Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting

When the Kung Fu craze swept the western world in the early 1970s it was inevitable it would also affect comics. One such publication was Marvel UK's The Avengers weekly which had been tootling along with reprints of The Avengers and Doctor Strange for 27 weeks and then out of the blue came the character seen above. Suddenly even the comic's masthead changed to The Avengers starring Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu and The Avengers strip itself was cut in half to accommodate ten pages of this newcomer's adventures. This was issue No.28, dated March 30th 1974.

I remember thinking that the extended title sounded awkward, and that Shang-Chi seemed an uncomfortable fit as he wasn't strictly a superhero, but over the weeks I grew to really like the series. Master of Kung Fu had only debuted in America a few months earlier, in Special Marvel Edition No.15 (which soon changed its title to Master of Kung Fu) but that comic wasn't distributed in the UK. (Not every Marvel comic was imported into Britain due to some limitation on distribution, although it did start coming through with later issues.)

The script was by Steve Englehart, one of the new wave of Marvel writers, with art by Jim Starlin who had already impressed fans with his early Marvel UK covers and his regular stint on Captain Marvel. The story concerned Shang-Chi being duped by his evil father (no less than the notorious Fu Manchu from Sax Rohmer's books) into killing an innocent man. Upon discovering the deceit and filled with guilt and remorse, Shang-Chi sets out on a path to oppose and destroy his father. Along the way, the strip becomes a spy thriller, with Shang joining British intelligence in their battles with Fu Manchu and his minions.

The original creators soon left the series and Doug Moench became the regular writer, with Paul Gulacy becoming the regular artist, and later Gene Day having a long run. It became one of Marvel's landmark series, with its creative teams raising the bar for more mature comics. Unfortunately the strip has never been reprinted due to legal snags with the copyright owners of Fu Manchu and its related characters that Sax Rohmer had created. Until now that is. Marvel recently announced that starting next summer they will publish four Master of Kung Fu Omnibus editions; huge hardback collections reprinting the entire series. Seems like any legal wrangles have finally been sorted out. The books won't be cheap though. The Marvel Omnis usually retail for around $100 each so start saving now!

Going back to the issue of Marvel UK's Avengers, this edition also featured reprints of The Avengers (natually) and Doctor Strange. As you can see, this was during the period when they thought adding heavy areas of zipatone / Letratone would compensate for the lack of full colour. Sometimes it proved effective but sometimes it obscured the art too much and was too distracting, as evidenced by the Doctor Strange splash page here. 

The Avengers starring Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu remained the gobfull of a masthead for quite a while, and the Avengers part of the logo was even reduced in size after a few weeks. It was evident that Marvel UK felt Master of Kung Fu was the selling point, and I'm sure it was. However, with the comic being weekly, the Shang-Chi strips soon caught up with the American monthly. The solution was to create a few brand new 8 pagers that appeared in the UK edition first, which were then reprinted shortly after in America in Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu No.1. Presumably it wasn't financially viable to do that for long so the Shang-Chi strip was rested to enable more US strips to be generated. It was replaced in the UK weekly by Iron Fist, another Marvel kung fu hero, and yes, the comic's masthead became The Avengers starring Iron Fist for a while then too, alternating with it being The Avengers starring Dr.Strange, and simply The Avengers again. Marvel UK could be a bit messy like that back then, but that was all part of the fun.   

A Brick-tastic response!

I'm very pleased to say that my self-published comic Brickman Returns! is still selling well. I sent off a stack of copies last week and another batch of orders (above) were received over the weekend which I've just dispatched. Those of you who ordered it recently should receive your copies tomorrow. Once again, my thanks to all of you for supporting this venture.

For those of you new to my work who might be wondering who Brickman is, he's zillionaire Loose Brayne, who was stuck for something to do one night when suddenly a brick was lobbed through his window! Naturally, as it's a comic strip it instantly inspired him to become... the Brickman! Yes, it's a Batman parody, but the daftest parody you'll ever see.

The 32 page comic features:

Brickman Returns! The 20 page saga that originally ran in the USA in Image Comics' Elephantmen comic in 2006 to 2009. Now collected into one comic for the first time, the full colour adventure kicks off by recounting Brickman's origin and early days in a new spin on the old stories, before bringing us up to the present to find out what happened to our hero after the events of Brickman Begins! Co-starring Brickman's partner Tina Trowel and special guest star Combat Colin! 

Speaking of the bobble-hatted buccaneer brings us to the back up strips:

Combat Colin! A three page classic from 1989 where Colin and loyal assistant Semi-Automatic Steve first encountered their deadliest nemesis, The Brain! 

Suburban Satanists! The long-running strip that originally appeared in Norway and Sweden finally comes to the UK! The De Ville family just like to bond over their hobby. It's just that their hobby involves devil worship! 

Plus: A feature on the history of Brickman over the last 36 years!

Brickman Returns! is a limited edition, full colour, one-off 32 page comic on quality paper that you can buy directly from me for £4.50 plus postage. Support British comics! You can order a copy via my online shop:

http://www.comiconline24h.com/page7.htm

I'll also be selling copies at Comic Con Leicester next Sunday, 11th October. If you're attending, drop by my table!

http://www.comicconleicester.co.uk/

BOMB SCARES is coming!

