The Valiant book of mystery and magic, 1976

On my Summer holiday I finally acquired a copy of 'The Valiant book of mystery & magic, 1976'. I'd come across this on ebay before and had high hopes for the content but my efforts to acquire a copy had been thwarted as the book was often priced out of my price rage. Grrr.

Anyway, a copy finally acquired and I was delighted to see that the annual has full author / illustrator credits throughout - result! So here's what you can look for  

Cover art by Geoff Campion

The hand of Tuthoon - story by Frank Pepper; art by Fred Holmes

This evil place... - story by Angus Allan; art by John Stokes

Monster quiz by John Donnelly

The final victim - story by Pat Mills & Derek Cribbling; art by Joe Colquhoun

The Dracula dynasty - art by John Bolton

Creature from nowhere - story by Frank Pepper; art by John Burns

The red house - story by Jack Adrian; art by Joe Colquhoun

It's a weird world - art by Eric Parker [albeit uncredited]

Spellbinder - uncredited

Screaming skulls - art by Eric Bradbury [albeit uncredited]

The magic spectacles - art by Geoff Campion; story by Hal Wilton

The horrors of Turville Hall - art by Geoff Campion; story by Frank Pepper

Stranger than fiction - uncredited

The passing of Gallantyne Cox - art by Fred Holmes, story by Sydney Golt

Nightmare - art by Joe Colquhoun; story by Eddie South

The fugitive from the future - art by Geoff Campion, story by Hal Wilton

The terror in the fog - art by Eric Bradbury, story by Ted Cowan

The laughter from beyond - art by John Catchpole; story by Angus Allan

The night of the gargoyle - art by Geoff Campion; story by Jack Adrian

The man on the road - art by Joe Colquhoun; story by Jack Adrian

Of thee she'll sing - art by Geoff Campion; story by JR Montague 

The strange old house by the churchyard - art by Eric Bradbury; story by Anug Allan

Rockfist Rogan - the novels

To celebrate completing my 'collection' of Rockfist Rogan novels I thought I'd share the covers of these rare volumes with you...

For those not in the know Rockfist was an RAF fighter and champion boxer who appeared in The Champion, a boys story paper from the Amalgamated Press (which ran from 28/01/22 to 19/03/55). The stories were written by 'Hal Wilton' (actually legendary British comics writer Frank S. Pepper - creator of Roy of the Rovers and Captain Condor).

There were 3 'tie-in' books published
Rockfist Rogan
Rockfist in the kingdom of the Khan
Rockfist at the North Pole

The stories in this volume are as follows:
The jet-plane spy
Hunting the Hawk
Peril in the explosives factory
What's wrong with Rockfist?
The gold pirates
A shock for Rockfist
A Goal0Break
The land of skulls
The truth about the Tortillo affair

All of these were originally published in The Champion
The book is 135 pages long and the cover picture is from a painting by R. Simmons

Painting is, again, by R. Simmons. Stories had appeared [in their original forms it says - suggesting that perhaps they've been re-written for this novelisation] in The Champion.

There's an ad in the back of here for the 'Rockfist Club', it says "...to enrol and obtain the fine badge together with a Membership Card and a free copy of the Rockfist Gen Book all you need do is send 1/6 and a stamped self addressed envelop to the Secretary of the Rockfist club c/o Stuart Pepper & Son, London Road, Billericay, Essex"

Painting is, again, by R. Simmons. Stories had appeared [in their original forms it says - suggesting that perhaps they've been re-written for this novelisation] in The Champion.

Advertised but not appearing titles were
Rockfist King of the cannibals
Rockfist Rohan - Spy Hunter


All 3 novels are undated and normally cost £20-£30 in their dustwarppers.