Margey Allingham bibliography

Novels (series: Albert Campion)
Blackerchief Dick. A tale of Mersea Island. London, Hodder & Stoughton, Aug 1923; as Black’erchief Dick, Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Page, 1923.
The White Cottage Mystery. London, Jarrolds, 1928; revised, London, Chatto & Windus, 1975; New York, Carroll & Graf, 1990.
The Crime at Black Dudley (Campion) London, Jarrolds, 1929; as The Black Dudley Murder, Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1929; London, Amalgamated Press, 1935.
Mystery Mile (Campion) London, Jarrolds, 1930; Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1930.
Look to the Lady (Campion). London, Jarrolds, 1931; as The Gyrth Chalice Mystery, Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1931.
Police at the Funeral (Campion) London, William Heinemann, 1931; Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1932.
Sweet Danger (Campion). London, William Heinemann, 1933; as Kingdom of Death, Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1933; as The Fear Sign, New York, Macfadden, 1933.
Death of a Ghost (Campion). London, William Heinemann, 1934; Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1934.
Flowers for the Judge (Campion). London, William Heinemann, 1936; Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1936; as Legacy in Blood, American Mercury, 1949.
The Case of the Late Pig (Campion). London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1937; with additional stories as Mr. Campion Criminologist, Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran 1937.
Dancers in Mourning (Campion). London, William Heinemann, 1937; Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1937; as Who Killed Chloe?, New York, Avon, 1943.
The Fashion in Shrouds (Campion). London, William Heinemann, 1938; Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1938; revised as The New Fashion in Shrouds in Mr. Campion’s Lady (see omnibus editions).
Black Plumes. London, William Heinemann, 1940; Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1940.
Traitor’s Purse (Campion). London, William Heinemann, 1941; Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1941; as The Sabotage Murder Mystery, New York, Avon, 1943.
Dance of the Years. London, Michael Joseph, 1943; as The Galantrys, Boston, Little Brown, 1943.
Coroner’s Pidgin (Campion). London, William Heinemann, 1945; as Pearls Before Swine, Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1945.
More Work for the Undertaker (Campion). London, William Heinemann, 1948; Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1949.
The Tiger in the Smoke (Campion). London, Chatto & Windus, 1952; Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1952; abridged, with an introduction, glossary and notes by Elizabeth Haddon, London, Heinemann Educational Books, 1966.
The Beckoning Lady (Campion). London, Chatto & Windus, 1955; as The Estate of the Beckoning Lady, Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1955.
Hide My Eyes (Campion). London, Chatto & Windus, 1958; as Tether’s End, Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1958; as Ten Were Missing, New York, Dell, 1959.
The China Governess (Campion). Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1962; London, Chatto & Windus, 1963.
The Mind Readers (Campion). London, Chatto & Windus, 1965; New York, William Morrow & Co., 1965.
Cargo of Eagles (Campion), with Youngman Carter. London, Chatto & Windus, 1968; New York, William Morrow & Co., 1968.
The Darings of the Red Rose. Norfolk, VA, Crippen & Landru, 1995.

Novels as Maxwell March
Other Man’s Danger. London, Collins, 1933; as The Man of Dangerous Secrets, Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1933
Rogue’s Holiday. London, Collins, 1935; Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1935.
The Shadow in the House. London, Collins, 1936; Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1936.

Omnibus
Crime and Mr. Campion (Death of a Ghost, Flowers for the Judge, Dancers in Mourning). Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1959.
Three Cases for Mr. Campion. Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1961.
The Mysterious Mr. Campion. An Allingham omnibus (The Case of the Late Pig, Dancers in Mourning, The Tiger in the Smoke, On Christmas Day in the Morning). London, Chatto & Windus, 1963; Doubleday, 1966.
Mr. Campion’s Lady. An Allingham omnibus (Sweet Danger, The New Fashion in Shrouds (revised by Allingham), Traitor’s Purse, Word in Season). London, Chatto & Windus, 1965.
Mr. Campion’s Clowns. An Allingham omnibus (Mystery Mile, Coroner’s Pidgin, More Work for the Undertaker), with a foreword by Philip Youngman Carter). Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1966; London, Chatto & Windus, 1967.
The Margery Allingham Omnibus (The Crime at Black Dudley, Mystery Mile, Look to the Lady). Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1982.
Hide My Eyes. The Beckoning Lady. Hogarth, 1985.

