Saturday, 18 July 2026
The Atomic Age Comic -do you have a copy?
Does anyone have any scans or can scan The Atomic Age Comic? What scans I have are pages...well...NOT scans. The pages were photographed back in the old Yahopo group days.
If anyone can help:m
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
The Skeleton Crew, or, Wildfire Ned
Author(s) remained anonymous as content could be violent, sexual or otherwise publicly offensive! And on occasions several people wrote these chapters. A gentleman would never want his name associated with such material (that earned him money). As for the engraver-artists..many are simply anonymous and were happy for paying work! Wildfire Ned and The Shadow of Death are not the same character
This is one heck of a thick book and, again, you need to be able to read in the style of the time which can be very wordy to modern readers. Of course, when I turned the character into one suitable for comics (The Master Plan of Lord Sebastian Perish in Adventure 53 on) it was far more readable! There are incidentally over 550 pages so it's kinda epic!
This synopsis from Google books sums it all up:
"Venture into the shadowy world of Victorian London with "The Skeleton Crew, or, Wildfire Ned," a classic penny dreadful ripped from the pages of history. This gripping tale, steeped in gothic horror and laced with mystery, exemplifies the thrilling and sensational storytelling that captivated readers of the era. Originally published anonymously, this rediscovered gem of historical fiction plunges into the darkest corners of society, offering a glimpse into a world of intrigue and suspense.
"The Skeleton Crew" embodies the spirit of the penny dreadful, a genre renowned for its suspenseful plots, eerie atmosphere, and unforgettable characters. Carefully prepared for print republication, this edition allows you to experience the raw, unfiltered excitement that defined Victorian popular literature. Perfect for fans of gothic horror, historical mysteries, and anyone seeking a thrilling escape into the past. Discover the enduring appeal of this historical artifact, a chilling testament to the power of suspenseful storytelling.
"This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it."
If you have a love of comics, graphic novels or horror in general you really have to learn more about The Monk, Melmosth the Wanderer and The Skeleton Horseman/Skeleton Crew. It is part of what we would call pop culture history.
The Monk:A Romance -Readers were shocked by its sexually explicit content
The Monk: A Romance is a Gothic novel by Matthew Lewis. It was over 10 years ago that I read it for the second time (I really like to punish myself!) and I started to write a synopsis of the story and realised I was missing gaps all the time.
And then...Wikipedia. Someone -and full credit goes to him/her- did an excellent synopsis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monk and so I present what can be considered one of the influences on later story paper and comic set (strips) influencers.
The Monk: A Romance is a Gothic novel by Matthew Gregory Lewis, published in 1796 across three volumes. Written early in Lewis's career, it was published anonymously when he was 20. It tells the story of a virtuous Catholic monk who gives in to his violent and lustful urges, setting off a chain of events that leave him damned. It is a prime example of the type of Gothic that specializes in horror.
Upon publication, the novel proved scandalous. Readers were shocked by its sexually explicit content, and themes of rape and incest, leading it to become arguably the most controversial Gothic novel of the 18th century. Amidst a public outcry, the novel became hugely popular. Over time, Lewis came to feel that its writing had been in poor taste. Later editions were heavily censored by the author himself.
The Monk is considered part of the gothic literary canon, a forerunner to the popular Gothic novels of the 19th century, and an influence on the modern horror genre. It has been adapted or significantly inspired a number of plays, films, and writings.
Ambrosio was left at an abbey in Madrid as an infant and is now a famously celebrated monk. A beautiful and virtuous young woman, Antonia, goes to hear one of his sermons, and meets Lorenzo, who falls in love with her.
Ambrosio's closest friend among the monks, Rosario, reveals that he is a woman named Matilda, who disguised herself to be near Ambrosio. While picking a rose for her, Ambrosio is bitten by a serpent and falls deathly ill. Matilda nurses him. When he recovers, Matilda reveals that she sucked the poison from Ambrosio's wound and is now dying herself. At the point of her death, Matilda begs him to make love to her, and he agrees reluctantly. After having sex with Ambrosio, Matilda performs a ritual in the cemetery which cures her of the poison. She and Ambrosio continue to be secret lovers, but Ambrosio grows tired of her.
Ambrosio meets Antonia and is immediately attracted to her. He begins visiting Antonia's mother regularly, hoping to seduce Antonia. In the meantime, Lorenzo has secured his family's blessing for his marriage with Antonia. Matilda tells Ambrosio she can help him gain Antonia's charms, the same way she was healed of the poison: witchcraft. Ambrosio is initially horrified, but agrees. Matilda and Ambrosio return to the cemetery, where Matilda calls upon Lucifer, who appears young and handsome. He gives Matilda a magic myrtle bough, which will allow Ambrosio to open any door, as well as rape Antonia without her knowing. Ambrosio uses the magic bough to enter Antonia's bedroom. He is on the point of raping her when Antonia's mother arrives and confronts him. In panic, Ambrosio murders her and returns to the abbey, unsatisfied in his lust and horrified that he has now become a murderer.
