work for yourself is my advice: the hours are good but the individual minutes can be grueling.