Leo Baxendale

Every comic collector out there wants Leo Baxendale book on their shelves right? I certainly do and I've managed to acquire the following from second hand bookshops, charity shops and the like over the years (so, that's why I haven't posted a picture of Willy the Kid book 1).

I remember this from the Guardian but don't recall realising somehow that is was by Baxendale

 Willy the Kid book 2 - front cover

and rear cover

Book 3 - this has a dustjacket over a plain blue cover

and here's the back cover

What this was doing in a 2nd hand record shop in Croydon (about 20 years ago) I have no idea

Acquired in the socialist bookshop just by the British Museum for a very comradely price, I was very happy.

You can buy Leo Baxendale items from his website here

new Frank Hampson artwork discovered?

Browsing the Book Palace website last night, I came across this...

The link itself is here where you'll see it described thus "...This is gorgeous painting, probably used for a magazine illustration or advertisement in the late 1950s. Depicting a scene at a British port as travellers disembark from their cruise and have to face the close examination of British Customs control. It has been attributed to Frank Hampson as it very closely resembles his technique and style".

I'd go along with the Hampson attribution.
I'd go along with the magazine illustration or advert - although I wonder 2 things:
a). when would he have find the time to fit it in with his Dan Dare commitments (unless he did it when he wasn't working on the strip through ill-health)
b). is it actually a finished piece or (incredibly) 'just' a rough? The reason I say this is that only the 5 figures in the foreground of the picture look complete to me - the rest of the picture is just not quite finished to Hampson's usual high standard. The cranes in the background look particularly sketchy.

The final question then is what is it an advert for? Well, I'm assuming it's for the brand of booze that gramps has been caught trying to smuggle through Customs.
Two bottles then - I'm going to guess the one in the Customs officer's right hand is Courvoisier and in his left hand some Stolichnaya vodka.

Yours for £1250!

Striker volume 2 - updated with some story details

Is now available for pre-order and looks great...

The second book of the entire Striker collection is ready to order!

Entitled Thamesford to Warbury, it’s another quality heavyweight hardback of nearly 300 pages, featuring every Striker episode from the start of the colour strips in 1990 to the early Warbury adventures in 1994. As with the first book, there’s an introduction by Striker creator Pete Nash with his thoughts and memories from that particular period in Striker’s fascinating history.
There are two purchase options: £25 (including post & packing) for an unsigned copy or £30 for a signed copy

Books will be dispatched around the end of April 2017

Pete Nash has now released some story details...

The Trouble With Theresa (conclusion) – what will happen to Nick’s new wife?

Burn-out – Nick joins a sinister Italian club where success really is a matter of life and death.

Falling Star– Nick’s new rival has his finger on the self-destruct button.

Deadly Ambition – enter Rodney Crampton, Thamesford’s murderous new owner.

Micky Mulligan’s Comeback – a hard-man defender comes out of retirement but hides a secret from Nick.

The Boy From Ballygilpaddy – Nick comes up against the IRA in Northern Ireland.

More details here
http://planetstriker.com/shop

As was the case with the first book, we will only be printing one edition and will be offering the books exclusively to Strikerworld members before advertising them in The Sun - so be sure to buy your copy now

Monster wrestlers in my pocket - issues 1+2

I'm always keen to check out the more esoteric end of the British comics market - and sometimes that means delving into the world of the toy tie-in comic. So here we have not just Wrestlers in my pocket but Monster Wrestlers in my pocket. It's a whole new sub-set of a toy-line you'd probably forgotten about.
Anyway, here are the covers to the first 2 issues of this title (it only lasted 3 issues - so if you have a spare copy of issue 3 please let me know and I'll buy if off you!) - cover art is by Don Wazejewski (http://donwazejewski.artweb.com/) who worked his way up from working in fanzines to illustrating strips in new Eagle and in Battle comic.

In both issues art is provided by Don and by Rob Sharp. Contents are adverts for other toys, 'character' profiles; some strip cartoons; games etc.

Achtung Commando! - issues 3+4

So here we go with issue 3 - best cover yet I reckon!

64 pages in this issue - contents are...

editorial

interview with George Low

Commando index - issues 61-90

Commando comics and me - Harry Warren

The writer's craft - a closer look at Harry Warren's Commandos

Ken Barr - the comic strips

Issue 4 then...

