Geoffrey Jenkins

Author Geoffrey Jenkins.

A Twist of Sand (London, Collins, 1959)
Fontana Books 523, 1961, 252pp.
Fontana Books 1019 [2nd imp.] 1964, 252pp.
Fontana Books 3188 [8th imp.] 1973, 252pp, 30p. Cover by Chris Foss
Fontana Books 0006-16198-7, 1981, 252pp, £2.99.

The Watering Place of Good Peace (London, Collins, 1960; revised, Fontana, 1974)
Fontana Books 0006-13650-8, 1974, 188pp, 40p. Cover by Chris Foss

 

A Grue of Ice (London, Collins, 1962)
Fontana Books 994, 1964, 221pp.
Fontana Books [5th imp.] 1968, 221pp.
Fontana Books 0006-13269-3 [6th imp.] Jun 1973, 221pp, 30p. Cover by Chris Foss
Fontana Books 0006-16260-6 [12th imp.] 1981, 221pp.
---- [16th imp.] Aug 1990, 221pp, £2.99.

The River of Diamonds (London, Collins, 1964)
Fontana Books 1339, 1966, 221pp.
Fontana Books 0006-13270-7 [2nd imp.]  May 1973. Cover by Chris Foss
---- [3rd imp.] Jun 1973, 221pp, 30p.
---- [4th imp.]; [5th imp.]
---- [6th imp.] Aug 1974, 221pp, 35p.
Fontana Books 0006-16144-8 [14th imp.] 1990, 287pp.

Hunter-Killer (London, Collins, 1966)
Fontana Books, 1968, 222pp.
Fontana Books [4th imp,] 1973, 222pp. Cover by Chris Foss
---- [5th imp.] 1973;  [6th imp.] 1973.
---- [7th imp.] Sep 1973, 221pp, 30p.
Fontana Books 0006-16199-5 [14th imp.] 1981, 221pp.

 

Scend of the Sea (London, Collins, 1971)
Fontana Books, 1973, 190pp. Cover by Chris Foss
Fontana Books 3179 [6th imp.] Jul 1974, 190pp, 40p.
Fontana Books 0006-16121-9, 1980, 190pp.
Fontana Books 6121 [12th imp.] May 1983, 190pp, £1.50.

A Cleft of Stars (London, Collins, 1973)
Fontana Books 4035, 1975, 190pp, 50p. Cover by Chris Foss
---- [xth imp.] 1976.
---- [xth imp.] 1977, 190pp.

A Bridge of Magpies (London, Collins, 1974)
Fontana Books 0006-14680-5, 1977, 222pp, 75p. Cover by Chris Foss
Fontana Books [2nd imp] 19??, 85p.
Fontana Books 0006-15551-0 [3rd imp.] 1980, 222pp, £1.00.
Fontana Books 0006-16197-9, 1981, 222pp.
Fontana Books [7th imp.] Jun 1987, 222pp, £2.95.

Southtrap (London, Collins, 1979)
Fontana Books 0006-16116-2, 1980, 254pp, £1.25. Cover by Chris Foss
---- [8th imp.] Oct 1989, 319pp, £2.99. Cover by Chris Foss

A Ravel of Waters (London, Collins, 1981)
Fontana Books 0006-16490-0, 1982, 252pp, £1.50. Cover by Chris Foss
---- [xth imp.] 1990, 252pp.

The Unripe Gold (London, Collins, 1983)
Fontana Books 0006-16882-5, 1983, 288pp, £1.75. Cover by Chris Foss [continental edition]
Fontana Books 0006-16882-5, 1984, 288pp, £1.75. Cover by Chris Foss
---- [2nd imp.] 1989, 299pp, £2.99. Cover by unknown

Fireprint (London, Collins, 1984)
Fontana Books 0006-17083-8, 1985, 286pp, £2.25. Cover by Chris Foss

In Harm's Way (London, Collins, 1986)
Hold Down a Shadow (London, Collins, 1989)
A Hive of Dead Men (London, HarperCollins, 1991)
A Daystar of Fear (London, HarperCollins, 1994)

The Commando Interviews Part 5: George Low

A brief introduction. 

The following interview with George Low, one time editor of the British comic book Commando, was conducted by Michael Eriksson on 19 September 2007. This was originally published on Mike's late and much lamented website Where Eagles Dare and is one of a number of interviews that will be appearing here with Mike's permission. I have made a number of very minor visual and editorial changes for clarity but I have otherwise made no alterations; Mike is Swedish – his English is near perfect and I'm sure you'll forgive the occasional verbal stumble.George Low talks about his final days as editor of Commando

This interview with Commando editor George Low was conducted by e-mail just two days before his last day in the office.

