I hope you'll forgive this temporary diversion into American comics but there is a slight British connection if you'll bear with me. Also, I think these books are worth plugging regardless of their country of origin.
If, like me, you bought the occasional UK Tarzan comic in the 1970s published by Top Sellers, you'll know that they reprinted the American Gold Key Tarzan comics, which were usually drawn by Russ Manning. However, they later reprinted stories by Jesse Marsh from the Dell Tarzan comics. At the time I didn't know that the Marsh strips were from the 1940s/50s, just that they looked "old". Not that it was a bad thing. I actually preferred Marsh's work to Manning's slicker style.
Now, Dark Horse Comics in America have just published Tarzan: The Jesse Marsh Years Omnibus Volume 1, - and it's a huge brick of a book! A walloping 700 pages, reprinting 18 Tarzan comics that were published by Dell from 1947 to 1950, including covers and feature pages.
You must be thinking that's quite a hefty and cumbersome book? Not at all, because it's softback and printed on a nice matt paper that isn't as heavy as the glossy stock used in many archives like this. In fact, the look and texture of the paper is very similar to that used in those Top Sellers reprints of 45 years ago, and even the ink smells like it did in those old comics.
The strips have been scanned from the comics and restored, so we get the original linework and colours preserved. None of that nonsense of redrawing and garishly recolouring the pages like Marvel used to do with theirs. (I only wish Dark Horse had used this method for their Crime Does Not Pay volumes.)
The artwork of Jesse Marsh may seem crude or simplistic to some comic fans, but his style has inspired artists from Alex Toth to Los Bros Hernandez. This is really good stuff, and at a reasonable price too.
If you prefer slightly more contemporary Tarzan artwork then Dark Horse have another collection that may interest you. Tarzan: The Complete Joe Kubert Years is a done-in-one book featuring all the Tarzan strips that Joe wrote/drew for DC Comics in the 1970s. Over 600 pages, and on glossier, heavier paper stock than the Jesse Marsh book, it contains some of Kubert's best work of the period.
Both of these books are out now, at $29.99 each, and can be ordered from online booksellers or bought/ordered at your local comic shop.
Going back to the old Top Sellers comics I mentioned earlier, I did a blog post about them a few years ago which you can find at this link:
https://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-comics-that-were-always-top-sellers.html
Today at a comic speciality store near you the first issue of Grindhouse: Drive In, Bleed Out goes on sale. As with the first Grindhouse mini-series, the eight issues will consist of 4 two-part stories. Issue one is Slay Ride Part One by Alex de Campi and R.M. Guera. You can read a preview of the first six pages here:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=24144
The comic's creator and writer, Alex de Campi will be on board throughout the run, with a different artist for each two part story evoking the twisted extremes of Grindhouse movies.
But wait. Fine comic though it is, Grindhouse is an American publication, so why am I plugging it on a blog dedicated to British comics? Well, a) I do occasionally promote comics outside of the UK, and b) admittedly I have a vested interest in this one. On the back page of issue 1 you'll find a brand new full page strip I created for the comic. Kung-Fu Cheesecake is her name, and vengeance is her game. It's Grindhouse cinema meets Looney Tunes.
Catch Kung-Fu Cheesecake while you can, because next month in issue 2 there'll be a different strip by me, and two more in issues 7 and 8. I'll reveal more about those at a later date.
Grindhouse: Drive In, Bleed Out No.1, $3.99, mature readers only. Published by Dark Horse Comics. On sale from today from comic shops such as Forbidden Planet, Nostalgia and Comics, Gosh!, etc.
Remember I mentioned that I was working on strips for a U.S. publisher? This is the comic. Alex de Campi's Grindhouse returns for a new 8 issue run next month, and I'm over the moon to announce that Alex commissioned me to produce single-page humour strips as back up funnies for some of the issues.
Grindhouse: Drive In, Bleed Out is an eight issue series published by Dark Horse Comics which will feature four two-part stories across the run. No.1 features Slay Ride written by Alex de Campi and illustrated by R.M. Guéra. On her website, Alex describes says "It gets down to business really fast. This is a very brutal, uncomfortable, and spare / silent story"
...and on the back page will be my humour strip as part of the Li'l House of Grind concept that Alex came up with. My brief was for something like the old trashy grindhouse horror/exploitation movies. The result: Kung-Fu Cheesecake, with script, art, lettering by myself.
I've been commissioned to produce four single page complete strips for the comic, which will appear in issues 1,2,7 and 8. Brand new twisted characters for a mature readership. Kung-Fu Cheesecake is one of the weirdest characters I've created. I'm drawing the page for issue 2 this week which features another new comic-horror creation. Really enjoying this!
Grindhouse: Drive In, Bleed Out No.1 is scheduled for publication on Wednesday November 12th, priced $3.99. Available in comic stores in the USA and UK but to make sure of your copy, place an order today! Mature Readers rating.
To read a preview of Slay Ride, the main strip by Alex de Campi and R.M. Guera, see Comic Book Resources here:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=24144
To visit Alex's website, where you can learn more about her great comics and see a finished preview of R.M. Guéra's striking cover for issue 1, click here:
http://www.alexdecampi.com/
