The Great Cooper Books / Barrington Gray Hunt

Following on from my notes on Vawser & Wiles and Cresta Books, here's a checklist of Cooper Books (The Cooper Book Company) and a list of early Barrington Gray titles that might have been reprinted under the Vawser and Cresta imprints. If you have any of them, let me know the first line and who the main character is and we'll try to work out where they were reprinted and under which title and what byline.

Please note that I have updated the Barrington Gray section a couple of times and for this I have to thank Morgan Wallace and Tom Lesser for their hard work.

COOPER BOOKS

Begins with a numbered series which had differently coloured striped covers, then continues as an unnumbered series with illustrated covers.

1 Brede, Arnold • The Climbing Corpse • (Jan 1952) [red].
Opening line: "Tyres screamed. Machine guns rattled. Police sirens howled"

2 Howard, Kent • Small Time Crooks • (Jan 1952) [blue].
Opening line: "Micky Donovan stepped up alongside the little Greek and slugged him hard in the ribs."

3 Holt, Denis (Dennis Holt on cover) • Prince of the West • (Jan 1952) [green].
Opening line:

4 Brede, Arnold • An Outside Job • (Mar 1952) [yellow].
Opening line:

5 Howard, Kent • Go South - Go Crazy • (Mar 1952) [purple].
Opening line: Ask almost anyone in the United States of America which is the screwiest place in the whole forty-eight States and it;s a hundred to one that the answer will come pat, 'Los Angeles.'"

6 McCoy, Trent • I’ll Come Quietly • (Mar 1952) [blue].
Opening line: "Sue was my favourite dame. I was really wild about Sue."

7 Brede, Arnold • Vintage Stuff • (May 1952) [mauve].
Opening line: "Logan looked at the thing with interest and even wonder in his eyes."

8 Howard, Kent • Shooting Made Easy • (May 1952) [orange].
Opening line:

9 M’Cracken, Mike • Brand of the Big L • (May 1952) [pink].
Opening line:

10 Howard, Kent • Kearny Died Twice • (Nov 1952) [green].
Opening line: "Me, I never did trust that guy Corn Kearny all the way."

11 Barres, Jack • Last Gun Home • (Nov 1952).
Opening line:

12 Grey, Christopher • Heavy Sugar • (Nov 1952) [red].
Opening line: "You're liable to meet some very tough characters in Bronson's Bar and it was not the sort of place I do my drinking in from choice."

Barres, Jack • Double Cross Trail • (Apr 1953)
Opening line:

Howard, Kent • Dead for Pleasure • (May 1953) [Pollack].
Opening line:

Howard, Kent • A Private Killing • (May 1953) [Pollack].
Opening line:

Grey, Chris • Wake Up and Die • (May 1953)
Opening line: "The heat rose in sickening waves from the rough sidewalk and made the autos on the other side of the road quiver like as if they were made of jelly."

McCoy, Trent • Lady, What Now! • (May 1953).
Opening line: "Delman Frane didn't look good dead. He had a kind of resentful expression on his face."

Morelli, Al • It’s Easy Money • (May 1953)
Opening line:

Channing, Brent • Here Comes Trouble • (1953).
Opening line:

Conway, Whit • Death Row • (1953)
Opening line:

Advertised but not published:
Channing, Brent • Midnight Minx
M’Cracken, Mike • Big L Canyon

BARRINGTON GRAY / GRAYLING PRESS

The following list is of gangster novels that might have been reprinted. It is not a definitive list of Gray's output.

Commorde, Ricky • A Dame is Snatched • (Sep 1952) [Pollack].
Opening line:

Connor, Skid • My Grave is for the Living • Grayling, (Jul 1950).
Opening line: "Standing under the shadowy trees well away from street lights, Felicity Gray looked a replica of the dozen or more young women slowly perambulating each sided of that quiet stretch of Bayswater Road between Lancaster Gate and the Marble Arch."

Death, Johnny • Death Dates a Dame • (Feb 1952). [features PI Johnny Death]
Opening line:

Death, Johnny • Deep is My Grave • (Aug 1951).
Opening line:

Duggan, Floyd • Pay-Off for a Dumb Dame • (Oct 1952).
Opening line: "Wilbur teetered just inside the door and, because he was nervous, he was swearing."

Foden, Frederick • Denver Lil • (Oct 1952).
Opening line: "The dame sure has some nice underwear, but don’t get me wrong, she isn’t in it."

Foden, Frederick • Dolls are Dynamite • (Jan 1954)
Opening line: "I couldn’t look at the dame without losing my senses."

Foden, Frederick • Frisco Doll • (Sep 1953)
Opening line: "I never killed the Dollar Dame, but I guess the only way I can prove that is to find out who did, and why, or else I’ll fry, which is why I’m waiting in the dame’s room."

Foden, Frederick • Hick Town Dame • nd (Nov 1952), 128pp, 1/6, [anon].
Opening line: "Have you ever watched a dame change her clothes?"

