Comic Cuts

A relatively quiet week after all the disruption of the past couple of months. We're slowly getting our lives back in order now that we've got our gear back from storage, although it's still going to be a while before everything is out of boxes. It's one of those Catch 22 situations: throw everything up on the shelves willy-nilly you end up having to take everything down again to rearrange it, so you end up doing the job twice; the alternate is, plan ahead, do things in a logical order, spend ages living out of boxes. Neither solution is ideal but the latter seems to me the more sensible, although painfully slow, way to do it. Mind you, I seem to be spending loads: in the past few weeks I've bought a USB turntable to record old albums so they can be squirreled away into the deeper recesses of a cupboard, a load of magazine boxes (yes, more boxes... the ones used for storage are too big to stack unless they're packed absolutely solid and that makes them too heavy to move around easily) and a load of CD slipcases for all my DVDs, freeing up shelf space for up to 1,400 books (if you double stack). I suspect some hard decisions are going to have to be made soon about whether to sell off some of the books I've had buried unused in boxes for years.

So, a bit of a bitty week split between emptying boxes, scanning, cleaning up scans, researching some stuff, recording, battling a rising tide of plastic packaging, flattening boxes and making others, punching holes in paper so it can filed and typing up some pages so that paper can be chucked. I'm sitting here now thinking that nothing looks any different and wondering why I feel so knackered.

Things should get back to normal next week from a working point of view as I'm starting work on the final two Trigan Empire Collection volumes. We've still got the rest of the building work hanging over our heads like the Sword of Damocles and the Kitchen Ceiling of Damocles also needs looking at, although that won't be for a couple of weeks.

I noticed that Against All Odds: War Picture Library Vol. 2 shot up in the Amazon charts—at one point it was their #2 best-selling book on the Second World War!—but has now slumped back to #10 because they're temporarily out of stock. I'm sure that situation will be remedied promptly, so please continue ordering your copies with confidence. I'm still waiting on word about the next batch that are due out from Carlton on the 1st of September (Love on Ward B: Hospital Nurse Romance Library, The Best of Boyfriend and The Biggest Jackie Annual Ever!). No word yet on precisely when the Karl the Viking box-set and the next two Storm The Collection volumes will be released, although everything seems to be in hand with the Frank Bellamy's King Arthur. Like any author, I'm like an expectant father waiting in the wings for news. What proofs I've seen have looked fine but until I'm holding the squalling little brat... er, book in my hands I'll hold off on the cigar.

The Hugo Awards have just been announced. As expected, Stephen Moffatt's Doctor Who episode 'Blink' won the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form award. Stardust, based on the Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess graphic novel, adapted by Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn, won the Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, beating out Heroes season one, but there wasn't much of a British showing elsewhere despite nominations for Ian McDonald, Charles Stross, Stephen Baxter, Ken McLeod and other Brits in various categories. I'm going to have to make an effort to read some of the nominees. I was quite surprised that the Hugos got a mention in the Guardian last Thursday, aptly a blog piece by Sam Jordison about how little recognition the awards get in the mainstream press.

Today's Observer (10 August) has an interview with Raymond Briggs about his career and the re-release of Gentleman Jim, originally published in 1980 and just reissued by Jonathan Cape. The interesting news from the interview is that Briggs is working... "On a book about old age and death, which is what you tend to think about when you get to 70. I've finished the writing. Now I've just got about five years of illustrating to do. The donkey work!"

Compiling the listing of authors who had contributed to The Children's Newspaper this morning I was struck by how many 'classics' I'd read in one form or another through comics. The hey-day was already past before I started reading them in the 1960s but, via Look and Learn and other papers, I read versions of books by Haggard, Dumas, Greek myths, Shakespeare, Defoe, Swift, Verne and dozens of others even when my tastes ran more to crime and science fiction.

It was interesting to read recently that Ofsted, the education regulator, has suggested that schools stock "action-packed stories about danger or sport to inspire [boys] in lessons." Precisely what we used to get in the days when you could pick up half a dozen boys' comics every week.

Of course, the old story papers—full of action-packed stories of danger and sports—were the very papers that were being condemned by educators fifty years and more ago as dumbing down children with their easily understood, direct language and turning them into juvenile delinquents with, er, action-packed stories of danger and sports. It's amazing how far the pendulum has swung in fifty years: nowadays one in five adults struggle with reading and writing (says this BBC Magazine report, 30 July) and parents would love to see their children reading anything, let alone a comic or story paper. In the UK, the comics were badly hit by the oil crisis in the early 1970s which pretty much wrecked the market. A decade later, by the mid-1980s, the comics industry was almost entirely gone. Although there is still a thriving pre-school comics market, there's nothing to progress onto that children can read other than books, although, thankfully, post-Harry Potter, the publishing industry has twigged onto the fact that there is a large market for children's books and 'young adult' novels. Maybe, eventually, the pendulum will swing far enough for publishers to risk thinking about putting out a comic aimed at children. The DFC is a tentative step in that direction and, if I can blow my own trumpet, Look and Learn was the first attempt to do this when it was relaunched in January 2007.

