Spike Milligan cover gallery

Spike Milligan was probably the most influential comedy writer of the 20th century. I've been a fan of The Goons since I was a kid and remember watching Q on the TV... why the heck don't they repeat it? Wikipedia informs me that "a number of the earlier "Q" series are now missing, presumed wiped", which implies that some exist.

The Wikipedia entry for Spike gives plenty of background for you young'uns who haven't come across much of Milligan's work. I have a bit of a random collection. I know I have a few others but I've not stumbled across them yet. There's a complete list of his books at the end of the gallery.

Books
Silly Verse for Kids (verse). London, Dennis Dobson, 1959.
A Dustbin of Milligan, illus. by Milligan. London, Dobson, 1961.
The Little Pot Boiler.: A book based freely on his seasonal overdraft. London, Dennis Dobson, 1963.
Puckoon. London, Anthony Blond, 1963.
A Book of Bits; or, A Bit of a Book. London, Dobson, 1965.
The Bald Twit Lion (juvenile), illus. Carol Barker. London, Dobson, 1968.
A Book of Milliganimals (juvenile), illus. by Milligan. London, Dennis Dobson, 1968.
Silly Verse for Kids (selections from Silly Verse for Kids, A Dustbin of Milligan, The Little Pot Boiler). London, Puffin Books, 1968.
The Bedside Milligan; or, Read Your Way to Insomnia, with guest appearances by Margaret & Jack Hobbs. Walton-on-Thames, M. & J. Hobbs, 1969.
Values (verse), illus. Rigby Graham. Leicester, Offcut Press, 1969. [chapbook]
The Bedsitting Room, with John Atrobus (play; produced on West End, 1963). Walton-on-Thames, M. & J. Hobbs, 1970.
Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall. London, M. Joseph, 1971.
Milligan's Ark, with Jack Hobbs, Walton-on-Thames, Hobbs, 1971.
The Goon Show Scripts, illus. Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe & Milligan. London, Woburn Press, 1972; New York, St. Martin's Press, 1973.
Small Dream of a Scorpion (verse), illus. Spike & Laura Milligan. London, M. Joseph, 1972.
Badjelly the Witch (juvenile), M. Joseph, 1973.
More Goon Show Scripts, illus. Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Milligan. London, Woburn Press, 1973.
The Book of the Goons, with others. London, Robson Books, 1974.
Dip the Puppy. A fairy Story; with The Terrible Monster Jelly (juvenile). London, M. & J. Hobbs, 1974.
“Rommel?” – “Gunner Who?”: A Confrontation in the Desert. London, M. Joseph, 1974.
Spike Milligan’s Transports of Delight. London, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1974.
The Great McGonagall Scrap Book, with Jack Hobbs. Walton-on-Thames, M. & J. Hobbs, 1975.
The Milligan Book of Records. Games, cartoons, and commercials, with Jack Hobbs. Walton-on-Thames, M. & J. Hobbs, 1975.
The New Rosepetals Taut, illus. Rigby Graham. Leicester, Toni Savage, 1975. [chapbook]
Monty: His Part in My Victory. London, M. Joseph, 1976.
Poems for Toni Savage (verse), illus. Rigby Graham. Ilkley, W. Yorkshire, The Janus Studio, 1976. [chapbook]
William McGonagall: The Truth at Last, with Jack Hobbs, illus. anybody & Peter Sellers. London, M. & J. Hobbs, 1976.
Poems (verse), illus. Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Leicester, New Broom Press, 1977.
The Spike Milligan Letters, ed. Norma Farnes. Walton-on-Thames, M. & J. Hobbs, 1977.
Goblins (verse), illus. W. Heath Robinson (taken from Heath Robinson’s Book of Goblins, 1934). London, Hutchinson, 1978.
Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall. London, M. Joseph, 1978.
Open Heart University (verse), illus. Laura Milligan, Jack Hobbs & Milligan. Walton-on-Thames, M. & J. Hobbs, 1979.
The Q Annual. Walton-on-Thames, M. & J. Hobbs, 1979.
Twelve poems that made December Colder, illus. Rigby Graham. Leicester, New Broom Private Press, 1979. [chapbook]
Get in the Q Annual. Walton-on-Thames, M. & J. Hobbs, 1980.
Chill Air, illus. Rigby Graham. Leicester, New Broom Press, 1981. [chapbook]
If Only I were Bald, illus. Rigby Graham. Leicester, Toni Savage, 1981. [chapbook]
Indefinite Articles and Scunthorpe. London, M. & J. Hobbs in association with M. Joseph, 1981.
Unspun Socks from a Chicken's Laundry (verse), illus. by Milligan with contributions from Jane & Laura Milligan. Walton-on-Thames, M. & J. Hobbs in association with M. Joseph, 1981.