Antonia, grief-stricken, sees her mother's ghost. She faints and Ambrosio is called to help. Matilda helps Ambrosio acquire a concoction that will put Antonia in a deathlike coma. While attending to Antonia, Ambrosio administers the poison, and Antonia appears to die. He takes Antonia to the crypt beneath the convent, where she awakens from her drugged sleep and Ambrosio rapes her. Afterward, he is as disgusted with Antonia as he was with Matilda, who arrives to warn him that the convent is burning down due to a riot (caused by the events of Raymond and Agnes's story). Antonia attempts to escape, and Ambrosio kills her.
Ambrosio and Matilda are brought before the Inquisition. Matilda confesses her guilt and is sentenced to death. Before she is executed, she sells her soul to the devil in exchange for her freedom and her life. Ambrosio insists upon his innocence and is tortured. He is visited by Matilda, who tells him to yield his soul to Satan. Ambrosio again proclaims his innocence, but when faced with torture, he admits to his sins of rape, murder, and sorcery and is condemned to burn. In despair, Ambrosio asks Lucifer to save his life, who tells him it will be at the cost of his soul. Ambrosio is reluctant to give up the hope of God's forgiveness, but Lucifer tells him that there is none. After much resistance, Ambrosio signs the contract. Lucifer transports him from his cell to the wilderness. Lucifer informs him that Antonia's mother, whom he murdered, was also his mother, making Antonia his sister, adding to his crimes the sin of incest. Ambrosio then learns that he accepted Lucifer's deal only moments before he was to be pardoned. Lucifer reveals that it has long been his plan to gain Ambrosio's soul, as he could see that Ambrosio was "virtuous from vanity, not principle." He also reveals that Matilda was a demon helping him. Finally, Lucifer points out the loophole in their deal: Ambrosio only asked to get out of his cell, and Lucifer did not agree not to harm him afterwards. Lucifer carries him into the sky and drops Ambrosio to his death, triumphant that Ambrosio's soul will now be damned for eternity.
Lorenzo's sister, Agnes, is a nun at the nearby abbey who is romantically involved with Raymond, son of a Marquis. Ambrosio hears the confession of the nuns at Agnes's convent. When Agnes confesses that she is pregnant with Raymond's child, Ambrosio turns her over to the Prioress of her abbey for punishment.
Lorenzo confronts Raymond about his relationship with his sister Agnes. Raymond tells their long history. Raymond was travelling in Germany when he was nearly killed by bandits. He avoided being killed, and rescued a Baroness who was also travelling. Visiting the Baroness afterward, Raymond fell in love with her niece Agnes. However, the Baroness was in love with Raymond; when he refused her advances, she made arrangements to send Agnes to a convent. Raymond and Agnes made plans to elope before Agnes left her aunt's castle for the convent. Agnes planned to dress as the Bleeding Nun, a ghost who haunted the castle and exited its gates at midnight. Raymond accidentally eloped with the real ghost of the real Bleeding Nun. Exorcising the ghost of the Bleeding Nun required assistance from the Wandering Jew. When Raymond was free, he found Agnes in the convent. There he seduced Agnes. When she discovered that she was pregnant, she begged him to help her escape.
When Raymond finishes his story, Lorenzo agrees to help him elope with Agnes. He acquires a papal bull releasing Agnes from her vows as a nun so that she may marry Raymond. However, when he shows it to the Prioress, she tells Lorenzo that Agnes died several days before. Lorenzo does not believe it, but after two months, there is no other word concerning Agnes. Eventually, to try to find Agnes, Raymond's servant disguises himself as a beggar and goes to the convent, where Mother St. Ursula sneaks him a note that tells Raymond to have the cardinal arrest the Prioress for Agnes's murder.
During a procession honouring Saint Clare, the Prioress is arrested. Mother St. Ursula publicly describes Agnes's death at the hand of the sisters. When the procession crowd hears that the Prioress is a murderer, they turn into a rioting mob. They kill the Prioress, attack other nuns, and set the convent on fire. In the confusion, Lorenzo finds a group of nuns and a young woman named Virginia hiding in the crypt. Lorenzo discovers a passage leading down into a dungeon, where he finds Agnes, alive and holding the dead body of the baby she had given birth to while abandoned in the dungeon. With Virginia's help, Lorenzo rescues Agnes and the other nuns from the crypt.