If only someone would take the terrible risk of putting a new comic onto the newsstands that wasn't aimed at 4-year-olds or based on a TV show... not necessarily the comic you or I would want (which, I suspect, would be the new Warrior for the noughties) but a stepping stone between the pre-school comics and 2000AD positioned where, say, the old 'New' Eagle was in the 1980s, or, going back even further, Tiger was in the 1950s-70s, allowing the Beano and Dandy to feed 7-year-olds to more adventure-based comics.

Have I a clue whether this would work? Of course not. But it's an idea that ought to be explored.

Children's Newspaper Authors

The Children's Newspaper ran from 22 March 1919 to 1 May 1965, a total of 2397 issues. Over its 46-year history, it published dozens of original stories and serials, as well as reprinted classics such as Robinson Crusoe, Don Quixote, Westward Ho!, The Count of Monte Cristo, David Copperfield, Gulliver's Travels, Pinocchio, etc. The following list covers only the authors of text stories and serials

Joy Adamson (Wikipedia)
Harold Avery (Wikipedia)
Robert Bateman
Christopher Beck (see T. C. Bridges)
Cyrano de Bergerac (Wikipedia)
Karen Blixen (Wikipedia)
T. C. Bridges
Bernagh Brims
Vernon Bruce
Anthony Buckeridge (Wikipedia)
Peter Buckley
Norah Burke
Sheila Burnford (Wikipedia)
Mary Carruthers
Arthur Catherall
Miguel de Cervantes (Wikipedia)
Adelbert von Chamisso (Wikipedia)
Geoffrey Chelsworth
Henri Chosalle
Martin Cobb
Carlo Collodi (Wikipedia)
James Fenimore Cooper (Wikipedia)
Jim Corbett (Wikipedia)
Scott Corbett (Wikipedia)
Frank Crisp
Peter Dawlish (see James Lennox Kerr)
Daniel Defoe (Wikipedia)
Charles Dickens (Wikipedia)
Gerald Durrell (Wikipedia)
Alexander Dumas [Alexandre Dumas, nee Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie] (Wikipedia)
Monica Edwards (Wikipedia)
George Herbert Ely (Wikipedia under Herbert Strang)
Sid Fleischman [Albert Sidney Fleischman] (Wikipedia)
Stephen Foot
Bertha Fry
Leonora Fry (see Bertha Fry)
Arthur Gaunt
Tom Gifford
D. M. Gill
[Major] Charles Gilson
George Goodchild
Gunby Hadath
John Halden (see Maude Meagher)
Thor Heyerdahl (Wikipedia)
Garry Hogg (Wikipedia)
Geoffrey Household (Wikipedia)
Washington Irving (Wikipedia)
James Lennox Kerr (Wikipedia)
Charles Kingsley (Wikipedia)
Gilbert C. Klingel (Wikipedia)
Patricia Leitch (Wikipedia)
Bertha Leonard (see Bertha Fry)
James L'Estrange (Wikipedia under Herbert Strang)
William MacMillan
D. G. Martin (?see D. M. Gill?)
Laurence Maynell
Maude Meagher (Wikipedia)
Geoffrey Morgan
W. H. Morris
John Mowbray (see Gunby Hadath)
Arthur Nettleton (see Arthur Gaunt)
Richard Ogle
Katherine Oldmeadow
Richard Parker
Frank S. Pepper
Francis Pitt
Patrick Pringle
John Pudney
Charles Reade (Wikipedia)
Marjory Royce
Malcolm Saville (Wikipedia)
James Stagg
Herbert Strang (see George Herbert Ely & James L'Estrange) (Wikipedia)
Jonathan Swift (Wikipedia)
Geoffrey Trease (Wikipedia)
Selsey Walters
Constance M. White
Henry Williamson (Wikipedia)
Edward Wright

Upcoming Books Round-Up

Start compiling your Christmas lists!

Aurum Press
The Leather Nun and Other Incredibly Strange Comics by Paul Gravett & Peter Stanbury. (ISBN 978-1945133207, 1 September 2008).
Roy of the Rovers: The Unauthorised Biography by Mick Collins. (ISBN 978-1845133610, 1 September 2008).

Book Palace Books
Frank Bellamy's King Arthur and His Knights: The Complete Adventures, edited by Steve Holland. (ISBN tba, 21 September 2008).

