“Who dressed their kid up as Wonder Woman…or Bat-Girl?”
No one.
At the bottom of the page you will find a link to David Gordon’s Chang3lings Face Book page. David, apart from being a great graphic illustrator -and the “British Manara”- designs and puts together, with help from his posse, some incredible dolls of various sizes. These are one offs so a doll sells that’s it.
Dave also sells vintage toys and figures so keep up to date on where Chang3lings are appearing and what’s new!
To contact me please check out “About” at the top of the page -thanks!
****************************************************************************
Black Tower Comics began in 1984 as a Small Press publisher of A5 (US -Digest size) titles such as Adventure,Presents,Windows and Hanley’s Garage. Then came the news, reviews, previews and interviews publication backed up by the mart and mail order service –Zine Zone (later Zine Zone International).
In 2009, with the innovation in publishing of Print On Demand (POD), Black Tower jumped in head first!
One of the first titles to see print in the new comic album format (A4) was The Bat Triumphant! This saw the complete story, begun in Black Tower Adventure vol. 1. William A. Ward’s long lost 1940s character once again saw print as he fought a host of enemies in an attempt to reclaim his homeland.
And while The Bat may have fought fist and nail to reclaim his homeland, another 1940s Ward creation, Krakos the Egyptian, seemed far from willing to claim a new Egyptian Empire as promised to him by the Gods. Tackling a number of foes and even encountering the Many-Eyed One, Krakos turned his back on the gods and the final panel of Krakos -Sands Of Terror, delivered a true twist!
Of course, the flag-ship title had to return! And so Black Tower Adventure -eventually reaching new heights when the legendary Ben Dilworth jumped on board! Volume 2 consisted of ten issues. Just look at these covers….
Whereas for decades those involved in “UFOlogy”, “Cryptozoology” and “Forteana” declared many mysteries, that photographs were lost “to history” and so on, these three books swiped away the false claims. Alleged lost photographs -found. ‘Mysteries’ solved by doing actual research work and reading the sources -something others had never done.
And, of course, mention natural history and Black Tower Books broke new ground with that in The Red Paper: Canids.
But not all the prose books covered mysteries and wildlife.
And if there is one thing “Herr Professor” loves it is discovering and presenting long lost UK Golden Age (1939-1951) comic strips and characters from publishers such as Gerald Swan, Foldes, Denis M. Reader, Cartoon Art Productions and others.
Scanned and restored as best as can be considering the poor print quality of the rationing years -especially red, orange, yellow, blue and purple ink printing!
Ace Hart The Atomic Man! The Tornado! TNT Tom! Dene Vernon! Acromaid! Cat-Girl! Bring ‘Em Back Hank! Robert Lovett:Back From The Dead and so many other action heroes and humour strip characters -William A. Ward, Jock McCaill and a host of known and unknown creators contribute -either in single volume ” Black Tower Gold” albums or all six collected into the 400+ pager –The Ultimate British Golden Age Collection!
Another great love is Centaur Comics from the United States. Right at the very start of the American Golden Age of Comics Centaur had creators who were ahead of the others! Before Plastic Man there was Plymo! Before The Human Bomb there was TNT Todd! Before Green Arrow and waaaaaaay before Hawkeye there was the mysterious red hooded archer called The Arrow! And, to just break your comic mind world there was even a Black Panther -decades before Kirby came up with his character of the same name.
The Eye Sees All. The Owl. The Iron Skull. Amazing Man. The King of Darkness. The Invisible Terror. The Blue Lady. The Shark. Mini Midget & Kitty. Mighty Man. Super Anne. The company may have been short-lived but it’s characters -oh boy!
The two volume Centaur Heroes Collection has been compiled into one sweet 140 page comic collection!
Horror. Ghost stories. The twist-in-the tale. Did you think that a publisher who is a big horror comic/film fan would ignore these?
Nope. Each year since 2010, BTCG has published a Tales Of Terror anthology album and 2014s included some fun and spooky lost Swan Comic strips. I mean how can you go wrong -even Ben Dilworth is in these!
The Church Of England has it’s own basher of dark forces in the Reverend Merriwether -“God’s Demon0-Thumper” as the press billed him. From an ancient Egyptian demon to a village of the damned and Varney the Vampyre, werwolves and a final confrontation with Satan himself -Merriwether pulls no punches and offers no compromise. And in those last few seconds between life and death, Merriwether’s mind recalls past cases -thanks to Ben Dilworththe Tall Man of Osaka.
