Comic Cuts — 14 March 2025

Time for the big reveal.

I have been dropping hints for a couple of months that I was working on something big – and I do mean literally BIG – but I wanted to play my cards close to my chest until I was close to completion. Well, I'm close enough and confident enough to want to finally pull back the curtain. And if you're wondering why I'm rabbiting on, it's so that when I cross-post this column to Facebook, there's enough text to make sure the surprise isn't spoiled.

So... Bear Alley Books is reprinting the whole of MYTEK THE MIGHTY across four volumes. Each volume is 180-200 pages, with the first two volumes to be released together as the opening three stories were epics that ran for a total of 25 months, with artist Eric Bradbury turning out 2 1/2 pages of astonishing artwork every week.

Because the second story ran for a year, I've had to split it in two, and juggle some additional material – stories from the Valiant Summer Special and the Valiant Space Special, and some introductory material. Volume one has a foreword and the first part of a biographical essay on Tom Tully, while the second has part two of Tully and a second essay on the career of Eric Bradbury. The Tully is (like the early Mytek stories) a bit of an epic, the first substantial look at his career in and out of comics, I believe.

I would also add that there are some fascinating details about Eric Bradbury's life thanks to the opportunity I've had recently to talk to his daughter as well as drawing on a couple of chats I had with Eric himself back in 1993/94.

Moving on, we then have volumes three and four drawn by Bill Lacey. This has some of my favourite stories because it was during this period – Bradbury had moved over to House of Dolmann – that I started reading Valiant. There's one story in particular that you'll find in volume four that utterly blew me away when I was seven years old and had only recently discovered the joy of reading comics. (I should say here that I had corrective eye surgery when I was seven, so everything became a lot clearer!) The Steel Claw was battling The Scarecrow, Tim Kelly was battling Genghis Khan, Sexton Blake was battling a character known as the Black Vulture... The Shrinker, Raven on the Wing, The Wild Wonders, The Secret Champion, Bluebottle & Basher, Sporty, Billy Bunter, The Crows and The Nutts... every page was glorious!

And alongside all of these, was maybe my favourite of all... the story of Mytek the Mighty on the planet Umbra, tracking down two lost astronauts who have crash-landed on the planet. Almost immediately after landing, Mytek's shadow comes to life and creeps away and squeezes into a cleft in the rocks before Mytek can chase after and catch it.

Just WOW!

I hadn't read or seen anything like that before and you can never recapture the thrill of those early boyhood moments. I still remember the first episode of The Steel Claw that I read, the first episode of Thunderbirds I watched. I still love The Steel Claw (and Thunderbirds) today with a passion that's undiminished by the years.

Hopefully, if you read Mytek as a kid, having the entire collected saga in your hands will bring back those intense memories from childhood, and if you didn't get a chance to read the whole five year run back then, there are some "just WOW" moments ahead of you.

The four books are with Rebellion, awaiting approval. I have printed proof copies on the way (it usually takes a couple of weeks), so we should have some release news in the not too distant future. Phew!

Commando 5835-5838

Football in a Commando? Just when you think we can’t go any more left field! We can’t wait to see how many other curveballs we throw you in this set! Issues 5835-5838 go on sale from Thursday 13th March 2025!

5835: Leagues Apart

Footballers Jimmy Harris and Danny Meggs hated each other’s guts. They were bitter rivals on and off the pitch, but things all came to a head at the qualifying match for promotion to the next division. With talent scouts watching, Danny performed a devastating tackle on Jimmy which landed with a sickening crunch.
The injury caused Jimmy to be out of the beautiful game… but with World War Two looming, he wouldn’t be out of action for long!
    Remember Football Picture Story Monthly? Well this is those classic football stories mixed with Commando! You know we love to have a ball, so we’re kicking off this set with a truly original story from the champions Dave and Jim Turner. Hopefully our two sporting heroes can succeed in giving those Nazis a red card!

Story: Dave and Jim Turner
Art: Paolo Ongaro
Cover: Simon Pritchard

5836: The Death or Glory Mob

There had always been a Wild in the Wessex Rifles — always an officer from this family who proved to be as courageous as his ancestors and earned for himself the glorious name... “The Wild One”.
    Major Jason Wild was the man who carried on the tradition in the Second World War, and he was as tough as any of the others. And then, for the first time in history, there appeared a Wessex officer even braver than The Wild One.
    This is his amazing story...
    This set’s Gold issue is quite the wild ride! Thrills, chills and derring-do – and dare we say… a ghost? There’s more than meets the eye to this classic story, and we’re not just talking about the amazing artwork!

Story: Motton
Art: Franch
Cover: Penalva

5837: Looters!

France, 1915. As trench warfare rages on between British and German forces, the stretcher-bearers are busier than ever. But while the casualties continue to pile up, fallen soldiers’ valuables have started to go walkabout – there are looters on the line! Enter Corporal Philip Baker, assigned by the top brass to go undercover and track down those responsible. But he soon finds out the trouble runs deeper than he could have ever imagined!
    We had loads of great puns for this issue, but they were stolen. Seriously though, this is one story you abso-LOOT-ly won’t want to miss! With Alejandro Garcia Mangana’s art gracing the cover and interior, you’ll want to keep your copy under lock and key – it really is a steal!

Story: Colin Maxwell
Art: Alejandro Garcia Mangana
Cover: Alejandro Garcia Mangana

5838: The End of the Line

Who was really responsible for the terrible train crash in the Boivert tunnel? Was it Marcel Lebrun, or was it the man who actually went to jail for the crime?
    Some years later, in the French Resistance, Marcel lay waiting for an enemy arms train speeding towards Boivert. But a lonely figure clutching a rifle lay patiently in wait for him.
    Here’s an a-TRACK-tive offering - nothing like a French resistance railway drama to let off some steam.  An ENGINE-ious story of betrayal and revenge, with an incredible Jeff Bevan cover – this issue is really off the rails!