Carlton Books
The Best of 2000AD. (ISBN 978-1853756689, 1 September 2008).
The Best of Boyfriend, edited by Melissa Hyland. (ISBN 978-1853756658, 1 September 2008).
The Best of Punch Cartoons, edited by Helen Walasek. (ISBN 978-1853756795, 1 September 2008).
The Biggest Jackie Annual Ever! The Best Thing for Girls—Next to Boys. (ISBN 978-1853756672, 1 September 2008).
Commando: Bandits at 12 O'clock, edited by George Low. (ISBN 978-1847321282, 1 September 2008).
Hospital Nurse Picture Library: Love on Ward B, edited by Melissa Hyland. (ISBN 978-1853756665, 1 September 2008).
The Art of War, edited by David Roach. (ISBN 978-1853756627, 6 October 2008).
Battle Picture Library: Let 'em Have It, edited by Steve Holland. (ISBN 978-1853756719, 6 October 2008).
The Best of Alex 2008 by Charles Peattie & Russell Taylor. (ISBN 978-1853756894, 6 October 2008).
High Noon: Wild West Picture Library, edited by Steve Holland. (ISBN 978-1853756726, 6 October 2008).
Look-In: The Best of the Eighties, edited by Graham Kibble-White. (ISBN 978-1853756863, 6 October 2008).
Rick Random, Space Detective, edited by Steve Holland. (ISBN 978-1853756733, 6 October 2008).

Classical Comics
Jane Eyre (Original Text, abridged). (ISBN 978-1-906332-06-8, September 2008).
Jane Eyre (Quick Text). (ISBN 978-1-906332-08-2, September 2008).
Frankenstein (Original Text, abridged). (ISBN 978-1-906332-15-0, September 2008).
Frankenstein (Quick Text). (ISBN 978-1-906332-16-7, September 2008).
A Christmas Carol (Original Text, abridged). (ISBN 978-1-906332-17-4, 1 October 2008).
A Christmas Carol (Quick Text). (ISBN 978-1-906332-18-1, 1 October 2008).
Great Expectations (Original Text, abridged). (ISBN 978-1-906332-09-9, 3 November 2008).
Great Expectations (Quick Text). (ISBN 978-1-906332-11-2, 3 November 2008).

Don Lawrence Collection
Karl the Viking [box set] by Don Lawrence. (ISBN tba, September 2008).

Hermes Press
James Bond: The History of the Illustrated 007 by Alan J. Porter. (ISBN 978-1932563184, 29 September 2008).

Orion
The Eagle Annual of the Cutaways, ed. Daniel Tatarsky. (ISBN 978-1409100140), 18 September 2008.
Fred Basset 2008 by Alex Graham. (ISBN 978-0752893853, 30 October 2008).

Panini
Marvel Masters: The British Invasion Vol. 2. (ISBN 978-1905239962, 11 September 2008).
Doctor Who: The Betrothal of Sontar. (ISBN 978-1905239900, 6 October 2008).
Dragon's Claws. (ISBN 978-1905239993, 6 October 2008).
Captain Britain Vol. 3: The Lion and the Spider. (ISBN 978-1846534010, 2 November 2008).

Rebellion
The Complete Ace Trucking Co. by Wagner and Grant & Massimo Belardinelli. (ISBN 978-1905437771, 11 September 2008).
Strontium Dog: The Kreeler Conspiracy by John Wagner. (ISBN 978-1905437788, 11 September 2008).
ABC Warriors: The Third Element by Pat Mills. (ISBN 978-1905437801, 9 October 2008).
Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Vol.11 by various. (ISBN 978-1905437795, 9 October 2008).
The Best of Tharg's Future Shocks by various. (ISBN 978-1905437818, 13 November 2008).
The Complete Ro-Busters by Pat Mills & various. (ISBN 978-1905437825, 13 November 2008).
Judge Dredd: The Pit by John Wagner. (ISBN 978-1905437849, 11 December 2008).
The VCs by Gerry Finley-Day & various. (ISBN 978-1905437832, 11 December 2008).

Titan Books
Modesty Blaise: Green Cobra. (ISBN 978-1845764203, 26 September 2008).
Marshal Law: Origins by Pat Mills & Kevin O'Neill. (ISBN 978-1845769437, 28 September 2008).
The Best of Battle: Volume 1. (ISBN 978-1848560253, 24 October 2008).
Charley's War: Return to the Front. (ISBN 978-1845767969, 24 October 2008).
Watching the Watchmen by Dave Gibbons, Chip Kidd & Mike Essl. (ISBN 978-1848560413, 24 October 2008).
The Cream of Tank Girl by Alan C. Martin & Jamie Hewlett. (ISBN 978-1845769420, 24 October 2008). [Originally announced as The Art of Tank Girl.]
James Bond: Polestar. (ISBN 978-1845767174, 4 November 2008).
Tank Girl 2 (Remastered). (ISBN 978-1845767594, 4 November 2008).
Roy of the Rovers Archives: Season 1954-55. (ISBN 978-1845769499, 20 December 2008).
Tank Girl 3 (Remastered). (ISBN 978-1845767617, 13 January 2009).
The Bumper Book of Battle. (ISBN 978-1848560291, 23 March 2009).
Tank Girl: The Odyssey (Remastered). (ISBN 978-1845767631, 10 March 2009).