Collections
Mr. Campion and Others. London, William Heinemann, 1939; expanded, Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1950.
Wanted: Someone Innocent. New York, Stamford House (Pony Books), 1946.
The Case Book of Mr. Campion. New York, American Mercury, 1947.
Deadly Duo (Wanted: Someone Innocent, Last Act). Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1949; as Take Two at Bedtime, Kingswood, Surrey, The World’s Work, 1950.
No Love Lost. Two stories of suspense. Kingswood, Surrey, The World’s Work, 1954; Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1954.
The Allingham Case-Book. London, Chatto & Windus, 1969; New York, William Morrow & Co., 1969.
The Allingham Minibus: more short stories. London, Chatto & Windus, 1973; New York, William Morrow & Co., 1973; as Mr. Campion’s Lucky Day and other stories, London, Penguin, 1992; New York, Carrol & Graf, 1992.
The Return of Mr. Campion. Uncollected stories, edited by J. E. Morpurgo. London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1989; New York, St. Martin’s Press, 1990.
Crime Story Collection, simplified by John & Celia Turvey. Harlow, Longman, 1998.
The Darings of the Red Rose, introduction by B. A. Pike. Norfolk, VA, Crippen & Landru, 1995.

Plays
Dido and Aeneas (performed in London, 1 Jun 1922).
Water in a Sieve. A fantasy in one act. London & New York, S. French, 1925.

Radio Plays
Man at the Window. BBC, 21 Oct 1943.
Room to Let. BBC, 11 Nov 1947. Norfolk, VA, Crippen & Landru, 1999.

Non-fiction
The Oaken Heart. London, Michael Joseph, 1941; Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1941.

Others
Six Against the Yard. In which Margery Allingham, Anthony Berkeley, Freeman Wills Crofts, Father Ronald Knox, Dorothy L. Sayers, Russell Thorndike commit the crime of murder which ex-Superintendent Cornish is called upon to solve. London, Selwyn & Blount, 1936; as Six Against Scotland Yard, Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1936.

Eagle Awards 2010

THIS year was a banner one for the Eagle Awards as London's MCM Expo took on responsibility for hosting the awards on a permanent basis.

It was also another record-breaking year for the awards with a continued growth in the number of participating voters. Continuing to expand their worldwide penetration, Yet again, the awards took on more of an international flavour. Apart from Britain, the USA and Canada, the thousands of ballots that flooded in came from more than 100 countries. Among them were several in Europe as well as Afghanistan, Botswana, Egypt, India, North Korea, Russia, Thailand, Uruguay, Vietnam and Zimbabwe to name but a few.

A highlight of the MCM Expo, the Eagle Awards results for 2009 were announced at a gala presentation held at London's ExCeL on Friday, October 29 2010.

A complete list of winners follows:

