Created in 1893 – six years after rival Sherlock Holmes first appeared in print – Sexton Blake went on to become a publishing phenomenon, appearing in 4,000 stories told written and drawn by over 200 different writers and artists and syndicated around the world. And now he is reborn!
Presented for the very first time in its full glory is the last Sexton Blake comic strip, originally published under the title “Victor Drago”, written by Chris Lowder (Dan Dare, Judge Dredd) and illustrated by Mike Dorey (Hellman of Hammerforce)
Then the adventure detective is back in action as George Mann (Doctor Who, Star Wars Adventures) and Jimmy Broxton (Hope, Doctor Who) brings us the first new Sexton Blake comic in decades!
Meanwhile, Philip K. Dick Award winning writer Mark Hodder (The Burton & Swinburne Adventures) introduces Blake to a new audience and Karl Stock (Thrill-power Overload: Forty Years of 2000 AD) interviews the writers and artists.
Sharper than Bond, cooler than The Saint – the indefatigable British spy John Steel is back!
The John Steel Files collects two Steel stories from the golden age of spy fiction, featuring stunning art from legendary artist Luis Bermejo (Creepy, Vampirella), and is out on 11 November!
Re-presented for a modern audience, these never-before-reprinted comics have been coloured by breakout colourist Pippa Bowland (2000 AD) and will feature a brand new cover by V. V. Glass (The Last Witch).
The 128-page comic book special features the stories ‘Bullets in the Sun’ (from Thriller Picture Library #371), where a British MP turns to his old WWII comrade, John Steel, after being blackmailed by sinister forces to keep him quiet about an international double-cross; and in ‘Play It Cool’ (Thriller Picture Library #379), while investigating the disappearance of Senator Harding’s son in France, Steel discovers a link to what seems to be a murder on the streets of Paris!
Originally a secret service agent during World War II, Steel first appeared in Super Detective Picture Library #157 in September 1959 and became a regular in the pages of the publisher Fleetway’s popular Thriller Picture Library from November 1960, a line of 64-page digest-sized black and white comic books that ran serialized stories, usually consisting of two comic panels per page.
Steel’s exploits helped make Thriller Picture Library one of the best-selling titles on the newsstand and it featured a variety of war, spy, and detective heroes such as ‘Battler Britton’, ‘Spy 13’, and ‘Dogfight Dixon’.
Bermejo took over the series in 1960 and may have influenced the decision in early 1961 to transplant Steel from World War Two into the Jazz Age. Gone were his spying exploits in favour of life as a private detective.
Influenced by the contemporary sophistication of the early James Bond novels, Steel found himself in a world of jazz cafes and shady deals. This switch was reflected in the title of Steel’s stories too – this collection will feature the classics ‘Play it Cool’ and ‘Bullets in the Sun’.
Luis Bermejo Royo’s diverse career spanned Spanish, British, and American comic book industries and his style is instantly recognisable on series such as Adventures of the FBI, Apache, Tarzan, John Steel, Johnny Future, Vampirella, Captain Thunder, and his adaptations of Lord of the Rings and books by Isaac Asimov and Raymond Chandler. He passed away on 12 December 2015.
Privatisation has never been so deadly – the homicidal computer Max returns in the second collection of The Thirteenth Floor, featuring never-before-reprinted classic horror comics!
The latest release of classic comics from the Treasury of British Comics is available now in paperback, exclusive hardcover, and digital!
Max is being packed off to the private sector in one of the most iconic comics of the 1980s. Perhaps the most fondly remembered of all the strips to originate in the short-lived British horror weekly Scream!, The Thirteenth Floor was created by John Wagner and Alan Grant, with spookily atmospheric art from José Ortiz.
Max is an artificial intelligence created to be superintendent of council tower block Maxwell Tower. Max was determined to make sure that all of his tenants were safe and happy – even if it meant sending humans he didn’t like to his thirteenth floor – a nightmarish virtual world where their worst dreams became a fitting punishment, whether it was zombies, giant cockroaches, medieval executioners, or sharks! But, after being exposed as a homicidal killer, Max the computer has been shut down and removed from Maxwell Tower – but the unscrupulous council has sold the computer to fancy Oxford Street department store, Pringles.