Unique Calendars
Starblazer Calendar 2009 and The Art of Commando Calendar 2009. See here.

Archibald Williams

(* I'm pleased to welcome Tony Woolrich to the pages of Bear Alley with a piece on Archibald Williams, whose popular books on engineering and technology appeared a century ago.)

Archibald Williams contributed a small number of pieces to boy’s magazines and wrote a number of books about engineering, manufacture and also exploration. He was born 14 July 1871, the son of the Rev. Daniel Rowland Williams of Bowers Gifford, Essex. He was a BA of Oxford, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He was married to Florence. The 1901 census records him as living at Bowers Gifford, single, and a school tutor. Williams died on his birthday, 14 July 1934. It is not known if he was survived by any family.

Williams was an occasional contributor to Pearson’s Magazine, The Strand Magazine and boys magazines. Two of his books were published in Hungarian. Many of his books were reprinted: the earliest dates are noted here.

The brief notes about his life do not do justice to the quality of his work for he was a highly competent technical journalist specialising in books for boys. The ‘Romance of …’ series he published from 1903 with C Arthur Pearson introduced youngsters to the very latest engineering and technical developments. How It Works (1906), How It Is Made (1907) and The Wonders Of Mechanical Ingenuity (1910) dealt with the practicalities of mechanism and manufacture.

The three volume Engineering Wonders Of The World (1909-10), which he edited, was originally a part-work, with many chapters written by named specialists such as Felix J. Pole, chief engineer of the Great Western Railway. Each volume had about half a dozen coloured plates, mostly by Howard Penton and a large number of half-tones and line drawings. The topics covered mostly civil and structural engineering, world wide. There is much about engineering endeavour in the Colonies as well as Continental Europe and the Americas. Several chapters describe the oil industries of America and the Middle East. The third volume begins with a series of chapters about flight. Curiously, there is only one chapter about the motor car, describing racing cars. In many ways the book’s format mirrors that of Cassier’s Magazine and Fielden’s Magazine, both of which were being published then for the interested general reader. Engineering Wonders of the World was the precursor of the part-work series edited by Clarence Winchester in the late 1930s.

Things To Make (1913), Things Worth Making (1920) and The Mechanic's Friend (1922) all contain practical instructions for handicraft projects, a number of which, such as building a working back-yard gas works, would be condemned today on health and safety grounds! His books usually had one nor two coloured plates as well as monochrome photographs and line drawings in the text. His earlier books often had attractive illustrated cloth covers. A number of his books can be downloaded from Project Gutenberg and the Internet Archive. Secondhand copies are quite common from ABE, eBay and charity shops as well as regular book sellers.

Williams has escaped the attention of biographers and he does not appear in modern academic studies of children’s books. It is certain that more of his journalism awaits discovery.

Chronological list of his writings
The Romance Of Modern Invention. London, London, C Arthur Pearson, 1903.
The Romance Of Modern Engineering. London, C Arthur Pearson, 1904.
The Romance Of Modern Locomotion. London, C Arthur Pearson, 1904.
The Romance Of Mining. London, C Arthur Pearson, 1905.
The Romance Of Modern Exploration. London, Seeley Service, 1905.
How It Works. London, Seeley Service, 1906.
Petrol Peter, illus. A. Wallis Mills. London, Edmund Evans, 1906.[A parody of Strewwelpeter]
The Romance Of Modern Mechanism. London, Seeley Service, 1906.
The Romance Of Early Exploration. London, Seeley Service, 1907.
How It Is Made. London, Seeley Service 1907.
Victories Of The Engineer. London, T. Nelson & Sons, 1908.
Engineering Wonders Of The World (ed). London, T. Nelson & Sons, 3 vols., 1909-10 [A part work.]
The Wonders Of Asiatic Exploration. London, Seeley Service, 1910.
The Wonders Of Mechanical Ingenuity. London, Seeley Service, 1910.
The Boy's Guide, line drawings by Howard Penton. London, T Nelson & Sons, 1911.
The Wonders Of The Modern Railway. London, Seeley Service, 1911.
The Wonders Of Modern Engineering. London, Seeley Service, 1912.
Things To Make. London, T. Nelson & Sons, 1913.
Let Me Explain. London, Wells Gardner & Co., 1913.
Ships And Shipping (anon with others). London, T. Nelson& Sons, 2 vols., 1914 [Part of Nelson’s Encyclopaedic Library]
Home Entertainments, with Florence M Williams. London, T Nelson & Sons, 1914.
A Book Of The Sea. London, T Nelson & Sons,1915.
Isabelle Rimbaud In the Whirlpool of War, translated from the French by Archibald Williams. London. T. Fisher Unwin Ltd. 1918. [She was the sister of the poet, and her letters describe life in German-occupied France.]
Thinking It Out. London, T. Nelson & Sons, 1919.
Things Worth Making. London, T. Nelson & Sons, 1920.
Amateur Photography, with Francis Thomas Beeson. London, T. Nelson & Sons, 1920.
The Wrinkle Book. London, T. Nelson & Sons, 1921.
The Mechanic's Friend. London, T Nelson & Sons, 1922.
The Marvels of Railways. London, Seeley Service, 1925.
All About Our Wonderful Ships. London, Cassell 1924.
Wireless Working Hints For Beginners. London, Percival Marshall, 1925.
Engineering Feats. London, T. Nelson & Sons, 1925.
Brunel And After. London, The Great Western Railway, 1925.
The Book Of Trains. London, T. Nelson & Sons, 1926.
Conquering The Air. London, T. C. & E. C. Jack,1926/1933.
Telegraphy And Telephony. London, T. Nelson & Sons, 1928.