Roll of Honour - Brian Bolland
Favourite Newcomer Writer - Jonathan Hickman
Favourite Newcomer Artist - Jamie McKelvie
Favourite Writer - Warren Ellis
Favourite Writer/Artist - Darwyn Cooke
Favourite Artist: Pencils - Frank Quietly
Favourite Artist: Inks - Kevin O'Neill
Favourite Artist: Fully-Painted Artwork - J.H. Williams III
Favourite Colourist - Ben Templesmith
Favourite Letterer - Todd Klein
Favourite Editor - Axel Alonso
Favourite Publisher - DC/Vertigo
Favourite American Comicbook: Colour - Batman & Robin
Favourite British  Comicbook: Colour - 2000 AD
Favourite American Comicbook: Black and White - Walking Dead
Favourite New Comicbook - Batman & Robin
Favourite Manga - Fullmetal Alchemist
Favourite European Comicbook - Requiem Chevalier Vampire
Favourite 2009 Single Story - Phonogram - The Singles Club 4: Konichiwa Bitches
Favourite 2009 Continued Story - Walking Dead #61-65: Fear The Hunters
Favourite 2009 Cover - Batman & Robin #4
Favourite 2009 Original Graphic Novel - The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century
Favourite 2009 Reprint Compilation - Captain Britain Omnibus by Alan Moore & Alan Davis
Favourite Magazine about Comics - Wizard
Favourite Comics-Related Book - The Insider's Guide to Creating Comics and Graphic Novels (Andy Schmidt)
Favourite Comics-Related Movie or TV Show - Watchmen
Favourite Comics-Related Website - comicbookresources.com
Favourite Web-Based Comic - Freak Angels

Comic Cuts - 29 October 2010

Well, the new Dandy hit the newsstands on Wednesday, although for a moment I thought it wasn't being stocked by our local Co-op, eventually finding it hiding behind all the free-gift bagged comics. Hopefully it will be more obvious in W. H. Smiths... we shall see tomorrow.

So does it live up to its 100% funny tag? Well... maybe 75%. Are kids really that obsessed with what comes out of their noses that Dandy needs more than one bogey-centric strip? That aside, all the new features are off to a bright and breezy start. It's not the Dandy of old, nor is it Dandy Xtreme. Nice colour, nice paper, lots of X-Factor gags, Meerkats and Harry Hill in a comic rather than the tiresome TV Burp. And I did chuckle a couple of times. Hopefully this is the change that will keep Dandy afloat for another 3,508 issues.

If you want to know who did what in the issue, editor Craig Graham posted a guide to the latest issue over at the Comics UK forum:

• Nigel Parkinson - Harry Hill, The Phantom Pharter, Little Simon and chief Harry-knowing comics nut: His contribution has been incalculable - and should be applauded to the hills.
• Jamie Smart - Desperate Dan, Pre-Skool Prime Minister, the Style Guide: Jamie's been a part of The Dandy for six years now, and when we came to set up the style guide, Jamie's name was first on our list. He was also author of a remarkable email to me which coincided, in emotion and timing, with the initial proposal for these changes.
• Wayne Thompson - The Mighty Bork, Pepperoni Pig, Shao Lin Punks, Bananaman and Noel or No Noel: a remarkable artist and friend.
• Lew Stringer - Postman Prat and Kid Cops: long-time champion of comics, artist and one of the first names on the list of new artists we hoped to get on board. Thanks for all the support, Lew.
• Nigel Auchterlounie - The Bogies, Professor Dandy: great writer, artist and ideas man. Look out for much much more from Nigel in The Dandy. Also an early morning Sky TV superstar - cheers, Nige!
• Duncan Scott - Simples!, Count Snotula and What's In Cheryl's Hair Today? - There really will be 101 meerkat episodes! Not so many of Cheryl's hair. Top guy and great artist.
• David Mostyn - Dr. Doctor: Mr Mostyn is supremely talented as a children's book illustrator and also past Dandy artist. It's a huge pleasure to have him onboard again, and you can all look forward to some absolutely top-notch work from him in the near future.
• Chris McGhie - iDad: Chris is very busy with things far more important than comics, but he always finds the time to help us out.
• Alexander Matthews - Robot on the Run: Alexander is well-known in more grown-up cartooning circles, but new, I believe, to kids' comics. ROTR is, in fact, a serial (someone mentioned this earlier?), and it's a good 'un! Nice one, Alexander!
• Andy Fanton - George vs. Dragon: a friend of Jamie's, recommended by him, and one of the first new artists we found for The Dandy. Doing more stuff as we speak.
• Phil Corbett - Korky the Cat: Korky wasn't coming back until Phil and Chris (staff artist) combined their energies to fight his corner. Turns out it was good enough to make the cover, so what do I know?!
• Garry Davies - TV Teaser: Great guy, simple idea, kids love it. What more do you want?