I understand that this will be your last week at Commando, and that you've decided to retire. How does it feel, how long have you known?

I have known for a month or so, and it's a very strange feeling. As you know, I like my job a lot and it's great to co-operate with writers and artists to bring out Commando books . and equally as much fun to see the enthusiasm generated by our loyal fans.

To get the history right, do you recall what issue it was that you started with as chief editor and which will be the last?

Um, I can't remember to be honest, but it was back about issue 2200. The last will be out early next year.

You seem to quit when things are going very well, it seems to me that the profile of Commando is higher than what it has been in years, with both the official site and an excellent unofficial site operating, and add to that books and calendars coming out and press outlets like the BBC taking note when the title reached issue 4000 and so on. Could you have seen this just five years ago looking back?

There were always keen followers like your good self with fanzines and websites who were ready to talk about Commando. We appreciated that and we knew we had something that was worth publishing and our readers proved that.


You granted me an interview in 2004 and at that time it was hard to come by information about Commando. Now I see interviews pop up all over the place, both online and recently in an issue of Judge Dredd Megazine. Looking back, how many interviews do you think you have done over the years?

Quite a few, from the ones you mention to the likes of radio link-ups to New Zealand to promote the Carlton Anzac collection. Comics Britannia on BBC4 last night also carried a mention of Commando.

Did you celebrate the 4000th issue in any way (at the office) when that came out?

We had a quiet little celebration with two cups of coffee instead of one in the morning. I can't remember much after that.

You have been around a while and seen the industry from the inside, have you thought about writing a book about your experience or anything like that?

I would quite like too to record my experiences in some way, but quite what I don't know. You make it easy when you ask questions; it's not so easy to sit down and look at a blank piece of paper.

You have been in a position where a certain ongoing creativity has been the norm, do you think you will ever be able to watch a WWII movie or documentary without having part of you go "That could be a good setting for a story" again? In fact, did you ever manage to get away from that mindset on your annual holidays?

Probably never .it's just the way my minds works. On holiday, too, the slightest piece of information is stored away and often crops up at a later date.

I recall that you mentioned casual Friday meetings at a local pub with Ian Kennedy where the two of you discussed ideas for covers. For some reason that stuck, it was just nice to know that the two of you did that and that it was happening no matter what was going on in this world of ours.

Ian was in the office again yesterday and the process is just the same. He, like many other of our artists and writers, listen to what we want and then, as often as not, improve on the original idea. It's great that after so long they still have that spark.

About that BBC interview, did you lobby for coverage like that (I do recall the press release about issue 4000) or was it a very pleasant surprise to hear from them?

It was an ongoing situation and it all came together well.

Is it correct that issue 4000 got the title more press than any previous similar event? What went on when the title reached 1000-2000-3000 issues?

Yes, there was more press mention than any of the earlier milestones, but it was a more significant achievement, especially nowadays when there is so much competition.

Do you want to say a few final words to the visitors of Where Eagles Dare?

Thanks very much for your interest and enthusiasm. We can think and plan as much as we like, but unless all you fans out there buy Commando and talk and help promote it, we wouldn't get very far at all. So thank you – it's been great fun "talking" to you!

Thank you for your many years working for Commando. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say it has meant something special to a lot of us to have had the title for so many years.

Comic Cuts - 5 October 2012

Order now at our special pre-publication discount price

Oh, boy... October already...

Or maybe I should be saying... YES! October already!

I'm pleased to say that proofs for both Not Forgotten 2009-10 and the Sexton Blake Annual 1941 have both turned up and they both pass muster. Anyone who pre-ordered a copy of Not Forgotten should be receiving their copy next week and I'm opening up shop to take pre-publication orders for the Blake... just follow the link in the announcement underneath the picture.

You'll also have noticed that at the beginning of the week Bear Alley and the Bear Alley Books blog both had a bit of a makeover. I have been meaning to do something for a while but haven't had a chance. I have noticed that my links to Amazon haven't been generating the same amount of click-through as was happening a couple of years ago. As a regular reader, you'll know that I earn a few pennies from Amazon Associates for recommending stuff – so if you want to buy something on Amazon, come to Bear Alley and use the search box over on the left – which goes a small way to finance the blog.