Story: CG Walker
Art: Ibanez
Cover: Jeff Bevan

Rebellion Releases — 12 March 2025

Garth Ennis on the 50th anniversary of Battle Picture Weekly:

The very first issue of Battle Picture Weekly went on sale fifty years ago this month, dated 8th March 1975. It continued under various titles, most notably Battle Action, for roughly the next decade, before being merged to death some time in the late eighties. Which means the issue you hold in your hands is the latest incarnation of a comic that’s been around for half a century.

The phrase been around is doing some heavy lifting there. For fifteen years there was little beyond the occasional annual or special, or a run of reprints now and again. Then Titan Books acquired the license and started putting out nice hardcover editions of the classic strips, thus proving there was still an audience for Battle. There followed some new material, then, when Rebellion bought the whole back catalogue, more collected volumes and new Battle and Action specials. At which point someone had a bright idea… which more or less brings us up to date.

By now the saga should be familiar enough: in the mid-seventies comic sales were slipping, so IPC publisher John Sanders brought in young hotshots Pat Mills and John Wagner to shake things up. The success of Battle led to Action, which led by a roundabout route to 2000 AD. At some point Alan Moore noticed. The Yanks noticed him, and others like him. And lo, there was Watchmen, Swamp Thing, the Vertigo imprint, all the rest.

Back in the day the editor was Dave Hunt, to whom Battle’s creators handed the reins. He employed writers like Tom Tully, Alan Hebden and Gerry Finley-Day, not to mention Mills and Wagner themselves; the art was by Joe Colquhoun, John Cooper, Mike Western, Eric Bradbury, Mike Dorey, Pat Wright, Carlos Ezquerra, Cam Kennedy, Geoff Campion, many more. Now you’ve got Oliver Pickles, Rob Williams, Dan Abnett, Torunn Gronbekk, Keith Burns, Chris Burnham, PJ Holden, John Higgins, Paddy Goddard, Dan Cornwell, Henry Flint, and- among others- Wagner and Dorey again.

In its classic era, Battle was smarter, grittier, livelier, that bit less well-behaved than the comics that came before it.  Alan Grant described 2000 AD around the same time as being very obviously for kids, but with a clearly identifiable adult sensibility behind it. The same is true of its big brother. A war comic first and foremost, of course, and that was why we loved it, but in amongst all the shot and shell there was something else going on.

Charley’s War said that war is evil, not just hell, and that the establishment might just possibly not have our best interests at heart. In Darkie’s Mob we saw that the underdog could be every bit as bad, and that vengeance was a kind of madness, sometimes born of self-hatred. HMS Nightshade had men fighting on when hell froze over, with no choice but to forge on into the nightmare, while Hellman never flinched from the truth that behind the German war effort lay a thing beyond all horror. In my personal favourite, Johnny Red, we witnessed the sacrifice that the Russian people made for victory, in the service of a regime of monsters undeserving of such devotion. And we learned that women fought, too.

Such is Battle’s legacy. Kept alive in fits and starts, often dormant, for a long time unknown to most and only half-remembered by many. But still the greatest war comic ever published, still the beginning of a genuine revolution in the medium. Something we who continue that legacy with Battle Action will never forget. So fifty years, albeit kind of on-and-off: that’s not too bad.

That’s not too bad at all.

— Garth Ennis, Blighty, January 2025

Rebellion are celebrating the anniversary of Battle Picture Library with the release of brand new t-shirts and other merch. They have also published a reading list of reprints that Rebellion have published over the past few years that gather some of the best stories that appeared in Battle, including Charley's War, The Sarge, Major Eazy, Rat Pack, Hellman and others.

And now, this week's releases...

2000AD Prog 2023
Cover: Tiernen Trevallion.

JUDGE DREDD // THE SHIFT by Ken Niemand (w) Nick Percival (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FULL TILT BOOGIE // BOOK THREE by Alex de Campi (w) Eduardo Ocana (a) Giulia Brusco (a) Simon Bowland (l)
PORTALS & BLACK GOO // A QUORUM OF FIENDS by John Tomlinson (w) Eoin Coveney (a) Jim Boswell (c) Simon Bowland (l)
FUTURE SHOCKS // LAST CHANCE TO SEE by Paul Goodenough (w) Luke Horsman (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FIENDS OF THE WESTERN FRONT // WILDE WEST by Ian Edginton (w) Tiernen Trevallion (a) Jim Campbell (l)

Judge Dredd: The Movie by Andrew Helfer, Ken Niemand (w) Carlos Ezquerra, Richard Elson (a) Michael Danza (c)
Rebellion ISBN 978-183786433-1, 12 March 2025, 80pp, £15.99. Available via Amazon.

“I AM THE LAW!”
In the Third Millenium, the world changed. Climate. Nations. All were in upheaval. Humanity itself turned as violent as the planet. Civilisation threatened to collapse. And then… a solution was found. The crumbling legal system was merged with the overburdened police, creating a powerful and efficient hybrid. These new guardians of society had the power to dispense both justice and punishment. They were police, jury, and executioner all in one. They were the Judges!
    When Mega-City One erupts in violent block wars, there’s only one man Justice Department can rely on to suffocate the flames of rebellion. His name is Judge Dredd.
    But when the city’s brightest beacon of justice is convicted of breaking the very law he’s been entrusted to uphold, he’s sentenced to spend the rest of his life rotting in the Aspen Penal Colony.
    In order to clear his name, Dredd must escape captivity, make his way across the toxic Cursed Earth, break back into the city, and find the familiar foe that framed him. All in a day’s work for Judge Dredd.
    Featuring art by legendary Judge Dredd co-creator Carlos Ezquerra (Preacher) and a script by Andrew Helfer (The Shadow), this is the official adaptation of Judge Dredd, the 1995 movie written by William Wisher, Jr. (Terminator 2: Judgement Day) and Steven E. de Souza (Die Hard).

