Scorcher Novels

Having resolved (kind of) the mystery of The Mysterious Mr. Hawkins, let's open up another can of worms.

I mentioned a boys' adventure series called Scorcher Novels and I have two examples in front of me. But they're from two different publishers.

The first example is The Secret of Black Abbey, which introduces the staff and pupils of St. Vincent's College. It was written by Edmund Burton (Edmund B. Childs) and, I believe, it's one of the first two books published in the series. I'm basing this on a back cover advert which lists two upcoming titles.

The Scorcher Novels series was published by Shurey's Publications Ltd. 1 Farringdon Avenue, London E.C.4 and was probably edited by Charles Shurey, who had co-founded the company with his brother in the 1890s.

The Secret of Black Abbey is undated with no clue as to when it was published. However, Dennis Gifford once claimed that the series was launched on 20 April 1932 [perhaps the date stamp from the British Library?]. This sounds about right; it was towards the end of Shurey's Publications which was sold to William Stevens Ltd. in around 1933; and the rear cover advertises the "next two books on sale May 31." Again according to Dennis, the original series ran to 12 numbers, presumably folding in September 1932.

Although the books are not numbered, the following is how the books are listed on the inside front cover of both Sharp-Shooter Sam and Boko and the Bruiser. (My thanks to Andy Richards of Cold Tonnage Books for this information.)

Scorcher Novels
1 Burton, Edmund, The Secret of Black Abbey (Apr 1932, 65pp, 2d)
2 Brisbane, Coutts, Lord of the "Lightning" (Apr 1932, 2d)
3 Douthwaite, L. C., The Gold Trail (31 May 1932, 64pp, 2d)
    * Given as F. C. Douthwaite on cover
4 Brisbane, Coutts, Make-a-bit Dick (and Boko the Croc) (31 May 1932, 2d)
5 Whitley, Reid, The Black Spider (28 Jun 1932, 2d)
6 Brisbane, Coutts, Boko Does It Again (28 Jun 1932, 2d)
7 Brisbane, Coutts, Wheels of Fortune (Jul 1932, 2d)
8 Burton, Edmund, Mystery of the Crescent (1932, 2d)
9 Saxon, Walter G., "Two Punch" Bob (1932, 2d)
10 Brisbane, Coutts, Boko's Lucky Dip (1932, 2d)
11 Saxon, Walter G., Sharp-Shooter Sam (1932, 2d)
12 Brisbane, Coutts, Boko and the Bruiser (1932, 2d)

Incidentally, Walter G. Saxon was the pen-name of Edwy Searles Brooks.

Some of the novels were subsequently reissued in identical format (and at the same price) in c.1937 by Sharman Ellis Ltd., a Gramol Publications Ltd. spin-off. I have a single copy from this series, coincidentally another St. Vincent's College yarn by Edmund Burton. However, thanks to John Eggeling (Todmorden Books) and one of his customers I've been able to fill in a few of the other titles in the Scorcher Novels listing.

Scorcher Novels
1
? Brisbane, Coutts, Make-a-bit Dick and Boko the Croc (c.1937, 64pp, 2d)
3 Burton, Edmund, Mystery of the Crescent (c.1937, 64pp, 2d)
4 Brisbane, Coutts, Wheels of Fortune (c.1937, 64pp, 2d)
5 Burton, Edmund, The Secret of the Black Abbot (c.1937, 64pp, 2d)
? Whitley, Reid, The Black Spider (c.1937)
? Brisbane, Coutts, Boko Does It Again (c.1937)

8
9
10 Brisbane, Coutts, Boko's Lucky Dip (c.1937)

Sharman Ellis also published a romance series which I've never seen, although I know of one number:

Romance Novel Library
1
2 Cross, Vivian, Her Actor Lover (c.1937)

Any further information on any of the above series would be very welcome.

Update (23 May 2007)
The following two cover scans come care of John Eggeling of Todmorden Books. Thanks, John

The top book of the two may be numbered on the spine but it's impossible to tell because of the tape. The lower of the two is Scorcher Novels no. 4.