References:
The Times (Obituary), 16 July 1934.
David Blamires, ‘Social Satire in the English Strewwelpeter Parodies’ in Princeton University Library Chronical, LXII, part 1, Autumn 2000, pp 45-58.

Dan Dare: The Virgin Version (Review)

Steve Winders reviews Virgin Comics’ new

Dan Dare
series by Garth Ennis and Gary Erskine

Maybe it’s because it’s happened so many times before, but when Virgin announced that they were about to bring out a new series of comics featuring Frank Hampson’s legendary hero ‘Dan Dare’, I couldn’t summon my usual enthusiasm for the project. Since the original Eagle died in 1969 we’ve had the Belardinelli and Gibbons versions in 2000AD comic, several versions in the new Eagle, the Grant Morrison/Rian Hughes version in Revolver magazine, the short lived Sydney Jordan version in the Planet newspaper and the C.G.I. television series. All of these efforts made changes to the original concept, so they were all new interpretations rather than continuations of the adventures from the original Eagle. We’ve had those too of course. Keith Watson and others briefly resurrected something close to the original for the new Eagle, before David Pugh was instructed to make changes, and there’s Spaceship Away magazine, full of new stories that could fit almost seamlessly into the fifties Eagle. But Virgin’s Dan Dare is yet another new version.

This is not to suggest that I dislike all the new versions. All of them have strengths and I was particularly impressed by Grant Morrison’s work and enjoyed much of Dave Gibbons and Ian Kennedy’s interpretations, so after my initial coolness regarding the new project, I finally set about the quite difficult task of buying the first issue.

Despite good publicity before publication, distribution of the new comic was limited to internet, mail order or specialist comic shops, making it the least readily available of all the versions except possibly Spaceship Away, which despite its high quality is essentially a fan publication. However I have never had any problems getting copies of Spaceship Away, unlike Virgin’s Dan Dare. After a long wait following issue one, when I wondered whether the publishers had decided to cease publication, three copies arrived at once like the proverbial bad bus service. From then on I started to believe that I might actually succeed in obtaining the whole series and indeed I now have. I mention this to show that it is unlikely that casual browsers will have been able to see and subscribe to the publication. Virgin cannot have achieved the sales that they could have done in the United Kingdom, though it is possible that the story’s release as a graphic novel may help it reach a wider market.

As this is a review and not an analysis I do not propose to summarise the story, especially as there may be many readers who wish to read it when they get an opportunity. Essentially it is about a retired Dan Dare being persuaded to come out of retirement to lead the defence of Earth against the Mekon, who is threatening the solar system with a huge fleet of ships and a black hole! Dan is given command of the Royal Navy space fleet, who have replaced the Interplanet Spacefleet following a war between the U.S.A. and China, which has resulted in the destruction of both countries and the break up of the United Nations and Spacefleet. But it’s not all bad. Britain is now the only surviving world power!

Dan’s recall to action is reminiscent of the Grant Morrison version, although while he is disillusioned he is not the broken man of Morrison’s Dare. On the contrary he shows the dynamic confident leadership, courage and ingenuity that fans of the original would expect. Dan is aided by a bearded Digby, who shows less humour than in the original, but is just as loyal and dependable as he ever was and Professor Peabody, who is now Home Secretary. None of the characters look quite like they did in the original Eagle, even allowing for a significant passage of time. They bear strong similarities, but it is as though they are actors who look very much like the comic characters. If this was a live action film I would not be raising this issue, but it is not. Why for example does Dan now have blue eyes?

