Cliff McCoy & Slicker part 7

(* Artwork © Look and Learn Ltd. Reprinted by permission.)

Cliff McCoy & Slicker part 6

(* Artwork © Look and Learn Ltd. Reprinted by permission.)

Comic Cuts - 14 May

I'm over the half-way mark with Storm—The Collection volume 12, with the introduction and the text for Commander Grek completed; just the back end of the book, which rejoices in the title 'The Big Picture', to go, although I've yet to find out how much work will be involved as I don't have a copy of the original Dutch edition. This, of course, is why I try to work on as many books as I can ... so I can get hold of copies of books I might otherwise not be able to afford.

There was a mid-week break to write an obituary for Frank Frazetta, which appears in today's Guardian. As I mentioned yesterday, Frazetta had a huge impact on fantasy art through his book covers, posters and prints. His Conan covers, originally published by Lancer in the 1960s, were astonishing and really stood out on the book shelves when Sphere reprinted them in the 1970s. The Lancer editions reputedly sold 10 million copies and a lot of those sales must have begun with readers being attracted to the books by the Frazetta covers.

One thing I was unable to resolve before the deadline for the obituary: I think Frazetta was born Alfonso Frank Frazzetta. If  his son was Alfonso Frank Frazetta Junior, logically his father should be Alfonso Frank Frazetta Senior. I suspect Frank's father was also Alfonso, although every source I was able to find gave his name as Alfred. A minor point, but if you've read this blog for any length of time you'll know that I can get pretty anal about these little details.

The latest issue of Hop! has turned up in the post—issue 125, March 2010—and, as always, I can't read a word. I'm ashamed to say my foreign language skills are awful, although I find I can get the gist of things as I can often recognise the names of creators and their comics. The good thing about fanzines from abroad is that they're packed solid with illustrations and strips, which I can enjoy as a visual feast even if I can't follow the text. More information (for French speakers) can be found at the Hop! website.

William Rudling tells me that the Jeff Hawke Club and Sydney Jordan will be at the Bristol Comic Expo at the Ramada City Hotel on 22-23 May. This is the first time Syd has been in Bristol and he'll be happy to sign stuff. Only a few tickets for Sunday remain according to the Expo's website.

Don't forget that the London ABC Show and National Collectors Marketplace is also on Sunday 23rd. I'll be staggering along to the Royal National to sign anything shoved in front of me and moan about  the train service. If comics come up in conversation, I might even talk about them.

Congratulations to Paul Rainey who, way back in September 2006, launched the 2000AD Prog Slog blog after buying a run of 1,188 issues of 2000AD. His daily reviews will be coming to an end on Saturday. If you're wondering what the hell you'll do with that Prog Slog-shaped hole in your day, fear not. According to John Freeman's Down the Tubes, David Page of the Dead'll do blog plans to pick up where Paul leaves off.

And congratulations to John McDonald, Jon Haward, Gary Erskine and Nigel Dobbyn, the creative team behind The Tempest which is up for an Ippy (Independent Publisher Book Awards), the results to be announced on Tuesday next week, and for an AEP (Association of Educational Publishers) Award, the winners of which will be announced on 8 June.

And finally... can I just say I'm very excited to hear that Waverley Books have announced that they are reprinting an absolute comic classic at the end of next month... none other than Black Bob the Dandy Wonder Dog! I guess you have to be of a certain age to appreciate how cool this news is.

Next week we'll be continuing the adventures of Jim Holdaway's Cliff McCoy and Slicker and I'll squeeze in whatever news comes my way in between, plus a review of the new Roy of the Rovers book, which I'm just off to read.

Cliff McCoy & Slicker part 5

(* Artwork © Look and Learn Ltd. Reprinted by permission.)

Frank Frazetta (1928-2010)

Master of the iconic fantasy hero Frank Frazetta died on Monday, 10 May 2010, aged 82. You'll find plenty of information about his career dotted around the web, with Wikipedia a good jumping off point.

For me, Frazetta will always be the guy who drew the best covers for Conan. Back in 1973-74, Sphere Books began reprinting the Conan novels, reprinting the Lancer editions from the late 1960s along with the covers painted by Frazetta and John Duillo. The following cover gallery is in the original numbered order, which was later revised into a correct reading order.

Obituaries: New York Times (10 May); Pocono Record (10 May); LA Times (11 May); Washington Post (13 May); Daily Telegraph (brief mention, 13 May); The Guardian (14 May).

Frazetta's books are still widely available. Check out some of the titles on Amazon.

#1 Conan the Adventurer (Sphere, 1973)

#2 Conan the Warrior (Sphere, 1973)

#3 Conan (Sphere, 1974)

#4 Conan the Conqueror (Sphere, 1974)

#6 Conan of Cimmeria (Sphere, 1974)

#7 Conan the Usurper (Sphere, 1974)

#10 Conan the Avenger (Sphere, 1974)

#11 Conan the Buccaneer (Sphere, 1975)

#12 Conan of Aquilonia (Sphere, 1978)

(* Artwork © Frazetta Properties LLC.)

Cliff McCoy & Slicker part 4

(* Artwork © Look and Learn Ltd. Reprinted by permission.)

Dan Dare retro toys

Ectronic Ltd., based in Bridgwater in Somerset, produce retro-style toys and already have a catalogue of toys from robots to dominoes... and soon they're adding Dan Dare to their range. Here's a sneak peak from their website, where the toys are listed with a "Spring 2010" release date.

Dan Dare Planet Gun

 Dan Dare Circular Jigsaw Puzzle

Dan Dare Card Game

Dan Dare Walkie-Talkie Set

Cliff McCoy & Slicker part 3

(* Artwork © Look and Learn Ltd. Reprinted by permission.)