The 101 Best and Only Limericks of Spike Milligan, illus. Desmond Milligan. Walton-on-Thames, M. & J. Hobbs, 1982.
The Goon Cartoons, illus. Pete Clarke. London, M. Joseph in association with M. & J. Hobbs, 1982.
The Man. Leicester, Toni Savage, 1982. [broadsheet]
Sir Nobunk and the Terrible, Awful, Dreadful, Naughty, Nasty Dragon (juvenile), illus. Carol Barker. London, M. Joseph, 1982.
More Goon Cartoons, illus. Pete Clark. Walton-on-Thames, M. & J. Hobbs in association with M. Joseph, 1983.
Spike Milligan's The Melting Pot, with Neil Shand, illus. Bill Tidy. London, Robson Books, 1983.
There's a Lot of It About!. London, M. & J. Hobbs in association with M. Joseph, 1983.
More Spike Milligan Letters, ed. Norma Farnes. London, M. & J. Hobbs in association with M. Joseph, 1984.
Floored Masterpieces and Worse Verse, with Tracey Boyd. London, Macmillan, 1985.
Spike Millgan’s Further Transports of Delight. London, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1985; as Further Transports of Delight, London, Penguin, 1986.
Where Have All the Bullets Gone?. Walton-on-Thames, Hobbs in association with M. Joseph, 1985.
Goodbye Soldier. London, M. Joseph in association with Jack Hobbs, 1986.
White Hand Washing in a Stream (verse), illus. Sile Milligan. Leicester, Toni Savage, 1986. [broadsheet]
Esquimau (verse). Leicester, Toni Savage, 1987. [broadsheet]
The Looney: An Irish Fantasy. London, M. Joseph, 1987.
The Lost Goon Shows. London, Robson Books, 1987.
The Mirror Running (verse), illus. Desmond Milligan. London, M. Joseph, 1987.
Startling Verse for All the Family (verse). London, M. Joseph, 1987.
Milligan's War: The Selected War Memoirs of Spike Milligan. London, M. Joseph, 1988; an extract published as Gunner Milligan, 954024, London, Penguin, 1995.
That's Amazing! Strange facts, illus. Ann Slack. Loughborough, Ladybird Books, 1988.
William McGonagall Meets George Gershwin: A Scottish Fantasy, with Jack Hobbs. London, M. Joseph, 1988.
Scunthorpe Revisited. Added articles and instant relatives, ed. Jack Hobbs. London, Joseph, 1989.
It Ends with Magic. A Milligan Family Story. London, M. Joseph, 1990.
Sunday – Midnight (verse). Leicester, New Broom Private Press, 1990. [chapbook]
Condensed Animals (verse). London, Puffin Books, 1991.
“Dear Robert, Dear Spike”: the Graves-Milligan Correspondence, with Robert Graves, ed. Pauline Scudamore, foreword by Milligan. Stroud, Gloucestershire, A. Sutton, 1991.
My Mother, illus. Robert Tilling. Leicester, New Broom Private Press, 1991. [chapbook]
Peace Work. London, M. Joseph, 1991.
The Bible, The Old Testament according to Spike Milligan. London, Michael Joseph, 1993.
William McGonagall: Freefall, with Jack Hobbs. London, M. Joseph, 1992.
Depression and How to Survive It, with Anthony Clare. London, Ebury Press, 1993; new ed., London, Arrow Books, 1994.
Fleas, Knees and Hidden Elephants (verse), illus. Philip Hopman. London, Boxtree, 1994.
In a Jam. Leicester, Toni Savage, 1994. [broadsheet]
Wuthering Heights according to Spike Milligan. London, M. Joseph, 1994.
D. H. Lawrence’s John Thomas and Lady Jane: Part II of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, according to Spike Milligan. London, Michael Joseph, 1995.
Spike Milligan: A Celebration. The best of Milligan, ed. Roger Sawyer. London, Virgin Books, 1995.
Toni Savage of Leicester: 14-9-29—4-10-94. Leicester, Cynthia A. Savage, 1996. [chapbook]
Black Beauty according to Spike Milligan. London, Virgin, 1996.
Frankenstein according to Spike Milligan. London, Virgin, 1997.
The Goons: The Story, with others, ed. Norma Farnes. London, Virgin, 1997.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover according to Spike Milligan. London, M. Joseph, 1997.
The Hound of the Baskervilles according to Spike Milligan. London, Virgin, 1998.
Robin Hood according to Spike Milligan. London, Virgin, 1998.
A Mad Medley of Milligan (verse). London, Virgin, 1999.
The Family Album: An Illustrated Autobiography. London, Virgin, 1999.
The Murphy. London, Virgin, 2000.
Treasure Island according to Spike Milligan. London, Virgin, 2000.
The Essential Spike Milligan, ed. Alexander Games. London, Fourth Estate, 2002.
The Compulsive Spike Milligan, ed. Norma Farnes. London, Fourth Estate, 2004.
Box 18: The Unpublished Spike Milligan, ed. Norma Farnes. London, Fourth Estate, 2006.