Comic Cuts — 7 March 2025

With any luck I'm close to finally announcing the title of the four-volume set that I have been hinting at for the past few months. All four books are almost done. The internal pages are now with the copyright holder to be checked over to make sure they're happy and we're not accidentally using something that is not theirs to license. 

I'm working on the covers. I had volume one ready to go, but I wasn't happy with what I'd done with the rear cover. I had a chance to play around with it on Wednesday and came up with something that works with the various logos that have to be included. Selling direct to customers, even through eBay and Amazon, means that I don't have to worry about a barcode. And it saves a pound per book because to buy a single ISBN costs almost £100 and I can only license books in limited numbers.

To take Phantom Patrol as an example of this perilous form of publishing, say (for ease of the maths) I make £10 per book and license 100 copies. The license plus the cover cost me £550. So you have to write off the first 55 copies, after which you make your profit. I've sold about 70 copies, so for the six weeks or so that it took to scan, clean and retouch, write introductions, design, and negotiate a price that was affordable to readers, I've made £150.... but that's not quite the case as I had to supply the copyright holder with a number of printed copies and sent some to Chris, who did the beautiful cover, and there are a couple of proof copies sitting on my shelf that can't be sold, so my profit on the book is closer to £100 to date and I'm looking at a total of £400 by the time the license runs out.

I would not recommend getting into publishing! I must be mad.

Anyway, expect an announcement in the next week or two.

We had a cheerier week this week, with friends over from Canada and a trip out to the Colchester Arts Centre to see Andy Zaltzman (The Bugle, The News Quiz), who I have wanted to see for years. It topped off what had been a little bit of a miserable week (funeral, low levels of enthusiasm) with a bit of political satire, pun-filled gags and general silliness of a kind that hit just the right note. Oh, and there was a stuffed penguin sitting on a suitcase on stage for over half the set. A penguin in a tinfoil hat. This is why I love Andy Zaltzman. And should he stumble across this (I don't know if he Googles his own name), please send Alice Fraser.

Mel is away at a convention, so I'm thinking of doing a binge watch of something or try to catch up on some movies. The calm before the storm. Hopefully I'll have some news next week.

Rebellion Releases — 5 March 2025

2000AD publisher Rebellion are having a big sale on collections of British comic book classics in the Treasury of British Comics sale!

You can get 75% off.

Choose from some of the finest comics from the Rebellion archive, including House of Dolmann, Adam Eterno, Karl the Viking, The Steel Claw, Concrete Surfer, The Best of Cat Girl, Tammy & Jinty: Remixed, The Best of Jane Bond, Spell of Trouble, and the Cor! Buster Bumper Fun Book!

Plus there’s up to 80% off issues of Monster Fun!

And now, this week's releases...

2000AD Prog 2422
Cover: Cliff Robinson / Dylan Teague.

JUDGE DREDD // THE SHIFT by Ken Niemand (w) Nick Percival (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FULL TILT BOOGIE // BOOK THREE by Alex de Campi (w) Eduardo Ocana (a) Giulia Brusco (a) Simon Bowland (l)
PORTALS & BLACK GOO // A QUORUM OF FIENDS by John Tomlinson (w) Eoin Coveney (a) Jim Boswell (c) Simon Bowland (l)
HAWK THE SLAYER // THE LAST OF HER KIND by Alec Worley (w) Simon Coleby (a) Gary Caldwell (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FIENDS OF THE WESTERN FRONT // WILDE WEST by Ian Edginton (w) Tiernen Trevallion (a) Jim Campbell (l)

• 10 Mar. British cartoonist R.E. (Becky) Burke has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during her four-month backpacking trip around North America. She tried to cross the border into Canada on February 26, but was denied entry due to a visa issue. Returning to the US, she was arrested as an illegal alien and has been held in detention in Tacoma, Washington. Her father has written an urgent appeal (available at the second link). "Burke is known in the comics community, setting up at Thought Bubble, writing for Broken Frontier and making some pretty good comics." An update has revealed that her troubles began when she mentioned at the Canadian border that she was staying with a family "in exchange for doing light household duties", which constituted work under the letter of the law.
• 5 Mar. More on the Neil Gaiman allegations as he tries to have the court dismiss the case. "[His accuser, Scarlett] Pavlovich filed her lawsuit to district courts in Wisconsin, New York and Massachusetts; Gaiman filed the motion to dismiss in Wisconsin."
• 3 Mar. Frank Quitely has been drawing a series of illustrations based on myth for Bowmore since 2021 which are used across labels and boxes for their whisky.
• 25 Feb. Geek Retrospective has an interview with Mike Collins who "has worked for some of the biggest names in comic publishing (Marvel, DC Comics, and 2000 AD). He has illustrated such characters as Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Judge Dredd, Sláine, and Rogue Trooper. As well as a series based on Star Trek, Doctor Who, Transformers, Zoids and… Well the list goes on and on!" (video, 46m)
• 24 Feb. Bill Morrison has posted a fascinating article about the highs and lows of his adaptation of Yellow Submarine (Titan, 2018), first mooted for publication on the film's 30th anniversary, later expanded for the 50th anniversary and still missing pages from a planned expanded version. "I decided that if I could make certain pages of the book resemble psychedelic posters in their design, I might be able to create an adaptation of Yellow Submarine that would be faithful, but also offer Beatles fans something new and exciting."
• 18 Feb. A look at Steven Appleby's latest exhibition. "Steven has had many solo shows but this is the biggest to date and covers all aspects over such a long and varied career."
• 16 Feb. Keir Starmer has said that his favourite "book" was Roy of the Rovers, while visiting a Ukrainian school. "It's a fabulous book—well known in Anfield. I love football, so all my books are about football."
• 16 Feb. Want to know some of the financial details about Diamond Comic Distributors (UK), formerly Titan Distributors... their 62 staff distribute comics and other goods to 400 accounts in the UK, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. More at Rich Johnson's Bleeding Cool website.
• 15 Feb. Martin Rowson explains why he is cutting back on his committments to The Guardian and announces a new subscription service to obtain prints of his cartoons. "Given that half the UK’s national daily newspapers now no longer publish a daily political cartoon, the Guardian’s commitment to and support for cartoons needs acknowledging, as does their quiet nurturing of new and diverse cartooning talent."
• 14 Feb. Forbidden Planet has bought out Mega City Comics from retiring Martin Kravetz. The Camden Town store will close briefly for a refit before reopening in a few week's time as Forbidden Planet Camden.