Merriwether: God’s Demon Thumper and Merriwether: The Test Of Satan are available as individual comic albums or in one swanky book The Collected Merriwether: God’s Demon Thumper.
Oh, did I forget to mention Dene Vernon -British comics’ first investigator of the supernatural and strange mysteries? I did? Unbelievable since Gavin Stuart Ross drew the 1948 based Dene Vernon: The Thing Below!
And did you know Ross also drew the two adventures of Victorian mystery man Chung Ling Soo? Chung Ling Soo: The Curse Of The Jade Dragon and Chung Ling Soo: The Case Of The Thames Serpent were two cracking tales of magic, adventure, murder and deception -still available as single comic albums or collected together to form The Adventures Of Chung Ling Soo!
Ben Dilworth is no slouch either! Chung Ling Soo’s police “counter-foil” isnone other than old London “Jack” (police man) Inspector Wilberforce and when Dilworth says “Here’s a Wilberforce one-off: PUBLISH IT!” you do not argue!
And did you know you can be a Gold Master of Japanese Haiku? Well, neither did I -but guess what? Ben Dilworth is such a master and his Osaka Brutal features his Haiku in English!
Old saleman that he is, Dilworth just keeps on going. He produced Aesop’s Fables -a darker version of the childrens tales and then went on to write two well illustrated prose albums looking at spirits and demons –Dilworth’s Japanese Yokai and Dilworth’s Western Yokai. Osaka and the Yokai books were combined with Aesop’s Fables into the one volume The Collected Ben R. Dilworth -though the single volumes are also still available.
And could anyone forget the sensational Iron Warrior Versus Big Bong:When Giants Fought? But add to that the various Iron Warrior strips from Adventure and you get The Iron Warrior Collection -When Giants Fought! In the 1940s, William A. Ward’s creation was to be the most graphically violent comic strip seen until the 1970s. That is some legacy. It continues….with a touch of fun!
In case you are wondering, yes, obviously there are super heroes. Mix in ancient pantheons of gods, giant robot, alien invasion, Lovecraftian dark ones and so much more that the book runs to over 320 pages then you have part 1 of Terry Hooper-Scharf’s Invasion Earth Trilogy” or as it is titled Return Of The Gods: Twilight Of The Super Heroes! And epic ending with the words: “Dr Morg has killed us all” -and if you have never read the mind altering counter actuality that is The Dr Morg Trilogy you may be saying “What? Who-?”
And part 2 of the trilogy The Cross Earths Caper ought to get you in the mood for 2015s big 31st Anniversary third part of the trilogy The Green Skies.
If you pass the ESTC (Epileptic Seizure Test Cover) on Dr Morg well, you are fit and healthy enough to read it and to check out all the Black Tower Comics and Books at the online store -see why we are the UKs largest publisher of Independent Comics!
But at the moment comic buying is curtailed!
I suppose if I explain it will all make sense. Looking for shops to take Black Tower books has been a pain. UK comic shops are not interested because most comic shops in the UK are run by morons who are Marvel or DC fan boys and understand nothing else.
A couple I tried “might” be interested in looking at books but “no guarantees” they could be put on shelves. Well, I’m not throwing away £30 ($65) on that then.
But here is where Europe has really disappointed. Even the “right on -we support creators” shops are doing this.
I pick five books to send them that I want to sell. Those books will cost me £20.96 to buy and with postage £28.99 ($65+).
The shop will put their books on their online listing and see if they sell. If they do then they’ll ask for more copies and IF they sell they will work out a per centage to pay me that takes into consideration their time and effort….of typing onto a web page. No special promotion.
That is it.
What they really want to say is that they will take all the free books they can and if they sell and their conscience pricks them they might send me a “token payment”
Each shop. Same ‘deal’ That is me spending £144.95 ($300.00?) and just “hoping” something might happen.
That, my friends, is called a piss-take. It shows you are not dealing with right-on creator friendly shops but shop owners who are happy to rip off creators. No signed contracts or invoices: all done via email. Good luck with that.
Here’s the joke. I suggested that, perhaps, there were books they were unable to sell so why not me send my books in exchange (one for one) for those unsellables?
“We’re running a business. Each of those books could be sold. We can’t throw away money!”