Now, Max has a new hunting ground and a whole host of potential ‘victims’, including shop-lifters, obnoxious customers and even secret agents.
This new collection features the stories from Eagle from 20th April 1985 to 22nd January 1986, with additional tales from the Scream! 1982 Holiday Special and the Eagle Holiday Special from 1986, most of which are being reprinted for the first time and have been remastered by Rebellion’s experienced reprographics team to provide maximum scares in time for Halloween!
Just in time for Hallowe’en, the Misty & Scream! special returns with another 48-page anthology stuffed with scares to create a new generation from British horror fans!
The Prince of Darkness comes face to face with an old foe in The Dracula Files from Cavan Scott and Vincenzo Riccardi; Black Beth‘s quest for vengeance continues thanks to the fevered minds of Alec Worley and DaNi; and Kek-W and Simon Coleby reveal the ghoulish World War I air ace, Black Max, attempting to cross back over into the world of the living!
Plus there’s three frightfully fresh stories to shock your socks off – Thief of Senses by Maura Mchugh and Robin Henley; Bumps in the Night by Olivia Hicks and John Lucas, and The Aegis by Kristyna Baczynski and Mary Safro!
So lock your doors and hide under the duvet as this is the spookiest read you’ve encounter this Hallowe’en!
It wouldn’t be Hallowe’en with it – the paperback edition of the sold out collection of The Dracula File is out now!
Torn from the pages of Scream!, this paperback collection presents the original stories by industry legends Gerry Finley-Day (Rogue Trooper) and Eric Bradbury (Doomlord) in a mass market edition that’s ideal for kids and horror fans alike!
Feast your eyes on this scary series that saw the lord of the undead return to contemporary Britain, finding himself hunted amidst the paranoia of the Cold War!
Fleeing vampire hunters from behind the Iron Curtain, Count Dracula returns to Great Britain with an unquenchable thirst for blood! Unable to accept that the supernatural defector has slipped through his fingers, Romanian KGB officer Stakis decides to defy his disbelieving superiors and destroy the unholy horror that has plagued the world for centuries. Will 1980s London become the Count’s permanent, new feeding ground?
Written by 2000 AD stalwart Gerry Finley-Day and featuring Eric Bradbury’s nightmarish vision of horror’s greatest icon, The Dracula File is a book that you can really sink your teeth into!
The war’s dirtiest fighters led by the war’s coolest soldier – it’s Major Eazy vs Rat Pack!
Blasting out from the pages of the legendary Battle, this 48-page special edition of this classic crossover story from 1977 is available exclusively from the 2000 AD and Treasury of British Comics webshops.
Bringing together two of Battle’s most popular strips in one explosive 12-part story, this collection also includes two carefully selected stand-alone Battle classics featuring art by Ezquerra – ‘The Hidden Bomb’ and ‘The Orphan’ from 1980.
This special collection is a must have for fans of classic war comics and of Ezquerra’s groundbreaking art, which made him one of the most important artists in post-war British comics.
‘Major Eazy vs Rat Pack’ combined two of the legendary artist’s most popular series. The original artist on Rat Pack in 1975, a year later Ezquerra also co-created Major Eazy with Hebden, a strip for which he drew every episode in Battle Picture Weekly. During the mid to late 1970s, Ezquerra enjoyed an incredible run of success that saw him establish an artistic and cultural legacy that continues to this day, co-creating Rat Pack, Major Eazy, and El Mestizo for Battle, as well as Judge Dredd for 2000 AD and Strontium Dog for Starlord.
BATTLE is back! And it’s blazing into action in all good newsagents and comic book stores, as well as digitally from the Treasury of British Comics!
Battle revolutionised comics in the 1970s – gritty, hardcore war stories that rejected gung-ho patriotism in favour of telling the stories of the soldiers doing the real fighting.
This special issue, timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, features new work by Garth Ennis (Preacher), Alex de Campi (Madi), Glenn Fabry (Preacher), Dan Abnett (Guardians of the Galaxy) and many more!
With a Treasury of British Comics webshop exclusive wraparound cover by Keith Burns or the standard cover by Nelson Daniel, this bumper 100-page anthology evokes the spirit of the origina Battle while also adding its own twist to the modern ‘war comic’!