Comic Cuts — 28 February 2025

I've had to treat this week as almost like a holiday. Apart from a bit of work completing the insides of the upcoming comic reprints from Bear Alley, I didn't manage to do a great deal after writing last week's post.

I had to travel on Sunday to stay overnight with my sister in Surrey as there was a family funeral on Monday. It was quite an interesting night as I woke up at four in the morning knowing that if I went for a pee it would set off the hounds and everyone would be awake. So I lay there and at five was visited by one of my sister's three dogs, who wandered over, accepted a bit of petting and then lay down on the "bed" (a mattress on the floor). She wandered off a little while later and I managed to hold out until six before desperation got the better of me and the subsequent barking made sure everyone was awake.

As a family we celebrate rather than mourn, and while it was still a sombre occasion, we still managed to smile and laugh our way through the day. We don't see each other that often (I think there was a 37-year gap in one case), but we're good when we do get together. Sadly, that now seems to only be for funerals. I'm of that age.

As we were driving to Epsom to meet up with everyone, we dropped in at Button House—actually West Horsley Place in West Horsley near Leatherhead. Button House was the location for Ghosts, the comedy series starring Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe as a couple who inherit Ritchie's ancestral home and try to turn it into a hotel. A bump on the head means that Ritchie can see the ghosts that are trapped in the house and gardens, some recently deceased, one a caveman. It ran for five series, ending in 2023 and inspired a not-bad American version that's still running.

Although it's out of season, visitors can still walk around the grounds and visit the building, but there are no tours at this time of year and no open coffee shop. But it was a nice chance to walk around, gather our thoughts and prepare ourselves ahead of the funeral.

Tuesday I planned as a day off, and spent the whole day just catching up on things; Wednesday I should have worked on the book covers that need designing, but I fancied doing some writing instead, so I put in a bit a time on the upcoming Express Weekly index. How many people do you know who get their pleasure from researching printer's strikes of the 1950s? One at least.

I did end up spending an extraordinary amount of time trying to locate the death dates of William Banks Levy and his family, without any luck or conclusion. Levy was an American who came to England in the early 1930s and was responsible for distributing and promoting Walt Disney's cartoons. He was the founder of Mickey Mouse Weekly, an innovative and hugely popular comic first published in 1936. Banks (born in Statesville, N. Carolina, on 19 December 1898) married Fehima Evelyn Suleiman (born in London on 16 September 1906) in 1932 and they had a son, Walter Neville Levy, born in 1938.

The problem is that they never died... well, they seem to disappear from official records in the UK and USA. Fehima Levy was naturalized as an American citizen in July 1957, but the last trace of her as far as I can see if a travel record from October 1962. She was travelling alone... the last time I can find her travelling with her husband in 1956, which makes me wonder whether William died at some point between 1956 and 1962 when he was in his late fifties or early sixties.

For someone who was such a major part of British Disney, there is still so little known about him. There is only one known picture, discovered by Didier Ghez and posted on his Disney History blog in 2012.

I'm going to stop banging my head against this particular brick wall. If anyone can tell me when each of them died (and why their son, despite being born in England, seems to have no birth record) I would be a very happy man.

And to cap the week off, we have someone coming over to check our electricity (part of the regular safety checks done by our landlady), so the power will be off and I'll only be able to work as long as the battery does in my laptop. The PC won't be working, the phones won't be working, and more importantly the kettle won't be working! Well, for part of the day, anyway. And I can boil water on the (gas) stove.

We have people over on Saturday, so it looks like I might not get back to normal until Sunday, and by then I'll probably want a day off! Expect a report about my lack of progress on everything next week!

Commando 5831-5834

To celebrate International Women’s Day, this set of Commandos is celebrating two of Commando’s most significant female writers: Mary Feldwick and Diana Garbutt. Issues 5831-5834 go on sale from today, Thursday 27th February 2025!

5831: Come Out Fighting

What does a fighting Irishman do when his luck deserts him just when he needs it most?
    If his name is Private Mick O’Connor, he just grits his teeth and fights on harder than ever!
    The first issue in this set comes from the masterful pen of Mary Feldwick. Feldwick was originally from East Sussex and was a prolific writer of comics during the 60s, 70s and 80s. Come Out Fighting is a perfect example of her knack for gripping narratives.