The following people work in the Dandy Office and their efforts have been unstinting, even when putting together Dandy Xtreme and working on this project: Michelle, Ally, Katy, Mark and Chris.

I noticed this week that Amazon are filling orders for the new Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future: A Biography from Orion. I've not seen any reviews yet but it could make an interesting companion to Alastair Crompton's upcoming Tomorrow Revisited... I'm still not sure how the book's author Daniel Tatarsky managed to, in the words of the publicity release, talk to "the original writers and illustrators" unless it was through a medium.

The Best of The Victor is also shipping out from Amazon and has been given the thumbs up by Lew Stringer, who describes it as "a fine tribute to the glory days of the boys' adventure weekly". From Lew's description, the book includes some full-length serials, using a technique I used for The Best of Boyfriend a couple of years ago. I won't say "pioneered", but it was the one book I had complete control over—not only choosing the contents but flatplanning the whole book so that it was laid out the way I wanted it. It was printed with a slightly grey tint which mimicked the look of old newsprint. Shame it wasn't The Best of Valiant or The Best of Lion or somesuch, but a lot of work went into The Best of Boyfriend and it was probably the best of the "Best of..." books Carlton published. It sounds like they've used it as the template for The Best of Victor, so I guess even the folks at Carlton agree.

And 100 Months by John Hicklenton is apparently available now from Cutting Edge, a little ahead of its official release date. This was the book Johnny Hicklenton completed shortly before his death in March this year. From the press release: "100 Months is an apocalyptic parable of environmental devastation written and drawn in fore knowledge of his own impending death. An intense, hallucinatory story with overtones of Dostoevsky's 'Legend of the Grand Inquisitor' and artwork of breathtaking intensity, it is the crowning achievement of a brilliant career, a true graphic novel that engages ultimate themes of life, death and salvation. Controversial, haunting and tortured in all senses, it will inevitably fuel debate around the issues of taking one's own life. Includes a foreword by Pat Mills."

News from Book Palace Books: full details of the three upcoming volumes can now be found on the Book Palace Books Blog. With luck and a good tail wind, the books will be out in December, although it depends on how quickly the finished copies ship from Hong Kong.

Not much news from me. We were helping someone move during the week and I've spent quite a chunk of time in the office shifting files around various hard drives (the new one turned up!) in the hope that I can have everything backed up but accessible so I can keep the back ups up-to-date. All a bit tedious and boring but unfortunately necessary because I'd be lost should anything go wrong with the computer. And everything is being backed up twice, which is why it is taking so damned long.

Between that and the move the week seems to have slipped away from me, although I'm glad I managed to squeeze in a couple of reviews for Bear Alley. If anyone picks up any books they fancy reviewing in these columns, just drop me a line as it's always interesting to get someone else's take on a book.

Today's random scan is another dust jacket from the Thriller Book Club. I've really got to get around to sorting these out for a gallery.

Next week... er... can I get back to you on that?

Peter the Whaler part 11

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

Peter the Whaler part 10

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

Vern and Lettuce

Lettuce is from a large family of rabbits and Vern the sheep spends his days as groundskeeper of Pickle Rye Park trying to combat the furry menace of moles. Think of Vern and Lettuce as the comic strip equivalent of Shaun the Sheep, not just because there's a sheep in it but because it has the same wry humour that young kids will get whilst touching on subjects (that they'll have picked up by osmosis however diligently you've shielded their delicate little minds) from global warming and carbon foot (or hoof)prints to prejudice and discrimination that infuse these short tales with an underlying moral angle. And if that goes over the heads of your kids, there's enough poo and bad smells laced throughout the stories to keep them giggling.