My response? “EXACTLY”
CBO today….
| Entry | Pageviews |
|---|---|
|
United States
|
2014
|
|
Ukraine
|
826
|
|
United Kingdom
|
739
|
|
Russia
|
586
|
|
Germany
|
467
|
|
France
|
360
|
|
South Korea
|
100
|
|
Spain
|
79
|
|
Poland
|
71
|
|
Bulgaria
|
59
|
Does anyone remember UK comic artist John Marshall who I believe mainly worked for Harrier Comics in the 1980s. In fact, he was one of THE main contributors?
In fact, he also did Marvel UK work because I remember bumping into him at the offices one day. I think he pencilled Transformers?
Is he still in comics???
Zero.
No sales. Nothing.
It proves what I have said and written about many times before: only people in cliques buy comics. Josie publishes a zine. Her mates tell their mates who all want to be in on the trendy “hip” scene of comics without having to know a single thing about it. Their friends are “cool” so if they buy something they’ll be cool, too.
A room full of 50 publishers all with their own little cliques. Each clique ignoring the other cliques. In case my non-English viewers are stumped by “clique” here is the definition:
To contact me please check out “About” at the top of the page -thanks!
****************************************************************************
Black Tower Comics began in 1984 as a Small Press publisher of A5 (US -Digest size) titles such as Adventure,Presents,Windows and Hanley’s Garage. Then came the news, reviews, previews and interviews publication backed up by the mart and mail order service –Zine Zone (later Zine Zone International).
In 2009, with the innovation in publishing of Print On Demand (POD), Black Tower jumped in head first!
One of the first titles to see print in the new comic album format (A4) was The Bat Triumphant! This saw the complete story, begun in Black Tower Adventure vol. 1. William A. Ward’s long lost 1940s character once again saw print as he fought a host of enemies in an attempt to reclaim his homeland.
And while The Bat may have fought fist and nail to reclaim his homeland, another 1940s Ward creation, Krakos the Egyptian, seemed far from willing to claim a new Egyptian Empire as promised to him by the Gods. Tackling a number of foes and even encountering the Many-Eyed One, Krakos turned his back on the gods and the final panel of Krakos -Sands Of Terror, delivered a true twist!
Of course, the flag-ship title had to return! And so Black Tower Adventure -eventually reaching new heights when the legendary Ben Dilworth jumped on board! Volume 2 consisted of ten issues. Just look at these covers….
Whereas for decades those involved in “UFOlogy”, “Cryptozoology” and “Forteana” declared many mysteries, that photographs were lost “to history” and so on, these three books swiped away the false claims. Alleged lost photographs -found. ‘Mysteries’ solved by doing actual research work and reading the sources -something others had never done.
And, of course, mention natural history and Black Tower Books broke new ground with that in The Red Paper: Canids.
But not all the prose books covered mysteries and wildlife.
And if there is one thing “Herr Professor” loves it is discovering and presenting long lost UK Golden Age (1939-1951) comic strips and characters from publishers such as Gerald Swan, Foldes, Denis M. Reader, Cartoon Art Productions and others.
Scanned and restored as best as can be considering the poor print quality of the rationing years -especially red, orange, yellow, blue and purple ink printing!
Ace Hart The Atomic Man! The Tornado! TNT Tom! Dene Vernon! Acromaid! Cat-Girl! Bring ‘Em Back Hank! Robert Lovett:Back From The Dead and so many other action heroes and humour strip characters -William A. Ward, Jock McCaill and a host of known and unknown creators contribute -either in single volume ” Black Tower Gold” albums or all six collected into the 400+ pager –The Ultimate British Golden Age Collection!
Another great love is Centaur Comics from the United States. Right at the very start of the American Golden Age of Comics Centaur had creators who were ahead of the others! Before Plastic Man there was Plymo! Before The Human Bomb there was TNT Todd! Before Green Arrow and waaaaaaay before Hawkeye there was the mysterious red hooded archer called The Arrow! And, to just break your comic mind world there was even a Black Panther -decades before Kirby came up with his character of the same name.
The Eye Sees All. The Owl. The Iron Skull. Amazing Man. The King of Darkness. The Invisible Terror. The Blue Lady. The Shark. Mini Midget & Kitty. Mighty Man. Super Anne. The company may have been short-lived but it’s characters -oh boy!
