Entries tagged with medium: british comics

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Some random British comics weirdness, and good new for fans of Misty!

I am indebted to the entertaining and informative Britishcomicart blog for this strange little series (of which I only have these two pages

Meet Kid Chameleon! (No, not the videogame character, a different one... what do you mean you didn't know there was another one? Actually, given how old it is, many of you have probably never heard of the videogame one either!)

Aaaaaanyway, back to the post at hand;

( And you thought Black Condor had a strange origin! )

Now, five years ago (Gosh, that long ago!) I made a Halloween post featuring stories and art from a 1970's and 80's British comic, which featured fantasy and horror stories aimed at the teenage girl market; Misty.

I am delighted to say that it was announced this week that Rebellion, the publishers of 2000AD are to return Misty to print, with reprints of some of the stories that were so well beloved, starting with Pat Mill's classic "Moonchild" about a young woman with telekinetic powers.

A nice quote from one of the publishers

Ben Smith, head of books and comic books, said: “When Pat Mills tells you there are great comics hidden in an archive and someone should really publish them, a sensible publisher sits up and takes notice.

Pat was talking about Misty and girls comics in general to graphic novels editor Keith Richardson and myself on a plane to San Diego Comic Con and was so enthusiastic about the material we had to go looking for it.

Heralding from an era when comics for girls outsold comics for boys, Misty was shortly-lived but burned terribly bright. It remains unlike anything else with its collection of shocking and varied subject matter. It’s a great pleasure to be able to bring this spell-binding work back into the public eye and we look forward to surprising people all over again.

Emphasis in the last paragraph there mine, but worthy of note.

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Mark Ronson won’t leave our heroine alone in Romance of the Week!

Mates was a pop and romance comic aimed at teenage girls. These scans are from the 1977 annual. Yes, it’s Romance of the Week starring Linda Wright and Mark Ronson (who looks almost as good irl as he does after having time travelled backwards into this comic!!1!!). The art is, understandably, not signed. Presumably the artist was too ashamed and merely slunk away to try cashing his pay cheque before the art editor demanded their money back.

Linda Wright, wearing a small and see-through baby doll nightie, is watching Mark Ronson on telly presenting a programme called Romance of the Week.

( Three scans for crack fans. )

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A little Star Wars horror - Death Masque

I can thoroughly recommend Star Wars Omnibus - Wild Space Volume 1, nearly 450 pages of odd collections of Star Wars stories, from cereal boxes, toybox comics, and many of them being back-up or filler strips in the UK Star Wars Weekly Comic (Which I have fond memories of to this day).

Because of the era, this means that some of them are by the likes of Alan Moore, and Alan Davis, then bright young things at Marvel UK. Alas some of them are only 5 pages long, and are in their own way, little gems of storytelling, but alas, hacking up a 5 page story to fit the 1/3 rule is often deeply counterproductive, so I'd rather not try (So go buy the book!)

This is a 15 page story written by Steve Moore and John Stokes on art though, from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back #149

( Death Masque )

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UK Comics - Some samples from The Beano and The Dandy

Ah childhood! I recently chanced upon a set of treasury style books released to celebrate the history of The Beano and The Dandy, two of the longest running weekly comics in the world, when I say that one book was released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Dandy and the Beano, and IT came out in 1987 so we're talking ooooooollllllld school here.

So I though I'd share a few of the delights that we Brits had in our youth, and in most cases here, long before MY youth too... and yes, we DID have printing presses back then! ;P

( It's not weird... if it's British it's ECCENTRIC! )

Current Mood: anxious

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Tenth Anniversary Celebration: Nutty!

This one is one of my first, from December of 2009, when I was doing a series of 1980s British comics scans.

So, 7 1/2 pages of 23 from Nutty #178, July 9th 1983.

( Why yes, that is a banana in my pocket. )

I'll be describing the features you're missing, starting with:

*Jay R. Hood: You may remember from the Roy Race post a bit back that "Dallas" was huge in Britain back in the day. This included several comics characters clearly inspired by scheming villain J.R. Ewing. To be honest, this one's a fairly standard rowdy boy, who happens to wear a cowboy hat. He and his gang run the local constables ragged, until the police captain decides to get them toughening-up lessons...from Jay R.

*Peter Pest: Standard annoying kid brother. His teenage sister and her beau attempt to hide their date from the boy, which actually gets them in more hassle than if they'd just admitted the truth in the first place.

( Class warfare--a long-honoured British tradition. )

*Nip and Rrip": A boy and his cat, and yes, I've spelled its name correctly. Broke and desiring ice cream, the pair dig up the garden (what us Yanks call a "yard") in search of buried treasure. They find none, but Dad gives them money to stop digging.

*Snoopy: A reporter dog, no relation to the more famous American Snoopy. In this issue, the boss orders Snoopy to replace the carpet as it's getting worn through. Hilarity ensues.

*Tweet William: A daft youngster. After ruining his shoes, he goes shopping for a new pair. His insane prattle drives the shopkeep to distraction.