In the first episode we see a photograph of Dan with his old comrades, Sir Hubert Guest, Hank, Pierre, Digby, Professor Peabody and Lex O’Malley. All the men wear Spacefleet uniform, including Lex, who was of course in the Royal Navy, so why is he not depicted correctly? In this picture the uniforms are a poor fit and the officer’s hats have too large a diameter on top, making all the Spacefleet personnel look more a group of bus inspectors than Earth’s greatest space heroes.

Add to this the totally redesigned Earth spaceships, which look like a cross between naval battleships and submarines, the significantly altered Treen ships and the redesigned Treen uniforms and one is again left asking why? In previous versions changes were made to supposedly ‘update’ the stories. In 2000AD Dan was moved to the far future and in the new Eagle the stories were originally about his great great grandson, but this version adopts a retro look, with its ‘submarine’ spaceships and Royal Navy spacepersons, so why make these completely unnecessary changes?

The artist Gary Erskine has produced some impressive work on the strip and he shows much more technical ability than many working in comics today. He is undoubtedly aided by the quality of the colour work by Parasuraman A. and others and the quality of the printing. He conveys facial expressions well and his backgrounds contain a lot of detail, although he has missed opportunities to create interesting and imaginative spaceship interiors. Clearly this is deliberate in his dull functional interiors for the navy ships, but it is a pity that he did not contrast this with more imaginative interiors for the Treen ships. His London cityscape is not much different from the present day city, which is very different from the splendid city created by Frank Hampson. His depictions of space battles are quite impressive, but they are cluttered with too many ships, impossibly close together!

Many of his drawings of the Mekon are excellent. In fact he has based several studies on Keith Watson’s best picture of the character. He has redesigned the Mekon’s anti gravity boat, creating a more substantial vehicle which stays true to the spirit of the original. He also draws Treens well, which is the acid test for ‘Dan Dare’ artists. His new designs for Treen soldiers recall those of David Pugh, but his Treen scientists wear long and quite ornate robes which suggest an artistic race, which obviously they are not.

Garth Ennis’ story follows quite a simple pattern, but within this we encounter a range of interesting characters and situations. The characters include Admiral Carter who appears to believe that Dan’s appointment is a publicity exercise, but learns to his cost that this is most certainly not the case. There is the young Lieutenant Christian, who becomes Dan’s protégé and the cynical and arrogant Captain Finley who proves to be a coward. Dan’s own personality is explored through his dealings with all these characters as well as in the perilous situations that the story provides. He puts his life at risk for the cause of right, but expects others to do the same. He has no qualms about humiliating Captain Finley and Admiral Carter when they fail to follow his lead, or promoting the nineteen year old Lieutenant Christian to the command of the fleet’s flagship. He lives on an asteroid because he is unhappy about the way that Britain has changed following the Sino American war. Thanks to a force shield created by Professor Peabody, Britain was spared the devastation that the war caused, but instead of helping other countries to recover, Britain took advantage of the situation to become the dominant world power, only helping others at a price.

Like Grant Morrison’s Dare, this is an adult story. Comics are no longer aimed at the children’s market. Clearly it does not portray the bright optimistic future of Hampson’s stories and success is only achieved through great sacrifice. Unlike some contemporary comics the borders between right and wrong are clearly drawn. Britain’s Prime Minister does not really provide a valid alternative to Dan’s way and while the reader might feel a little sympathy for Admiral Carter, he demonstrates his inadequacy for command when he fails to stay calm in a crisis and when he persists in trying to follow a safe logical course when the situation demands risk. He and the self serving Captain Finley personify what self-centred Britain has become. Fortunately there are many others who do not follow their Government’s lead.

The story invites many comparisons with Grant Morrison’s version, but it is not nearly so dark in its vision. Morrison’s Dan was a broken man who had himself committed atrocities. He was recruited by the Government to support their election campaign, not to save the world and he was himself only saved by a last drastic and desperate act. In comparison to that, Ennis’ version seems positively lighthearted, but it is not and it could have benefited from some humour, which need not have detracted from the serious story. Nevertheless, despite some negative observations this is an interesting new interpretation with much to commend it. The release of a graphic novel edition should open it up to the wider audience it deserves.

Dan Dare. Virgin Comics (ISBN 978-0981480831, 1 October 2008). Hardcover collection of all seven issues.

Further information: Dare by Grant Morrison & Rian Hughes is out of print but available in full in Hughes' Yesterday's Tomorrows (Knockabout Comics, ISBN 978-0861661541, July 2007). The original Dan is being reprinted in a series by Titan Books, a list of which can be found in the Titan section of Bear Alley's Comics Bibliography. New adventures of the old Dan can be found in Spaceship Away! (visit their website for subscription rates).

An Eagle mystery

Chris from Bristle's Blog has sent over an interesting question that I'm hoping someone can answer.

"Bit of an odd one I'm looking for a bit of help with," he says. "Whilst watching the 1957 episode of The Rock N Roll Years, there was a bit about Hungarian refugees from the uprising being welcomed into Britain, and in the accompanying film footage, you can clearly see them being handed copies of Eagle.