Omnibus
A Potboiling Dustbin Full of Bits. London, Hobbs in association with Joseph, 1984.
Two Tales of Wonder: Badjelly the Witch and Dip the Puppy. London, Target Books, 1987.
Hidden Words (verse; contains Small Dreams of a Scorpion, Open Heart University, Mirror Running). London, M. Joseph, 1993.
A Children’s Treasury of Milligan. Classic stories & poems (contains Silly Verse for Kids, The Bald Twit Lion, A Book of Milliganimals, Unspun Socks from a Chicken’s Laundry, Sir Nobonk and the Terrible, Awful, Dreadful, Naughty, Nasty Dragon, Startling Verse for All the Family). London, Virgin, 2000. [book & tape gift set in container]
Classic Adventures according to Spike Milligan (contains Black Beauty, Frankenstein, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Robin Hood, Treasure Island). London, Virgin, 2002.
The Completely Essential Spike Milligan (contains The Essential Spike Milligan, The Compulsive Spike Milligan) London, HarperCollins for Marks & Spencer, 2005.

Slipcase Editions
The New Milligan Family Mixture (contains: A Book of Milliganimals, Silly Verse for Kids, Puckoon, Adolph Hitler—My Part in His Downfall, Small Dreams of a Scorpion). Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1974.
Mini Milligan Collection (contains Silly Verse for Kids, Book of Milliganimals, Unspun Socks from a Chicken’s Laundry). London, Puffin, 1992.

Others
Poetic Gems: Selected from the Works of William McGonagall, poet and tragedian, foreword by Spike Milligan. London, Folio Society, 1985.

About Spike Milligan
Spike Milligan: Paintings, Drawings, Manuscripts and Recordings. London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1972.
The Story of the Goons by Alfred Draper, with John Austin & Harry Edgington. London, Everest Books, 1976.
Spike Milligan: A Biography by Pauline Scudamore. London, Granada, 1985.
Milligan: The Life and Times of Spike Milligan by Dominic Behan. London, Methuen, 1988.
Spike Milligan: His Part in Our Lives by Maxine Ventham, foreword by Shelagh Milligan. London, Virgin, 2002.
Surviving Spike Milligan: A Journey Through the Mind & Mirth of the Master Goon by John Antrobus. London, Robson, 2002.
Spike Milligan: The Biography by Humphrey Carpenter. London, Hodder & Stoughton, 2003.
Spike: An Intimate Memoir by Norma Farnes. London, Fourth Estate, 2003.
Spike & Co.: Inside the House of Fun with Milligan, Sykes, Galton & Simpson by Graham McCann. London, Hodder & Stoughton, 2006.

Christie's Book, Comic & Magazine Artwork auction, 1993

More from the clippings file. I attended this one myself but I'm not sure if it was this or another auction of covers which ended badly.

The first piece is from The Times, 13 February 1993, promoting the auction which took place on Thursday, 18 March. The cover of the auction catalogue (below) featured a close-up from a piece of Keith Watson artwork (from "The Wandering World" storyline, 1964, which eventually sold for £280). The bulk of the lots were covers from the Sexton Blake Library, Love Story Library, illustrations from various women's magazines, some Modesty Blaise and Garth sets by Neville Colvin and Frank Bellamy respectively, covers and illustrations from a variety of Renwick & Otley children's books and, finally, a selection of Dan Dare artwork by Frank Hampson (studio), Don Harley and Keith Watson.