The second thrilling omnibus of The Rise and Fall of The Trigan Empire, the best-selling sci-fi classic from the 1960s, is available to pre-order now – with a limited edition hardcover featuring an exclusive cover by superstar artist Liam Sharp (Green Lantern)!
Among the distant stars, fractious tribes come together to found a mighty empire that will wage war against aggressive kingdoms, battle alien invaders, and conceive of incredible new technologies. This extraordinary volume continues to chart the glorious Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire!
A landmark in British comics history, painted by the legendary Don Lawrence in stunning, classic style, and springing from the grandiose pen of Mike Butterworth, this is an epic tale that creates a new far-future science fiction mythos that captured the imagination of a generation. This is the second volume in the series collecting all of Lawrence’s work on The Trigan Empire, which is long out-of-print and difficult to find.
Printed in large format to showcase the lush fully-painted colour artwork, this edition features an introduction from the Don Lawrence’s former apprentice, Chris Weston (The Twelve).
Orders placed between now and the 30th September for the hardcover edition will guarantee a copy of this individually number hardcover. After the 30th September, there will only be a small number of copies left to order through the website. Orders will ship on the 4th December.
Stories included are:
– The Three Princes – The Alien Dust – The Lost City – The Terror of Mount Spyx – The Invisibility Ray – The Ultimate weapon – The Tyrant – The Red Death – The Puppet Emperor – The Five Labours of Trigo – The Brief Reign of Sennos the First
Collecting stories from Look & Learn 24th May 1968 – 7th November 1970 and the Ranger Book for Boys 1968
Forget the gloom of a spring spent in lockdown, summer is properly here with the brand new Tammy & Jinty Special 2020!
These two spectacular tales of courage and awe are guaranteed to chase the blues away, with work by Rachael Smith (Wired Up Wrong), RAMZEE (Zorse), Yishan Li (Hellboy & The B.P.R.D.), and Elkys Nova (Roy of the Rovers), plus a cover by Marguerite Sauvage (DC Bombshells)!
In Boarding School, Tabatha and her little brother Richard are the only pupils in a mysterious old building. The only other people they have ever seen are the Governesses – four teachers who fawn over the younger sibling but treat Tabatha very badly. Does it have something to do with Richard’s special power? When Tabatha finds a new friend in the outside world, her old life quickly starts to unravel.
An old favourite from the pages of the Sally returns as fourteen-year-old Claire finds an old cat costume in her mother’s wardrobe and wears it to a social media star’s party, unware that she has just donned the magical mantle of the super-sleek crime fighter, Cat-Girl!
And we get an inside scoop on what it was like to write for girl’s comics in their heyday, as Alison Fitt (known then as Alison Christie) talks about her experiences working for Jinty and Tammy on such strips as ‘Heart of Stone’, ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ and ‘Ping Pong Paula’.
The year’s been rather rubbish so far for sure – so what you need is something to brighten the mood of doom & gloom. We’ve got the perfect answer with the brand new Tammy & Jinty Special!
Inside, you’ll find two spectacular tales of courage and awe; Boarding School by Rachael Smith (Wired Up Wrong) and Yishan Li (Hellboy & The B.P.R.D.) and Cat Girl by RAMZEE (Zorse) and Elkys Nova (Roy of the Rovers), all under a cover from Marguerite Sauvage (DC Bombshells).
With Cat Girl, RAMZEE & Elkys Nova bring a classic character back when an old favourite from the pages of the Sally returns. Fourteen-year-old Claire finds an old cat costume in her mother’s wardrobe and wears it to a social media star’s party, unware that she has just donned the magical mantle of the super-sleek crime fighter, Cat-Girl!
Make sure you pre-order your copy from the Treasury of British Comics webshop, or grab yours from all good newsagents and comic book shops on 12 August!
First things first, you’re both responsible for one half of the new Tammy & Jinty Special with the strip Cat Girl, a redoing of a classic superhero from the pages of Sally (art by Giorgio Giorgetti and debuting in 1969).\
So, what’s the new strip about?