Story: Feldwick
Art: AC Kennedy
Cover: Penalva

5832: Way of Honour

Before the Second World War, few westerners had ever heard of the Japanese sport of karate, with its own rules, its own customs. But one young Englishman, Martin Hawkins, studied it when he lived and worked in Japan. So skilled was he that it wasn’t long before he was a black belt champion.
    The war broke out and Martin was forced to return home, little knowing that his expertise in karate was going to save his life one day.
    If you ask us, martial arts are often sorely lacking in Commando issues – how many tense standoffs could’ve been solved by a swift roundhouse kick? This second issue from Feldwick serves to showcase her kickass originality.

Story: Feldwick
Art: Enriquez
Cover: Ian Kennedy

5833: Panzer-Trap

Reckon you could stop a regiment of enemy tanks with your bare hands? No, probably not.
    Ray Peterson and Trevor Stanton didn’t think they had much of a chance either.
    But with the lives of thousands of their comrades at stake they weren’t going to give up trying.
    The second of our female writer showcase in this set, Diana Garbutt was born in Scarborough and cut her teeth writing war stories for the likes of Fleetway’s War Picture Library in the 50s and 60s. She began writing for Commando in the 80s – and we’re sure you’ll agree after reading this story that was a very good thing!

Story: Garbutt
Art: Ibanez
Cover: Robertson

5834: Lionheart

Dave Gardner wanted to be a soldier. He had always dreamed of carrying on the military tradition of his family by going into battle.
    However, when you’re small and thin, and you can’t see very well, it isn’t so easy. But even so, Dave was going to get his chance!
    A classic story of how big things can often come in small packages. This second story from Garbutt is a perfect example of her ability to craft engaging stories and find the heroic in the unlikeliest of places!

Story: Garbutt
Art: Blasco
Cover: Ian Kennedy

Rebellion Releases — 26 Februaryr 2025

Sean Phillips is one of the most acclaimed artists working in comics today, with credits including Fatale, Night Fever and Reckless. He’s also the co-creator of Criminal, alongside Ed Brubaker, which will soon be coming to Amazon Prime as a new TV series starring Charlie Hunnam and Emilia Clarke. This year, 2000 AD celebrates his career to date with The 2000 AD Art of Sean Phillips, an incredible showcase of a master artist’s work!

Superstar artist Sean Philips is perhaps best known for his hugely-successful creative partnership with writer Ed Brubaker, including the dark crime series Criminal, soon to be an Amazon Prime series starring Charlie Hunnam, Emilia Clarke and Luke Evans. Before breaking through into the US comics market, however, Phillips was already a star in the UK thanks to his pioneering work at 2000 AD.

Quickly proving himself a fan-favourite on stories like Danzig’s Inferno and Vector 13, Phillips then provided art for Sinister Dexter and Judge Dredd, amongst others. Perhaps his best-known work for 2000 AD remains the two iconic characters he co-created for The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, however: vampiric Judge exorcist Devlin Waugh, and no-nonsense Brit-Cit Detective Armitage.

And now, The 2000 AD Art of Sean Phillips provides readers with a chance to not just see his earliest and most acclaimed work: but the opportunity to go behind the scenes and see exclusive design pieces and process work. Chronicling his 2000 AD comics, this collection forms an impressive retrospective of his early comics work, showcasing how his artistic style evolved from the fully painted work and collage of the early 1990s through to the familiar style he employs on hit books today.

This fascinating collection will be published in October in retail hardcover for book and comic book stores, a 2000 AD webshop exclusive hardcover edition with special cover, and a very limited number of special hardcover ‘sketch’ editions – each one with a personal sketch by Phillips – which will be exclusively available for 2000 AD subscribers to pre-order through the 2000 AD webshop.

“With 2000 AD being a science-fiction comic”, says Phillips, “it’s apt that this gorgeous collection of my old work is working like a time machine for me! I drew these stories over thirty years ago – but looking at them again instantly transports me back when I was thinner with more hair. Hopefully for you reading them now time-travel is as possible as any of the other sci-fi concepts contained within…”

Featuring a new cover painted by Phillips which showcases iconic characters including Judge Dredd, Devlin Waugh, Armitage, Chopper and more, this is a must-have for any comics fan. Quite simply, it’s a masterclass from the master artist!

The 2000 AD Art of Sean Phillips will be published by Rebellion this October – don’t miss it!

And now, this week's releases...

2000AD Prog 2421
Cover: Nick Percival.

JUDGE DREDD // THE SHIFT by Ken Niemand (w) Nick Percival (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FULL TILT BOOGIE // BOOK THREE by Alex de Campi (w) Eduardo Ocana (a) Giulia Brusco (a) Simon Bowland (l)
PORTALS & BLACK GOO // A QUORUM OF FIENDS by John Tomlinson (w) Eoin Coveney (a) Jim Boswell (c) Simon Bowland (l)
HAWK THE SLAYER // THE LAST OF HER KIND by Alec Worley (w) Simon Coleby (a) Gary Caldwell (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FIENDS OF THE WESTERN FRONT // WILDE WEST by Ian Edginton (w) Tiernen Trevallion (a) Jim Campbell (l)

Battle Action Vol.3 #7
Cover: Henry Flint.

JOHNNY RED // A COUPLE OF HEROES by Garth Ennis (w) Keith Burns (a) Jason Wordie (c) Rob Steen (l)
MAJOR EAZY // ALLIES by Rob Williams (w) PJ Holden (a) Matt Soffe (c) Rob Steen (l)

Judge Dredd Complete Case Files Vol.46 by John Wagner, Gordon Rennie, Rob Williams, Robbie Morrison, Pat Mills, Al Ewing, Si Spurrier (w) Simon Coleby, Dave Taylor, Richard Elson, Patrick Goddard, Kev Walker, Sam Hart, Paul Marshall, Cliff Robinson, Smudge, David Roach, Inaki Miranda, Neil Googe, Peter Doherty (a)
Rebellion ISBN, 26 February 2025, 304pp, £24.99. Available via Amazon.

