Steve and Susan by John M Burns - part 2

John M Burn's second (and last) contribution to Ivory Castle Arrow comic

Steve and Susan by John M Burns - part 1

From 1965 here's John M Burns take on 'Steve and Susan' from Ivory Castle Arrow. Interestingly the strip has been promoted to the front/back pages, having previously been in the centre pages, there's also a new logo this issue

The previous issue - different logo and different front over artist (John Ryan)

As far as I'm aware there were only 11 issues of Ivory Castle Arrow (Denis Gifford - the complete catalogue of British comics page 159) and we'll see issue 11 tomorrow...

Rare Don 'Dan Dare' Harley strip discovered

One of the joys of acquiring a selection of Ivory Castle Arrow comics was finding some artwork by one of my all-time favourite artists inside it, drawing a strip I'd never seen him associated with...

So here's some obscure art by Don 'Dan Dare' Harley, I present here a single page from the centrespread (two page) strip 'Steve and Susan' from Ivory Castle Arrow issues 7 and 9...

You'll notice that for some reason Harley doesn't draw the kids in the strip 

Harley draws some of the kids in the above excerpt from the strip but not yer actual Steve or Susan.

Gibbs Ivory Castle Arrow - covers gallery, John Ryan

Following on from the quiz yesterday here are the 6 issues of Ivory Castle Arrow that I have with John Ryan as the cover artist...

Christmas quiz! Can you identify this comic?

I love a Christmas quiz, so in the spirit of that why not see if you can identify this comic...guesses in the comments section here on the blog or on Facebook directly. 

So, here it is then, can you work out what British comic featured all the following strips - artwork (in order, below) is by Don Harley, Gordon Hogg, Reg Parlett, Philip Mendoza, John M Burns, Basil Reynolds and John Ryan.

Stand by to find out much more about this comic this week...

undated annuals - why?

I recently picked up an undated Eagle annual as I know they're pretty uncommon - either as a mis-print or as a deliberate act. Here it is...the front cover and spine are undated

Here's what it should have looked like...

The Eagle annuals of 1971/2/3/5 all seem particularly set-up to have the date removed (if necessary) as it's a different colour to the rest of the cover...

I've read a theory that it was done so that the annuals could be shipped overseas where, because of the time taken to get them there by boat, they'd need a longer shelf-life to sell and if the annual was dated people wouldn't buy it as the year was already well under way.

Here are some other examples - anyone else got any other examples or theories about undated annuals? 

Happy Christmas from new Eagle - part 2

Happy Christmas from new Eagle - the covers 1986-90...after 1990 the Christmas cover disappeared as new Eagle went monthly. 

Happy Christmas to all!

art by Jose Ortiz

Art by Robin Smith

Art by Sandy James

Art by Keith Watson

Happy Christmas from new Eagle - part 1

Here's the Christmas covers from new Eagle from 1982-5, more Christmas coming for the next 2 days...

Art by Eric Bradbury (I think) 

Art by Jose Ortiz

Art by Robin Smith

Loner - a collector's guide - part 4

Here's some of Loner's more obscure appearances, first up is the 1990 holiday special - a 4 pages strip illustrated by Sandy James.

Then there's a 4 pages strip in the 1991 annual by Eric Bradbury... 

and finally from the 1989 UKCAC programme...

Loner - a collector's guide - part 3

Here's the last 4 Loner covers for new Eagle - and the one Wildcat cover that Loner graced...