Gallico, Paul • Dames Spell Trouble • (Nov 1951), 128pp, 1/6.
Opening line: "You know your part, Paula, what will happen if you try to double-cross."

O’Hanna, Roy • Pacific Hideout • (Mar 1951),
Opening line: "The exotic perfume drifting from beneath the cream door of my hotel apartment should have warned me of the shape of things to come."

Saxon, Dirk • Sadie Plays Rough • (Feb 1956)
Opening line:

Wheatley, Chris • Baby, Don’t Get Rough •  (Mar 1953)
Opening line:

Wheatley, Chris • Dames, Diamonds and Death! • Grayling, (Jan 1951) [Pollack].
Opening line: "Leo put the car out full stretch, but Vic cursed, his dark handsome face twitching as he gripped the leather case."

Wheatley, Chris • Date for a Dame • Grayling, (Feb 1951) [features detective Nickie Howard]
Opening line: "In my experience it requires careful timing to successfully prime a dame with likker."

Wheatley, Chris • Dead Dames Can’t Cheat • (Sep 1951)
Opening line: "Nick Casswell pushed the girl away and stretched his hefty length up fro the settee in the lavishly furnished room behind the main floor of the Scarlet Slipper night-club."

Wheatley, Chris • Dizzy Dames Die Fast • (May 1951) [Pollack].
Opening line: "The Guy was dead!"

Wheatley, Chris • Hot Dames - Cold Lead • Grayling, (Jun 1951).
Opening line: "Yeah, she’s some dame, decided Rick Renfern."

Wheatley, Chris • Murder at the Blue Garter • (Jun 1951).
Opening line: "“It’s a razor, girlie, and not the safety sort,” said the dapper little man wearing the down-tilted soft hat and neat pin-striped suit."

Wheatley, Chris • Never Trust a Dame • (Jan 1956).
Opening line:

Wheatley, Chris • Red Ice • (Sep 1952) [Pollack?]. [features newspaperman Ken Gallis]
Opening line: "We're finished, Louie. The rackets only pay off with bullets from the police or a trip to the penitentiary, maybe the chair."

Wheatley, Chris • This Dame Spells Death • Grayling, (Sep 1950).
Opening line: "Nicolas Hilton, boss of the Nonpareil Night Club scowled with a mouthful of curses which would have stiffened the hair of his select patrons out on the main floor."

Wolfe, Hammond • Smart Dames Play Dumb • (1953?).
Opening line:

The Great Vawser & Wiles / Cresta Books Hunt

A few years ago, I stumbled upon a couple of paperbacks from a publisher I knew nothing about: Cresta Books. They were nothing special, but were the acorn from which this mystery grew.

You see, one of the books featured a character named 'Bull' Rogers, a name I recognised from a series of books that had appeared back in 1952 from an outfit called Cooper Books. The title, Where's That Body?, didn't match any of the known Rogers novels, nor was the byline, Tower Jackson, that of the original author, Arnold Brede. Where's That Body? (1960) by Tower Jackson was, in fact, a reprint of The Climbing Corpse (1952) by Arnold Brede.

The mystery deepened when I discovered that Where's That Body? had earlier appeared from a publisher called Vawser & Wiles. This was around 1957-ish, although Vawser & Wiles as a company had been around since 1940, part of a group of companies established by newspaper publisher Hector Vawser Wiles (1902-1984).

Vawser & Wiles were chiefly known for hobby and craft books in the 1940s, and these later crime novels were unlike anything they had previously published. They even published an Ace Double-style pairing of two novels back to back.

The Vawser reprints had one additional twist, reprinting two novels from publisher Barrington Gray, which opens up another can of worms as Gray (also known as Grayling Press) published quite a few gangster novels over the years.

So that's four publishers who need to be investigated if we are to discover how these books were printed and reprinted, the same books recycled under different titles and bylines. And just to add to the confusion, I don't know the names of the authors of some of those later Cresta Books titles.

I do have the opening lines of some titles, and cover scans of a few, so what I intend doing is listing the books below with what information I have covering both Vawser & Wiles and Cresta Books. I will return to Cooper Books and Barrington Gray in a separate post.

If you have any of these books in your collection I'm after first lines and, hopefully, a cover scan. Drop me a line if you think you can help.

VAWSER & WILES

The Search is On by Ricky Commorde
Vawser & Wiles, c.1957
Reprints “A Dame Is Snatched” by Ricky Commorde (Barrington Gray, 1952)

Dames Meet Death by Len Cooper
Vawser & Wiles, c.1957
Reprints “Death Dates A Dame” by Johnny Death (Barrington Gray, 1952)
Opening line: “When your feeling that low that  you could dangle your pins…”

Live to Remember by Lon Davies
Vawser & Wiles, c.1957
Reprints unknown title by Kent Howard
Opening line: “Things were getting more hazy every second.”