64 pages in this issue - mind you the size of the font has doubled (to something more readable!)

Published in May 2002

editorial

interview with Ian Kennedy

Ian Kennedy - the Air Ace years

Commando index - issues 91-100

Denis Mcloughlin - an appreciation

plus page after page of Ian Kennedy art - even I thought this issue was paying £15 for in 2002

It was (I discovered after buying up back issues on eBay many years later) - a great magazine this, the like of which I wish still existed today. All 4 issues are well worth seeking out by anybody with an interest in British comics.

Doctor Who - part 2

And here's my other Doctor Who item, this is a reprint of the 10th anniversary Radio Times special (can't recall quite when it was reprinted, late noughties). I collected it because of the Frank Hampson illustration for the 'How to build a Dalek' feature. Having last worked on Dan Dare in the late '50s, the 1970s represented a fallow period for Hampson. The magazine also features work by Frank Bellamy and by Peter Brookes (who went on to become a political cartoonist for The Times).

Doctor Who - part 1

To celebrate the launch of the new series of Doctor Who this evening I thought I'd see what Who type stuff I've acquired over the years...right, I've had a look and the answer's not much...enough for one 'new' Who post today and a 'classic' Who post tomorrow.

First up then is Where's the doctor? a Where's Wally type of book but with the added bonus that the pictures are all by ace cartoonist Jamie Smart (whose work I mainly know from the DFC and the Phoenix comic but he's done loads of stuff (http://www.fumboo.com/))

Front cover

Rear cover

Who are we looking for

 How hard can it be to find them? Oh, I see...

Achtung Commando! - issue 1+2

Back in the day I remember seeing adverts in Comics International for this (occasional) series of "fanzines" for Commando. Fanzine doesn't really do them justice, these are A5, full colour throughout. If you could have got them in Tesco you'd be calling them a magazine. But there we go, editor Peter Richardson was doing his best dammit. Anyway, at the time I slightly balked at the price (£15 was a lot then), only bought issue 4, regretted not buying issues 1-3 and then spent years waiting fro them to turn up on eBay. Anyhoo, here are issue 1-2 and contents detail. Issue 3+4 coming up soon.

Contents are as follows:
52 pages
Interview with Ken Barr
The Commando index - issues 1-30 (publication date, cover art and story art)
Patrick Wright - an appreciation
Commando - a personal recollection (by David Whitehead)


Issue 2

Contents are as follows:
80 pages in this issue - the longest issue that was published
editorial & letters
Writing for Commando - by David Whitehead
50 years of writing with Syd J. Bounds - by Steve Holland
The Commando index - issues 31-60 (publication date, cover art and story art)
Denis Mcloughlin - by Steve Holland
Shooting from the hip - an interview with Denis McLoughlin

One Eyed Jack - out 14th June 2017

Police Detective Jack McBane is the toughest, meanest law enforcer in 1970s New York City. Despite having lost his left eye in the line of duty, McBane will stop at nothing to rid the crime-infested streets of scumbags and villains – even if it means having to occasionally break the rules!
Written by John Wagner and featuring the dynamic artwork of the late John Cooper, One-Eyed Jack is a seminal comic strip which helped shape and change the course of British comic books forever.

You can buy it here - this bookplate edition is limited to 200 copies
https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/RCA-B0019


The non-bookplate edition is priced at £14.99 and is available here
https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/RCA-B0008

Matt Smith at the Barbican

As part of the Into the Unknown - a journey through science fiction exhibition at the Barbican gallery this Summer (3 June 2017 - 1 September 2017) a series of talks and screenings have now been announced and a couple caught my eye as being of potential interest to us here...

1). 2000ad editor Matt Smith will be attending "The dreamers club" on 29th June, where, alongside othere, he'll be considering who decides what the future looks like. More details here
https://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=21182

2). on the 9th August 2017 the gallery will be celebrating Nerd Nite and in The Psychology of Dr Who, Dr Sarita Robinson, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Central Lancashire, explores both human and alien psychology to gain a better understanding of The Doctor, and determine the impact that travelling in time and space has on his long-suffering companions. More details here
https://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=21233

See you there?

How much has the rarest issue of Action been re-listed at?

What happened to the banned issue of Action that was for sale recently?

