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10 June 2026

Chaos City comics - Mystery Inc, 1963

I've looked before (here to be precise) about some rare Martha Washington goes to war variants that were produced by Chaos City comics (in St Albans). Turns out these weren't the only comics they produced...

There was their AIDS awareness comic - here

They also produced some of their own variants of the Mystery Inc, 1963 comic

According to an article on page 15 of the November 1993 issue of Comics International was limited to a print run of...
a). 500 Gold editions (priced at £7.95)
b). 150 Platinum editions (priced at a staggering £29.95)
c). from the test run 20 incredibly rare Bronze editions

You can find copies of the gold edition quite easily on ebay (here for instance

You can see the platinum copy here

but no sign of the Bronze editions yet.

9 June 2026

Chaos City comics - AIDS awareness

I've looked before (here to be precise) about some rare Martha Washington goes to war variants that were produced by Chaos City comics (in St Albans). Turns out these weren't the only comics they produced...

Next up is an AIDS awareness comic that was produced at the end of 1993. It looks like this...
(just search "chaos city comics" on ebay and you'll find a few examples for sale - this issue is for sale here). This, according to an article on page 15 of the November 1993 issue of Comics International was limited to a print run of 10,000 copies and retailed for £4.95 - cover is by Simon Bisley.

There was also a limited edition version available - limited to just 1,000 copies that retailed for £24.95 - the cover artist is uncredited.

There was also a 'gold' variant. Original price and print run are unknown to me. This seems easier to get hold of than the above issue. This copy for sale here 

The list of contributors includes Dave Gibbons, Simon Bisley, David Leach, Bryam Hitch, Henry Flint, Liam Sharp, Charlie Adlard, Dave Taylor, John Ridgway, Elitta Fell and plenty more!
  

8 June 2026

Tarkan - covers gallery, part 1

Tarkan is a well-known Turkish comic character (see his wikipedia entry here). It first appeared in 1967. In 1973 there was a short-lived pan-European comic published in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, Luxembourg and here in England too. Full colour, 16 pages in length.

Here's the start of a covers gallery for this title... 


Tarkan, weekly, #1, 3rd March 1973

Tarkan, weekly, #2, 10th March 1973

Tarkan, weekly, #3, 17th March 1973

Tarkan, weekly, #4, 24th March 1973

Tarkan, weekly, #5, 31st March 1973

Tarkan, weekly, #6, 7th April 1973

Tarkan, weekly, #7, 14th April 1973

all images from this ebay seller




7 June 2026

Jim Baikie - Orkney exhibition, part 8

For approximately the umpteenth time I'm indebted to Norman Boyd for his help with this blog. This time he was kind enough to send me some of his holiday photos from a recent trip to the Orkneys. 

Whilst there he was able to visit the exhibition all about the local artist that was on (from 03/05/25 - 21/09/25) at the Orkney museum in Kirkwall. Comics artist Jim Baikie was the focus of the exhibition. Norman took a lot of photos so I'll spread them over a number of posts, enjoy!   

Part 1 was here
Part 2 was here
Part 3 was here
Part 4 was here
Part 5 was here
Part 6 was here
Part 7 was here












6 June 2026

Chipmunks comic

OK so this is definitely filed under 
a). I know nothing about this (apart from the fact that it's based on the well-known Alvin and the Chipmunks brand); and 
b). it's hard to Google

On the other hand you have to start somewhere and this comic clearly had a decent run if it lasted until at least issue 18. Any further information welcomed.

Chipmunks comic #18, 75p


5 June 2026

Alan Davis - Fusion covers

I'm grateful to Andrew Wolf for bringing these fanzine to my attention. He did so over on the "Fans of Alan Davis" Facebook page (here). I've not seen other covers for Fusion so if you can help me out with other images that'd be great. Andrew says 9 issues all with a print run of less than 200 copies.

Fusion fanzine, #2, 30p

Fusion fanzine, #5, 40p




4 June 2026

UPDATED: Leo Baxendale - rare books

Over on Book Palace they've had some rare Leo Baxendale books up for sale recently and I thought it was a good opportunity to see what there is out there by the great man. Further examples of his self-published books very welcome!

UPDATE (4th June 2026)
I've found this for sale here
CD Romic - Leo Baxendale, Reaper books, 1998



Was for sale here - this is Baxendale's autobiography

Was for sale here, Reaper books, 1993 - In "On Comedy", Leo Baxendale brings into close focus one decade; from 1953, the year of his creation of Bash Street, Minnie the Minx and Little Plum, to 1962, the year he left The Beano 


Is for sale here, 48 pages, Reaper books, 1988 This is the study of a process of accumulating power and control. It describes the physical means of that process of control, and their material consequences for the lives of the people. It also examines the ideologies which determined, and determine, those means and those ends.