The Lady Gambles by Rex Fuller
Vawser & Wiles, c.1957
Reprints unknown title

Where’s That Body? by Tower Jackson
Vawser & Wiles, c.1957
Reprints “The Climbing Corpse” by Arnold Brede (Cooper Books, 1952)

Too Late to Die by John Kent
Vawser & Wiles, c.1957
Reprints “A Private Killing” by Kent Howard (Cooper Books, 1953)

The Wrong Line by Ray Manson
Vawser & Wiles, c.1957
Reprints "Death Row" by Whit Conway (Cooper Books, 1953)
Opening line: “Well folks, here I am in Death Row—waiting for it.”

Here Comes Trouble by Peter Maxted
Vawser & Wiles, c.1957.
Opening line: "The note came on a Tuesday. It was pencilled in block letters..."

Easy Target by Steve Williams
Vawser & Wiles, c.1957
Reprints unknown title by Kent Howard
Opening line: “Dumb Donovan lay on his bed in his apartment.”

Vawser & Wiles "Two Books in One"

Lead to Ice by Lee Dallas & Then There Was One by Tower Johnson
Vawser & Wiles, c.1957

Dallas: “Leo put the car out full stretch, but Vic cursed, his dark handsome face twitching as he gripped the leather case.”  Reprints Dames, Diamonds and Death! by Chris Wheatley (Barrington Gray, 1953)

Johnson: “The train was late pulling into Paddington Station, so Bull Rogers leapt out of his coach and dashed across the platform and up the long ramp leading to the street.” Possibly a reprint of An Outside Job by Arnold Brede (Cooper Books, 1952)

CRESTA BOOKS

Love Is a Fever by (Author unknown)
Cresta Books

The Last Shot by Chris Duggan
Cresta Books, 1960
Reprints “Heavy Sugar” by Christopher Grey (Cooper Books, 1952)

Live to Remember by (Author unknown)
Cresta Books

Where’s That Body? by Tower Jackson
Cresta Books, 1960
Reprints “The Climbing Corpse” by Arnold Brede (Cooper Books, 1952)

The Princess Pays Up by (Author unknown)
Cresta Books

Too Late To Die by John Kent
Cresta Books
Reprints “A Private Killing” by Kent Howard (Cooper Books, 1953)

Shot in the Dark by Lew Davis
Cresta Books, 1960
Reprints “Death Row” by Whit Conway (Cooper Books, 1953)
Opening line: “Well folks, here I am in Death Row—waiting for it.”

Life at Stake by Peter Lane
Cresta Books, 1960
Reprints ?
Opening line: “Marsh said ‘Hello, Lou,’ and shook hands.”

East Target by Pat Scott
Cresta Books, 1960
Reprints ?
Opening line: “It was a filthy night, and a ditch…”

Comic Cuts — 13 August 2022

We had a bit of a holiday as Mel had the week off work. We hadn't much planned except to take it easy as the temperature soared once again. I still had some bits of work to get through, starting the week with about 20 pages to do, which I plodded through whenever I had a bit of spare time. At the time of writing (Friday morning), I have four pages to finish, and next week I'll do a second pass and get cracking with the introduction.

So... Monday. I spent half the morning battling with Talk Talk over extras that have mysteriously appeared on our bill since we signed up for a deal that would save us a bit of money (we're taking advantage of every saving, what with the coming energy apocalypse). I didn't notice much change last month, but this month's bill was quite a bit higher than expected. Sneaky Talk Talk had added a few extra services that we had turned down previously, e.g. Talk Talk TV, which we don't need.

I spent over an hour talking (via a "live" chat) first to a robot (so not so "live" after all) and, eventually, to a real-life human, who managed to sort things out, although we've had to pay for around six week's worth of services that we haven't used. Not a huge amount, but multiply that by the number of customers they have and being sneaky can really pay off. We've overpaid £12.50... and they have over four million customers, so potentially £50 million in six weeks if everyone catches it as quickly/slowly as I did.

We also had an electrician around fitting smoke alarms, a heat alarm, a carbon monoxide alarm and a new light switch. They're all linked, so if one goes off they all go off. Testing them was... fun? One would go off and a few seconds later the next and then the next. The light switch is not connected and much quieter.

Tuesday I baked some banana bread so we would have some for our planned trip out the next day. I also made a huge saucepan of stew which would last us a couple of days. By the time I finished, that was most of the morning done for, as we'd gone out for a longer walk along the river than we've been able to do lately now that Mel is back in the office.

Post siesta, I think I had time to tidy up a few bits 'n' bobs and write Wednesday's blog post, plus a bit of scan cleaning before giving in to the heat. I try to keep up with 2000AD and its various tie-in collections, plus (of course) the Treasury of British Comics titles. The 'Rebellion Releases' column is one of two regulars (this being the other), plus a fortnightly 'Commando Releases' column and whatever else I can squeeze in. I was amazed and pleased to find that Bear Alley has recently been mentioned in a list of 30 Best UK Comics Blogs and Websites published by Feedspot. It is in some very good company.