Update (9 Oct 2008)

Another cover. My thanks to David Ainsworth for this one.

The cover gives the author as F. C. Douthwaite but the title page correctly identifies him as L. C. Douthwaite, a prolific writer of crime fiction and boys' stories.

Update (13 January 2017)

My thanks to Andy Richards of Cold Tonnage Books, who has sent me a corrected listing of the first series and the cover scan below.

Mystery Thriller

My pal Ray Steptoe phoned a couple of days ago to ask if I knew anything about the above book. It turns out to be a bit of a mystery title, previously unrecorded in Hubin's Crime Fiction Bibliography and by an otherwise unknown publisher. If only it were that easy!

The back cover tells us a bit more as it reveals that the book, The Mysterious Mr. Hawkins by Francis Marlowe was number 18 in a series of 'Mystery Thrillers'. The publisher, Ray tells me, was Publishers Agents Ltd. of 123 Grand Buildings, Trafalgar Square, London, although I suspect that was an imprint somehow related to Gramol Publications. Gramol were a hugely prolific publisher of cheap fiction between the wars, noted for publishing the original Paul Renin novels and dozens of other sexy novels as Gramol and Federation Press. The company was run by Arthur Gray and F. M. Mowl; the latter eventually packed in publishing, but Gray continued to publish during and after the war as Phoenix Press and Popular Publications. Gray's son, Barrington, also got into publishing, producing books under his own name and the imprint Grayling Publishing Co.

These connections are relevant to the Mysterious Mr. Hawkins as I'll try to make clear.

The original publisher of the 'Mystery Thrillers' series was Sharman Ellis Ltd., 61 Chandos Street, London W.C.2. I don't have any of this series but it is advertised on the back cover of a boys' adventure series that Sharman Ellis also published:

We can date those first 12 titles fairly accurately because the stories in the above books were reprints of stories that mostly appeared in American pulp magazines in 1936. Sharman Ellis Ltd. only appeared in the London telephone directory in 1936-37. So if the first 12 publications were c.1937, I'd guess that our mystery book must also be from that period, c.1938 maybe.

The connection between to Sharman Ellis/Publishers Agents and Gramol is confirmed by a couple of things. First, Sharman Ellis were partly responsible for a series called 'New Adelphi Novels' published originally by Arthur Gray and later by Gramol Publications. Secondly, Barrington Gray, son of Gramol's co-founder, later reprinted a couple of the books advertised on the back of The Mysterious Mr. Hawkins. Gray's 'Mystery Thrillers' were published in the late 1940s and were priced at 4½d rather than 2d. The Circle of Death (by W. J. Eliot) and The Murder Trap (by Don Campbell) appeared as numbers 9 and 10 of the new series in c.1949.

William James Elliott and Donald Campbell were both regular writer for Gramol. Campbell's The Murder Trap had also been reprinted by Gerald Swan in 1942, priced 4d and padded out with a couple of additional stories (Swan, shortly before, had been reprinting old Gramol Paul Renin novels). It's quite possible that Gramol had published The Murder Trap as part of an earlier (as yet unrecorded) series -- there are still a lot of holes in my Gramol list (long-time paperback collectors may recall that I published a list way back in 1990 through Richard Williams' Dragonby Press).

To return to The Mysterious Mr. Hawkins for a moment, it remains a little mysterious but it looks like it was published in c.1938. And, just to confirm that estimate, I've found Publishers Agents Ltd. listed in the phone book at 123 Grand Buildings W.C.2. I wonder when the phone books were compiled? Were they like comics annuals and produced in 1937 for 1938? When in the year were they published?

I've managed to answer my own question: the London telephone directory was issued twice a year in the late 1930s: A-K was published in February and August and L-Z was published in May and November. Corrections for the May issue of A-Z were accepted up to 20 February and corrections for the August issue of A-K were accepted up to 21 May. So there's an approximately 3 month delay.