I've only ever seen a paperback version (priced at £3.95 apparently) but there was also a hardback version (with dustwrapper) for £8.95
This was for sale here, Gerald Duckworth & Co, 1978, 136 pages 

3 June 2026

UPDATED: Small press comics - Isabel Greenberg

I've long been a fan of the work of Isabel Greenberg (check out her website here) and I have a number of her longer comics work (The encyclopedia of early EarthOne hundred nights of hero and Glass town) but I don't know enough about her small press work.

These images below are (mainly) from my own collection but I'd love to know what other titles she might have produced. Any help much appreciated.

UPDATE (22/05/26):
This is c/o friend of the blog Simon Russell...
That's about life size! This is definitely a mini-comic. It unfolds into a slightly larger than A4 piece of paper with a poster on one side and a story on the other side. Very clever. Undated but early??

UPDATE (22/04/26):
These are 3 all c/o friend of the blog Simon Russell...
Isabel provided a wraparound cover for issue #5 (Summer 2013) of this magazine (bit larger than A5 sized). Plus a 6 page interview and art. 

Classic US comic book (size). First printed in November 2013.

Simon's copy of  "The river of lost souls" (bottom) is also slightly different from my copy (top). His version is...slightly smaller; the paper stock is different; his is signed and dated 2013 and the inside back cover isn't blank. One for completionists only!

UPDATE:
Back in 2010 issue 1 of Sea Mouse comic was produced. It was 40 pages long, A5 size, black & white only and contained 2 pages of Isabel's diary comics. As this is from 2010 this predates her winning the Obsever/Cape graphic short story prize and, stylistically at least, looks like her earliest published work identified to date. Cover not by Isabel

A snippet of her work in Sea Mouse...

You can still get copies from here


UPDATE: this is c/o friend of the blog Simon Russell
Rites, customs and histories of the great empire of Migdalbavel - Isabel Greenberg

Love in a very cold climate - Isabel Greenberg
This was the name of the short story that won Isabel the Obsever/Cape graphic short story prize (see here) so I wonder if this came before or after the prize??  

Dreadful wind and rain - Isabel Greenberg
published October 2014
Described here thus...

A short comic based on the traditional folk ballad The Two Sisters. This book was made for an exhibition at Cecil Sharp House with the English Folk Dance and Song Society, and printed with a risograph.

The tale tells of two sisters, seduced by the same lover, and the ruinous consequences that followed. The story can also be found in the graphic novel The One Hundred Nights of Hero.


The river of lost souls - Isabel Greenberg
Described here thus...
A short story commissioned by the Guardian for a series on water, entitled The River of Lost Souls.

Toad, episode one - Isabel Greenberg
Described here thus...
A self-published risographed comic, written by Alexis Deacon and illustrated by Isabel Greenberg.

Confinement - Isabel Greenberg
From 2023 - more details here - this will be published in full in 2028 (!)

Got (6); The snow queen; The river of lost souls, Sea mouse #1; Love in a very cold climate; Dreadful wind and rain; Toad #1

To get (4); Sovay; Coven #5; Rites, Customs & histories etc; Confinement

2 June 2026

UPDATED: Big Value Comic (1995)

Big Value Comic was a short-lived (just 18 issues in total) all reprint comic from 1995 featuring material from BusterWhizzer and Chips, Whoopee and Big Comic Fortnightly

UPDATE (02/06/26); now with covers added for issue 18 and a holiday special. All images taken from here & here

UPDATE (02/05/26); now with covers added for issues 10, 12 & 14. All images taken from here

UPDATE (07/04/26); now with covers added for issues 5, 7 & 8. All images taken from here

Here's my (incomplete) covers gallery...

Big Value comic #1, February 24th 1995

Big Value comic #2, March 10th 1995

Big Value comic #3, March 24th 1995

Big Value comic #4, April 7th 1995

Big Value comic #5, April 21st 1995

Big Value comic #6, May 5th 1995



Big Value comic #7, May 19th 1995

Big Value comic #8, June 2nd 1995

Big Value comic #9, June 16th 1995
image not to hand - can you help?

Big Value comic #10, June 30th 1995

Big Value comic #11, July 14th 1995


Big Value comic #12, July 28th 1995


Big Value comic #13, August 11th 1995

Big Value comic #14, August 25th 1995


Big Value comic #15, September 8th 1995
image not to hand - can you help?

Big Value comic #16, September 22nd 1995

Big Value comic #17, October 6th 1995
image not to hand - can you help?

Big Value comic #18, October 20th 1995


Big Value Comic holiday special