On Wednesday we took a trip to the beach at Clacton-on-Sea. Back in the day this was a hugely popular seaside resort, on a direct route from London by train which made coastal towns like Walton and Southend amongst the busiest destinations for day-trippers and holidaymakers during the summer. A lot of the trade has since been lost to cheap package holidays to Spain, but on this hot Wednesday during the summer school holidays it was thriving, vibrant, colourful and packed. We caught the train, meeting up with my Mum, who was already aboard... I should say "eventually meeting up" as we were hurried by a conductor onto the train two carriages early and then found that we couldn't get through via the corridor. Had to hop out at the next stop and run around the blocked doorway.

It was a very pleasant day out: we walked along the beach front, had a drink, wandered down to the end of the pier, meandered along the promenade, ate some of the best fish and chips I've ever had, then pottered around in town visiting some charity shops and picking up a couple of books. We came back mid-afternoon hoping to miss the worst of the heat. All in all a very pleasant day.

We trekked into Colchester on Thursday and again visited half a dozen charity shops. I'm looking for some sandles to replace the cheapie ones I have (£4 in Primark!), which are serviceable, but not made for long walks. Didn't find any, but I got a couple of short-sleeved shirts that will be nice to wear during the hotter days rather than my usual t-shirts. And some books, inevitably. Had a nice lunch and headed back for siesta.

I wanted to do something about Raymond Briggs and originally planned to put in a note in the regular Comic Cuts column. But I figured I couldn't do this (1,000 words or so), sort out my photos, and write a piece about Briggs. So I took the easy option and wrote up Briggs last night and left Comic Cuts for this morning. Which is nearly over, so I need to get lunch sorted. I'll sort out the illustrations this afternoon after siesta. And then I might get around to those last four pages that need to be cleaned up. Back to work next week!

Raymond Briggs 1934-2022

Raymond Briggs, graphic novelist, illustrator and author, died on Tuesday, 9 August 2022, of pneumonia at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, at the age of 88.

Born in Wimbledon on 18 January 1934, the son of Ethel (nee Bowyer) and Ernest Briggs, a milkman, and educated at Rutlish School in Merton, Surrey, and Wimbledon School of Art. Following his National Service in the army (1953-55) he went to Slade School of Art and the University of London, eventually gaining a National Diploma in Design and a National Diploma in Fine Art.

Since 1957 he has been a full-time freelance writer and artist, and since 1961 a part-time lecturer in illustration at the Faculty of Art at Brighton Polytechnic. Briggs' early books included The Strange House (1961), Midnight Adventure (1961), Ring-a-Ring o'Roses (verse, 1962), Sledges to the Rescue (1963), The White Land: A Picture Book of Traditional Rhymes  (1963), Fee Fi Fo Fum: A Picture Book of Nursery Rhymes (editor, 1964) and The Mother Goose Treasury (editor, 1966), for which he received the Kate Greenaway Medal.

Briggs' best works were often to be the retelling of classic stories in surprising ways. Jim and the Beanstalk (1970), for instance, was an adventure very much like Jack's, but Jim finds the giant is now mellowed and afflicted with all the problems of age. Similarly Father Christmas (1973) is not the jolly, cheerful Santa most children know and love. It was the first book for which he adopted his distinctive comic strip format that he has since used frequently, and it led to a breakthrough with audiences: the grumpy, grumbling Father Christmas was hugely popular and earned Briggs his second Kate Greenaway Medal in 1974, and earned for himself a sequel, Father Christmas Goes on Holiday (1975).

Fungus the Bogeyman (1977) was a grotesque creature who reveled in the world of slime and bogies and rotting things that hold attraction amongst young children for whom a fart is as finely crafted a joke as the Two Ronnies 'Four Candles' sketch.

The bittersweet The Snowman (1978) was filmed and first shown in December 1982 and has since become a regular Christmas event, and When the Wind Blows (1982), a horrifying tale of nuclear armageddon, has been adapted for radio (1983), theatre (1983) and film (1986). Later works included The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman (1984), The Man (1992), The Bear (1994) and Ug: Boy Genius of the Stone Age (2001).

Briggs' work became more biographical. The story of his parents was the inspiration for Ethel & Ernest: A True Story (1998), which won the illustrated book of the year at the British Book Awards. It was filmed in 2016. Notes From the Sofa (2015) collected Briggs' regular column in The Oldie.

Other awards include the Boston Globe-Horn Book Prize in 1979; the Victoria and Albert Museum Francis Williams Prize in 1977 and 1982; and Children's Rights Workshop Other Award in 1982; the Kurt Maschler award in 1992; and the Phoenix Picture Book Award in 2014. Briggs was installed in the British Comic Awards Hall of Fame in 2012 and the appointed a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2017 for services to literature. A study of his works, Raymond Briggs by Nicolette Jones, appeared in 2020. A BBC documentary, Raymond Briggs: Snowmen, Bogeymen and Milkmen, was broadcast in 2018.

Briggs was married in 1963 to painter Jean Taprell Clark. She died from leukaemia in 1973. Briggs lived in Westmeston, Sussex, with his partner Liz, who died in 2015. He had no children.