So we can say with some certainty that Publishers Agents Ltd. arrived at their Whitehall (W.C.2) address between August 1937/February 1938 in order to be listed in the May 1938 phone book and disappeared some time after February 1939 (when the May 1939 phone book was completed) but before August 1939 (when the Nov book was completed). Approximately Autumn 1937 to Spring 1939.

I've just tried the same trick with Sharman Ellis and find that they are listed in the November 1936 to November 1937 editions, meaning they ran from approximately Feb/Aug 1936 to Aug 1937/Feb 1938 -- call it Spring 1936 to Autumn 1937. See how the two companies nestle nicely against each other? What's the betting that Publishers Agents Ltd. opened their doors just as Sharman Ellis closed theirs.

Launching Disneyland

Disneyland was the first Walt Disney tie-in produced by IPC. Launched in February 1971, it was their most global launch, designed for distribution in Europe and America. It eventually ran for nearly 300 issues before folding in 1976.

As you might expect, it was heavily promoted in other IPC titles. This sequence of adverts appeared in Look and Learn in 1971; after the initial launch was covered in issues 477-79, a quarter page advert continued to appear for some months.

Two examples of quater-page adverts from April 1971 and July 1971.

Comic Clippings - 14 May

There seem to be an awful lot of interesting projects going on at the moment which have been pushing Bear Alley onto the back-burner. Not my projects but projects from other people. I'm still tied up with Karl the Viking and the only other thing I've been involved in (and this over a period of months) has been compiling some material for Fumetto, the Italian comics fanzine. Issue 62 will include a special section on Franco Caprioli's work for the UK market which I helped out on. Caprioli was a regular contributor to Ranger and Look and Learn and you can see some of his work at the Look and Learn Picture Library. There's also a piece on Look and Learn in the same issue, which is due out at the end of the month.

One of the reasons I started the blog was to have a home for little bits of research I did for other people as long as it didn't interfere with something they were planning to publish. Lately I seem to be proofing bits of work that will eventually see the light of day elsewhere, everything from a list of comics by Victor de la Fuente to a list of comics by every Italian artist ever to contribute to a British comic (I kid you not). And that's just this evening. Running bits here would be a bit of a cheek but I'm hoping to have my blogging speed back up to normal next month.

One bit of news that didn't make my rundown of upcoming Carlton books: they will also be producing a nice volume of picture library covers in October. The title is Aarrgghh!! It's War: The Best War Comic Cover Art from "War", "Battle", "Air Ace" and "War at Sea" Picture Libraries ("The Art of War" might have been a snappier title). There's an introduction by my good pal David Roach so you can expect some learned words on the subject, plus a foreword by Top Gear's James May. It's 400 pages from Prion (ISBN 1853756334) and is priced £19.99. See Amazon.co.uk.

This weekend was the annual Bristol bash -- the Bristol International Comics Expo. I'm sure you'll find lots of comments, thoughts and blurry memories around the blogsphere. The Forbidden Planet International blog has posted a list of winners for this year's Eagle Awards. Good to see a few British names in there, headed by Warren Ellis (Favourite Comics Writer) whose Nextwave won the Favourite New Comic Book category (and Favourite Comics Villain) and who was also entered in the Roll of Honour. Photos from the show can be found here.

As usual, I'm probably last with the news but here are a few odds and ends I've found these past few days...

• Italian artist Mario Cubbino died in Rimini on 2 May 2007 at the age of 77 after suffering ill health for some years. Born in Gorizia on 14 January 1930, Cubbino began his comics career as an assistant to Enzo Dufflocq Magni on Pantera Bionda in 1952 before finding work with the Creazioni D'Ami studio. He began contributing to British comics through D'Ami, making his debut drawing westerns for Thriller Picture Library in 1956. Cubbino moved to London and, between 1957-63, kept up a steady output for British romance weeklies Mirabelle, Marilyn, Roxy and Romeo as well as full-length stories for Love Story Picture Library and True Life Library. After drawing a variety of western, adventure and erotic comics in the 1960s for Italian publishers, he found wider success in the pages of Il Corriere dei Ragazzi in 1973, drawing 'L'Ombra' (by Alfredo Castelli). He later contributed to Corrier Boy, Bliz and numerous stories for Lug. Over the years, Cubbino drew episodes some of Italy's most popular creations, including 'Pecos Bill', 'Dylan Dog' and 'Diabolik'. More details can be found at the French Wikipedia.

• Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie got married on Saturday 12 May. Neil Gaiman has the pictures to prove it.
  

• The Self Made Hero manga Shakespeare and the upcoming graphic novels adaptations of Henry V and Macbeth are covered in Gary Eason's article 'Shakespeare gets the comic treatment' at the BBC News website (11 May).

• Eddie Campbell is interviewed by Jody Macgregor (9 May).

Christian Aid Book Sale, Edinburgh

(My thanks to Jeremy Briggs for the following report on the Christian Aid Book Sale in Edinburgh. Looks fantastic.)

CHRISTIAN AID BOOK SALE - EDINBURGH

London may have the ABC Show for Steve to visit, while others may have decamped to Bristol this weekend for the Comics Expo, but for those of us further north, Edinburgh has the annual Christian Aid Book Sale which takes place at St Andrews and St Georges church on George Street in the city centre. Perhaps "at" is not the best description -- "in, around, under, behind, and next door to" might be a better description of this huge charity book sale which has raised over £1 million in the many years that it has been running.

They normally have a publicity push beforehand to entice the media. Last year it was a script of the Doctor Who episode New Earth signed by David Tennant and Billie Piper, not so surprising once you know that Tennant's father had previously been a minister at the church. It sold for over £3000. This year the media tie-in was to the Kidnapped graphic novel which was produced earlier in the year as part of the drive to get Edinburgh residents all reading the same story as part of the UNESCO City Of Literature project. Alan Grant, who adapted Robert Louis Stevenson's original novel into the graphic format, and James Robertson, who then translated Grant's words into the Scots dialect for the Kidnappit version of it, publicised the event -- with Grant being promoted to Judge Dredd's creator in the advance publicity. Grant donated signed Psi-Judge Anderson scripts to the sale which were priced at £20 each.

Yet for all the hype about a few specific items or people beforehand, the event is really about the tens of thousands of books for sale, most of which range from 50p to a few pounds. For all the fact that it is advertised as a book sale there are also pictures, CDs, vinyl, toys, jigsaws, games and assorted collectables for sale as well. This year, for the first time that I can remember, it was raining on the Saturday and so the sale, which would normally have at least half its stock outside, had to crush its books into the church and the covered car park of the next door office building.

As with any sale this kind what you find of interest can be a hit or miss affair but with a large children's section divided off from the rest of the stock, comics annuals were much in evidence with many Beano, Dandy, Oor Wullie and Broons books followed by lots of girls titles such as Bunty, Debbie, Mandy and Sally. This year IPC humour annuals and all boys annuals were noticeably lacking, although they did have a larger than normal select of Commandos and Picture Library titles. Asterix and Tintin inevitably headed the charge of the bandes dessinees, although another one to turn up was The Aeronauts annual from 1973 which reprints a 'Tanguy et Laverdure' story and was mentioned here last month when Steve was looking for details on 'The Flying Furies' strip. My bargain of the day was the 1949 Hotspur Book with its Iron Teacher cover for a mere 50p, not in great condition but a more than readable copy of the last of the original annuals for the story paper version of Hotspur.

Perhaps the most unique point of this sale is the fact that it lasts for a week. The opening Saturday may be the most popular with the punters, but the sale reopens on Monday and continues through to Friday afternoon. Due to the sheer volume of books that were not put out because of the rain I would expect that the rest of the week, if it gets a little drier, will turn up some more interesting items before the sale finally winds up on Friday afternoon.

As a final point it is worth noting that the Edinburgh United church at Holy Corner in Edinburgh’s Morningside also has a Christian Aid book sale in its church hall. It may not be as large, but it is all undercover and it also lasts for the entire week.

Patricia Hubbard

Just a quick one for tonight...

