BLIMEY! The Blog of British Comics: lion

Showing posts with label lion. Show all posts

Saturday, September 07, 2019

Preview: DR.MESMER'S REVENGE

Rebellion continue to unearth treasures from comics of the past and re-publish them for both the new and nostalgic market. The next collection from the archives will be Dr.Mesmer's Revenge, a supernatural adventure series that ran in Lion and Thunder in 1971/72. (It was never in Thunder comic, as the cover unfortunately erroneously states.)

Written by Dionne Avenell and drawn by Carlos Cruz (whose art graced many comics back then) Dr.Mesmer's Revenge was one of the serials that gave Lion a breath of fresh air and along with strips such as Black Max, Adam Eterno and The Spellbinder made the comic a must-buy in the early 1970s.

This 128 page collection reprints the entire series from the weekly, plus a couple of stories that presumably appeared in Lion annuals or holiday specials. It's good basic horror stuff in the Hammer film tradition (but tailored for kids obviously). Give it a try! It's available to pre-order now directly from Rebellion:
https://treasuryofbritishcomics.com/catalogue//RCA-B0052

• CREATIVE TEAM: Donne Avenell (w) Carlos Cruz (a)
• RELEASE DATE: 3rd October 2019
• PAPERBACK, 128 pages
• PRICE: £14.99 (UK)
• ISBN: 9781781086872

Hammer Horror meets Doomlord in this 1970s supernatural comics gem! After several artefacts are stolen from his home, the mysterious Egyptologist Dr. Mesmer resurrects a five-thousand-year-old mummy called Angor a Pharaoh possessed with great mystical power. Together they set out to retrieve the missing items, bringing terror and destruction in their wake!
Can anybody stop them? Both the army and constabulary will need to work together in order to stop Dr. Mesmer and his unearthly ally!

Available in print from: book stores, Amazon, and UK comic book stores via Diamond

Available in digital from: Treasury of British Comics webshop & apps for iPad, Android and Windows 10

Monday, September 24, 2018

Preview: BLACK MAX Volume 1

After the ridiculously manic over-reaction to American comics imports in the 1950s, (see here) horror comics for kids were effectively banned in Britain under the (Children and Young Persons) Harmful Publications Act. However, publishers knew that children loved monster stories, and that a well-told horror comic wouldn't really do them any harm. They were prevented from blatantly publishing horror comics, but did manage to inject elements of such stories into their traditional adventure comics.

One such strip was Black Max, a serial that ran throughout the short-lived Thunder anthology weekly in 1970/71, and then into the merged Lion and Thunder. Black Max was basically presented as a war story, featuring arial combat in World War One, but it was its horror element that was its main attraction.

Episode one art by Eric Bradbury.

That horror came in the form of giant mutated bats created by evil scientist Baron Maximilien Von Klorr, who used them to attack the Allied forces. Written by Frank Pepper and Ken Mennell, it was one of the more memorable series in Thunder, and deservedly became very popular with the readers. (On a personal note, it was also a favourite of my dad's, who started reading comics again a few years before he died.)

First page of episode two. Art by Alfonso Font.

Now, Rebellion are collecting the early chapters in a book to be released on October 4th. Black Max Volume 1 reprints all the episodes from Thunder, plus the first few months of its continuation in the merged Lion and Thunder. The artwork is by the amazing Alfonso Font (who also provides an introduction and new cover), although the episode from Thunder No.1 was drawn by Eric Bradbury. (Presumably Bradbury's episode would have been drawn for the dummy issue of Thunder, and he may have been too busy to do the series once the comic got the green light months later.) Bradbury of course was a master of atmospheric horror in British comics. Font's style is lighter, but equally dramatic and his bats are the stuff of nightmares.

Black Max is a superb collection. Alfonso Font's work deserves to be seen and appreciated by a modern audience so I hope comic shops have ordered this marvellous book. If your local comic shop won't stock it, you can order it directly from the publisher here:
https://treasuryofbritishcomics.com

• CREATIVE TEAM: Frank Pepper, Ken Mennell (w) Eric Bradbury, Alfonso Font (a)
• RELEASE DATE: 4th October (UK) 24th October (US)
• PAPERBACK, 115 pages
• PRICE: £10.99 (UK) $16.99 (US)
• ISBN: 9781781086551
• DIAMOND: AUG182151

Ace fighter pilot Baron Maximilien Von Klorr is the scourge of the skies, menacing the Allied forces during the bloodiest battles in WWI. Skilled, ruthless and in possession of two giant, mutated kingbats who fight by his side, Von Klorr AKA Black Max is almost unstoppable. Only the brave pilots of the Royal Flying Corps, including Lieutenant Tom Wilson, oppose the Black Max's complete dominance of the air. Thrilling supernatural war comics from the pages of classic British comics Lion and Thunder!

Available in print from: book stores, Amazon, and comic book stores via Diamond

Available in digital from: 2000 AD webshop, 2000 AD iPad app, 2000 AD Android app, 2000 AD Windows 10 app

Tuesday, April 03, 2018

What Would YOU Do?

Art: Brian Lewis

Art: Geoff Campion?

In 1963 and 1964, the weekly comic magazine Boys' World ran a feature on its covers entitled What Would YOU Do? Each week the readers would be presented with a challenge to solve, with the answer revealed inside. The images featured top quality artwork by the likes of Brian Lewis, Gerry Embleton, James McConnell and more.

Six years later, the newly combined Lion and Eagle resurrected the feature in 1969 by using the same challenges, but with redrawn artwork by Geoff Campion. Here's four of them for you to compare, along with their solutions.

