Titan launch new Superman comic for the UK

Superman hasn't fared too well as a British comic in recent times, with any title starring him tending to be short lived. However, that hasn't deterred London based Titan Comics to have another go. Today, The Man of Steel No.1 arrived in newsagents, consisting of 76 pages for £3.99.

The comic has replaced Titan's Batman/Superman comic on the schedule, and the indicia actually has it down as "Batman/Superman Vol.3 Issue No.1". No doubt this is to help suppliers continue to order the comic by keeping it on their system with the previous title. 

The Man of Steel No.1 reprints the first three issues of the American DC Comic of the same name. As this was a 6 issue mini-series in the States it means that the story arc will conclude with the second issue of the UK version. In America, the story then continued into Superman and Action Comics. Whether the UK Man of Steel comic continues to call itself that or revamps again into a Superman title remains to be seen. Things are never straightforward in that respect with Titan Comics!

You can subscribe to The Man of Steel at Titan's website:
https://titanmagazines.com/t/batman-superman/uk/

We've Never Had it so Good!

...for reprints of British comics that is. Just a few years ago fans were bemoaning the lack of classic reprint material of UK comics. After all, numerous hardback and trade paperback collections of American comics had been available for decades, so why were there so few collections of UK material?

There was always Titan Books of course, who had been publishing occasional collections of UK material for over 30 years... initially 2000AD strips, then Garth, Modesty Blaise, James Bond, and into stuff like Johnny Red and Charley's War... and had published Dan Dare reprints after Hawk Books, but fans wanted more. 

Well, now we have plenty, with more on the way! I venture that we're currently enjoying a golden age of British comics reprints, and long may it continue. Since Rebellion acquired the rights to the post-1970 IPC back catalogue from Egmont two years ago we've seen a proliferation of nicely produced collections from Faceache to One-Eyed Jack, - and now that the company also has the rights to all the pre-1970 material we can expect a lot more! 

 Other publishers have noticed this potential market too. Dez Skinn has published a collection of Terror Tales that originally appeared in his House of Hammer mag in the 1970s and even D.C. Thomson have entered into the spirit of things. To be fair, Thomsons aren't new to this. They've published several collections before, such as books for Desperate Dan, Lord Snooty, and Black Bob, but recently they published an impressive slipcased set of 8 Beano facsimiles and have every past Beano annual on offer as Print-On-Demand reprints. 

(I'll even throw my hat into the ring and modestly mention my reprints of Combat Colin, Derek the Troll, and others.) 

Of course, there's a possibility that this "golden age" might not last long. The nostalgia market isn't as large as it is for American comics, and the older reprint material has a sadly diminishing fanbase with every year. The unfortunate thing is that a lot of fans are only interested in comics from their personal nostalgia years. However, I have hopes that some will venture outside of such self-imposed restrictions and try out strips they've never read. There has been some brilliant work produced in UK comics over the past 130 years that deserves to be seen again, and for it to reach a new audience. Obviously it'd be naive to expect most fans to be interested in obscure strips from the 1920s but I hope some will be open-minded enough to try out books that might collect strips from the 1950s or '60s.

These are exciting times for fans of British comics and I hope the books receive the support they deserve from retailers and readers.

Treasury of British Comics shop:
https://treasuryofbritishcomics.com

Power Pack of Ken Reid Vols.1 and 2:
https://www.kazoop-comics-shop.com

Beano Annual facsimiles:
https://shop.beano.com/gift-ideas/classic-beano/personalised-beano-annual-from-your-year.html

Hibernia Comics:
http://www.comicsy.co.uk/hibernia/

Bear Alley Books:
http://bearalleybooks.blogspot.com

Combat Colin, Derek the Troll, etc:
http://lewstringer.com/page7.htm

This week's COMMANDO comics...

Here's the info on the four latest issues of Commando, out now!

5163: Home of Heroes: The Last Men at Dunkirk

Sergeant Ronnie Malloy stood alone on the French pier looking out towards the sea. The beach was deserted bar the smoking husks of discarded British trucks. The lines of men desperate to clamber aboard the ships bound for Blighty were all gone and the place was silent except for the quiet ebb of the tide. In the distance, Ronnie watched the armada of little ships, chock-full of men, sail away to Britain, leaving him behind. He had been abandoned… one of the last men in Dunkirk.

| Story | Iain McLaughlin | Art | Muller | Cover | Janek Matysiak |

5164: Gold Collection: Death of a U-boat

To the tough rowdies of the whaling fleets from Greenland to the South Pole, he was just ‘Big Olaf’. Star harpoon-gunner of them all, the ship that had Olaf aboard broke records for whales caught and bonuses paid. Six feet four inches of blonde Norwegian with eyes as icy green as the seas he roved, and muscles to suit his tough trade.

He sailed along with British skipper, Danny Parker, and here was a fighting twosome to make the Nazi raiders think twice about their takeover bid for the Antarctic – and whalers.

| Story | McOwan | Art | Gordon C Livingstone | Cover | Ken Barr|

Originally Commando No. 262 (May 1967).