*Super Gnat: A powerful but small insect. Super Gnat is observing a yacht race when he observes some poor sportmen swamping a smaller competitor's boat. One burst of superbreath later, the underdog has won not only that race, but a nearby beach sailing contest as well.

*Sports Fan: A very athletic girl. She's performing some fancy dives...and some fancy leaping back up to the board. It turns out there's a trampoline instead of water in the pool.

( Speaking of sports... )

*Snoozer: A boy who likes to sleep. His parents buy rice crunchies for breakfast, and the "pop snap crackle" startles Snoozer awake at the table. The next morning, the folks are distressed to learn that he's swapped the box with "Silent Crunchies" that make no such sounds.

( Feral Dog Roll Call )

( Not quite as scary as St. Trinian's, but then who is? )

*Wacky the Crackpot Inventor: Exactly what it says on the tin. Mum's got a nasty cold, so Wacky invents a housework robot. Hilarity ensues, and at the end Wacky decides it would be easier to invent a cure for the common cold.

*Cannonball Kid: He's football crazy. (Soccer, to Americans.) Cannonball learns that there's a scout in the audience for his game, and figures that he should try to impress this visitor in order to be called up to the big leagues. In reality, it's a Boy Scout, and Cannonball finds himself being hauled off to the scrapyard with a bucket on his head.

and finally
*Cuddles, an annoying toddler. He and long-suffering Dad visit the zoo. Hilarity ensues.

Your thoughts and/or comments? Happy decade, Scans Daily!
SKJAM!

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Bunty, two unknown issues, 1960s, reprinted in Bunty for Girls - Golden Age Classic Stories, 2010

Preliminary note: yes, I'm aware of slang uses of words relating to "bunty". "Bunting", for example, is what one displays to honour the Queen. ;-)

( Mighty Mo wears a dress. )

Advert for Bimbo children's weekly, with a free gift including 7 gay pictures, from Bunty, 1965.

Advert for Bimbo children's weekly, from Bunty, 1965

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What sort of comics were British kids reading during WWII?

Today is Remembrance Sunday, traditionally the day to honour those in the military who have fallen in wars throughout the world, and throughout the years.

And I recently came into ownership of a fascinating collection, "The Dandy - 1937 to 2012" a collection from 75 years worth of a single British comic (For those in the UK, it's available from WH Smith and I thoroughly recommend it).

The Dandy is about to cease publication and move to an entirely online platform, which makes me a sad icon_UK, but such is life.

I'll be posting more from it in the weeks ahead, but for now a couple of these seem apt for the day, since as part of that 75 year span was, of course, World War II.

I've added the trigger warning for racism, since the depiction of Germans within may be considered to be tasteless.

( Some wartime stereotypes under the cut )

( And how it was looked back from the 1960's )

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medium: british comics

Another UK hero... or heroes... sort of... it's complicated, but then it always is...

with toys.

Warning: some slight racism, creepy concepts, killer toys, cheesy horror movies and another 1960's UK comic series under the cut.

( Dare you enter 'The House of Dolmann'? )

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Outside the Big Two - Titan's Transformers Prime comics

While IDW is currently doing an awesome job publishing Generation 1 based comics, they're not publishing an ongoing Transformers: Prime comic. Transformers: Prime is the current main TF cartoon, a CGI-animated series being shown on The Hub (previously Discovery Kids).

Titan Magazines over in the UK has been publishing a Transformers magazine which comes out once every four weeks since 2007, and while for most of its life it has been based around the Michael Bay movie franchise, last year they switched it over to be Transformers: Prime themed. The magazine includes such features as a letters page where the letters are answered in-character by Megatron and Arcee, an astrology column hosted by Starscream, and an eight-page comic. While intended for a somewhat younger readership than the IDW comic, the stories are fun.

So I thought I'd post parts of the comics from the second (just under 2 pages out of 8) and third (approx 2 pages out of 8) issues.

( Read more... )

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Beyond the big two - A most unusual British hero

American comics in the early days tended to have strapping, handsome heroes (or if not, then they were someone like the Thing, whose physical monstronsity was countered by a heart as big as all outdoors.

In the UK, that wasn't such a given, or heroes not always so clear cut, and certainly not always so handsome. As a case in point, this is the origin of one of the more durable, but now sadly almost unknown, British comic heroes... And often in those aimed at younger kids than their American counterparts.

From the pages of SMASH comics in the late 1960's comes

( The Incredible Adventures of Janus Stark )

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Some samples from early 2000AD

Well, I caved in and bought that "Best of 2000AD" book I mentioned a while back and it has some choice samples of very very early 2000AD, first issue early, and many more from later periods, so I thought a little pot-pourri might be fun to share.

Sadly the 1/3 rule, laudable though it is, is a complete swine to factor in for a five page story, since I don't even get two whole pages, but I work with what I have.

( Starting with the furore triggering 'INVASION!' )

( Shako - Lassie he ain't! )

( Ever wonder what the ABC in ABC Warriors stood for? )

( And finally, sports )

Current Mood: sore

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Slayers vs. Vampires--Street Football Edition!