From the pages of The DFC, Vern and Lettuce is fabulous fun for youngsters and the ongoing storyline of Lettuce and Vern's search for stardom that takes up the latter half of the book has enough twists and turns to keep adults interested. Writer/artist Sarah McIntyre has created a witty and delightful series—the stories engaging and cute without being saccharine and the artwork clear and appealing—that's guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.

Vern and Lettuce by Sarah McIntyre. David Fickling Books ISBN 978-0385619073, 30 September 2010.

Peter the Whaler part 9

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

Monkey Nuts Book 1: The Diamond Egg of Wonders

Originally serialised in the much-missed DFC comic back in 2008-09, Monkey Nuts is a light-hearted adventure yarn, the tone set from page one. In a monstrous, evil fortress called Tabitha we are introduced to something even more evil, Eric... no, sorry, Lord Terra, as he likes to be called now, his henchmen Burble and Goober, and the McGuffin of the story, The Diamond Egg of Wonders, located somewhere on the Isla de Monstera. By using a Monster Magnet, Eric... sorry, Lord Terra hopes to attract every loony and weirdo to the area while he steals the diamond.

Cut to Chump Town on the Isla de Monstera, home of Sid, a tap-dancing monkey in need of work, a coffee vending machine called Rivet and Chief Tuft, a talking coconut in charge of the island's Serious Crime Squad. When evil magician The Amazing Amazing is irresistibly attracted to the island and destroys police headquarters, it is left to Sid and Rivet to perform some magic of their own and defeat the trickster, convincing Chief Tuft that they should set up their own crime fighting unit, Monkey Nuts.

After a series of wacky battles against some equally bizarre villains (a pirate cowboy with a giant robot horse, a demented temple, the Great Escape Gang and others) our dynamic duo finally find themselves face to jowl with the mastermind behind all their problems.

Oddball enemies, countless mentions of bums or butts and the ceaseless banter between Sid and Rivet will keep any kid amused and entertained. But as endlessly inventive as the story is, the artwork is the immediate attention grabber. Rich in detail and colour, you'll want to go back again and again over every page to see what you missed the first and second time around. There's plenty here for adults who want to unleash their inner ten-year-old: it's pacy, it's funny and it deserves a place on your shelves.

Monkey Nuts Book 1: The Diamond Egg of Wonders by The Etherington Brothers. David Fickling Books ISBN 978-0385619066, 2 September 2010.

Peter the Whaler part 8

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

Paddy "Pudsy" Morris (1949-2010)

Underground cartoonist Paddy Morris, who signed his work "Pudsy", died at the weekend of the 16/17 October following a heart attack, he was 61. His work appeared in OZ, Dope Funnies, Nasty Tales and Northern Lightz. In comics he is best known as the creator of Ganjaman, superhero and star of Ganjaman Presents an anthology title featuring the work of various underground artists.

Some examples of Pudsy's work can be found at a Facebook page set up in his memory.

Pudsy's take on the long-running "Billy Whizz" character.

Peter the Whaler part 7

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

P R Shore

Here's an example of how a bit of research can turn up a surprise. It began last Saturday when Steve Lewis of Mystery*File posted a review of The Bolt by P. R. Shore. Reviewer Curt J. Evans noted that his first assumption about this long forgotten mystery novel, originally published in 1929, was that it was written by a woman "because the tale is one of those English village 'cozies' and it is narrated by a female character, a thirty-nine-year-old 'spinster', one Marion Leslie".

The evidence was against him, as P. R. Shore had an entry in The Author's and Writer's Who's Who and Reference Guide, 1935-36 which revealed his full name as Peter Redcliff Shore, born Hampton, 1892, educated privately and at Oxford University and listed rock-climbing as a recreation.

There was also an occupation (adult education) and an address: Lower Caswell Farm, Clapton-in-Gordano, Portishead. With this wealth of information, it should be a simple of matter of plugging the name into various genealogical databases to turn up some further details.