Now, you might be wondering why IPC didn't simply reprint the old Boys' World covers instead of commissioning new artwork? Two reasons. One being that Boys' World had been printed on top quality glossy paper but Lion was using cheap newsprint that wouldn't have reproduced the painted artwork very well, and perhaps another reason was that they wanted covers that were in keeping with the interiors; ie: linework by one of their current artists.

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting bit of trivia, and a good opportunity to show some top class comic covers!

Art: James McConnell

Art: Geoff Campion

Art: James McConnell

Art: Geoff Campion

Art: J.H. Batchelor

Art: Geoff Campion

Friday, July 07, 2017

Will BLACK MAX return?

One of the most memorable adventure strips from British comics of the 1970s, Black Max started out in the short-lived Thunder comic in 1970 before transferring over to the combined Lion and Thunder in March 1971. It was written by Ken Mennell and initially drawn by Eric Bradbury, then by Spanish artist Alfonso Font.

The war/horror strip involved WW1 aircraft being attacked by giant mutated bats under the control of evil Baron Maximilien Von Klorr and proved popular enough to appear in Lion and Thunder until the final issue in 1974.

Now that Rebellion have bought the archive of IPC strips from 1970 onwards, is there a possibility that a collected Black Max book might appear as a future volume in their Treasury of British Comics line? Time will tell!

In the meantime, here's a couple of sample episodes from the first two combined issues of Lion and Thunder, dated 20th and 27th March 1971. Superb art by Alfonso Font...

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Christmas comics: LION (1973)

Sometimes, British comics that are heading for closure tend to deteriorate in quality, but even a year before its end, Lion was still full of good material. Even so, it obviously wasn't appealing to most readers but even at 14 (as I was then) Lion was still one of my favourite adventure comics of the time.

Here are a few pages from Lion's final Christmas issue, published this week in 1973. The front cover is by Geoff Campion, one of IPC's best artists, illustrating a scene from that week's Spellbinder episode, written by Frank Pepper and drawn by Campion...

TV impressionists were very popular at the time, so Lion reflected this by having an impressionist who was also a spy! Marty Wayne, He's Heading for Fame, was drawn by Fred Holmes. (I don't think a Rolf Harris impersonator would be welcome at a children's party today though!)

It's a Fact was an irregular feature. Can anyone identify the artist?

A Christmas theme wasn't appropriate to fit into all the adventure strips, but Robot Archie managed it. Art by Ted Kearon...

Time-travelling Adam Eterno found himself on the frontline on Christmas Day. Art by Solano Lopez...

On the back page, Lion's only remaining humour strip, Mowser, by the brilliant Reg Parlett...

Another trip back in time tomorrow! Which year will we arrive in?

Saturday, May 28, 2016

LION AND EAGLE - First merged issue (1969)

IPC Magazines were quite ruthless with some of the comics when they took control of them from Fleetway and Odhams in 1969. Within the space of a few weeks Smash! was changed beyond recognition, Jag was merged into Tiger, and Eagle was merged into Lion.

The cancellation of Eagle was the end of an era for a title that in its heyday was the pinnacle of British comics. It was even more of a blow that it was merged into a comic that had been created to rival it, but by 1969 Eagle was way past its best.

The first combined issue of Lion and Eagle was published on Saturday 26th April 1969, (cover dated a week later as was the norm, as 3rd May). The cover feature began the series What Would You Do? - which re-used ideas from the defunct Boys' World comic, redrawn by Geoff Campion.

Lion and Eagle's 36 newsprint pages featured Carson's Cubs, Robot Archie, Zip Nolan, Paddy Payne (reprint), and Mowser from Lion, and Dan Dare (reprint), Lightning Stormm, The Gladiators, and The Waxer from Eagle.

It also featured three new stories that began that week. Let's take a look at them. First off was Turville's Touchstone (later retitled The Spellbinder) which introduced us to young Tom Turville discovering a family secret. The artwork was by Geoff Campion, one of IPC's finest illustrators...

The second new series was Gargan about a boy and his yeti. Artwork by Solano Lopez...

The third new story was Oddball Oates, drawn by the brilliant Tom Kerr, about an inventor who uses herbs to give him an advantage in sporting endeavours. Er, isn't that illegal? Hey, it was the sixties maaan.

Before the merger, Eagle had been reprinting 1950s Dan Dare stories, but at least it was still in full colour. Therefore it must have been a blow to readers (and to creator Frank Hampson) to find that when the strip transferred to Lion it was published in black and white. Not only that, but the artwork had been considerably altered, with subtle shades of colour replaced by heavy Letratone, and panels cropped to fit Lion's proportions. A travesty, but there was no other option now that it was on cheap newsprint.

Residing at the back of the comic was the long-running Mowser, the only humour strip in the weekly. Artwork by Reg Parlett...

Here's one of the adverts from the issue, back in the days when you could buy an ice lolly for 6d (2 and a half pence). Bespoke superhero Wall's Wonderman promoted the product...

On the back page, after all that excitement, readers were encouraged to buy a tin of Cocoa...

Do you have memories of this comic? Or is it new to you? Either way, feel free to post your thoughts below.

Further reading: The final issue of Eagle:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/1969-final-flight-of-eagle.html

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Running from 2006 to 2019, BLIMEY! was dedicated to British comics past and present. The images of old comics on my blog are copyright their respective publishers and are only used here for review purposes. They have been scanned from my own personal comics collection, in over 50 years of collecting.The prose articles, with the exception of press releases, are Copyright © Lew Stringer and must not be reproduced without permission.