Rebellion Releases — 10 August 2022

In this new three-novella series, writer John Ware explores more from of this iconic Judge Dredd epic, The Apocalypse War! Mega-City One is a powder keg waiting to blow on its best day. There isn’t a moment when tensions aren’t running high and the city isn’t ready to crack. But there’s something even more deadly happening: Block Mania, and no one is immune, not even the Judges. This is the prelude to invasion! The East-Meg One Sovs have thrown the city into massive, bloody turf wars before launching a devastating nuclear attack. There are troops on the ground, bombs are dropping and the Big Meg is on fire. And the Judges are drawing the line. Out on 10 August, these novellas – available in print and ebook editions – will tell the on-the-ground stories of the Judges of Mega-City One during the events of the epic Block Mania and Apocalypse War story arcs.
    The three e-book novellas will be published in book form in November (ISBN 978-178618624-9, 10 November 2022, 416pp, £9.99).

2000AD Prog 2294
Cover: Alex Ronald

Judge Dredd: Special Relationship by Rob Williams (w) Patrick Goddard (a) Quinton Winter (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Brink: Mercury Retrograde by Dan Abnett (w) INJ Culbard (a) Simon Bowland (l)
Skip Tracer: Valhalla by James Peaty (w) Paul Marshall (a) Dylan Teague (c) Simon  Bowland (l)
Dexter - Bulletopia: Malice In Plunderland by Dan Abnett (w) Tazio Bettin (a) Matt Soffe (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Jaegir: Ferox by Gordon Rennie (w) Simon Coleby (a) Len O'Grady (c) Jim Campbell (l)

Apocalypse War: Pack Instinct by John Ware
Rebellion, 10 August 2022, £8.99 / £2.99 (ebook)
Mega-City One is a powder keg waiting to blow on its best day!
    There isn’t a moment when tensions aren’t running high and the City isn’t ready to crack. But there’s something new going on, something bad. It’s open war in the streets, block vs block. It’s a Block war.
    It’s Block Mania, and no one is immune, not even the Judges.

Apocalypse War: The World Will End Today by John Ware
Rebellion, 10 August 2022, £8.99 / £2.99 (ebook)
The Sovs are coming! The Sovs are here!
    Block Mania was just the start. The East-Meg One Sov’s have infected Mega City One with Block-Mania to throw the city into massive, bloody turf wars. And all of this is just a prologue to and all out nuclear attack.
    Now East-Meg One is invading. There are troops on the ground, bombs are dropping and the Mega City One is on fire.
    And the Judges are drawing the line

Apocalypse War: The Bloody Fist of Justice by John Ware
Rebellion, 10 August 2022, £8.99 / £2.99 (ebook)
Mega City One is under siege and the Judges are fighting a war of attrition!
    They had given up more territory to the enemy, and there was almost nothing left to give up. Neither Judges or citizens expected to see the next day. The cityblocks were burning and more than half the city had been rendered uninhabitable It looked like this would be the last night of the Apocalypse War, the last night of Mega-City One. While in East-Meg, enemy territory, on the other side of the world, one desperate band attempted the unthinkable.

Hawk the Slayer #5 (of 5) by Garth Ennis & Henry Flint
Cover: Greg Staples.

Don’t miss the all new comic-book sequel to the classic eighties fantasy movie as the epic adventure reaches its thrilling finale – Hawk demands vengeance for Gort, and so our heroes commence their assault on Voltan’s stronghold. Who will survive the climactic battle? Be here for Chapter Five: ‘Die By the Sword’!

Ron Tilling

Following on from last week's discovery of a previously unknown science fiction writer, I continued to dig further and have found another—but this time we can actually identify a couple of his stories. Both appeared under the name Ron Paul in the pages of Authentic Science Fiction Monthly: 'Blue Rose' (little more than a vignette) in issue 56 (April 1955) and 'Lonely Immortal' in issue 67 (March 1956).

In the 25 February 1956 issue of the Louth Standard, above a headline 'Science Fiction Writing. Young Louth author's profitable spare-time occupation', is a photo of Ron Tilling at his typewriter. Sadly, the image in the copy I have available is so poor that he is barely distinguishable from the typewriter. The article reveals much about Tilling's persistence.