THE BOOK OF DREDD
Mega-City One, a dystopian nightmare of the future teetering on the brink of chaos. The only thing stopping the sprawling megalopolis from succumbing to the mayhem, maniacs and murderers are the Judges, and toughest of them all is Judge Dredd.
    The best-selling series collecting The Law in order continues as Dredd uncovers a decades-old cover-up that will see justice come for the Judges themselves and, one hotel, one night, multiple psychopaths, but who will live to see daybreak?

Adam Eterno: Grunn the Grim by E. George Cowan, Chris Lowder (w) Solano Lopez (a)
Rebellion ISBN, 26 February 2025, 112pp, £14.99. Available via Amazon.

FOR THE FIRST TIME - ADAM JOURNEYS INTO THE FUTURE!
Cursed by an old alchemist to live forever - unless struck from a weapon made of gold - Adam Eterno has gained the power to travel through the ages, fighting evil and injustice.
    Now Adam has been transported into a dystopian future where a cruel police regime led by Grunn the Grim, rule over the population with an iron fist...
    Written by Edward George Cowan (Robot Archie) and Chris Lowder (Dan Dare), with stunning art by Solano Lopez (Janus Stark), this book features Adam's first adventures published in Lion.

Comic Cuts — 21 February 2025

So this week saw a leap forward in the next group of books that I'll be publishing under the Bear Alley banner. The insides of all four books are now in place, introductions are designed, page numbers added and I'm working on the covers.

There's still some proofing, and getting printed proofs, and getting the copyright holder to sign off on everything, and finding the money to pay for the license fee, but expect a reveal in the near future.

Another new index is moving along slowly but steadily. I have been doing a little research on Junior Express, which became Express Weekly / TV Express Weekly, home of the much-loved 'Wulf the Briton' and including work from many fine British and European artists, adaptations of Biggles and No Hiding Place, and adaptations of movies ranging from Reach For the Sky to Campbell's Kingdom.

It's a paper I have only ever had a partial index to, so on its 70th anniversary last year, I suggested to a friend that it would be a good project to work on. We've both dipped into it over the past few months—I mentioned a month or so ago that I had been sidelined into writing about newsprint rationing... well, it was this that led me to doing that research. There's a slightly odd reason why Junior Express (and its rival Junior Mirror) was launched.

The reason I had a partial list is because I once had access to quite an extensive collection, that of the late John Allen-Clark, who lived locally. I was a regular visitor and would sit chatting while jotting down notes from various papers in his collection. Sadly, John died in 2015 and his collection was sold off. (A little more on John's influence on the early indexes can be found here.)

I mention this because it impacts the index greatly because there are parts of the run of the paper that I don't have any illustrations for. So I'm putting out a plea for help to see if anyone out there has some of the early issues of Junior Express, especially if they have a copy of the very first issue, and to ask them to get in touch. My email address is top left, under the photo.

I also spent a bit of time this week experimenting with book repairs. I recently picked up copies of some old John Harvey crime novels that were in a bit of a state, suffering especially from spine roll. I'd seen a video of someone heating the spine and knocking the curved pages back into shape. So I thought I'd give it a (literal) bash.

I used a hairdryer, keeping it moving up and down the spine until it felt hot—this was to soften the glue that holds the cover to the spine. Putting the curved spine on a flat surface (a table in my case), gently tap the pages that are pushed out of alignment with a soft hammer.

I then clamped the spine using a couple of small (2 inch) G-clamps and left the glue to harden again. The results were... imperfect but interesting. You can see from the photo below that there has been some small improvement, but not as much as I'd have liked. This could be down to a couple of things: either the books are so warped they're beyond repair; or (and I think this is the more likely option) I need to spend longer on the spine with the hairdryer and heat up the glue even more to make sure that the pages will slip back into shape.

I saw an alternative method, which involved running a hot iron up and down the spine, which might soften the glue better than a hairdryer. I need to find some more books that I can afford to sacrifice before I put an iron anywhere near any of the books I collect. 

Rebellion Releases — 19 February 2025

Rebellion is delighted to announce that after the successful Kickstarter campaign for our revival of the classic romance comic Roxy, editions of the title are winging their way to backers now!

Featuring four tales of love and romance from some of the finest creators working in comics today, and with covers by Hannah Templer, Tula Lotay and Marguerite Bennett, this is an anthology guaranteed to leave you gasping for air!

Roxy features four all-new romance stories:

• The Getaway Girls by Alex de Campi and Erica Henderson, the queer supermodel heist adventure you never knew you needed!
• Banmoor by Magdalene Visaggio and Sterric, a trip back in time to the regency era!
• Flowers for Agatha by Sarah Gordon, a spirited walk through the undead woods!
• What I Was Made For by Nadia Shammas and Jaws Stone, a futuristic flirtation between soldier and mech!

Originally launched in 1958, the original Roxy ran for 288 weekly issues which caught the imagination of young readers across Britain. Now, the title returns for an all-new anthology featuring four modern romance stories bound to inspire a whole new generation.

But if you missed out on Roxy when it was running on Kickstarter last year, never fear: physical and digital copies of the collection are now available through our webshop as well – just in time to order ahead of Valentine’s Day!

This edition features Hannah Templer’s classical cover featuring moments from across all four stories, available as a gorgeous paperback – or as a digital copy to read on-the-go! Whatever your level of spice, Roxy has something for you as it revives the spirit of classic British romance comics for the 21st century.