While it was wonderful to see the original artwork, I've a feeling this was an auction with an aftermath. A few of us decamped to the local pub and had some food. If I'm remembering correctly, I think Steve Chibnall (film lecturer & paperback collector), Denis Gifford (comics' historian) and Nicole Swengley (the journalist who wrote the above article) were at the same table. Anyway, whatever it was I ate disagreed with me and—without wishing to be too graphic—I was violently ill on the train going home and spent the whole journey in the loo.

(* Article © Times Newspapers Ltd.)

Clippings: TV shows that never were

Some more random clippings from amongst the piles of paper that I've spent the last twenty years tripping over. I should have had a clear-out years ago!

Today's clippings are from the Daily Mail 28 April 1997 and relate to two TV shows that never happened. One, a 7-part St. Trinian's TV show produced by Granada, to star Eddie Izzard in the Alastair Sim/Miss Fritton role and Joanna Lumley in the Joyce Grenfell/Ruby Gates role. Now that's a show I would have watched despite the rumoured involvement of The Spice Girls. I wonder why the show never went ahead?

And at the same time there was a Billy Bunter TV show mooted. The 13-parter was to be made by Galaxy Media, whom I've never heard of (and who don't show up on IMDB). They might be Galaxy Media Corporation plc, which is nowadays known as Asia Capital plc, an investment banking and financial services group based in Sri Lanka.

Not that it especially matters as the TV show came to nothing. But I did find the editorial that ran on the same day interesting. The Daily Mail is best known for its desire the angry up the blood of its readers, with Political Correctness always one of their great bug-bears. If you've ever wondered how many times you can shoehorn the terms political correctness, PC or political incorrectness into one article, this one takes some beating.

(* Articles © Associated Newspapers.)

Sale: Comics Journal

I've a whole heap of Comics Journal to thin out. Wonderful magazine, fantastic interviews, excellent news coverage... but needs must! £2 each plus p&p. Discounts for bulk buying.

114—Jay Lynch (poor)
138—Alan Moore
142—Arnold Roth, Carol Tyler, "Politics of Superheroes" (2)
145—Eddie Campbell, Art Spiegelman SOLD
146—Shary Flenniken, "Future Schlock" by Will Eisner (2)
148—Charles Burns, Sheldon Meyer SOLD
149—Comics in the '90s, Burne Hogarth sketchbook
150—Mark Schultz, Peter Kuper (2)
151—Drew Friedman, Carl Barks sketchbook
153—Harvey Kurtzman special
154—Dan Clowes
155—Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean SOLD
156—Gahan Wilson, Doug Allen
157—Bill Griffith, Harvey Kurtzman tribute SOLD
158—Ed Sorel, Robert Crumb
159—Peter Bagge, Skip Williamson sketchbook SOLD
160—Black Comics Artists special
161—Robert Williams, Mark Newgarden, Richard Sala sketchbook (2)
162—Harvey Pekar. Seth, Chester Brown, Joe Matt, Diane Noomin, Dennis Eichhorn (2)
164—Jim Woodring, Michael Allred, Dave McKean sketchbook SOLD
165—Matt Wagner, Tom Tomorrow SOLD
168—Roberta Gregory, Wendy & Richard Pini SOLD
169—Neil Gaiman, Sol Harrison
170—Joe Coleman, Mark Martin SOLD
171—Clive Barker, Darcy Sullivan
174—Frank Frazetta SOLD
179—Scott McCloud, Alison Bechdel
188—State of the Artform special, Scott McCloud, Kurt Busiek, Dan Clowes, Neil Gaiman
193—Seth, Terry Moore
195—Tom Toles, "Rob 'n' Todd" - fallout from Leifeld/McFarlane spat
201—Al Hirschfeld, Larry Marder
203—Roy Crane, Russ Manning, Mike White & Roy Tompkins SOLD
204—Spain, Shannon Wheeler
205—Adrian Tomine, Frank Cho
208—Richard Sala
211—1998 Special, "Understanding Comics"
212—V. T. Hamlin, Jay Stephens
213—Carol Lay, 
217—Lynn Johnston, Maxon Crumb, Alex Ross sketchbook
222—Erik Larsen, James Kochalka, Gil Kane tribute
225—MAD Magazine: Al Jaffe, Jack Davis, Al Feldstein
226—Gil Kane SOLD
229—Dan DeCarlo, Ted Jouflas, Gus Arriola
232—Internet issue, Rick Veitch, Scott McCloud
233—Daniel Clowes, Seth Tobocman
234—Charles Burns, Joe Sacco, Bill Griffith, Kim Deitch, Seth
235—25th anniversary special
236—Marv Wolfman/Blade trial transcripts
237—Women Cartoonists special
241—John Porcellino, John Ney Rieber, 
245—Dave Cooper, Creig Flessel
246—Victor Moscoso, Mark Tonra
251—James Sturm
253—Eric Drooker, John Cullen Murphy
254—Will Elder