Virginia visits Lorenzo as he is recovering from his grief and the two become closer. Agnes tells the story of her miserable experience in the dungeon. Agnes and Raymond are married, and the couple leaves Madrid for Raymond's castle, accompanied by Lorenzo and Virginia, who are also eventually married.
----fin---
Reading the book itself in the 21st century it all seems rather tame and I am surprised no film studio or TV network has grabbed the work to "spice it up" to, as they keep saying, "make it understandable to a modern audience" (ie: sex scenes and lots of obscene language).
I really wish I knew what I did with the first 20-30 pages of a graphic novel script I did in...1998.
Steve The Horse Comic Strip,DVD and Mystery Statuette
There is,for some of us,a fascination for early British comics and the characters/creators. Ally Sloper and Steve The Horse I have tried to deal with on my Yahoo British Comic Books Archives group.
And,about five years ago I used pages of art sent to me by the late comic historian Denis Gifford to produce an A5 tribute publication to Roland Davies creation,Steve The Horse –“Come On Steve”.
above:Roland Davies Studio. Davies is in the cardigan and Steve statue to right
I knew Davies had been involved in animation and had produced features. However,I guessed that I’d never see these as buying 9.5mm 1930s film seemed like a fantasy.
Until,quite by accident,I was looking for more Davies info when I came across a site run by Grahame L. Newnham and well worth checking out if you have an interest in Pathe or other old films:
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I was an advertisement of Newnham’s for “Come On Steve!”—a complete collection of the character’s animated features on a DVD. And the price was perfect!
Sadly,ill health put all idea of buying a DVD out of my mind. However,when I recovered and realised that I hadn’t ordered it -I did!
The disc includes:
Steve’s Treasure Hunt [1936]
Steve Steps Out [1936]
Steve Of The River [1937]
Cinderella Steve [1937]
Steve In
Bohemia [1937]
Steve’s Cannon Crackers [1937]
Bal Costume [French Silent version] 1937.
With a wonderfully vintage sound track it might be that some would find, in these somewhat ridiculously over the top politically correct times,Steve Of The River a little “racist” in its depiction of African natives. But I am totally opposed to retro censorship of historical images [such as using computers to remove the cigar from the mouth of engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel!]. This was the 1930s and the truth is that not everyone was racist! This was the easiest way for a cartoonist to depict natives in a comical film.
So be warned!
The quality for 70+ year old films is great. I loved some of the wacky scenes featuring things such as a police gyrocopter!
If you don’t like black and white animation then it’s not for you. But if you have any interesting the history of British comics,the creators and animation you’ll LOVE this! And Grahame included some nice info fact sheets with background and all for £9.95 + 75p p&p!
Check out the website and contact Grahame for current price in case it’s altered. You won’t be sorry in adding this to your DVD animation collection!
But there is an up-date to this. After reading the above article,Patti Brown contacted me to see whether I could help her identify a Steve The Horse statuette? I thought that it must be the studio piece [see photo above].
That idea was quickly shot down. This was much smaller -you can see it below next to a 50 pence piece. There is no makers stamp or any other information. Only one thing is certain,though,the quality and glaze means it was a professional piece rather than a one-off a fan made. And,there is absolutely no doubt that this is Steve The Horse!
I have tried every toy or comic merchandise auction house/collector I can -nothing. I even tried BBC TVs Antiques Roadshow -nothing.Anyone out there have any ideas -I’d like to know details. Grahame Newnham would like to know details -Patti would definitely like to know more!
There,thrown open for you comickers.
above:Roland Davies a few months before his death.Denis Gifford wrote a wonderful obituary for Davieswhich I include below for those interested in the greats of the British Golden Age of comics:
DENIS GIFFORD
The Independent,Thursday, 16 December 1993
Roland Oxford Davies, cartoonist and animator: born Stourport, Worcestershire 23 July 1904; died 10 December 1993.
ROLAND DAVIES was the epitome of the commercial artist, never happy unless he was drawing or painting. His long career covered sports cartoons, topical cartoons, strip cartoons, animated cartoons, children’s books and boys’ weeklies, and towards the end superb paintings which were sold in art galleries to collectors who never knew of his once famous comic horse, ‘Steve’.
Davies was born at Stourport, Worcestershire, in 1904. His father, a Welsh musician, was a conductor of theatre orchestras with an eye for art. ‘He always encouraged me as a boy,’ recalled Roland, ‘by ruling in the horizon line, which taught me perspective.’ Settling in Ipswich, the boy studied at the Art School there during the evenings, then at 16 spent two years as a full-time student before becoming apprenticed to a lithographer. Here he designed cinema posters and one for the Metropolitan Railway of which he was particularly proud. His obsession with speed, whether by aeroplane, train, racing car or motor-cycle, led him to freelance cartoons to Autocar and Motor Cycle magazines, and when a new weekly, Modern Boy, was launched in 1928 he found a regular home illustrating action stories and supplying wonderful two- colour covers depicting roaring motors and zooming planes.