Cliff McCoy & Slicker part 2

(* Artwork © Look and Learn Ltd. Reprinted by permission.)

Cliff McCoy & Slicker part 1

Cliff McCoy (not forgetting Slicker, his faithful steed) replaced Tom Tex in Swift in the summer of 1955 in the pages of Swift, the strip marking Jim Holdaway's debut in the children's weekly. It wasn't his first weekly strip work nor his first weekly Western as he'd drawn Western strips for Junior Express and Mickey Mouse Weekly but it was his longest run in a weekly as he continued to draw strips in Swift for fifteen months. He was already drawing Romeo Brown for the Daily Mirror by the time he completed his last story and he stuck almost exclusively to newspaper strips for the rest of his career, bar a few odds and ends drawn between the end of Romeo Brown and the launch of Modesty Blaise.

Hope you enjoy this little lost gem. Part two tomorrow.

P.S. If you want a look at Tom Tex, drawn by Harry Bishop, I ran a brief sequence on Bear Alley back in February, which you can find here.

(* Artwork © Look and Learn Ltd. Reprinted by permission.)

Mezolith

Mezolith is a example of the unexpected breadth and variety of strips that appeared in The DFC comic. I can't think of anything to compare it to. It might not have been immediately appealing to many readers reading the short stories in installments as even intense little fragments of a story fade from the memory over a fortnight; in book form the richly complex story builds with each chapter allowing the reader to immerse themself in the world of Poika and the ancient tribe to which he belongs.

Set 10,000 years ago, the Kansa tribe live on the western shores of the North Sea Basin. The tribe faces daily dangers both natural and (stone-age) man-made as they hunt, face death and find love. On the verge of manhood, Poika is desperate to take that final step and his rashness may endanger the whole tribe; through a series of adventures, each in its way a rite of passage, he begins to learn the wisdom and maturity of his elders. As we learn more about Poika we also get to visit the myths and folklore of his tribe.

Beautifully illustrated by Adam Brockbank, Mezolith is not an adventure story, although there is action, nor a horror story, although there is fantasy and mysticism and the supernatural; it weaves genre together in a blend of the spiritual and magical to create a uniquely haunting story.

Mezolith by Ben Haggarty & Adam Brockbank. David Fickling Books ISBN 978-0385618267, 1 April 2010.

The Spider Moon

Originally featured in The DFC, the first hardcover collection of Kate Brown's The Spider Moon introduces us to Bekka, a young girl living in a seemingly idyllic, South Sea-like island community. An ancient prophecy that spoke of their world being crushed by the falling skies now seems imminent, and Bekka is eager to become a diver, to help gather spine-fish that will provide fuel to power a mysterious floating island-ship that will allow everyone to escape. However, the council members of Bekka's community are arrested by the neighbouring Bird Folk, following claims from the oil refineries that they are refusing to provide the spine-fish needed. Captured during a failed rescue attempt, Bekka befriends the prince of the Bird Folk, only to find herself caught up in a conspiracy that could place her entire world in jeopardy.

Beautifully drawn and coloured, The Spider Moon reflects both European and Japanese comic style influences, with nods to Hayao Miyazaki's own eco-tales, Nausicaa and Laputa. Kate Brown has created a finely detailed world, down to individual communities with their own unique cultures and mythologies, and there is a very realistic sense of ordinary people doing their best to get on with their everyday lives, while being aware of the impending doom that threatens them. Bekka herself is an engaging heroine who will appeal to younger readers, balancing her fear of the prophecy with an optimism and determination to do her part to help. However, there is much to attract all ages here, with an intriguing political sub-plot which unfortunately the first volume is only able touch on briefly before the cliff-hanger ending. The first volume of The Spider Moon is an engaging and promising read, though frustratingly short and it can only be hoped it proves popular enough for DFC Library to continue up to the end. Reviewed by Melissa Hyland.

Ulrich

Ulrich is a pen-name for an artist who produced artwork for paperback publishers in the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily for Scion's gangster novels by Al Bocca and Brad Shannon, but also a couple of romance titles. A closer look at the signature reveals something interesting: rather than Ulrich, which is how I've listed him as in the past, the signature actually reads ULRICH, with the 'ric' in smaller capitals than the 'u', 'l' and 'h'.

It's definitely not just a slip of the pen as the same large/small combination of capitals can be seen in the signature on other covers. It could be a stylistic quirk or it could be a clue to the actual name of the artist.

Unfortunately, that's as far as my research has progressed on this one. These old paperbacks are so scarce that I've only access to a tiny percentage of them and it has been over twenty years since I went through the holdings of the British Library. Some artists signed with a variety of different names but as far as my memory allows I've not seen covers by the same artist under a different name. Maybe I'll come across more as I get more of my old book covers scanned.

Roger Davis

Roger M. Davis was a cover artist who worked for Scion Ltd. in the early 1950s and was on staff in 1952-53. He signed a handful of covers in that period, and also contributed a comic strip to their Space Hero Comic in 1952. In 1954-55 he also produced covers for Gannet Press, including the covers and illustrations for both issues of Gannet's horror magazine Weird World.

What happened to Davis? To tell you the truth, I haven't a clue. Simon Marsh-Devine notes "he may have reappeared signing RD on a science fiction Digit cover, plus a couple that can be attributed as being by the same hand". This was around 1962 but I've yet to identify these covers. He is not the 'Davis' credited with a run of covers for the SF magazine Authentic in the 1950s, which were the work of John Richards.

The only other thing I know about Davis is that he was a friend of Jim Holdoway and got Holdaway some work with Scion in 1952, although the extent of that work is unknown.