But it's the visitors who turn up at a page from weeks, months or years ago that I need to be pushing Amazon's way. One thought I had on this was that with so much of the sidebar dedicated to Bear Alley Books, people were suffering from click-through boredom by the time they reached any Amazon links. Is there such a phrase as "click-through boredom"? There is now.

I may be a victim of my own success! I've managed to get 10 books out from Bear Alley in the past two years and by the time any reader has clicked on three, four, five links and looked at the ordering information on the Bear Alley Books website, they're in no mood to keep clicking. Thus "click-through boredom".

I shall no doubt tinker around with the layout, but hopefully this will work. I don't want to lose visitors to Bear Alley Books, but there's still that massive banner above this column to remind you about that. And the latest titles released in 2012 are all still lurking in the left-hand column.

Talking of Bear Alley Books... This is your last chance to pick up Not Forgotten 2009-10 at the discount price. Copies will start shipping early next week. This is a collection of 35 biographical sketches of writers, artists and cartoonists who died in 2009-10, all of whom contributed to British comics. Some of the names may not mean much to you, but we have a rich history of employing talent from around the world – so you will find Giorgio Bellavitis contributed to Eagle, Jose Casanovas to 2000AD, Ricardo Garijo to Starblazer and Victor de la Fuente to Lion. The talents listed here contributed to everything from Victor to Oink! and created Modesty Blaise, Captain Pugwash, Buster and Luck of the Legion.

Discount offer ends this weekend. Save 10% by ordering now!

Random scans. Goat Island is another cover by John Vernon. The Dollar Instinct is a cover that definitely requires you to look again. Click on the cover to get the larger version and take a look. Look at how carefully the clothing has been painted, the folds and shading on the dress and the shirt. Look at the expression on the guy's face, the wry smile on his lips. Look at the girl and her weirdly arched right eyebrow. Then look at the other eyebrow, set two inches lower on her face and how her left eye appears so low it must be resting on her cheek.Weird. I mean, it looks like Osborne but it's an odd mistake to miss.

And finally, Secrets of our Spaceship Moon by Don Wilson "proof positive" (!) that our Moon is a cosmic Noah's Ark. This was a follow-up to Our Mysterious Spaceship Moon, which you might think, given the title, would reveal secrets of the spaceship moon... but apparently author Wilson left out enough for a second book. "NASA now privately admits the overwhelming proof for believing our moon is no more and no less than a GIGANTIC ALIEN SPACESHIP..." (!) Do they? This was published in 1980 by Sphere, both books having previously been published in the USA by Dell in 1975 and 1979 respectively. Given the claims of the book, it is probably no surprise to learn that this was Wilson's last effort.

And finally, a bit of a novelty as our final random scan this week is a book that has only just become available. The cover artwork is by Martin Baines who did me a great favour recently when I was stuck for a graphic on the Not Forgotten book. My talent for drawing is such that the horse I see in my imagination has turned into an elephant by the time the thought has travelled down my arm and through the pencil to the page. I'm crap. Even a simple image like a quill and a brush had me beat.

I asked Martin if he wouldn't mind helping out and got just what I wanted before the day was out.

So this is a shameless plug. You can find more of Martin's work at the Smudge Pencil website. He has most recently drawn a couple of covers for Sam Stone's Vampire Gene series of novels published by Murky Depths. The latest is out now and you can order it at the Murky Depths website or via Amazon.

Tomorrow we have the next in our series of Commando interviews. After that, probably another in our Mews cover galleries. Beyond that will depend what I can get done on Sunday between guests and the garden.

The Grandville: Bete Noir trailor. Bryan Talbot's latest yarn featuring Detective Inspector LeBrock is due out on 6 December.

Potts' Progress part 5

Concluding the adventures of Henry Potts, a private in the British army in the 18th century.

(* Potts' Progress © Look and Learn Ltd. Reprinted by permission.)

Potts' Progress part 4

Continuing the adventures of Henry Potts, a private in the 18th Century British army.

(* Potts' Progress © Look and Learn Ltd. Reprinted by permission.)

Potts' Progress part 3

Continuing the adventures of Henry Potts, an 18th century drummer boy in the British army.

(* Potts' Progress © Look and Learn Ltd. Reprinted by permission.)

Potts' Progress part 2

Continuing the adventures of drummer boy Henry Potts as he heads off to fight in the Austrian War of Succession.

(* Potts' Progress © Look and Learn Ltd. Reprinted by permission.)

The complete set of Eagles Over The Western Front now available

You can now buy all three volumes of Eagles Over the Western Front together and save on postage. Just follow this link above...