Science fiction writing has been turned into a profitable spare-time occupation by 20-year-old Ron Tilling, of 10a Queen Street, Louth. After finishing his day's work in a Louth office, he begins work on his own typewriter—bought out of his spare-time earnings. But instead of accounts and business letters he taps out accounts of life on other planets, space ships, space travel and the like.
    Since he started writing short stories three years ago Ron has had plenty of rejection slips, but has recently sold four stories—two to a science fiction magazine and two to "Midweek Reveille."
    His writing has earned him 36gns., which has almost covered the cost of a new portable typewriter and a correspondence course on fiction writing.
    Of science fiction writing he says "I try to base it on the accepted scientific possibilities. I hate fantasy."
    To give his stories the right authentic backgrounds, he reads all he can in the way of scientific news, and uses his imagination to enlarge on it.
    He took up writing as a hobby when he was at school. Prevented by attacks of asthma and bronchitis from joining in any kind of sport, he found he had more time on his hands than most boys.
    Later, he helped form a concert party among Youth Centre members. It was named the Flying Saucers (even then things from outer space had a fascination for him), and he wrote the scripts for the one act plays which were produced by them.
    The Saucers broke up in July, 1953 and Ron turned his hand to writing short stories. He took a correspondence course, and joined the Penman Club, who criticised his manuscripts and advised him about markets.
    A typewriter was bought out of money he had saved, and by now the machine has almost paid for itself out of earnings.
    His first  effort, 'The Guests of Binham Hall' met with lots of rejection slips, as did the stories which came after.
    Then his father died, and for almost six months Ron did not write a thing.
    Last winter came his first success, a science fiction thriller, 'The Blue Rose,' was accepted by Authentic Science, a monthly magazine.
    It was printed on 15th April—a great day for Ron—and appeared under his pen name Ron Paul. Paul, by the way, is the first part of girl friend Pauline's name.

SHIFTED PLANETS

Since then another of his stories, 'Lonely Immortal,' has been accepted by the magazine, and two humorous stories have been accepted by Reveille.
    "I used to enjoy reading science fiction, and that is how I came to write it," he explained. "There is a better chance of getting it published, too, because there are fewer science fiction writers."
    Although the stories he has sold have taken only a few hours to write, he is not always able to dash them off so quickly.
    One story, 'The Machine,' ran to 1,500 words when it was first written. After it had "done the rounds" of editors, he re-wrote it, this time extending it to 8,000 words and shifting it to another planet!
    He has also tried his hand at dramatic fiction and religious drama, and altogether has completed some 50 short stories.
    Ron is fast discovering the problems facing an up-and-coming writer. For instance, one editor to whom he submitted a story replied that there must be no mention of drink or gambling in the script. One of the scenes had been set in the bar of the "local."
    Ron's mother, Mrs. A. G. Tilling, had an urge to write when she was young. She was Ron's first critic, and is very proud of his success.
    He is a great reader. His favourite authors are Ray Bradbury, John Steinbeck, Somerset Maugham and Stephen Lister.

From the evidence in the article, it would appear that Ronald Tilling was born in 1936, his birth registered in Grimsby, not far from Louth in Lincolnshire. He was the younger son of James A. Tilling, a motor mechanic, and Alice Gertrude Johnson, who were married in 1928. A brother, Tony, was born in 1930. James Tilling died in early 1954, aged 51, and Alice married her second husband, David White, in 1957. The marriage did not last, as David died in 1958, aged 66, and Alice married a third time, to Cyril Leonard, in 1959. She died in 2002.

Ronald Tilling married Pauline Smith in early 1958, after which I lose track of him. [He is not the person named Ronald Tilling who died in 1982 (b.1918), 1988 (b.1914) or 2003 (b.1929).]

The Flying Saucers' Revue variety group ran for 14 months at the Louth Youth Centre and first performed in December 1950. The company of eleven was led by Mervyn Edward Cawte (1928-1996) and Miss K. M. Stephenson (warden), and made their first  appearance at the Youth Centre's Christmas party with a half-hour show. The group included comedians, tap dancers, singers, and musicians.

They made their performance debut in March 1951 at the Liberal Club in aid of the Old Age Pensioners' Building Fund. Ron Tilling appeared in a one act comedy play, 'To-day Of All Days', produced by Miss K. M. Stevenson and Mrs. E. Teesdale. A later show in June included a theme song ('Two Little Men in a Flying Saucer'), which opened the show, with Tilling appearing in appearing in comedy sketches.

They disbanded in January 1952 with some of the Saucers deciding to form a new company, the District Amateur Variety Entertainments Company, led by M. E. Cawte, with Ron Tilling as Secretary. I have a feeling that this was a short-lived venture as Cawte was soon after separated from his wife and moved to Southsea.

Comic Cuts — 5 August 2022

I managed to complete work on the Steel Claw book mentioned last week, and I'm now knee deep in giant ape doings... yes, it's Mytek the Mighty!

It has been quite a fun week, in fact. It began with doing a second pass on the Steel Claw artwork on Monday and finishing off the introduction that I started writing last week, this one looking at the influences on a couple of stories, which range from the real historical horrors of Devil's Island to the latest gadgetry of James Bond's Thunderball. I'm thinking of writing something about artist Jesus Blasco for the next one, but we shall see. Talking of artists, I suspect that Eric Bradbury will be the subject for the second Mytek introduction... I'll see how I feel next week when I have the artwork finished.

I'm trying to pull ahead a bit so I can take a couple of weeks off  to do a new Bear Alley book, similar to the biography of John Chisnall and his motorcycling exploits that I published a couple of years ago. A friend of John's saw the book, liked it, and mentioned that he was thinking of writing about his own biking saga. So, hopefully, I can squeeze that in at some point because I'm thinking that I will definitely be needing a new computer in the not-too-distant future. My poor computer has rattled and hummed unhappily during the heatwave and I don't want to risk a meltdown.