Patricia Hubbard was listed as an illustrator in Robin Annual 1 and 2 (1953-54) and as a writer in the latter, presumably illustrating an article or feature she also drew. I've not found anything else by her bar one book she may have illustrated. This was a children's book, The Royal Secret of Brockwood by Anthony Corfield (Redmarley D'Abitot, Gloucestershire, Portico D'Abitot Press, 1988), a slim, 32-page volume described by an eBay seller as "a happy tale about Bertie Brock, a lazy but friendly young badger. Threatened with the loss of his tiny, ramshackle cottage, he decides to have a good spring-clean. his work is rewarded by an exciting discovery which sets the village abuzz. Patricia Hubbard's beautiful illustrations provide the basis for this imaginative story."

Library records list the artist as being born in 1934.

(The picture comes from Stella & Rose's Books who have a couple of copies of the book in stock.)

Comic Clippings - 9 May

I'm still recovering from a busy Bank Holiday weekend so I'm going to use this little introductory space to say if you've sent me an e-mail and I haven't replied yet, I will. I'm still working on the Karl the Viking introductions but now have most of the first volume intro. mapped out, a good chunk of the second written and part of the third ditto. I'm hoping that over the next two weekends I'll be able to get all my notes together in some coherent form and then tidy everything up over the Spring Bank Holiday at the end of the month. That's the plan, anyway.

At the Look and Learn website, the Picture Library now has 16,368 images and another disc is heading into the post tomorrow. There will be a big pieces on Look and Learn in the next issues of Fumetto (Italy) and Redeye (UK) as we continue to spread the word.

It's also worth taking a dip into The Children's Newspaper if you've not given it a try. Apart from being a fascinating insight into how news was treated by successive editors who tried to keep young children abreast of world events, you can also stumble upon some interesting stories, like Geoffrey Household's first novel, serialised in 1935 ahead of its book publication in 1936, and comic strips by the likes of Peter Jackson, Philip Mendoza and C. L. Doughty as the following three examples show. Give it a try. It's fun.

Here are a few news items I've noted in the last couple of days:

• I was sorry to hear that Bob Rothwell, a long-time member of the Eagle club, died on Sunday 6 May. Bob was the organiser of the regular 'Eagle Day' get-togethers for Eagle fans and was a staunch supporter of various Eagle exhibitions which often featured items from his collection.

• Grant Morrison is interviewed on Newsarama about DC's 52.

• Alan Grant is supporting the annual Christian Aid Book Sale. More information can be found at Forbidden Planet International.

• Down the Tubes has a report by Matthew Badham and David Baillie on the 2000AD 30th anniversary party.

• An interview with Leah Moore and John Reppion about Albion and influences can be found in the Italian online magazine de:code (4 May) in both English and Italian. There's also an interview with Brian Michael Bendis.

• The Jeff Hawke Club website has been redesigned.

Winifred Holmes

Winifred Holmes, born Winifred Alice Young on 7 April 1903, was raised in India where her father worked for the Indian Civil Service. Educated at schools in Tasmania and England, she became a nursery teacher but soon abandoned this as a career to take up journalism as a nursery correspondent for the Evening Standard.

In 1933 she married John Bruce (Jack) Holmes (1902-1968), a documentary film director and producer.

She was a popular writer of poems in the early 1930s, some of which were published in Argosy, and her reputation meant she became part of a circle which included Eliot, Auden, Isherwood and Sitwell. Her verse was broadcast on the BBC and she narrated the verse commentary for the documentary Cover to Cover, which was the very first film to be broadcast over the BBC's new higher definition television channel from Alexandra Palace in November 1936.

During the war, she continued writing and became a talks producer for the BBC Home Service, working on Wartime Cookery Book and The Kitchen Front where she dreamed up nutritious meals that could be made from the unpromising ingredients available to the average household. Amongst the other topics she wrote about was 'Among the Nagas of Assam' (1939). Between 1943-45, she was also tasked by the Ministry of Information with assessing the morale of Londoners which she did by cycling around the East End, interviewing the local population about how they were coping with the bombing.