RAMZEE: Our new Cat Girl strip is about the original Cat Girl‘s daughter, Claire, who ‘borrows’ a vintage costume from her mum’s wardrobe and wears it to a Halloween party thrown by Lottie Rose – a social media star – Claire is unaware that her costume is actually the magical Cat Girl costume. Whilst across town, her Police Detective mother is investigating a mystery of a thief who is targeting the cities most wealthy, their next target being Lottie Rose!
What elements of the original will you be keeping, what modifications have you made?
RAMZEE: I loved the Father/Daughter dynamic of the original strip and that the stories were largely mysteries with a superhero element to them. I thought that it would be cool in this modern-day interpretation of Cat Girl for it to be a Mother/Daughter dynamic because Mother/Daughter legacy characters are rare in comics generally, and as well as to make Claire biracial, because why not? And there is a lack of Girls of Colour in UK Comics. I also wanted to set it firmly in these social media addled times to satirise it!
Elkys Nova: It is so good the way that Ramsey makes reference to the original Cat Girl, letting the readers know that this could be a canon story that is happening right in 2020, showing how much time has passed and what new to come with this heroine. I personally wanted to keep the structure of the original Cat Girl costume and add some little details that could make it look memorable and singular among other heroes design.
RAMZEE, back in 2015, I remember seeing and reviewing your book Triangle, saying how you’d got real potential, delivering ‘three really good Future Shock-ish tales. In all honesty, with a tweak here and there, the first couple of tales… could easily get into 2000AD. The only reason third tale Meet Cute wouldn’t work is that it’s Ramzee’s twisty take on classic Rom-Coms (and I do enjoy a good rom-com).’
So, although you haven’t made it into 2000 AD (yet), what’s it feel like to have your first pro story out here in the pages of Tammy & Jinty?
RAMZEE: I am absolutely honoured. I was a big fan of the last Tammy and Jinty Summer Special and there’s so much energy, wit and psychological depth to those stories – it’s a great canvas to draw on. Pat Mills and Sean Phillips are big heroes of mine and they both got their start in British Girls comics, I think, so I’m happy to be following in their footsteps too.
Elkys Nova’s art from the recent ROTR Summer Special.
Elkys, you came new to me when you had art duties on the recent Roy Of The Rovers Euro Adventure strip in the ROTR Summer Special. Likewise to you – how did it feel to be part of the legend that is ROTR?
EN: For me it was an honour being part of a football classic comic. When I was a little kid I would hang out a lot with my cousins, who had football in their veins. I used to go play with them and have so much fun.
A big part of the ROTR comic that I took part in was inspired by the classic Roy and my childhood experience about this sport. It was so inspiring having all those memories of being in the field kicking the ball that I could empathize a lot with the characters and honest art to what was happening in the story.
How did you both get to be where you are?
RAMZEE: I’m a Small Press Comics Creator from London – so I made my own comics and put them in shops and tabled them at fairs and conventions. I’ve self-published three popular books. The second of which was nominated for a British Comic Award back in 2016 in the YA category (the only self-published book on the shortlist) which was pretty cool.
EN: I first started working on comics at the age of 14, but had been drawing since I can remember. Honestly, I could remember drawing before anything. And loving telling stories guided me to MoroStudio, the company where I developed as an artist. If it wasn’t for them I probably wouldn’t get this far.
In 2014, I got my first international gig, drawing 3 comic pages for a sci-fi comic from the States. After that, started working on some MoroStudio projects, alongside my very good friend Jorge E. Perez Miliano. And in the meantime, I decided to do little gigs, so I could keep working on personal projects. On 2018, I wanted to start studying art, because basically most of my art knowledge had been self-taught, reading art books and practising a lot to get better. So I applied for a scholarship at Chavón (art’s school). After almost two years, I went back to MoroStudio to put everything I learned into practice.
And how did you both get involved in this new Tammy & Jinty Special?
RAMZEE: A fantastic editor at Rebellion picked up my work, liked it and invited me to pitch. I was packing for the Thought Bubble Festival when I got the email – excited about the festival but also a bit melancholy – ‘Will I make enough money to cover my table? Will I be able to meet any editors?’ – So it was very welcome news!
EN: I got an email from my very good friend Lisa Henke, asking me if I would like to work on a football special, on the title she’d been working on. So I said OF COURSE! And here we are.
