How often did those elitist "Platinum experts" keep laughing at me and saying "They NEVER had comic strips in Boy's Papers!!" So...The Boys' Realm 11th December, 1926
Tuesday, 24 June 2025
The Man With A Thousand Faces -The Circle of Fate! (1931)
The Bullseye 24th January, 1931. Artwork is by, I believe, George Wakefield
Dixon Hawk and the Electric Shadow (1932)
May be easier to download and read. This is testing to see what is readable! Adventure 9th April, 1932 
Sunday, 22 June 2025
Comic History -Denis Gifford And The Birth Of The British Super Hero
Denis worked on many comics as a scripter or artist -or both. He also created many comic book characters. He should also be credited as being creator of the first British super heroes.
The first of these, of course, was Mr. Muscle (no, not that advertising character from TV). Mike O'Leary stumbles across a body in a dark alley -the man speaks:"Quick! Car BOL 1570 ohhhh!" The man is dead. Mike sheds his every day clothes to reveal "the famous uniform of Mr. Muscle!" it doesn't take the costumed hero long to track down the Japanese saboteurs in "The Invasion Plans"
"Britain's Superman" was the work of a seventeen years old Gifford in 1945 and appeared in a tuppeny (2d or two pennies) eight-pager titled Dynamic Comics.
"Mike O'leary drinks the essence of strength" is something I have read. This is odd since when I asked Denis his response was "No origin. He just appeared and went into action!" That was the norm in those days It was produce an action story. No time for long convoluted explanations. Unless Denis forgot (!) I think this is a mistake on someone's part. I know Denis had a copy of the comic but he never ever let anyone borrow or take anything away to copy.
The intention had been that this was "Britain's Superman"!
In 1947 appeared Streamline Comics. The hero was...guess? Streamline who was billed as "The Fastest Man Alive!". The first of the four issues was drawn by AC1 (Air craftsman 1) Denis over a weekend as a Duty Clerk in the Royal Air Force.
Denis designed the costume and gave scientist Keenan King an origin: he injected himself with Elixir-X and became a speedster. "The first thing to do is to get a skin-tight uniform" says Keenan. What else?
The character was a collaboration between Denis and Bob Monkhouse (creator of The Tornado and Pat Peril). Issues 2-4 were drawn, badly compared to Gifford's work, by Bryan Berry who was to go on to become a top Sci Fi auther.
In 1949 appeared issue number 1 of Ray Regan. Regan was a hard nosed 'tec and you'll notice from the cover the banner reads: Ray Regan -Also Tiger Man! I used to have a full colour image of this but everything saved to 3 inch floppy disk was lost back in the 1990s! Still better than nothing. Find a scan anywhere else if you can (if you do please let me know!).
Basically, the origin of "The mightiest man of action" goes as follows. Phil Britton and Professor Beauclerc are in deepest, darkest Africa when Britton is attacked by a sabre-toothed tiger. Yes, a tiger. Go with the flow. The tiger dies and Britton develops great strength. The Prof. not really qualified in my opinion, believes to tiger died after its power flowed through its sabre teeth into Britton. Hey -Timely (Marvel) Comics character The Whizzer got his powers after a "transfusion of mongoose blood" Go figure.
There seem to have been a few tigers in deepest and darkest Africa according to UK comics. And, yes, I came up with an explanation linking them all. But that's another matter.
Britton is shown in tiger-skin pants (yewch!) so the assumption is that he was to be one more jungle lord (there was one every 5 square miles back in the day). But when I asked Denis about this I was told that had there been a second issue, Britton would have been back in the UK in a Tiger Man costume that Monkhouse had sketched out.
That was it.
Denis was quite happy to see his characters get a new lease of life and thought Mr. Muscle and Streamline running around after Robert Lovett (Back From The Dead) was "a hoot!"
Now there were heroic characters before these three -but they all conformed to the British norm for powered action heroes: civviy- clothes. TNT Tom is a prime example.
Dennis M. Reader was to later bring forth more costumed characters but Gifford was first in 1945.
Today all of this seems to have been forgotten. After all, if it isn't in full colour or after 1998 and Marvel or DC it doesn't seem to matter. But let's give credit where it is due!
Black Tower: Hurricane Hurry -The Stranger On A Horse
A4
B&W
20pp
Price: £7.00 (excl. VAT)
Prints in 3-5 business dayshttp://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/hurricane-hurry-stranger-on-a-horse/paperback/product-24490237.html
Hurricane Hurry is seemingly always at the right place and right time to come across bush-whacking skunks, low down varmints and plain old killers.
Under cover U.S. Marshall or Pinkerton Man? Or just a stranger on a horse "moving along"?
William A. Wards Western hero slaps-irons and uses his fists to deals out some Wild West justice.
Reprinting strips not seen in 60-70 years.
Black Tower: Dene Vernon -Ghost and Mystery Detective
A4
B&W
24pp
£7.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/dene-vernon-mystery-detective/paperback/product-124edpvm.html
After more than 70 years John McCail's ghost and mystery detective, Dene Vernon is back.