After the war, Winifred directed a number of film documentaries, including A Cruel Kindness (1948), Consider the Carpet (1948) and A Brother for Susan (1953) as well as scripting others. She wrote a number of children's books and the 'Simon and Sally' strip in Robin. She also contributed to the first 9 editions of Robin (1953-61) and may have contributed to later volumes. She also wrote books on Indian art and Asian films.

Holmes worked extensively in Asia with the Women's Council, originally founded in 1932; she was chairwoman of the organisation in the 1950s and 1960s. She lived in Singapore in the early 1960s and, in 1967, made a tour of 14 Asian countries. She was appointed OBE in the 1968 New Year's Honours list.

Following her husband's sudden death, she travelled to Nepal to make a film on family planning and was invited to return two years later; she drove from London to Nepal in a Land Rover to help set up a local documentary film unit in Kathmandu.

On 25 March 1972 she married Horace Owen H. (Sam) Coulson, an accountant in the City of London, and continued to work for the Women's Council until shortly before her second husband's death in 1992, aged 87. Winifred Holmes died in 1 September 1995, aged 92, survived by a son and two daughters.

An article by Suzy Menkes ('Asian Journey', The Times, 4 March 1968), described her as "a quiet, lucid woman with soft hair and a charming smile [for whom] public recognition for her years of voluntary service is far less important than the job itself."

Books
Tekhi's Hunting. A story of the Naga Hills, illus. Jack Matthew. London, G. Bell & Sons, 1941.
The Voyage of the Indian Brig, illus. Jack Matthew. London, G. Bell & Sons, 1949.

Non-fiction
First Baby. London & Glasgow, Blackie & Son, 1939.
An Introduction to Indian Art. London, David Marlowe for the Royal India Society, 1948.
Seven Adventurous Women, illus. J. S. Goodall. London, G. Bell & Sons, 1953.
Orient. A survey of films produced in countries of Arab and Asian culture. London, British Film Institute, 1959.
She was Queen of Egypt. Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, Cleopatra, Shagaret el Dor, illus. Arthur Hagg. London, G. Bell & Sons, 1959.

Verse
Variation on a Metaphysic Theme and other poems. London, The Unicorn Press, 1933.
Peace Without Honour. London, Duckworth, 1937.

(Much of the above information was derived from an obituary in The Times, 20 September 1995.)

Collected Hook Jaw

Just received my copy of Collected Hook Jaw Volume 1 from Spitfire Comics, 96 pages of blood-soaked, limb-severing shark attacks from the pages of Action. Having "given up" comics at the age of 13 when I switched from reading Valiant to getting Speed & Power, I was tempted back to them when the first issue of Action hit the shelves... although I guess I'd never really given them up because I was already buying Vulcan. Action really did live up to its name and, for a while, was the best comic on the market. There was an almost immediate backlash against its violent content, led by the tabloids and famously picked up by Nationwide where Frank Bough interviewed John Sanders.

Sales of the title were rising as word of mouth brought in new readers each week. And then... disaster. IPC cancelled the title and, ten weeks later, bought out a new, neutered version. I continued to read it but without the same level of enthusiasm. It obviously didn't hold my attention because I stopped buying it after a few weeks and the only strip I missed was 'Spinball'. By then there was another new title on the shelves and I thought I'd give that a try: 2000AD.

So it's great to see Hook Jaw given the collection treatment. The title page has a little note asking what readers would like to see reprinted next and I think I'd like either 'Dredger' or 'The Running Man'. I don't think the latter ever topped the Action popularity charts but I thought it was fantastic. Or 'Death Game 1999', the precursor to 'Spinball'.

(Hook Jaw © Egmont UK)

Ursula John [Ursula Jahn?]

Ursula John was an occasional contributor to Robin Annual, appearing in the first edition (1953) and later in 8 and 9 (1961-62). I've not found any other writings from her apart from a single book, The Adventures of Boss and Dingbatt (London, G. C. Harrap & Co., 1937). Based on the cover alone (which is all I've seen) it would appear to be a children's book about two toys. It was illustrated with photographs by Conrad Southey John.