"I was just trying to find out more about this - whether Hulton was involved, or whether this was an ad hoc thing undertaken by volunteers, or who knows what else."

Chris has included a screengrab from the programme (above) and you can clearly see it's a copy of Eagle. It's not so clear which issue is being handed out, which might help date the film clip a little better. The Hungarian Revolution took place in late October and early November 1956 but refugees were still pouring out of Hungary until the spring of 1957, a total of 180,000 to Austria and a further 20,000 to Yugoslavia. Attempts to resettle these refugees began almost immediately and 7,500 refugees had been transported to the UK by December 14. Eventually, 20,990 Hungarians were resettled in the UK.

One imagines that those greeting the refugees from Hungary would have been from amongst the major volunteer groups such as the British Red Cross. One also imagines that Picture Post, the famous Hulton paper, would have been on hand covering events in its latter days (sales of PP was slipping at the time and it was to fold in May 1957). Perhaps it was felt that distributing copies of Eagle would make a good photo opportunity as well as a humanitarian gesture.

More Beano celebrations...

More Beano celebrations...

The Big Issue in Scotland celebrates 70 years of Dennis the Menace, Gnasher and the rest of the gang. Available until Wednesday.
Cripes! The Beano is 70 by Martin Phillips (The Sun, 31 July)
Beano & Dandy Birthday Bash! by Zena Alkyat (Metro, 31 July)
Ah, those were the great comic days by Our Correspondent (Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 4 August)
Comments from visitor's book at the Happy Birthday Beano exhibition at the Lamb Gallery in Dundee (2 August).

Battle Picture Library launch ad

Since I'm celebrating the release of the latest Carlton war libraries reprint, Against All Odds: War Picture Library Vol. 2 (scroll down for more details), I thought I'd post this, which I've just stumbled across in an issue of Film Fun—a 4-page advert for the first two issues of Battle Picture Library, which was launched that month.

If you're interested in finding out "What happens next?" you can... The Rats of Tobruk was one of the stories I featured in Death or Glory.

Comic Cuts: Post #801

Completely missed the fact that yesterday's post was #800. I can't quite believe that I've managed 800 posts. Or that on August 15th Bear Alley will be two years old. I'm not sure what I pictured when I started this: I knew I didn't want to turn it into a diary, so no running commentary on how we went down the pub last night and met up with friends for lunch today, although there's always going to be an element of 'writer's journal' about a blog. I knew it was going to be a mish-mash of my interests in books, magazines and comics. Since comics have dominated my work over the past few years one way or another—I was working for Look and Learn when I started this and most of the projects I've worked on this year have been comics related—I think it's true to say that two-thirds of Bear Alley is filled with comics research. The rest is a mix of books, authors, magazines, artists and whatever else takes my fancy on any given day. Lots of science fiction galleries recently because of the Sci-Fi Art book (and more to come hopefully, once I can get my collection sorted out).

Diary notes #1: regular readers will know we've been having some building work done in the house recently. Back at the beginning of July half the house was cleared out and put into storage. Well, the boxes are back. About 150 of them, plus about 18 shelves, furniture, television and everything else that goes to making up a home. We've been unpacking them steadily since mid-week and I think I've discovered a number of new laws of physics which I'm dubbing Holland's Laws of Bookshelves:

1: No matter how hard you try, you can never get the same number of books back on a shelf as you took off it.

2a: The number of books you have on any given subject is always one more than can fit of a shelf.
2b: ... and you will always have one book on that subject that is too big and has to go on another shelf.

3: You have 25% more books than you thought you had. They take up 45% more space than you thought they would.

(...that's enough laws.)

Interesting bits of research can pop up anywhere relating to comics. I picked up the latest issue of Book & Magazine Collector to see how the Ron Smith article by David Ashford & Norman Wright had turned out (and my stripography, although I'm not credited). But I was reading the Minette Walters article by David Howard and it mentions that Walters wrote a 7,000 word story for True Life Romance magazine published by IPC. I can't find a magazine of that title amongst IPC's output. Walters worked as a sub-editor for Women's Weekly after graduating from Durham University so she wrote for True Life Romance around 1970 maybe? Could this be True Life Picture Library perhaps? It ran until January 1971 so it would be a bit of a squeeze for her to have published a story and, towards the end, True Life was nearly all reprints but it could be a fact that Minette Walters first published work wasn't a story at all but a comic strip. She went on to write short, pseudonymous novels for Women's Weekly Library before getting married in 1978. Titles and bylines have been kept a closely guarded secret.

And here's a weird one... according to the B&MC news pages, SF-author Hal Clement (Harry Stubbs) wrote the novelisation of Slaughter (Curtis Books, 1975), described as a "sub-Shaft thriller starring ex-football her Jim Brown, as Harry Clement. "He also wrote another tie-in volume based upon the Columbo TV series, By Dawn's Early Light (Popular Library, 1975)."