In this Classic Comic Fun reprint four of Vernon's terrifying cases -The Burning Heart! -The Terror of Steinlitz Castle! -The Evil From The East! and The Silent Pool Mystery.
Black Tower Gold - British Golden Age Comics Collections
Going by what people are asking now IF you can find the comics reprinted in these collections, just the comics in the first volume would cost you around £200/.$210. The complete collection -for which in a number of instances there are absolutely no copies being sold- would cost you around £500+
Which means you get some rare gems to see for more than cut price!
A4
B&W
94 pages
Price: £8.00 (excl. VAT)Prints in 3-5 business days
For the first time in 60 years some of the lost gems of the British Golden Age of Comics are reprinted!
Scanned and cleaned to the best standard possible -see The Phantom Raider, Ace Hart, Secrets Of The Super Sargasso Sea, Phantom Maid, Electrogirl, Skybolt Kid, Wonder Boy, Dene Vernon, Professor Atom and many, many others!
Its fun and action all the way -The British Golden Age shines through!
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A4
Paperback
B&W
68 pp
Price: £8.00 (excl. VAT)Prints in 3-5 business days
The second collection of British 1940s comic strips featuring Maxwell The Mighty, Slicksure, Iron Boy,Alfie, Ace Hart and more.
Featuring the work of Golden Age Greats Alf Farningham and Harry Banger.
Specifically designed to feature more humour than the previous volume this should be a treat for all comic collectors.
Reprinting the full content of The Meteor and The Rocket Comics from 1948.
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A4
Paperback
B&W
68 pages
Price: £8.00 (excl. VAT)Prints in 3-5 business days
This is the third volume in Black Tower Comics’ collection of Golden Age British comic strips that have not seen print for 50-60 years!
Included in this volume is a bumper crop of Ace Hart:The Atom Man strips and an article on the character.
A complete 1949 comic in Smugglers Creek; Denis Gifford’s Search For The Secret City and science fiction legend Bryan Berry’s rendition of Kid Carter -Teenage Tec! A must for all comic collectors and historians.
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A4
Paperback
B&W
86 pages
Price: £8.00 (excl. VAT)Prints in 3-5 business days
The fourth volume of this series features some great finds of the lost era of British comics:
Ace Hart The Atom Man, Captain Comet -Space Ranger, TNT Tom, Clive Lynn -Space Reporter, Superstooge, "The White Gorilla", Atomic Tuffy, Cast Iron Chris, Sigord.....
and many others!
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A4
Paperback
B&W
68pp
Price: £8.00 (excl. VAT)Prints in 3-5 business days
William McCail’s 1940 classic is reprinted for the first time in 80 years.
If you are into British Golden Age comics or early comics in general this is for you.
Robert Lovett rises from the dead and finds he has some startling powers: deaths follow, as does a Scotland Yard detective determined to track down the mysterious killer!
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A4
Paperback
B&W
35 pages
Price: £5.00 (excl. VAT)Prints in 3-5 business days
Yes! Now at issue 6 and bringing you more lost strips of the British Golden Age of Comics.There's a collection of strips featuring non other than TNT Tom and one of the weirdest UKGA characters -the Iron Boy.
Ever heard of Ingy Roob? Or his pet "Stretchy"? You will have if you read this issue.How about Dennis M. Readers Cat Girl?
Two other UK comics are reprinted in full, both from 1946 and the only issues ever published:Lucky Dice and The Fudge.
Black Tower -keeping UK comics history alive!
And if you want all of the above in one huge volume then....
A4
Paperback
B&W
405 pages
Price: £25.00 (excl. VAT)Prints in 3-5 business days
Combining volumes 1-6 (still available as individual issues but that works out far more expensive) of the BT Golden Age British Comics Collections (minus adverts) this is the ultimate for any Golden Age collector or historian or just plain comic lover.
Features....
*Ace Hart
*TNT Tom
*Electrogirl
*Wonderman
*The Phantom Raider
*Captain Comet
*Acro Maid
*Phantom Maid
*Dene Vernon
*The Iron Boy
*The Boy Fish
*Professor Atom
*The Tornado
*Powerman
*Wonder Boy
*Slicksure
*Masterman
*Dane Jerrus
*Alfie
*Tiny Tod
*Maxwell The Mighty
*Back From The Dead
*Zeno At The Earth's Core
*Colonel Mastiff
*Ally Sloper
*Super Injun
*Super Porker (oo-er, no, Madam, ooh),
*Tiger Man
*King Of The Clouds
*Captain Comet
and MANY others!
Plus text features defining The Ages OF British Comics (Platignum, Gold, Silver), the artist William A. Ward and more.
If you knew nothing about British comics of the Platinum, Golden and Silver Ages then once you buy and read this book you'll be a goddam comic intellectual dinosaur! Yipes!
All in that beautiful Iron Warrior cover exclusively drawn for Black Tower by that meta-gargantuoso talented Ben R. Dilworth!
I sold my family to be able to get this book out! Help me buy them back by purchasing your very own
whizz-o copy today!
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