Slaine on computer

After yesterday's Judge Dredd clippings, we take a trip even further back into the past to 1987 and an issue of Computer and Video Games. The October '87 issue carried a Slaine cover and a report on the new Slaine computer game from Martech. It's amazing how far games have come in the last twenty years... the Slaine game sounds like it was little more than a plot-your-own-adventure that you could play on a box rather than reading a book.

The same issue carried a little preview of the upcoming new Luther Arkwright  book... heady days! I remember buying up the Valkyrie Arkwright comic book as it appeared and pounced on the second collected volume. I still have it.

(* Slaine © Rebellion; Luther Arkwright © Bryan Talbot.)

Joyce Grenfell

My tastes in comedy are fairly broad, from Radio 4 shows like The News Quiz to live stand-up. What's missing nowadays seems to be the gentle monologues of someone like Joyce Grenfell, who was doing observational comedy long before the term was invented. Of course, the life Joyce Grenfell was observing around her in the days before World War II was very different to what life is like today but her work wears incredibly well and some of her most famous sketches were recreated by Maureen Lipman on stage in around 1990 and last year on TV. The only modern comedienne I can think of who comes close to Grenfell's performance style is Victoria Wood, whose monologues, character-driven sketches and songs echo Grenfell's work.

Joyce Grenfell was born Joyce Irene Phipps, in London on 10 February 1910, the daughter of Paul Phipps and his wife Nora (nee Langhorne). Her mother was American, the sister of Nancy Astor, her father an architect working for Edward Lutyens. Educated in London and at a finishing school in Paris, Joyce, stagestruck since childhood, attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but last only one term. She married Reginald Pascoe Grenfell in 1929.

A keen listener to radio, she became the radio critic for The Observer as well as earning money producing poster and card art and selling verse to Punch. She met Herbert Farjeon at a luncheon and was persuaded by her host, Stephen Potter, to perform a comic rendition based on a talk she had heard at a Women's Institute. Farjeon invited her to give the talk in his upcoming revue, which opened in 1939.

Warmly reviewed, Joyce continued to create monologues and write songs, performing them on long tours, covering 14 countries, for the Entertainments National Service Association during WW2, for which she was awarded the OBE in 1946. She also appeared in numerous revues, radio shows and movies in the UK in the 1940s and 1950s, including her most famous role as a police constable in the St. Trinian's series.

Although she retired from the stage in the early 1970s, she continued to be a popular star on TV and she also turned to writing, her two volumes of autobiography—Joyce Grenfell Requests the Pleasure and In Pleasant Places—becoming bestsellers.

She died on 30 November 1979 at her home in Chelsea, London, from cancer.

NO COVER AVAILABLE

Nanny Says, as recalled by Sir Hugh Casson and Joyce Grenfell, edited by Diana, Lady Avebury (London, Dobson, 1972)

Joyce Grenfell Requests the Pleasure (London, Macmillan, 1976)

Futura 7571, 1977. Cover: photo

George, Don't Do That—  (London, Macmillan, 1977)

Futura 1479, 1978. Cover: photo

'Stately as a galleon', and other songs and sketches, illus. John Ward (London, Macmillan, 1978)

Futura 1631, 1979. Cover: photo

In Pleasant Places (London, Macmillan, 1979)

Futura 1906, 1980. Cover: photo

Joyce, by herself and her friends, ed. Reggie Grenfell & Richard Garnett (London, Macmillan, 1980)

Futura 2078, 1981. Cover: photo
Futura 4761, 1991. Cover: photo

An Invisible Friendship: An exchange of letters 1957-1979, with Katharine Moore (London, Macmillan, 1981)

Futura 2219, 1982. Cover: photo

Turn Back the Clock. Her best monologues and songs (London, Macmillan, 1983)

Futura 2602, 1983. Cover: photo

Darling Ma: Letters to Her Mother, 1932-1944 (London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1988)