Except it wasn't such a simple matter... as far as official records were concerned, Peter Redcliff Shore didn't exist. No Peter Shore born in 1892, no appearances in census records and no marriage or death.

Jamie Sturgeon, who's a regular contributor here at Bear Alley, pointed out that the Lower Caswell Farm address received a mention in Catholic Who's Who as the address of Miss Mary Dorothy Rose Leys, who went to Somerville College, Oxford, and was a teacher. She also wrote several non-fiction books, which all seemed to fit the information given for P. R. Shore. Except her birth: she was born in Tyles Green, Buckinghamshire, in 1890.

My contribution to this little mystery didn't begin well. I managed to find out that Caswell Farm, Portishead, was the home of one R. Withers who was... a farmer. Living on a farm.

However, following up on Jamie's discovery was more fruitful. Mary Dorothy Rose Leys was the daughter of John Kirkwood Leys and his wife Ellen (nee Holligan) who had married in Hendon on 3 September 1889. John Kirkwood Leys, born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1846, was a barrister-at-law, lodging in Newcastle-upon-Tyne at the time of the 1881 census. Leys had been previously married to Glasgow-born Mary King Munsie and had a son, Norman MacLean Leys, baptized at Willaston near Great Neston, Cheshire, on 1 August 1875. Mary King Leys died in Newcastle upon Tyne the following year aged 37.

Ellen, born in Barbados, West Indies, in 1858, the daughter of James Richard Holligan and his wife Mary Jones (nee Taylor), was living with her widowed mother, in Warwickshire by 1871 at the house of her paternal grandmother, Caroline Holligan, as were her siblings, James, Thomas, Fred, Caroline and Katherine, all also born in Barnados. Mary and daughters Ellen and Caroline were living in Finchley, Middlesex, by the time of the 1881 census.

James and Ellen had their first child, Mary Dorothy Rose Leys, in Tyles Green, Buckinghamshire, but were soon living in Hampton Hill, Middlesex where four more children were born: Helen Madeline Leys in 1892, Colin MacLaren Leys in 1894, Duncan Gerard Leys in 1897 and John Alan Leys in 1898.

John Kirkwood Leys died in 1909, but before we leave him we should note that he became a prolific author in his later years and wrote a number of novels.

Novels
The Lindsays. A romance of Scottish life. London, Chatto & Windus, 3 vols., 1888.
Under a Mask. London, R. Bentley & Son, 2 vols., 1897.
The Lawyer's Secret. London, Warne & Co., 1897.
At the Sign of the Golden Horn. London, G. Newnes, 1898.
The Black Terror. A romance of Russia. London, Sampson Low, Marston & Co., 1899.
A Suburban Vendetta. London, C. Arthur Pearson, 1900.
A Sore Temptation. London, Chatto & Windus, 1901.
Held in the Toils. London, Ward, Lock & Co., 1904.
The Prisoner's Secret. London, Ward, Lock & Co., 1904.
The Broken Fetter. London, Digby, Long & Co., 1905.
A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. London, Ward, Lock & Co., 1905.
The House-Boat Mystery. London, Ward, Lock & Co., 1905.
A Desperate Game. London, Digby, Long & Co., 1906.
Children of Mammon. London, Digby, Long & Co., 1908.
The Missing Bridegroom. London, Digby, Long & Co., 1908.
By Creek and Jungle, illus. Geo. Soper. London, S. W. Partridge & Co., 1909.
Underground. London, Greening & Co., 1909.
Shackled by Fate. London, Aldine Publishing Co., (Mascot Novels 123), 1919.

Non-fiction
A Complete Time-table of Rules under the Supreme Court of Judicature Act, 1875, shewing all the periods fixed by the rules within or after which any proceeding may be taken. London, 1875.
A New Natural History of Birds, Beasts and Fishes. London, Walter Scott, 1886.