The two volume Centaur Heroes Collection has been compiled into one sweet 140 page comic collection!
Horror. Ghost stories. The twist-in-the tale. Did you think that a publisher who is a big horror comic/film fan would ignore these?
Nope. Each year since 2010, BTCG has published a Tales Of Terror anthology album and 2014s included some fun and spooky lost Swan Comic strips. I mean how can you go wrong -even Ben Dilworth is in these!
The Church Of England has it’s own basher of dark forces in the Reverend Merriwether -“God’s Demon0-Thumper” as the press billed him. From an ancient Egyptian demon to a village of the damned and Varney the Vampyre, werwolves and a final confrontation with Satan himself -Merriwether pulls no punches and offers no compromise. And in those last few seconds between life and death, Merriwether’s mind recalls past cases -thanks to Ben Dilworththe Tall Man of Osaka.
Merriwether: God’s Demon Thumper and Merriwether: The Test Of Satan are available as individual comic albums or in one swanky book The Collected Merriwether: God’s Demon Thumper.
Oh, did I forget to mention Dene Vernon -British comics’ first investigator of the supernatural and strange mysteries? I did? Unbelievable since Gavin Stuart Ross drew the 1948 based Dene Vernon: The Thing Below!
And did you know Ross also drew the two adventures of Victorian mystery man Chung Ling Soo? Chung Ling Soo: The Curse Of The Jade Dragon and Chung Ling Soo: The Case Of The Thames Serpent were two cracking tales of magic, adventure, murder and deception -still available as single comic albums or collected together to form The Adventures Of Chung Ling Soo!
Ben Dilworth is no slouch either! Chung Ling Soo’s police “counter-foil” isnone other than old London “Jack” (police man) Inspector Wilberforce and when Dilworth says “Here’s a Wilberforce one-off: PUBLISH IT!” you do not argue!
And did you know you can be a Gold Master of Japanese Haiku? Well, neither did I -but guess what? Ben Dilworth is such a master and his Osaka Brutal features his Haiku in English!
Old saleman that he is, Dilworth just keeps on going. He produced Aesop’s Fables -a darker version of the childrens tales and then went on to write two well illustrated prose albums looking at spirits and demons –Dilworth’s Japanese Yokai and Dilworth’s Western Yokai. Osaka and the Yokai books were combined with Aesop’s Fables into the one volume The Collected Ben R. Dilworth -though the single volumes are also still available.
And could anyone forget the sensational Iron Warrior Versus Big Bong:When Giants Fought? But add to that the various Iron Warrior strips from Adventure and you get The Iron Warrior Collection -When Giants Fought! In the 1940s, William A. Ward’s creation was to be the most graphically violent comic strip seen until the 1970s. That is some legacy. It continues….with a touch of fun!
In case you are wondering, yes, obviously there are super heroes. Mix in ancient pantheons of gods, giant robot, alien invasion, Lovecraftian dark ones and so much more that the book runs to over 320 pages then you have part 1 of Terry Hooper-Scharf’s Invasion Earth Trilogy” or as it is titled Return Of The Gods: Twilight Of The Super Heroes! And epic ending with the words: “Dr Morg has killed us all” -and if you have never read the mind altering counter actuality that is The Dr Morg Trilogy you may be saying “What? Who-?”
And part 2 of the trilogy The Cross Earths Caper ought to get you in the mood for 2015s big 31st Anniversary third part of the trilogy The Green Skies.
If you pass the ESTC (Epileptic Seizure Test Cover) on Dr Morg well, you are fit and healthy enough to read it and to check out all the Black Tower Comics and Books at the online store -see why we are the UKs largest publisher of Independent Comics!
Rumour monger Terry does it again. Unless they got their info from CBO?
There have been a lot of rumours and even more shake-ups at the BBC as younger and more “hip” uh, ‘personalities’ replacing proven but (hissss!) older ones.
So is the rumour that the BBC did a “dirty” on Moffat to get rid of him -something Capaldi would never stand for because his stance of that sort of thing is well known?
Whatever, it would be the BBC saying “screw you” to what is left of Dr Who continuity and the fans.
A daily selection of the best content published on WordPress, collected for you by humans who love to read.
Longreads : The best longform stories on the web
The Art and Craft of Blogging
The latest news on WordPress.com and the WordPress community.
Comic Bits 20 