Coronet 50238, 1989. Cover: design

Sceptre 70736, 1997. Cover: photo

The Time of My Life: Entertaining the Troops 1944-1945, edited and introduced by James Roose-Evans (London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1989)
Coronet 0340-52813-3, 1990, 392pp, £4.99. Cover: design

NO COVER AVAILABLE

Joyce and Ginne. The letters of Joyce Grenfell and Virginia Graham, ed. Janie Hampton (London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1997)

NO COVER AVAILABLE

Hats Off: Poems and Drawings, compiled and introduced by Janie Hampton (London, John Murray, 2000)

 Joyce Grenfell by Janie Hampton (London, John Murray, 2002)
John Murray 6490, 2003. Cover: photo

NO COVER AVAILABLE

Letters from Aldeburgh, ed. Janie Hampton (Crawborough, Day Books, 2006)

Judge Dredd: The Computer Game

Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s comics were going through a boom period and not only in terms of the "comics aren't just for kids" boom which led to an interesting but brief boom in original graphic novels in the UK. There was also a boom of comics spin-offs in the then relatively new computer games industry. I've dug out a couple of old computer mags from this period and will run some bits over the weekend.

First up, the Sinclair User Judge Dredd issue from August 1990. Apart from a cover, feature and poster, the issue included a six-page reprint of an Ian Gibson strip, which I think originally appeared in the 2000AD Annual for 1985 or 1986. You'll find the opening page below and perhaps someone can confirm where the strip originally appeared.

The poster is signed by Eastcott, who isn't an artist I know.

Comic Cuts - 4 June 2010

Another week spent mostly turfing through boxes and throwing things away. About 30 bags, two-thirds of which were paper, so far, approximately two crates and three shelves worth of rubbish out of the house. Most of the magazines were copies of Model & Collectors Mart that I edited between 1995 and 2000, although I kept writing for the magazine until it folded in 2008 and had written a number of articles for the previous editor since 1993. Fifteen years' worth of magazines adds up to a hell of a weight, so I spent a couple of hours every evening snipping out all of my articles and reduced two crates-worth down to two-thirds of a magazine box. Much easier to handle!
I've raised £65 from selling off books so far, although that's only a few percent of what it's going to cost us to move. We're hoping to get down to a boot fair in a couple of weekends time to see if I can offload a pile of books (mostly tat, even I have to admit) and old film mags, which I've yet to sort out. I've also a pile of back issues of Fortean Times that need sorting through, Locus (the SF newspaper) and various others that I'll probably (reluctantly) let go. This will be the second time I've culled my Locus collection, having been a regular buyer since about 1982. I also used to get SF Chronicle but those were dumped a few years ago. I might also let go of my somewhat patchy run of Interzone as I can't actually recall the last time I looked at them. They're in a box, somewhere.

I managed to scan another bag of artwork, this one the complete set of Black Bartlemy's Treasure drawn by Jesus Blasco - you can see an example at the top of this column. Not sure when we'll get to use it, and the whole thing needs to be re-lettered, but the raw scans are done. I've also been scanning a few covers from foreign editions of strips which I'll be running on Bear Alley at some point.

I'll end with a random scan from the clippings file. When The Trigan Empire was reprinted in Holland and Germany, some of the books carried a map of the planet Elekton, drawn by Dutch artist Nico van Dam. It's unlikely to have been seen by many fans over here... so I thought I'd put it on the scanner while I still have the books. No doubt I'll be stumbling across more weird and wonderful junk over the next few weeks. Anything good will probably turn up here...

(* Black Bartlemy's Treasure art by Jesus Blasco © Look and Learn Ltd.; Trigan Empire © IPC Media.)

Random comic clippings 3: Dan Dare & Leslie Ash

This year saw the 60th anniversary of Dan Dare, an anniversary that came and went without a huge amount of coverage. Ten years ago it was a slightly different story for the 50th anniversary, which received mentions in most of the national newspapers, such as this piece from the Daily Telegraph (20 March 2000).

And here's a piece from the Radio Times (5 July 1997) about a season of Radio 5 Live shows about Young Britain. One of the shows was about the evolution of teenage magazines and included contributions from Nina Myskow, ex-editor of Jackie, and Leslie Ash, who was a cover star of many girls' magazines back in the 1970s before she took a starring roll in Quadrophenia.

More clippings as and when I stumble across them...