Bringing our story back to its origins, the clue to the identity of P. R. Shore is in the birth records for John Kirkwood Leys' children. Shore was born "Hampton, 1892", and so was Helen Madeline Leys. Although not educated at Oxford University, it seems likely that she attended Somerville College, Oxford, around the time of the First World War, as did her older sister, and quite possibly became a tutor to the Society of Oxford Home Students, like her sister.

That she followed in her father's footsteps and became an author is already known: as Eleanor Scott she was the author of a number of novels and short stories, this fact established by copyright records in the USA, which list Scott as the pseudonym of Helen Magdalen (sic) Leys, Clapton-in-Gordano, nr. Portishead, Somerset.

Ellen Leys, Helen's mother, was living at Clapton-in-Gordano in 1938 when her son, John Alan Leys, married Miss Rosamond Joscelyne Mitchell, so it would appear that Helen was living with her mother whilst she wrote her novels. Both she and her older sister Mary eventually moved to Devon where Helen's death, at the age of 72, was registered in Exeter in 1965.

Novels as Eleanor Scott
War Among Ladies. London, Ernest Benn, 1928; Boston, Little, Brown & Co., 1928.
The Forgotten Image. London, Ernest Benn, Apr 1930; Garden City, NY, Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1930.
Beggars Would Ride. London, Hamish Hamilton, 1933.
Swings and Roundabouts. London, Hamish Hamilton, Mar 1933.
Puss in the Corner. London, Hamish Hamilton, 1934.

Collections as Eleanor Scott
Randall's Round. London, Ernest Benn, 1929.

Non-fiction as Eleanor Scott
Adventurous Women, illus. J. P. Paterson. London, T. Nelson & Sons, 1933.
Heroic Women. London, T. Nelson & Sons, 1939.

Novels as P. R. Shore
The Bolt. London, Methuen & Co., 1929; New York, E. P. Dutton & Co., 1929.
The Death Film. London, Methuen & Co., 1932.

(* My thanks to Curt Evans for initiating the hunt, to Jamie Sturgeon, Al Hubin and Steve Lewis for providing the leads and to Bill Pronzini who provided the pictures.)

Peter the Whaler part 6

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

Comic Cuts - 22 October 2010

Some actual news for a change...

The Dandy undergoes a major refit this Wednesday. Out goes Dandy Xtreme with its uncomfortable mix of features and comics... in comes The Dandy with wall-to-wall comic strips, a lot of new characters and a drop in price by a whole pound to £1.50. This can only be seen as a last ditch attempt to save the title as it approaches its 73rd birthday in December.

Sales of Dandy have been collapsing for some years, shedding 23,000 (61%) readers in four years...

L-2006__37,384*
E-2007__33,396* (-10.7%)
L-2007__28,550 (-14.5%)
E-2008__23,869 (-16.4%)
L-2008__26,694 (+11.8%)
E-2009__20,403 (-23.6%)
L-2009__18,938 (-7.2%)
E-2010__14,355 (-24.2%)
* These figures are my own estimates based on DCT figures for combined circulation with Beano and their readership.

Apart from a brief blip in 2008, the sales of Dandy Xtreme, with its higher price and fortnightly schedule, have been falling ever since the relaunch in August 2007. The latest (Jan-Jul 2010) figures peg current sales at around 14,000 which, for most companies, would mean the axe for a title. I suspect that being grouped with the more successful Beano and being printed in-house makes the title sustainable, although the massive revamp proves, to my mind, that 14,000 is as low as Thomson will allow the title to go.

The shake-up at Dandy follows the cancellation of Classics from the Comics, the last issue of which was released on 13 October.

The new-look Dandy is still under wraps as I write this but a few new characters have been teased across the web. Lew Stringer has put up a teaser pic, deliberately blurred and labeled "blurP", which led a number of people to conclude that he was drawing a new strip called "Blurp". Not so, says Lew, who has admitted that, in fact, he's drawing two new characters for Dandy.