The latter offers us a little clue. Ursula was presumably related and, while I can't locate any information about her, it seems that Conrad Southey Jahn (note the 'a') was born in Kingston, Surrey, in 1905. Presumably Ursula was also a Jahn rather than a John.

(The above book cover is a much cleaned up eBay image... if anyone can supply additional info. on the book it would be very welcome.)

Muriel Holland

Not related, as far as I know but definitely a contributor to Robin Annual.

According to a blurb in one of her books, "Muriel Holland was one of a family of six children. She was born in Wales but went to school in Bristol and now [1959] lives near the Zoo in London. She often visits it to draw the animals. She writes stories and rhymes for children and has had her stories broadcast all over the world."

Born in Cardiff, she was educated at Badminton School, Bristol, and contributed widely to the press and magazines, including The Times, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Evening News, Sun, Church Times, News Chronicle, Weekly Scotsman, Western Mail, Christian Science Monitor, In Britain, What's On In London, English Song and Dance, various women's magazines, the BBC -- both radio and TV -- and radio stations around the world. She also wrote folk songs (with music provided by Jim Parker), her lyrics published in Sounds Like Folk and Folksong Today.

She lived at 10 Elsworthy Terrace, London N.W.3 in the 1950s and early 1960s, moving in around 1964 to a flat in Goldhurst Terrace, Maida Vale, where she was still living in the late 1970s.

Books
Wizard Winkle, illus. William McLaren. London, Thomas Nelson & Sons (Speedwell Readers no. A14), 1951.
Benjamin Bear and Rag-Doll, illus. L. R. Brightwell. London, Thomas Nelson & Sons (Speedwell Readers no. B14), 1952.
The Jim Scarecrow Stories, illus. Hilda McGavin. London, Macmillan & Co., 10 vols., 1952-61.
__1 The Scarecrow That Was Scared. 1952.
__2 Jim Scarecrow is Kidnapped. 1952
__3 Jim Scarecrow, Detective. 1953.
__4 Jim Scarecrow has his Portrait Painted. 1953.
__5 Jim Scarecrow has a Terrible Adventure. 1954.
__6 Jim Scarecrow Plays a New Part. 1956.
__7 Jim Scarecrow Gets a Feather in his Cap. 1956.
__8 Jim Scarecrow Stands Firm. 1956.
__9 Jim Scarecrow Disappears. 1960.
__10 Jim Scarecrow and the Meadow Farm Mystery. 1961.
Even the Cat Could Talk, illus. Edgar Norfield. Leicester, Brockhampton Press, 1958.
Mr. Hare Makes Stone Soup, illus. Edgar Norfield. Leicester, Brockhampton Press, 1959.
Wizard Winkle Won't Tell, illus. Edgar Norfield. Leicester, Brockhampton Press, 1960.
Let's Read a Story. London, Macmillan & Co., 3 vols., 1961; New York, St. Martin's Press, 1961.
Mr. Hare and the Honey Bees, illus. Edgar Norfield. Leicester, Brockhampton Press, 1961.
Wizard Winkle Goes North, illus. Edgar Norfield. Leicester, Brockhampton Press, 1962.
Mr. Hare has a Bright Idea, illus. Edgar Norfield. Leicester, Brockhampton Press, 1963.
Wizard Winkle's Wishing Ring, illus. Edgar Norfield. Leicester, Brockhampton Press, 1964.
Wizard Winkle Goes Abroad, illus. Edgar Norfield. Leicester, Brockhampton Press, 1967.
Mr. Sungura is Challenged, illus. T. G. Hewitt. Leeds, E. J. Arnold, 1970.
Mr. Sungura Does Some Arithmetic, illus. T. G. Hewitt. Leeds, E. J. Arnold, 1970.
Mr. Sungura and the Spider, illus. T. G. Hewitt. Leeds, E. J. Arnold, 1970.
How the Blackbird Became Black, and other stories, illus. F. Stocks May. Leicester, Brockhampton Press, 1972.