One of the recurring themes in the early years of 2000 AD was the future sports story. These carried over most of the tropes of regular sports comics, but with more violence and death, because that's what sports were going to be like in the future. I thought you might enjoy a storyline from "The Mean Arena."

It is the year 2025, and the up-and-coming sport is "street footbal". So called because instead of a nice open field, it's played by cordoning off a few city blocks along a street and using the buildings and terrain therein. (Though several teams have remade their hometown strips into more exotic obstacle courses.) Weapons are allowed, though the lethal ones are supposed to be used only on nonliving objects such as "droid" decoys.

The protagonist is Matt Tallon, who went off and did well in the American league, while his brother Paul became a star in Britain. Recently, Paul died during a game, which most write off to the unfortunate accidents that plague the sport. But Matt smells a rat in just how fast Paul went from all-star to a personal and professional tailspin. To investigate, he joins Paul's last team, the struggling Slater's Slayers. Sure enough, it turns out Paul was killed by a small group calling themselves the Hexa Gang, apparently just to see if they could.

At this point in the story, Matt's already disposed of Jaws Jensen (the player who inflicted the injuries that actually killed Paul) and Dr. Simon Jessup (the medic who declared Paul fit to play despite previous injuries.) In his last game, Matt learned that one of the Hexa Gang is a woman....

( Are you ready for some football? )

Hope you enjoyed this football game!

Your thoughts and comments?
SKJAM!

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: "Flying Saucer Boogie"--Eddie Cletro

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Old-fashioned Sci-Fi action

Packed in with each issue of Judge Dredd Megazine (now available at Barnes & Noble!) is a smaller magazine reprinting strips from 2000 AD or the Meg itself. I thought you might get a kick out of last month's entry, "Death Planet."

Love that 50s B-movie poster look.

Four representative pages from different six-page chapters, originally published in 2000 AD #62-70, and bagged with Judge Dredd Megazine #321.

( Everything trying to kill you. )

There's also a backup feature called "Angel" about a test pilot who becomes fused with his onboard computer and gains superpowers. The special guest star is the U.S. president, who takes a liking to the man.

Your thoughts and comments?

SKJAM!

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(no subject)

Oh, it's your lucky day! Because it's time for more BUNTY!

Unfortunately these are pretty bad scans (so unusual from me) because they are from a 1966 annual; I cannot fit the thing into a scanner. Please try to love them anyway.

I have comprehendable stories for you, I have "unusual" art for you, I have story summaries that give a impression of the premises that were used to make engaging stories for girls in Britain in 1966! GRAB BAG.

( Read more... )

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Two Fantasy Comics of Interest

Miyazaki's Concepts of Good vs. Evil, and Matt Rhode's 'My Hero'

Though not strictly actual comics in the sense that they'd be okay in of themselves to be posted here, I thought that these are relevant enough to our community that people might think that they're cool in their own right.
( Warning for one kind of huge image )

Current Mood: silly
Current Location: My bunker
Current Music: "Let the Good Guys Win"

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Ringing in the New Year

Here's another New Year's post! This strip was taken from "Dandy and Beano--Magic Moments", a book reprinting some favorite holiday comics from Britain's long-running weeklies.

The Beano specializes in "naughty" characters, such rapscallions as Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx, the Bash Street Kids, and the famous comedy duo we hear from today....

( Long-time readers will guess right away )
Your thoughts and comments?

Happy New Year,
SKJAM!

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Another Zoids story...

Another tale from Zoidstar, courtesy of the 1986 Zoids Annual

Most Zoids stories are told, not surprisingly, from the point of view of the Zoids, they ARE the major players after all, and have a toy line to promote..

( A story told from a different perspective... )

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Powerplays - Zoid style!

For

greenmask, some more from the UK Zoids comic... well, not the comic per se. The ongoing nature of the stories and the short length make that a bear to trim. This one is courtesy of the Zoids annual from 1986.... Which makes this it's silver anniversary and I feel TERRIBLY old.

( They don't transform, but DAMN they're cool! )

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In honour of the passing of Marvel UK, an old Transformers UK story

I recently came across this story in old copies of Transformers Weekly I found in a longbox, and thought I'd share.

There's a G1 cartoon episode, "Autobot Spike", which deals with what happens when the mind of a wounded Spike Witwicky (the Autobots human sidekick) is placed inside a convenient robot body made out of spare Autobot parts whilst his body undergoes a life saving operation. Naturally, he goes stark staring mad, and runs amok, until he is eventually stopped and brought back to be restored to his old self... As disturbing Frankenstein body-horror stories go, it's not a bad 22 minute toy-based cartoon.

This is NOT that story, though it does examine the question... "What CAN a race of 40 foot tall alien battle robots possibly do to help their squishy little human buddy stay safe?"

The cover offers a clue... (The story is written by Transformers legend Simon Furman, and the art is a very early example of Barry Kitson, another find of Marvel UK)

( Well, it was this or they try to find a second hand Gundam going cheap )