It is now 11 years old and struggling to operate at top speed. I think there's a bit of throttling going on to keep things cool, but, also, it now has seven years' worth of Windows 10 updates crammed onto a drive designed for Windows 7. (I've wrote about my previous history with computers back in 2011 when I was trying to get the current computer to work. Incidentally, I still have the same laptop running Windows XP and still use it for watching DVDs.)

Once the new book is confirmed, I might splash out on the computer, so that I get to test run its capabilities as I get into scanning and designing. I'm hoping that the new machine will be faster, but it should also have far better graphics and sound cards. I'm also hoping that I'll see some improvements to the wireless connection to our internet hub.

The alternative is to wait until closer to Christmas and temporarily setting up in the living room rather than in my office. The office is a converted garage with no insulation, so it gets freezing cold in here and any heat quickly disappears through the single brick walls and paper-thin ceiling. I'm thinking that the living room will retain the heat better — and that could be vital when there's talk of the energy cap potentially hitting £3,600—that's up by £2,200 from last year's cap of £1,400, or an extra £183 a month. I'm also hoping that a new computer will be more energy efficient although we're likely to be talking pence rather than pounds.

Lots to think about, although still at least a couple of month's away. In the meantime, I'm planning to keep on scanning.

Incidentally, I picked the header image because I remember that scene vividly. It indirectly got me into comics when I was seven. A near neighbour whose son I went to school with took Richard and I to see a rerun of two Bond movies (Thunderball and From Russia With Love) in 1969. I had then recently had some corrective eye surgery and was reading everything I could lay my hands on, which was mostly what my Dad left laying around. So lots of James Hadley Chase and John Creasey... but also the Ian Fleming James Bond paperbacks.

I described the thrills of these films and books to another pal, who said that they were a favourite of his older brother, who had some of the books. My ears pricked up because I couldn't lay my hands on some of them (they were in the grown ups section of the library and I couldn't borrow them on my library ticket). I took a chance to visit my friend and see what he had... but what I discovered was a small pile of Valiant comics that I started looking at. The stories — and specifically The Steel Claw — blew me away and I started ordering Valiant from my local newsagent.

So I got into comics thanks to James Bond, not knowing that Bond was a heavy influence on that strip in 1966. Years later, when I was able to build up a reasonable collection of older issues, I have to admit that it was my favourite period for the strip and having the opportunity to bring it back into print, albeit in Spain, has been a joy!

But the Thunderball image above (by Frank McCarthy) is memorable to me because I had that image on a jigsaw puzzle. In fact, I had two, one from Thunderball and one from From Russia With Love, still two of my favourite Bond movies. I had a quick dig around the web and found these box images... these are the ones I had, from Arrow, c.1966. I wonder what happened to them? I bet they're worth a fortune now!

What I never knew until now was that there were two others that I never had, a second from Thunderball and one from Goldfinger.

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Commando 5563-5566

Four stories breaking all the rules in this explosive set of air and land-based action adventures! Commando issues 5563-5566 are in shops and online from today, Thursday, August 4, 2022.

5563: Battleaxe

The retreat from Halfaya pass in June 1941 sees Sister Darcy Jackson picking up stragglers, as she limps behind the main force in her faithful Austin K2Y Ambulance. With a lost sepoy, a charming pilot and an arrogant lieutenant aboard, when their captured German Major turns the tables on our stalwart heroes, they have to break all the rules to survive!

A high-paced and explosive fifth story from R Tate, with dynamic and detailed interiors from Alberto Saichann and an impactful cover from Mark Harris.

Story | R Tate
Art| Alberto Saichann
Cover | Mark Harris

5564: Big Trouble!

Johnny and his Special Forces men love nothing more than sneaking into Norway and harrying the Nazis — but when they inadvertently capture a Dornier flying boat, an unexpected challenge comes their way. Squadron Leader Peter Trill, an expert test pilot, is sent in by the RAF to take charge of a hotch-potch crew borrowed from Coastal Command. In a clash of wills and departments, can these allies pull together to make the best use of an enemy plane?

A dynamic story from Montague is complimented by interiors from ever-popular Gordon C Livingstone with intricate cover art from Tregenza.

Story | R A Montague
Art | Gordon C Livingstone
Cover | Tregenza
Originally Commando No. 1284 (1979).

5565: For Honour!

Edric of Burley and The Green Men are typical mercenaries of the Plantagenet Wars — they’ll do anything for a mug of ale and an old-fashioned sparring match! But, when faced with the evil Godfrey of Tours, the fate of a small village in an English-held region of France hangs in the balance, and so Sir Thomas Mulbarton must remind the motley crew that honour is not just a romantic ideal and that a contract can have more in the balance than a simple bag of coin.

Andrew Knighton’s witty tale features characterful interiors from Khato and a heroic cover from Neil Roberts.