Potts' Progress part 1

A couple of weeks ago I published some examples of the work of C. L. Doughty and earlier this year produced a collection of strips and illustrations under the title Pages From History. I'm very proud of the book and it has sold reasonably well... but I want it to do better. So, in an attempt to give the book a push in time for your consideration before Christmas, over the next few days I'll be reprinting "Potts Progress", one of the strips that was reprinted in the book.

The pages you'll see were taken from Look and Learn where, in the book, many of the pages were rescanned from original artwork. The same can be said of some of the other strips reprinted in the book (which includes "The Crusader", "A Sword for the Stadtholder" and "The Black Pirate").

"Potts' Progress" follows the adventures of a drummer boy in the British Army in the 1740s. As well as being a fine example of Doughty's work, the strip shows how Look and Learn never shied away from grim historical facts and the script, by Colin McLaren, begins with the discovery by the recruiting sergeant of dead bodies rotting in the gutter. It's a bit of a gruesome way to start your Monday morning but it's a grand little strip and I hope that it will make you consider picking up the Doughty book - follow this link for more details.

(* Potts' Progress © Look and Learn Ltd. Reprinted by permission.)

The Art of Denis McLoughlin

Denis McLoughlin was an illustrator and artist whose sixty-eight year career bought him little fame. Denis's work had been criminally ignored until the 1970s. A handful of collectors recognised his talents and they, thankfully, were vocal in their praise of his talents. Indeed, for such a minor figure in the world of art, Denis McLoughlin has been the subject of a surprising number of booklets in the past, from Francis Hertzberg's duplicated fanzine Illustrated by d. mcloughlin (1978), which he later expanded into the book The Master of Light & Shade (1995), to Dave Nicholson's The Life and Art of Denis McLoughlin (1993) and David Ashford's The Hardboiled Art of Denis McLoughlin (1994). I have done my little bit to champion Denis, with articles in The Book & Magazine Collector, Paperback Parade and elsewhere... to be honest, he was such a nice guy you wanted to let people know.

McLoughlin was a welcome guest at London book fairs, a short, energetic Lancastrian even in his seventies who cheerfully signed books for fans who sought out his illustrations for annuals and hardbacked books from fifty years past. He had a no-nonsense approach to his work; maintaining a 50-60 hour, six-day working week, which he only slowed down in the 1990s.

Denis's hardcore following cherished his work, discussed and dissected it in the pages of magazines in the UK and USA, where Tom Lesser championed his work; in more recent years Matthew Gore brought his work to the attention of a new generation on the internet via his much-visited web-site.

The Art of Denis McLoughlin is the book that Denis deserved. 272 pages of full-colour at long last shows off his artwork the way it should be seen, displayed in a coffee-table-sized book. Early chapters include autobiographical reminiscences by Denis about his early life and work, illustrated with some astonishing photographs of the murals Denis painted during his wartime service. Even as Denis served his time as an ack-ack gunner, he was earning a little on the side drawing covers and joke books for London publishers. It's a delight to see so many of these early books illustrated as they're now extremely scarce.

However, for most people, the centrepiece of the book will be the pages dedicated to Denis's days working for T. V. Boardman. Publisher of the Bloodhound Books line of crime novels, Denis would draw some 700 dustjackets, plus scores of paperback and magazine covers for Boardman between 1945 and 1967. Early books featured fully air-brushed art (around 1957, the colour was reduced to save money) and were mostly in coloured inks, poster colour and coloured pencils – a particularly effective mixture in annuals. Later books were pen and ink drawings, another cost-cutting decision, but McLoughlin was able to get the maximum potential from each medium.

Over the years, his work ranged from fully painted action illustrations to minimalist designs. He was not frightened to experiment with layouts, incorporate photographs or mix realism and metaphor. With his brother Colin and wife Dorothy, Denis often acted out scenes for reference photographs, and all three were the stars of more than one cover. This aspect of Denis's work is explored in the book with photographs juxtaposed with Denis's finished covers.

One must not forget that Denis was also the artist of a series of Buffalo Bill annuals and comic strips; these, too, are covered in depth. There's even a complete early "Roy Carson" strip for you to marvel at.

The Art of Denis McLoughlin is a fine tribute to the man and his art.

The Art of Denis McLoughlin is available from Book Palace Books.

Available Now from Bear Alley Books 

Pages from History Illustrated by C. L. Doughty is a collection of four classic comic strips and an extensive gallery of over 100 illustrations.