Comic Clippings - 2 May 2007

I spent last Sunday at the ABC show at the Royal National, Bedford Way, wandering around, picking up various odds and ends and chatting to people. It's more of a social occasion for me than a buying spree, although I usually treat myself to something nice so that I've spent more on comics than I have on the train fare.

This year it was The Art of Brian Bolland (Desperado Publishing/Image, 2006) which is superb. I've been a fan of Brian's work since his days on 'Judge Dredd' in 2000AD and have followed his career ever since, even when he started working for DC in the USA (Camelot 3000, The Killing Joke). The book covers every aspect of his work, from his art school days to his latest work, although most of his later strips ('The Bishop & the Actress', 'Mr Mamoulian') were also printed in full in Bolland Strips!.

I can't recommend the book highly enough. Artwork aside, Brian Bolland keeps up a running commentary throughout, writing about his childhood and putting the artwork into the context of his life with some fascinating details along the way -- why he began signing with a backwards 'N', sketches for projects (such as an earlier Art of Brian Bolland volume) that never happened. One or two illustrations are published without comment (or explanation -- such as page 176's pic. of Redfox) but generally there's a wealth of detail.

What we need now is a companion volume, The Cover Art of Brian Bolland, reprinting all his covers for Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Wonder Woman, etc.

Some random news items...

• One book I missed off the recent Carlton list is Angel Fire by Chris Blythe and Steve Parkhouse which is due for publication in August 2007. It's a reprint of the graphic novel that was previously self-published (2004) and picked up in the USA by NBM (2006). More information in these interviews at Sequential Tart and Silver Bullet Comics.

• Down the Tubes (30 April) carries news of a new line of classic literature adaptations to be published by Classic Comics. The first release will be Henry V by Neill Cameron (script/pencils) & Bambos (inks, colouring by Jason Cardy & Kat Nicholson), which will appear in 3 different versions (the original Shakespeare text, a Plain English text and a simplified quick reading text) in October. Macbeth by John McDonald & John Haward (colour by Nigel Dobbyn) follows in January 2008, also in 3 versions. The Spring 2008 lineup is Jane Eyre by Amy Cozine & John M. Burns and Great Expectations by Jen Green & John Stokes. Forbidden Planet International blog has more pics and links.
  

• 7-year-old Beano reader James Thompson from Sheffield beat 27,000 other entrants to design a new character for 'The Bash Street Kids'. His winning design appears on the BBC News website (28 April). The new character, Wayne's in Pain, will debut in the 5 May edition. Further reports in The Scotsman (28 April) and the Yorkshire Post (28 April).

• Tate Etc. is the magazine of the Tate Gallery which recently hosted a Hogarth exhibition. The latest (Spring 2007) issue contains 'The Real Comic Book Heroes' by John Carlin.

• Paul Gravett reviews Bryan Talbot's Alice in Sunderland in The Independent (27 April).

A couple of photos from the show. The lack of punters is easily explained as these were taken before the doors opened. This little area is effectively the British comics area; just through the doors, are the two larger galleries containing the National Collectors' Marketplace which is a mixture of American comics, trading cards, action figures and a few more British comics.

In the Post

Just a quick mention that the latest volume in the 'Lone Pine' series by Malcolm Saville, The Gay Dolphin Adventure, has just been published by Girls Gone By. The cover reproduces Bertram Prance's original dust jacket from 1945. The production of these books is superb and the novel is put in context through a series of introductions by Mark O'Hanlon, Mary Cadogan and John Allsup. I shall now be able to retire the rather tired Armada paperback I've had for years (the text was abridged anyway).

Spot the artists...

I'm still working my way through the 1,049 issues of Look and Learn for our Picture Library and I've just spotted this fabulous cover by Peter Jackson for issue 486 (8 May 1971). Jackson is best known for his detailed historical pictures; you can be sure that every item of clothing and every advert is accurate for the time period... but I couldn't help noticing in the background the names of the shops which feature fellow Look and Learn luminaries Ron Embleton, Richard Hook and Angus McBride.