And now, this week's releases... including Roxy...

2000AD Prog 2420
Cover: Tiernen Trevallion.

JUDGE DREDD // THE SHIFT by Ken Niemand (w) Nick Percival (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FULL TILT BOOGIE // BOOK THREE by Alex de Campi (w) Eduardo Ocana (a) Giulia Brusco (a) Simon Bowland (l)
PORTALS & BLACK GOO // A QUORUM OF FIENDS by John Tomlinson (w) Eoin Coveney (a) Jim Boswell (c) Simon Bowland (l)
HAWK THE SLAYER // THE LAST OF HER KIND by Alec Worley (w) Simon Coleby (a) Gary Caldwell (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FIENDS OF THE WESTERN FRONT // WILDE WEST by Ian Edginton (w) Tiernen Trevallion (a) Jim Campbell (l)

Judge Dredd Megazine #477
Cover: Cliff Robinson / Dylan Teague (cols)

New! JUDGE DREDD // MESSIAH COMPLEX by Ian Edginton (w) Paul McCaffrey (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
DEATH CAP // FRONTIER JUSTICE by T.C. Eglington (w) Boo Cook (c) Simon Bowland (l)
FARGO & MCBANE // NEW YORK'S FINEST by Ken Niemand (w) Anna Readman (a) Quinton Winter (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
DEVLIN WAUGH // TWO MONTHS OFF by Alex Kot (w) PJ Holden (a) Jack Davies (c) Jim Campbell (l)
New! ROK OF THE REDS by John Wagner & Alan Grant (w) Dan Cornwell (a) Abby Bulmer (c) Jim Campbell (l)
CADET RICO // THE CYCLE by Liam Johnson (w) Rob Richardson (a) Jim Campbell (l)
RILEY'S REBELS by Honor Vincent (w) Stewart K. Moore (c) Simon Bowland (l)
LAWLESS // A TOWN CALLED BADROCK by Dan Abnett (w) Phil Winslade (a) Simon Bowland (l)

Roxy: Romance Reborn
Rebellion ISBN, 14 February 2025, 96pp, £18.99. Available on Kindle via Amazon.

ROXY RETURNS with this 96-page anthology that brings romance comics into the 21st century!
    The glorious Getaway Girls take on a daring heist that leads to them stealing hearts in a feisty new story by Alex de Campi and Erica Henderson; A fateful romance stretches across history in Mags Visaggio and Sterric’s time-bending Banmoor; And Nadia Shammas and Jaws Stone present a tale of unbound love in the future in What I Was Made For.
    Romance comics are re-invented in this packed new anthology!
    Paperback edition available via the 2000AD Webshop.

Ruby M. Spankie

Talk about obscure: as far as I can tell, Ruby M. Spankie wrote only one novel, and that for a minor paperback firm way back in 1933.

It would appear that Ruby Mary Spankie, born in Inverness, Scotland, on 19 October 1898, lived most of her adult life in London. Her mother, Catherine, was widowed at around the age of 41 or 42 and raised her children—of which there were at least five—in Bedford. Catherine Spankie seems to have lived in India for at least a decade between 1886-96.

Through local papers and the occasional official record, we can touch base with Ruby at various points in her life. She was crowned May Queen at a May Fair held to raise money for the Building Fund of the St. Peter's Sunday Schools and Parish Rooms in May 1908. She attended Crescent House Ladies' College, Bedford. She appeared in the operetta at Bedford Town Hall, The Tree of the Golden Guineas, in 1914. In 1921, she was working as a shorthand typist at the War Office, and the family were living in Fulham.

Ruby was the author of And the World Said— (London, Gramol Publications [Adelphi Novels 35], 1933). Whether she continued writing novels or not is a mystery. A search for her name on Google doesn't get a single hit, but it is known that she wrote at least two plays: 'Sheltered' (1938), which was performed by the Southern Cross Players at the Twentieth Century Theatre, Westbourne (Spankie was the Honorary Secretary of the Society); and 'All Change' (1939) from the same team.

Ruby lived in Fulham after the war and was at the same address, 64c Fairholme Road, W14, from 1945 until her death in 1983. It would seem that she continued to have an interest in local theatre and was an actress with the Beaufort Players and appeared as Miss Marple in Murder at the Vicarage at St. Andrew's Hall, Vereker Road, Fulham, in 1952. She also appeared in Sit Down a Minute, Adrian (1953).

(* My thanks to Jamie Sturgeon for the cover photograph. Expanded from a post from 6 September 2007.)

Comic Cuts — 14 February 2025

After the news last week that I had volume one of our next publication finished, I can now add that volume two is now complete. Subject to proofing the text, getting printed proofs and getting the approval of the copyright holders. Oh, and paying a license fee and then getting printed copies. So, nearly done then.

I'm not the world's fastest designer — it's something that I kind of fell into, having picked up a few tips while working in magazines and needing to keep production costs down to a minimum here at Bear Alley Books. The first time I used a design programme was for PBO, my mid- to late-Nineties paperback fanzine, some of which have recently landed in the collection of Jules Burt, whose Youtube channel now has a video of them.

I started using InDesign back in the late 2000s and I'm still using the same version. It's on my old PC, so at some point it's going to conk out, at which point I'll have to find some freeware that, hopefully, will have caught up with InDesign's features. (I have a similar problem with PhotoShop, but I have GIMP on my laptop, which does most of the resizing and touching up that I need to do for blogs and Facebook. Saves me firing up the PC and hopefully that will extend its lifespan.)