Nigel Parkinson has revealed a little more over on his blog:

It's almost entirely comic strips. And the strips are mostly brand-new. There are pages by people new to The Dandy and by people new to comics ... The new Dandy has been a dream of the editor's for a couple of years. All new strips, all funny. But making it happen was nigh-on impossible with the cautious nature of the economy and publishing these last two years. Until the editor had an idea.
__What was needed was something so unusual, so daring, so big, so appealing, that all the other components would slot into place naturally. So he asked me if I could help, by circumventing the usual red tape and long negotiations that would normally surround such a big step and often prove so daunting that proposed projects never see daylight. I was sceptical, but I made The Phone Call. And it took 5 seconds to make it happen!

All very cryptic. Parkinson also confirms that the new Dandy will be available "every week from now on!"

Other new strips that will be appearing include Alexander Matthews' "Robot on the Run", which he announced on his blog back in September...

And Andy Fanton has a strip called "George vs Dragon", which, he says, reworks the Saint George and the Dragon tale as a slapstick, Wile E. Coyote-esque farce".

The dandified Dandy also gets a new logo care of Jamie Smart, who is said to be taking over the "Desperate Dan" strip...

Guess we'll just have to wait until Wednesday to see what it's like. Meanwhile you can now follow Dandy on Facebook and Twitter. Luddite that I am, that's Bear Alley's first ever link to Facebook or Twitter in 1,820 posts.

This week has also seen the announcement that the Christmas issue of Book and Magazine Collector will be its last. 328 issues is an astonishing run and it will be missed as it was one of the few magazines that gave comics a fair amount of space. I had my first ever paid article published in B&MC #18 way back in 1985, a piece on Hank Janson co-written with Bill Lofts for which we split the £70 cheque. I was writing for them fairly regularly in 1991-92 and would have written more had the magazine not changed direction—the new policy boiling down to "no articles about things we think our readers have never heard of"—leaving two or three pieces unpublished (one was on the publisher Scion Ltd. but I can't recall what the others were about); Bill Lofts told me he had six features spiked at the same time.

The latest issue (December 2010, #327) should be out now and features a David Ashford piece on old Martin & Read comics as well as a piece by Peter Doig & Michael Holmes on penny bloods and penny dreadfuls, an issue I'll certainly pick up. (And, as you can see from the cover scan above, I did!)

Reynolds & Hearn may have slipped away (see Comic Cuts, 24 September 2010) but there's good news for followers of the Century 21 reprints. Marcus Hearn has set up a new company, Signum Books, and is relaunching the series in 2011. Signum's first book, From Thunderbirds to Pterodactyls, the autobiography of actor Shane (Scott Tracy) Rimmer, will be launched this weekend at Fanderson's TV21 convention. Signum Books will be distributed by Titan Books.

Talking of which... Titan Books will also be distributing another series worth watching out for: Hard Case Crime, the American publisher of hardboiled crime novels who went into hiatus a while back after problems with their previous distributor, Dorchester Publishing.

And that's about all I have time for. I've spent a good chunk of the week writing meta data for some pictures I'm going to be posting over at the Look and Learn website, which I'll link to once they appear. I meant to post a disc off last weekend but got carried away and instead of pulling together 300 images (my target) I overshot and the folder currently has 437. The L&L picture library now has over 217,000 images... not bad when you think that five years ago it was just a gleam in the eye of the owner.

Today's random scan...

Sorting through DVDs—I've put about 750 of them in nice slipcases and dumped the plastic boxes to save some space—I stumbled across the following freebie tucked away in a copy of Withnail and I—a repro of the Ralph Steadman poster image. It took five folds to get it into the box and no poster survives folding well, but I hate to see anything go to waste so it went onto the scanner. More kipple that needs somewhere to live.

Have a good week, y'all. (Yes, I finally finished work on the Wells Fargo and Pony Express book!)