Curiously, his greatest success came with the very antithesis of all this speed: a lumbering, genial old cart-horse in a weekly strip cartoon called ‘Come On, Steve]’ – the inspired title was the cry that sprang from a thousand racegoers’ throats as the jockey Steve Donoghue galloped to yet another win. Davies took his sample strips – devised over a weekend – down Fleet Street, trying first the Evening News, then the Evening Standard, then the Daily Express. Arthur Christiansen, showing the editorial acumen for which he became famous, took the strip to his editor on the Sunday Express, and the following week, on 6 March 1932, Steve made his top-of-the-page debut. Davies was pounds 4 a week richer, a fee that was shortly doubled.
‘Come On, Steve’ was soon so popular that Davies conceived the idea of animating the old carthorse. Buying a stop-frame cine camera for 18 shillings, he set up a studio in his kitchen and spent seven months making a short animated cartoon. Although full of faults, the film when projected gave him the thrill of his lifetime. ‘The biggest thrill in the world was to see my drawings move, even if I had got the speed all wrong, and Steve looked as though he was floating,’ Davies remembered. In his ignorance he had placed his cel-pegs at the top of his camera rostrum instead of the bottom, causing all kinds of odd distortions. ‘Well, I learnt animation from a three-page chapter in an old book,’ he said.
However, he had the nerve to show his film to John Woolf of General Film Distributors. Woolf would not give a decision until a soundtrack was added. Davies hired a studio, improvised a track – and was turned down yet again. He lowered his sights and showed his film to Butcher’s, a minor distributor of B-pictures. They promptly gave him a contract for six eight-minute cartoons at pounds 800 each. With finance from his father-in-law, Davies set up an animation studio in Ipswich, staffed by students from the Art School and headed by one professional animator, the young Carl Giles. One by one the six cartoons were made, this time complete with a signature tune composed by John Reynders, whose orchestra supplied the music track and sound effects. Steve Steps Out was the first, released in December 1936, and a children’s book-of-the-film was published by Collins. Best was Steve of The River (1937), a burlesque of Edgar Wallace’s recent film, Sanders of the River.
When the Sunday Express dropped Steve in 1939 Davies, who had wisely retained the copyright, took the strip over to the Sunday Dispatch. They snapped up Steve with glee, and soon gave Davies the added post of cartoonist. He supplied topical comment in a large weekly drawing, using the pen-name of ‘Rod’. After 10 years in the Dispatch, Steve moved into children’s books, and Davies wrote and drew a full-colour series for Perry’s Colourprints, plus a run of the Come On Steve Annual.
Davies’s work for children’s comics began in 1933 when he drew the cover for the Daily Express Children’s Own, a Saturday supplement starring ‘Larry Leopard’. When DC Thomson’s new comic Beano began in July 1938, Davies drew a tough-guy sheriff, ‘Whoopee Hank’, and ‘Contrary Mary the Moke’, a long-eared donkey who was clearly a close relation to Steve. But his mainline comic work started in 1949 with the weekly serial of ‘Sexton Blake’, the famous boys’ paper detective, in Knockout. For TV Comic he depicted the children’s hour detectives ‘Norman and Henry Bones’, and created the sci-fi superhero ‘Red Ray the Space Ray-nger’ complete with club and badge.
He drew ‘Dixon of Dock Green’ in Swift, ‘Wyatt Earp’, the western television series, and a string of Walt Disney characters (Jungle Book, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh) in Disneyland. He even drew the adventures of ‘Woppit’, Donald Campbell’s mascot, in Robin. This linked back to his old speed-mania, and he wrote and illustrated several books such as The Daily Mail Speedway Book (1949) and The Ace Book of Speed (1952).
The continuing pressure of strip art finally grew too much for him, and in his seventies Davies turned to painting. Under the guidance of a publisher turned art dealer, Alan Class, he began producing dramatic seascapes and colourful Parisian street scenes, which found their way into several good galleries.
below:Roland Davies painting
A4
B&W
32pp
£6.19
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/classic-fun-comics-1come-on-steve/paperback/product-1gq92mwe.html
Steve The Horse the creation of Roland Davies was a hugely popular newspaper comic stripin the UK and the Steve movies of the 1930s had an international audience.
Learn how Davies got started in animation and comic strips as well as more about his career as a fine artist.
And, of course, see some of the Steve strips reprinted and Ben R. Dilworth's modern take on the innocent character!
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