Superman from TRIUMPH #811 4th May 1940

 How the strip was presented

Books and How To Buy Wisely

 

I was asked why my books are so expensive on Ebay/ Amazon? Well, I DO NOT sell via Ebay or Amazon. What you have there are people who buy the book from my online store and then re-price (hiking up the price) and sell on those sites.

The Ultimate British Comics Gold Collection is being sold for £37-75.00 or $49.97-101.17 or Euro 42.58 -86.32.   The same thing is happening with other books including The Hooper Interviews which I have seen described as "rare" -it is not as it has never been out of print.

The Gold Collection is 400+pp £25.00 + 4.94 for priority mail so £29.94  so you work out whether it's simpler to buy from my online store or buy from someone who has to order and then send to your address at a much inflated price.

There is another side to this. You order from a third party seller then it is buyer beware. About 4 years ago I had an email out of the blue asking where a book ordered was. I asked what they were talking about and they told me the title, what they paid for it (£15 above cover price) and that after 3 weeks it had not turned up. I checked and no such order but a copy of the book had been purchased by Amazon to resell under their deal with the print on demand company (the Amazon sale got me 5o/50 cents on a £20 book sale).

I to9ld the buyer I needed his order number to sort out what was going on. He then told me that he had purchased 'post free' (no such thing) from a dealer. It seems the dealer bought the book cheap on Amazon to sell it on.  I pointed out to the buyer that he had paid £15 over the cover price and that as he had not purchased from my online store but a third party it was out of my hands and "tough luck" for helping to cheat me out of a semi decent sale.

The book eventually turned up 4 weeks after he had ordered it and he showed me the invoice that was inside as the seller had bought the book on Amazon at a discount of £10 but sold it for £35. Why was he showing me the invoice?  He wanted me to take action to get money back -seriously. I told him that he had been on the online store so saw the cost but had ordered at a higher cost thinking he had free postage without checking and so it had absolutely nothing to do with me.

If you are interested in a book on the online store then you can go through the ordering process and up to the Choose delivery method point which would show you total cost. If you decide against buying leave the page as you are NEVER charged unless you click "Pay Now". As shown below  

This will all show in your local currency as books are printed and delivered by services within your region. NO international mailing. There are guarantees with ordering from an online store such as set prices and help if there is an order problem. What profit there is gets back to me to keep producing books and buy in more cans of baked beans for dinner!

Buy smart!

William A. Ward's...The Invisible Spy

 

Dennis M. Reader's Cat Girl -Bruno Plum

 Sadly, I have four detached and very poor quality images from Topical Funnies 32 featuring Cat Girl by Dennis M Reader. There are very few examples of the super heroines he created out there and, although I would love to publish this one for posterity...its quality is just too low.

If anyone has a copy of that issue and can offer a scan of the strip it would be greatly appreciated.

The 'Ultimate' Book of British Comics

 Just a little warning.

I ordered this book from Amazon as I did not recognise the cover.  

What I got was THIS book the cover of which I DID recognise. 

 

I would not recommend it since there is nothing in it that you would not find in an old Denis Gifford or Alan Clark book. Forget the  bullshit claim that the catalogue every comic produced would require a book three times the size of this 296 pager. Denis Gifford accomplished it and even updated later volumes.  

The fact that the Boy's Papers were skipped is acceptable as although they had comic strips in them if you want to on weekly comics  -although the fact that they contained strips needed to be mentioned. Then we come to the biggest exclusion of all. Comics of the 1930s-1950s because this book concentrates on the 1960s-1980s. No mention of Gerald Swan, no mention of Marvelman or any of the significant comics of the three decades he ignores.

Basically, as a comic historian and fan I found the book not that good -but luckily I only paid £3.00 for it. The author does enjoy hyperbole though as in the claim "which is, literally, read by millions" re his work 

If you just want a list of some 60s but mainly 1970s-1980s titles then this is for you...if you can buy it cheap.

Allow Me To Introduce Invisible George by Alan Fraser

 Alan Fraser was a British comic artist who started out in 1933 drawing Charlie Chick for The Boys and Girls Own Yorkshire Evening News which was a free comic supplement given out in the early 1930s circulation war.  

In 1934 F W Woolworth produced a giveaway comic which  Fraser drew featuring Charlie Chick  -Charlie hicks Paper.   

During the 1940s his often zany work appeared in comics from A Soloway such as All Star Comic, All Fun Comic, Comic Papers and Comic Adventures.  He also contributed to many other small publishers such as Martin and Reid, Holland Press and J B Allen.

So, how about a man that can turn invisible? H. G. Wells' The Invisible Man was still big back then but Invisible George was far less darker in tone!  Here you go -enjoy!

Please note that I have had these scans so long I am not sure whether they are mine or from someone else. If the latter -THANK YOU

Merry and Bright -Help Needed To ID Year

It is an oddity in my collection of old stuff: Merry and Bright Published by John F. Shaw & Co., Ltd., London.According to a search result:

"John F. Shaw & Co., Ltd., a London-based publisher, produced an annual titled "Merry and Bright". This annual was published in the early 20th century, according to bookselling sites. The annual is a hardcover book, and first editions can be found for sale through secondhand booksellers. "

In fact, after months of searching I have only ever found one copy. First edition and £46 but 

nothing to indicate the year published. I would guess at late 1920s to early 1930s. Anyone know

better?