While I was working on ROTR, I got a proposal from Keith Richardson to work on the Cat Girl’s comic strip. I have to admit I did not know about this heroine before. I decided to investigate about the character and its origins so I could get familiar with it, take the essence of the whole mood the story presents, to then try to mix it with some contemporaneous comic concept. Always trying to honour the classic strip.
Was Cat Girl something you’d ever heard of before – I’m assuming it was suggested to you as a strip by Keith Richardson rather than you going to him with the idea?
RAMZEE: I actually pitched Keith (Richardson) the Cat Girl story amongst other things. I read Lew Stringer’s fab article on Cat Girl on his amazing blog (Blimey –it’s this article here) which introduced me to the character and the Jinty resource blog is absolutely terrific.
What sort of research did you both do when thinking about getting the strip together?
RAMZEE: I was invited to pitch the weekend of Thought Bubble and was tabling behind comics legend Paul Cornell who gave me his amazing bite-size Ted Talk on British Girls comics. My pal, the comics critic and editor, Claire Napier (who Claire Carter was named after as a thank you!) also gave me her awesome take on British girls comics and what they mean to her. Their takes along with the info on the blogs gave me a good tonal foundation in which to start writing.
When collaborating with artists I always create a PDF of visual references to go along with my script for the artist to bounce ideas off. There were action shots from 80’s Daredevil comics and Police Detective Cathy Carter was heavily based on Cate Blanchett in ‘Oceans 8’!
EN: I initially searched for the classic Cat Girl, to define what kind of references I would need to reinterpret it in my own style, based on what I saw in the original art. After reading the script, Ramsey provided that PDF file with images to see what he had in his mind. But he always gave me the chance to do it as I felt comfortable. I really appreciate when writers provide those kinds of references because as a visual thinker it helps a lot to look into the writer’s mind, and makes one understand what it is wanted to be reached, plus adding some personal details to add to the story.
When you were thinking about the strip, did you (as I know writers and artists are want to – it’s a curse) start doing the worldbuilding thing, plotting out future storylines and possible next steps for the character?
RAMZEE: Yes! Keith came up with an amazing idea for a future story that I later fleshed out and whilst doing that, I came up with a few really fun and compelling story ideas that draw from the old Cat Girl comics in an interesting modern way that’ll please readers old and new.
EN: First thing I thought was about the responsibility of being part of a comic reboot. That demands a big quantity of awareness, to know it has to be as awesome as we can do it, so we can honour the classic strip and the hope to see if we can keep going with this title (that I personally loved working on), and make people know this character has a lot of joy and interesting stories to be involved in. When I got the script I knew it was just perfect for me and having those references made imaging every scene clearly.
I don’t know how deep you got into the history of things when it comes to the strip, but what are your thoughts on the richness of the comics world that came about in the 60s and 70s in Britain with the ‘girls’ comics?
RAMZEE: British girls comics were a lot more nuanced in their characterisation than boys comics, for sure, and were every bit as satirical, topical and, dare I say, seditious, as the boys comics were. They were ahead of their time. You can connect Fran of The Floods to Greta Thunberg, for example, and the Concrete Surfer was rail-sliding back when Tony Hawk was in short pants.
EN: Absolutely, for that time girls comics had such a depth of different emotions to experience that made everything have importance and a sense of being, that you had to pay attention to every detail so we could understand the different reads of the same topic. I always found very interesting how female protagonists behave in comics. They have so much power, and so much to learn from another perspective and situations, that I think everybody should be aware of.
The original Cat Girl –
Elkys… I’m always guilty of doing the comic interviewer thing and not going enough into the artwork. I think it’s a symptom of being a writer rather than an artist – not knowing what to ask, that sort of thing. However, one thing that always fascinates me is how you work, the whole process of it all…
Obviously Cat Girl had a very specific look to the strip, coming as it did from one artist, Giorgio Giorgetti.
What do you think of the original artwork and what it achievedand how did you bring your own art to the character? Were there any obvious stylistic changes you made in the process?
EN: The original work is really amazing. I mean, that kind of art quality?! It’s just so impressive. It had a very fluid storytelling, I myself to keep that, as well as some panelling structures.