Story | Andrew Knighton
Art | Khato
Cover | Neil Roberts

5566: Top Cover

Tony Norton was a formidable pilot, and in the dense jungles of South East Asia, was providing vital cover and intel for the forces on the ground. But Tony doesn’t need a plane to carry out his duties as he suddenly finds himself amongst the ground troops! As they fight the Japanese and carry out their mission, secrets are unveiled and new light is shed on Tony’s pilot colleagues.

Expressive interiors from Nebot add to the drama of a second story from R A Montague with a classic cover from Commando legend, Ian Kennedy.

Story | R A Montague
Art | Nebot
Cover | Ian Kennedy
Originally Commando No. 1825 (1984)

Rebellion Releases — 3 August 2022

Saving the planet has never been so violent – the first adventures of the ultimate eco-warrior, Finn, are available to pre-order now from the 2000AD web shop!

Written by Pat Mills and Tony Skinner, with art by Jim Elston, Kevin Wicks, and Liam Sharp, these stories of the pagan warlock fighting the powerful secret society of the alien Newts are collected in graphic novel form for the first time.

Finn is a cab driver by day and a witch by night, Finn is part of a coven dedicated to protecting humanity from the agents of the old ‘Great Ones’, the ancient intergalactic beings who separated humanity from their beastly nature, and have maintained control ever since. Finn uses arcane magic and high-tech weaponry to take the fight to the Newts as he attempts to undermine their control of the military-industrial complex and free humanity from their shackles.

Out in December, Finn: Origins is available in standard paperback with cover by Jim Elston and webshop exclusive hardcover with cover by Charlie Gillespie (Judge Dredd).

And now, for this week's releases...

2000AD Prog 2293
Cover: Paul Marshall / Dylan Teague (cols)

Judge Dredd: Special Relationship by Rob Williams (w) Patrick Goddard (a) Quinton Winter (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Skip Tracer: Valhalla by James Peaty (w) Paul Marshall (a) Dylan Teague (c) Simon  Bowland (l)
Dexter - Bulletopia: Malice In Plunderland by Dan Abnett (w) Tazio Bettin (a) Matt Soffe (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Brink: Mercury Retrograde by Dan Abnett (w) INJ Culbard (a) Simon Bowland (l)
Jaegir: Ferox by Gordon Rennie (w) Simon Coleby (a) Len O'Grady (c) Jim Campbell (l)

Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Vol. 40 by John Wagner et al.
Rebellion ISBN 978-178618583-9, 4 August 2022, £21.99. Available via Amazon.

In the nightmare metropolis of the future he is judge, jury and executioner - he is Judge Dredd!
    The best-selling Complete Case Files series continues with the gripping and timely epic Total War. Judge Dredd battles a terrorist organization called Total War, who are determined to democratise Mega-City One - or destroy it. Total War have two hundred thermonuclear devices planted across the city and one will be detonated  each day the Judges remain in power. Total War will have democratization - or they will have mass-death. The choice is the Judges' - and time is running out.
    Drawn by a roster of the greatest artists working on Judge Dredd in the 21st Century - John Higgins (Watchmen), Henry Flint (Zombo), Ian Gibson (The Ballad of Halo Jones) and D'Israeli (Scarlet Traces) - the Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files series has sold over half a million copies.

The Best of Cat Girl by Ramzee, Elkys Nova & Giorgio Giogetti
Rebellion ISBN 978-178618783-3, 4 August 2022, 128pp, £16.99 / $18.99. Available via Amazon.

The beloved UK superheroine finally pounces into her own collection! From the pages of classic 1960s girls' comic Sally comes the first ever collection of beloved British superheroine The Cat Girl! Cathy Carter is not your average teen. She can jump further, fight longer and climb higher than anyone she knows – with the aid of a magic suit, she is Cat Girl! Facing off in glamorous, globetrotting adventures against supervillains and master criminals, Cathy often finds the hardest fight comes from her bumbling detective father, who doesn’t believe Cathy can fend for herself. Can Cathy save the world when the person trying to hold her back – is her dad? This collection contains Cat Girl's latest adventure, Cat Girl Returns from the Tammy & Jinty special, as well as a purrfect selection of the best classic Cat Girl stories from Sally, and a brand new cover from Elkys Nova.

Monster Fun Summer Special
Cover: Neil Googe / Len O'Grady (cols)

Kid Kong by Alec Worley (w) Karl Dixon (a+l)
Steel Commando by Ned Hartley (w) Dan Boultwood (a) Leila Jess (l)
Frankie Stein by Cavan Scott (w) John Lucas (a) Gary Caldwell (c) Amber Sea (l)
Draculass by Lizzie Boyle (w) Edward Whatley (a) H.A. O'Millar (l)
Home Invaders by Juni Ba (w+a+l)
Martha's Monster Make Up by David Bulmer (w) Abigail Bulmer (a) SquakeZz (l)
Hire A Horror by Matt Baxter (w+a+l)
The Leopard From Lime Street by Simon Furman (w) Laurent Lefeuvre (a+l)
Hell's Angel by Chris Garbutt (w+a+l)