As well as my lack of training, there's also an over-enthusiasm to get things finished. So I "finish" the work and export the files to PDFs. And, yes, the quotes are deliberate, because the moment I save the file, I spot a mistake. Last night it was a missing caption. So I corrected it and exported the file. Which is when I noticed a couple of captions that needed titles in italics. So I corrected it and exported the file. But I'd missed some of the column separators and had to fix them before exporting the file. Being an old PC, each correction and export takes a little time.

And I might add that the latest version I have saved is the version that I need to proof, so there may be further corrections to make.

Talking of time-wasting, I spent an hour trying to save myself £4.49 postage on Amazon by finding a cheap book to bump up my order to free postage. Unfortunately, everything I wanted was supplied by someone other than Amazon, which led me to trying to find the books I had decided upon on eBay... which I did and which I then spent another hour on trying various combinations to take advantage of a 4 for the price of 3 offer that one dealer had going. I spent an age trawling through wants lists to try and find a book in the same offer that was around the same price.

Final price: £27 and I still had to find yet another book that I could order through Amazon to get my free postage. I eventually found something that I wanted at a not unreasonable price that was supplied through Amazon. But I'd wasted most of an afternoon trying to spend £5.51 and ended up spending over £30.

That said, the first book I ordered arrived to day and I'm very pleased with the condition for the price, which was only a pound or two more what I would have paid for a beaten-up copy in a charity shop.

What was the book, you ask? Earthbound by Joe Haldeman. I have quite a few of his books, but there were a couple of series that I needed to complete, including the Worlds trilogy and the Marsbound trilogy. I also picked up a couple of stray one-off novels I didn't have, a collection of short stories, and one of the Gollancz SF Masterworks that I'm missing. I think I ended up ordering eight books in total rather than just the one I needed, but I bet I'm not the only collector who has done that! I should add that the majority were American paperbacks of books that never received a British paperback printing, so they're unlikely to turn up cheaply in charity shops. Here's my Joe Haldeman UK paperback cover gallery.

I've used a couple of Haldeman covers for our column header in memory of Chris Moore, who died on 7 February, aged 78. Moore was one of my favourite book cover artists, his paintings appearing on everything from the SF Masterworks series to Jilly Cooper novels—an incredibly talented artist. I loved his SF covers and he was turning out superb spacecraft and fantastic, futuristic landscapes for almost fifty years (his first being Extro by Alfred Bester in 1975).

Looking at his collection, Journeyman (which has a very good interview by Stephen Gallagher), I couldn't help but notice that the first SF Masterworks cover, for Joe Haldeman's The Forever War, had previously appeared on another book, but rotated through 90 degrees. I'm now wondering how many other covers for the series were actually reprints. But that's a project for another day.

Commando 5827-5830

It’s almost Valentines Day, Commando fans, and just because we love you so very much, we’ve got another set of fantastic stories of grit and valour just for you. We know, we spoil you – but you’re worth it! Issues 5827-5830 go on sale from today, Thursday 13th February 2025!

5827: Kampfgruppe Falken: Cannon Fodder King

The men of Kampfgruppe Falken were expendable, a cannon fodder unit easily replaced — or that’s what General Heiss thought. More than anything, Heiss wanted to replace the king of the cannon fodder – Major Heinz Falken himself!
    For this, Heiss had a devious plan to force Falken to face his toughest battle yet – a fellow German who was built like a dreadnought and had a punch like an artillery shell– a man named Major Klaus Vogel. He was determined to turn Kampfgruppe Falken into Kampfgruppe Vogel!
    Major Heinz Falken returns, and this time he’s got competition! Will he be able to hold onto command, or will this brawny usurper be too much even for him? Whatever happens, there’s a fight on top of a tank!

Story: Dominic Teague
Art: Manuel Benet
Cover: Manuel Benet

5828: Last Chance

Sergeant Ben Lockner was always the first into action and the last out — a fighting machine, a soldier who knew no fear, the type of NCO whose men would follow him anywhere.
Some folk wondered what made Ben tick, what special courage kept him cool as ice in the hottest action. They all had their own answers but not one of them was anywhere near the truth... for Ben wanted to die fighting, to wipe out his secret past!
    Here at Commando, we don’t believe in last chances – so if you missed this classic issue the first two times we printed it, now’s the time to get stuck in! With an amazing cover by Penalva, this is one issue you won’t want to miss!

Story: Gentry
Art: Usero
Cover: Penalva
Originally published June 1971.

5829: Sword of Destiny

Greece, 1941. Fatigued by a losing battle, four British soldiers take shelter in the home of a local hunter, who tells them a tale that has been passed down through his family for generations.
    In ancient times, a young blacksmith was exiled from his home by an invading tyrant. Unsure of his fate, he wandered the land. But the gods had a plan for him. He would lead a force to take back his home. He would wield the sword of destiny!
    An epic story for you fans of Greek mythology, this issue has it all: action, adventure, even a fight with wolves – we’ve not been Spartan with this one! No need to muse about picking it up, it’s the stuff of legend!

Story: Ferg Handley
Art: Alejandro Perez Mesa
Cover: Alejandro Perez Mesa

5830: Stranded!

It had been some years since Private Jack Wilmot had seen any action, although as orderly to a fiery Brigadier, he’d more than once accompanied the officer to front-line positions. This time, however, it looked as if they’d bitten off more than they could chew — they had been shot down in the depths of the jungle and were stranded in enemy-held territory.
Now they’d need all their luck, and a bit of deception too, if they were to survive...
    Yet another amazing Penalva cover for this set’s silver issue. We’re off for another adventure in the Burmese jungle with two soldiers who don’t quite see eye-to-eye. Let’s hope they can make it out in one piece!

Story: Staff
Art: CT Rigby
Cover: Penalva
Originally Published January 1983.