I have to admit that I got a little scared. I tend to respect the original artist of any comic I have been part of and that makes me work even harder to honour and keep the sense of what was created. Making something where I’m part of its recreation, I feel I can make people pay attention to the original and research about the creators and story.
I have a very versatile drawing style. From my first years working on MoroStudio, I was taught to learn different styles in order to get to be part of any project that needed an artist. So, with this comic having to do with a very athletic protagonist, I wanted to make it look like animation in terms of angles and movements, with a very clean line art and contrasts, to give some noir juvenile comic strip.
One thing that is nice to do with artists is to discuss process, but even better is the chance for you to show us your process as well. So, how do you go about drawing the way you do?
EN: There is something I cannot explain about my drawing process, and it is that I unconsciously adapt my style depending on the genre and the mood of the story I’m working on. There is this vibe I can feel while reading the comic, that my mind automatically gives me an image representation of what it should look like.
After that analysis, I start sketching the main and secondary characters, to get familiar with their personality and behaviour. I usually take advantage of the different styles I manage to give the story what it is telling me it should look like.
And could you possibly include a few examples, maybe a page of the strip from sketch to finish with a little commentary on it?
EN: Here we have the very first page, sketch first…
Cat Girl – Page 1 – sketch thumbnails by Elkys Nova
EN: Normally I use a sketchbook to do my thumbnails and make crazy decisions to try to see every possible solution, selecting what’s best to represent the script.
Every sketched page needs to be as detailed as possible, so when I start inking, I’ve already placed every element that is going to be in each panel. And it’s easier for me to get into details and avoid going back and fixing and changing many things.
Cat Girl – Page 1 – inking stage by Elkys Nova
Would you be hopeful at this stage that we could be looking at a more regular publishing schedule, getting more of these sorts of stories out to a wider audience more often?
RAMZEE: I would love to see more. The success of the new Archie line of books, Boom! Studios Lumberjanes and the current boom in all-ages graphic novels initiated by Raina Telgeimeier, has shown that there IS a huge appetite and readership for girls (and all-ages, both genders) stories around the world and the UK has a lot to offer UK readers looking for stories that reflect their experiences and International readers looking for a fresh perspective.
EN: For me, that would be such an honour. As I said before, I love this title and what it could be, as well as how much I learned drawing it. This is literally my best comic up until now.
Cat Girl – Page 1 – final – art by Elkys Nova, colours by Pippa Bowland, letters by Simon Bowland.
What sort of comics work would you count as the formative works for you, the sort of things that made you fall in love with the medium, the sort of things that set you on the artistic path you’re both on?
RAMZEE: As a kid, I was mostly keen on Saturday morning cartoons and the only comics I read were Tintin, but in my teens, I was big into Jim Lee era X-Men, Ditko & Romita Sr Spider-Man reprints in Marvel Tales, Ann Nocenti’s Daredevil and Gaiman’s Sandman – but Mick McMahon’s work on Judge Dredd, particularly on The Cursed Earth and his 2000 AD covers, were next level.
EN: I found out I just love telling stories, no matter the genre. I am always up to learn new ways of telling stories – I find it joyful to always experiment with different things to understand how they work.
And finally, do feel free to mention here just what we can look forward to from both of you – tell us about the next things we’ll be seeing from you!
RAMZEE: I have a graphic novel called LDN coming out next year by the awesome team at Good Comics and I’m working on a secret YA fantasy serial at the moment with another talented artist that I can’t say much about!
And hopefully more Cat Girl on the horizon and 2000 AD!
EN: For now, I haven’t gotten another proposal from Rebellion, but I am looking forward to continuing working with them. In the meanwhile I am arranging a Sci-fi/post-apocalyptic one shot with a friend of mine, to work on it in our spare time.
Thanks so much to RAMZEE for talking to us. You can find him on Twitter as RamzeeRawkz.
Make sure you check out the new Cat Girl in the pages of Tammy & Jinty Special – available from all good newsagents and comic book stores. Or get it from the 2000 ADweb shop and Treasury of British Comics web shop.
And while you’re thinking all things Tammy & Jinty, if you haven’t already seen it, go and grab a copy of the 2019 Tammy & Jinty Special as well.