Action - the banned issue - for sale (yet) again

Previously (http://boysadventurecomics.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/action-comic-23rd-october-1976-issue.html) I reported on the sale in October 2016 of the final issue of Action comic (dated 23rd October 1976). That was sold for £4110.75 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ACTION-BANNED-ISSUE-23rd-October-1976-/361776241756?hash=item543b8b5c5c:g:3MYAAOSw8gVYBln8)


This beat the hammer price of the previous copy (sold in May 2016) for £2555
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Action-comic-23rd-Oct-1976-ULTRA-RARE-ISSUE-30-copies-printed-FN-phil-comics-/271876254428

Then another copy turned up, it was originally listed at £2,500...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/British-Action-comic-issue-37-Banned-and-Ultra-rare-Excellent-copy-/112265986978?hash=item1a239303a2:g:iSoAAOSwnHZYVx6F
but failed to sell - on 21st January 2017 for (bids from) £2,500;

It was then listed again ending 27th Feb 2017 for the reduced price of (bids from) £2,250

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/British-Action-comic-issue-37-034-Banned-034-and-Ultra-rare-Excellent-copy-/112305996694?

But again failed to sell.

It's been listed yet again, for bids starting from "just" £2,250
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/British-Action-comic-issue-37-23rd-October-1976-Banned-and-Ultra-rare-/112339136595?hash=item1a27ef3053:g:iSoAAOSwnHZYVx6F

But again failed to sell.

And now (10th April - bidding ending 16th April) - bids are again from £2,250

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/British-Action-comic-issue-37-23rd-October-1976-Banned-and-Ultra-rare-/112364890788?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

Will it be a case of 4th time lucky or is the starting price going to have to come down??

Ghost in the Shell anime designs on display in London

Little bit outside the normal range of what I cover, but this is on in London so I might go to it, so thought I would flag it up...

From the 26th of May The House of Illustration are running an exhibition entitled Anime Architecture: Backgrounds of Japan. This is the UK’s first ever exhibition of handmade background illustrations for classic sci-fi anime films. It will feature drawings and paintings from some of the most influential productions in the genre’s 1990s heyday, including Production I.G’s phenomenally influential 1995 film Ghost in the Shell.

The show will include Hiromasa Ogura’s watercolour paintings for Ghost in the Shell, an anime epic that informed pioneering sci-fi works such as The Matrix and Avatar. Inspired by Asia’s emerging megacities and based on photographs of Hong Kong, Ogura’s work depicts the striking contrast between a derelict Chinese town and ruthless urban development.

Pencil drawings by Takashi Watabe – one of the most important Japanese illustrators of his generation – for 2008’s sequel Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence will also feature. His meticulously realistic style has become a hallmark of Japanese anime films as a whole.

The exhibition will also include work from Patlabor: The Movie (1989) and Metropolis (2001), by Mamoru Oshii and Atsushi Takeuchi.
Since the success of Akira (1988) and Ghost in the Shell, Japanese anime films have been at the heart of global pop culture. A live action remake of Ghost in the Shell starring Scarlett Johansson is released on 31 March 2017.

More details can be found here:
http://www.houseofillustration.org.uk/whats-on/current-future-events/anime-architecture-backgrounds-of-japan

Striker - the complete collection volume 2!

is now available for pre-order and looks great...

The second book of the entire Striker collection is ready to order!

Entitled Thamesford to Warbury, it’s another quality heavyweight hardback of nearly 300 pages, featuring every Striker episode from the start of the colour strips in 1990 to the early Warbury adventures in 1994. As with the first book, there’s an introduction by Striker creator Pete Nash with his thoughts and memories from that particular period in Striker’s fascinating history.
There are two purchase options: £25 (including post & packing) for an unsigned copy or £30 for a signed copy

Books will be dispatched around the end of April 2017

More details here
http://planetstriker.com/shop

Frank Quitely - the art of comics

To tie-in with the exhibition currently running at the Kelvingrove art gallery and museum, Black Hearted Press comic (http://bhpcomics.com/  ;   https://www.facebook.com/bhpcomics/?fref=ts) have just released "Frank Quitely - the art of comics"

This slim A4 volume (32 pages, full colour throughout) is available for £5.99 plus postage.