Oops! Henry Clement—the name under which these books appeared, not Harry Clement—was the pen-name of Edward Fenton (1917-1994) as revealed in Kurt Peer's monumental bibliography, TV Tie-Ins (1997). I should add that I'm sure the bulk of the book, Antique Trader Collectible Paperback Price Guide, just out from Krause Publications, is worthy and full of very useful (and correct) information as it was compiled by Gary Lovisi who is well known amongst American paperback collectors. It's just a bit unfortunate that the mini-review should hone in on such an obvious error and, to cap it all, then spell the title of the book wrong.

Diary notes #2: Bizarrely, yesterday I was seriously worried that I was coming down with a cold: sore throat, running a slight temperature, general aching, wooziness and unable to concentrate. Today... still a slight sore throat but not feeling nearly as bad.

Unpacking hasn't left much time for anything else. The translations of the next two Storm collections were finished last week and I've almost finished the second volume's introduction. Chances are the books will be out in September, which I'm going to have to dub Shameless Self-Promotion Month at Bear Alley. Indeed, Shameless Self-Promotion Month is going to last three months, starting tomorrow morning when the first of thirteen books will be appearing. Some were finished before last Christmas but the way the publishing industry works they've all scrunched up into a three months bonanza. I've already spent the money I earned from them and none offer any royalties, so the only way I can benefit now is to urge you to buy them via that little Amazon search box over on the right of the page. Buy any of the Carlton books via that box and I get about 30p credit with Amazon. Then go and support your local bookshop by buying a second copy... oh, and borrow them from your local library, too. Authors and editors earn something called PLR (Public Lending Rights) money, although—and please don't snigger at the back—I've never actually managed to earn any. On my last statement, for 2006-07, I earned 60p but you have to earn over £1 to qualify for a payment. Still, it was up from the previous year's 36p, so it's heading in the right direction and I've added quite a few books since that last statement, although, as an editor, I only get a fraction of the pennies earned from loans. I'd just love to reach that magical £1... just once! Even if it means ghosting Jordan's next novel.

Next week: unpacking and self-promotion. That's it folks... that's all I've got to look forward to.

Upcoming Calendars: Starblazer & Commando

A change of pace from our irregular upcoming books column... here are a couple of calendars that are due out at the end of August exclusively from Unique Comic Collectables. (Not much activity on the site at the moment but a nice-looking placeholder.)

(* Artwork © D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.)

Peter Coke (1913-2008)

Actor Peter Coke, best known in his role on BBC radio as Paul Temple, died on Wednesday, July 30, at the age of 95. Coke, born in Southsea on April 3, 1913, was the son of a naval commander who left England for Kenya to plant linen; this proved to be an unsuccessful venture and he subsequently switched to coffee. Coke was educated at Stowe then moved to southern France to live with his grandmother and work, briefly, as an unpaid assistant vice-consul.

Returning to England he took acting lessons and attended RADA, graduating at the age of 24. His initial success in theatre and films was interrupted by the war. Demobbed in 1946 after serving with the Royal Signals in Italy, he opened a market stall in Portobello Market selling antiques, later opening a shop in New King's Road.

By the end of the decade, his acting career in theatre had revived. His beautifully modulated voice made him a natural for radio. In 1954 he took over the role that he was to be associated with for over 50 years, recording Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case for the BBC. Temple was the creation of Francis Durbridge, a radio playwright, screenwriter and novelist. The suave amateur detective, a writer by trade, was accompanied on his action-packed adventures by his wife, Steve (played by Marjorie Westbury). Not the first actor to play the role (Temple had been appearing on wireless since 1938 and two movies had already been made), Coke was the definitive portrayal for many. 11 serials were broadcast between 1954 and 1968, disappearing from radio when the BBC turned Temple into a TV star in 1969 where he was played by Francis Matthews.

Paul Temple was no full-time job and Coke began writing as well as acting, his first play, Breath of Spring, performed in Cambridge in 1958; ten further plays followed. He also appeared on television and in movies but, increasingly, he became fascinated with shell sculpture, travelling widely to collect tiny shells from which he would create pictures. He moved to Sharrington Hall in north Norfolk and there is a gallery in Sheringham devoted to his work.

Paul Temple went through a revival in the late 1990s thanks to repeats of the show broadcast on BBC7. Nine surviving episodes have also been released on CD. A new version of the 1938 (pre-Coke) serial Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery was broadcast in 2006 with Crawford Logan playing Temple in very much the style of Peter Coke. The 93-year-old Coke was interviewed that same year on BBC7.

Obituaries: Daily Telegraph (1 August), The Independent (13 August), The Times (23 August); The Guardian (5 September).