5165: Action and Adventure: Desert Rescue!

Lieutenant Guy Lewis was desperate for action. Fresh out of officer’s training, he was bored of playing squash in Cairo to pass the time.

Then Guy got the news he had been waiting for – a posting in the North African desert with one of the most notorious Allied regiments – the Long Range Desert Group!

| Story | Jim & David Turner | Art | Paolo Ongaro | Cover | Neil Roberts |

5166: Silver Collection: Fighting Civvy

Bill Carpenter was a civilian, a top salesman for farming machinery who wanted nothing to do with the war. But no-one had told the Germans that, and he found himself caught up in the retreat to Dunkirk.

Civvy or not, Bill was forced to fight to survive. And if the Jerries had known how good he was going to be, they would have left him alone!

| Story | Mike Knowles| Art | Gordon C Livingstone | Cover | Ian Kennedy |

Originally Commando No. 2873 (July 1995).

Stand in your Power!

One of the good things about modern British comics is they're not just about superheroes, naughty schoolkids, or football. They cover a wide variety of subjects, just like any other medium. The books of Rachael Smith for example deal with human issues in an engaging, funny, emotional way, and the great news is she's working on a new book. 

Stand in Your Power is the title of Rachael's latest work. It's described as "a collection of auto bio comic strips that comic-creator extraordinaire Rachael Smith made after going through a breakup and attempting to get on with her new, single life. The comics deal with loneliness, figuring out who you are, moving on, dating, friendship, depression, love, and many other super-relatable things."

It's a sequel of sorts to her previous book, Wired Up Wrong. Although both work independently of each other, you'll get more out of it by reading both.

Rachael has a Kickstarter campaign for Stand in Your Power running right now, and you can find more out about it, and back it, at this link:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flimsykitten/stand-in-your-power 

I can't recommend Rachael's work highly enough. She's a terrific cartoonist and her stories are relatable and inspiring, - and with a good balance of humour. Comics worth supporting!

Carlos Ezquerra 1947 - 2018

The comics community is today saddened and stunned by the passing of Carlos Ezquerra, one of the greatest artists to have graced the pages of comics. Only a few weeks ago, Carlos posted an update on his Facebook page from his hospital bed saying he had beaten cancer for the second time, but today we discovered that sadly it was not to last. 

Most of you will know Carlos' distinctive artwork from the pages of Battle Picture Weekly and 2000AD. For the latter, he designed / co-created Judge Dredd, one of the most iconic figures in comics. 

Early in his career, Carlos also freelanced for D.C. Thomson on comics such as The Wizard. Here's a page from the strip Chained to his Sword from Wizard dated 13th November 1976...

...and a complete one-off Simon Gaunt tale, also from the same issue...

Perhaps Carlos' most notorious artwork was the Kids Rule OK illustration for Action, dated 18th September 1976. Due to the character in the foreground mistakenly being coloured as blue as the policeman's helmet it was misconstrued by the media as a youth attacking a policeman. (It must be noted that Carlos did not colour the art, but that it was done by IPC staff.)

Another powerful cover was this one for Marvel UK's Fury in July 1977, delivering a message that, sadly, is still pertinent today...

...and this cover for Battle-Action is another memorable image...

His best remembered work for Battle Picture Weekly was Rat Pack, and Major Eazy, although I recall him saying that El Mestizo was his favourite, and he regretted that it didn't run for longer. (The whole series will soon be collected by Rebellion.)

For 2000AD (and Starlord), Carlos will be best remembered for Judge Dredd of course, and for Strontium Dog, which he also co-created. Both hugely popular characters, and a new Strontium Dog series was always one to look forward to.

Many also remember The Stainless Steel Rat adaptation that Carlos drew for 2000AD in the 1980s. Stunning work...

The thing I liked most about Carlos Ezquerra's artwork was that it was proper comic art. The dynamism, the inking techniques, the exaggeration and the humour we associate with British comics was all there. Carlos made it look effortless, but so good. After more than 40 years of seeing his work in comics it's hard to believe there won't be any more, and that's deeply saddening. 

However, as Carlos had been so prolific over the years it means there are always stories to re-read, or discover for the first time in back issues. His past work will always be with us.

As I type these words, tributes are pouring onto social media expressing their sadness at the passing of such a great artist. Carlos Ezquerra was highly respected not only for his talent but also as a person. I only met him once, for a short time, at the Enniskillen Comic Fest last year, and the pleasure of his company provided laughs and good conversation. My sincere condolences to Carlos' family and many friends on this very sad day. 

2000AD have posted about the great man on their website:

https://2000ad.com/post/4322

Obituary and tribute by John Freeman on Down the Tubes:
https://downthetubes.net/?p=101064

News reaches the mainstream media in The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/01/judge-dredd-co-creator-carlos-ezquerra-dies-aged-70