I won't be able to get to the exhibition so this is as close as I'm going to get to a look at his art, which I have to say, I was woefully unfamiliar with. This is the book of the exhibition.
For an artist as prolific as Quitely has been over the last few years this book can only offer you snippets of what he has been up to - All-star Superman, Batman & Robin, We3, Jupiters Legacy and much more besides. There's a great selection of sketches and finished art throughout with multiple images on most pages - from his early work on Electric Soup up to his present-day work for items such as The Gorbals Vampire.
All in all though this is a great primer on a Scottish comics artist who is being just celebreated right now in his home town.

Frank will be signing at the Glasgow Sci-Fi, Cosplay and Comic-con today and tomorrow ()8th and 9th April 2017).

From 'Shit the dog' poster magazine issue 3, and signed (!) by Frank himself

From 'Shit the dog' poster magazine issue 4 - the only art  I have that is credited to Vincent Deighan

Space Precinct 2040 - part 2

And now we have issues 4-6...

Cover by Mick Austin
story one - The last Warrior (writer Ian Carney; Art by John Erasmus; letters by Annie Parkhouse)
story two - Christmas spirit (writer Stephen Jewell; art & lettering Gary Chaloner)
cutaway drawing (by Graham Bleathman) of Slomo (robotic secretarial assistant)

Cover by Tony Luke
story one - True believers (writer Simon Jowett; Art by Graham Manley; letters by Annie Parkhouse)
story two - Timebomb (writer Cory MacRae; art Andrew Currie; inks Graham Higgins; colours Nigel Parkinson; lettering Peter Nichols)
cutaway drawing (by Graham Bleathman) of inside the space hopper 

Cover by Colin MacNeil
story one - Cruise control (story by Paul Grist, art by Colin MacNeil, colours by Nigel Parkinson; lettering by Elitta Fell)
story two - True believers (writer Simon Jowett; art by Graham Manley)

Space Precinct 2040 - part 1

Here are the contents and covers to the first 3 issues of 'Space Precinct' by Manga Publishing. The title lasted 6 issues in total...

cover by Kev Walker
story one - The last warrior [writer Ian Carney; art John Erasmus; lettering Annie Parkhouse]
story two - parental guidance [writer William Cade; art Andrew Currie; lettering Peter Nicholls; colours Steve Whitaker]
cutaway drawing (by Graham Bleathman) of 88th precinct station house

cover by John Erasmus
story one - The last warrior [writer Ian Carney; art John Erasmus; lettering Annie Parkhouse]
story two - Arcadia [writer David Hine; art David Hine; lettering Elitta Fell; colours Nigel Parkinson]
cutaway drawing (by Graham Bleathman) of police cruiser.

cover by John Higgins
story one - Arcadia [writer David Hine; art David Hine; lettering Elitta Fell; colours Nigel Parkinson]
story two - The last warrior [writer Ian Carney; art John Erasmus; lettering Annie Parkhouse]
cutaway drawing (by Graham Bleathman) of inside the space suburb.

new Eagle unknown cover artists - part 3

Nearly there, few more to go...

7). Whoever drew Rat Trap in Cor!! was responsible for this when Rat Trap was reprinted in new Eagle

8). and back in time now to the start of ne Eagle - but who drew the Mekon?

9). Last one...Heinzl was drawing Doomlord at this stage but is this by him?

new Eagle unknown cover artists - part 2

And a few more please!

4). Eric Bradbury was drawing Doomlord at the time so this may just be a badly coloured Bradbury piece...

5). Not many clues to go on here...

6). Again this may be by Eric Bradbury but I'm not sure

new Eagle unknown cover artists - part 1

Quiz time!

My comic reference spreadsheet listing the contents, artists, writers, story titles etc. of all the comics I have collected has a few gaps in it and I'm hoping that some of you good people out there will be able to help me fill in at least some of the blanks...

1). new Eagle #323, 28th May 1988 - signed "AW" - but who is that? Andrew Wildman (that's a guess based on his initials rather than his style)

This is now confirmed as Anthony Williams

2). this is just signed "Simon"

This is confirmed as Simon Harrison

3). This one feels like it should be really easy but somehow my brain just isn't connecting..

Carlos Ezquerra covers

As I (secret shame!) never read 2000AD as a kid I didn't see too much of 'King' Carlos's work, so these are the only covers I have by him...2 from Starlord and 2 from new Eagle..

The original art from the top scan is currently on display at the Cartoon Museum in Bloomsbury as part of the 'Future Shocks - 40 years of 2000ad' exhibition.