Review: Ron Turner's SPACE ACE Volume 5

John Lawrence has just published Volume 5 of Ron Turner's Space Ace and it's dazzlingly good. The 40 page publication, full colour on quality paper stock, reprints two Space Ace stories from the mid 1950s. The Nine-Bomb Menace smoothly edits a six parter into one 24 page epic, and there's a shorter back-up story, Magnetic Meteor. There's also an interview with the late Ron Turner about the lead story, plus a letters section. 

These Space Ace collections are far more than just reprints of course. Artist John Ridgway has painstakingly adorned the pages with his wonderful colorization techniques. It's a process that's far more intricate than merely colouring the strips, as John has added depth and his own enhancements. I suspect there was some line reconstruction needed too, in order to make the old strips printable, as some panels do bear John's distinctive inking style. 

These sixty-year old stories rattle along at a fast pace and get the job done efficiently with no padding. It's a sharp, no-nonsense method of storytelling that is sadly too absent in many modern comics. 

Ron Turner's Space Ace Vol.5 is available to buy directly from the publisher John Lawrence and is available for £8.95 (UK), £12 (Europe) or £14.00 (International) including postage via PayPal to spaceace.54@virginmedia.com or cheque or postal order to John Lawrence, 39 Carterweys, Dunstable, Beds. LU5 4RB.  

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My apologies to those of you waiting for me to review your books and comics. As I'm sure you appreciate, blogging is only a part time hobby that I fit in between deadlines, and Blimey! is primarily a blog about vintage comics, but I will get around to promoting your titles when I've had chance to read them.