Quite a few independent comic creators use Kickstarter these days to 'crowd fund' their projects. In case you're unfamiliar with the idea, basically it's asking people to pledge a certain amount towards funding the publication of a comic. There are usually incentives in that the more one pledges, the more bonus items they receive. No money is taken from the funders accounts unless the project reaches its goal. 

One of the latest projects using Kickstarter is Bomb Scares, an all-new horror comics anthology from Midlands-based publisher Time Bomb Comics. Although the deadline isn't until October 21st, the project has already proven to be a success and has well exceeded its goal. Therefore publisher Steve Tanner has decided to upgrade the format and add more stories as more funds come in. It'll also work out a better deal for readers because if they pledge £3 for a digital edition or £10 for the printed book, it'll be cheaper than if they order it from anywhere else after it's printed.  

With a cover by Richard Elson and Dave Kendall and strips by a variety of quality contributors Bomb Scares looks to be a comic book to look forward to, - and it'll be out next month! Here's the Kickstarter page where you can find out more and donate your pledge:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1815843378/bomb-scares-horror-anthology

Two new classic collections from PS Publishing

British company PS Publishing have announced two new hardcover collections of 1950s American comics. First up is Pre-Code Classics: Ghost volume 1, collecting the first seven issues from 1951 to 1953, complete with ads. 

"This was material that suggested unpleasantness rather than just stepped forward and pulled the old schlock-it-up lever" say the publishers. "Heartily recommended for the more discerning horror comics reader". Limited to just 2000 copies, the book is now available for pre-order for £36.99 here:
http://www.pspublishing.co.uk/pre-code-classics-ghost-volume-1-3630-p.asp

Alternatively there's a slipcased edition of just 300 copies available to pre-order for £44.99.

The other title is Roy Thomas Presents Planet Comics volume 11, with 336 pages of pre-code sci-fi, reprinting Planet Comics Nos.48 to 53 from 1947/48. The bookshop edition is limited to 1700 copies at £36.99 or there's a slipcased edition of just 300 copies at £44.99.
http://www.pspublishing.co.uk/roy-thomas-presents-planet-comics-volume-11-3633-p.asp 

Comics such as these were once banned and feared due to anti-horror comics hysteria in the 1950s they're now back in print for the collector's market. Check out the many other books available from PS Publishing while you're at it:
http://www.pspublishing.co.uk/ps-art-books-24-c.asp

Comics in shops

Photograph © John Freeman 2015

I'm sure that everyone with an interest in British comics news regularly checks out the Down the Tubes blog? If not, hop over there today where John Freeman has posted a very interesting account of the current British comics scene in shops. The shelves may be stacked with comic mags bagged with toys, and they're not as cheap as they used to be, but there's a reason for it. See the article here:
http://downthetubes.net/?p=25954

To illustrate his point, John has taken several photos of the shop displays, such as the one above. Admittedly some of those titles don't feature comic strips, but some do, (such as Angry Birds Magazine, Toxic, Epic, etc). They might not be in the 'traditional' style that some older fans prefer, and they're certainly not as many as there used to be, but it's still evidence that the UK comics industry is still around despite continued claims to the contrary from some corners of the Internet. 

Anyway, take a look at John's article and I'm sure he'd appreciate you leaving a comment or two over on his blog. (Or here instead, if the mood grabs you.)

Thunderbirds Are Go - on October 14th

Here's the eye-catching cover to the new Thunderbirds are Go magazine that will launch in UK newsagents on Wednesday 14th October. 

Published every four weeks by D.C. Thomson the new title is based on the re-imagined TV series which is due to return to CiTV soon. It promises to feature comic strips, although at this point I'm not sure if that means illustrated or screen-grab photo strips, or both. From the cover line it looks as though it'll contain an adaptation of the first episode, Ring of Fire. 

The mag will also contain posters, fact files, and activity pages. It'll also come with a free mini-model of Thunderbird 1 which is sure to be collectable. It's great to see D.C. Thomson launching a new comic magazine, and with it focusing on the popular Thunderbirds brand let's hope it's as successful as previous comics that featured the concept. 

Subscriptions to Thunderbirds Are Go are already available for pre-order here at the D.C. Thomson shop.

Aces Weekly celebrates three years

Yesterday marked the 3rd anniversary of the award-winning digital comic Aces Weekly, published by David Lloyd, co-creator of V for Vendetta. For those of you who often ask "Why aren't there any new anthology adventure comics anymore", Aces Weekly is for you. Six all new strips every issue by a wide variety of creators that have included John McCrea, Herb Trimpe, Kev Hopgood, Yishan Li, Rachael Smith, Henry Flint, David Leach, Shaky Kane and many more. As for those who claim that online comics aren't real comics because they're not on paper, that's as illogical as saying music isn't music if it's not on disc. It's the 21st Century, baby! Like most media, comics can come in different forms these days. 

The line-up of the latest volume.

Here's what David Lloyd had to say about the anniversary of the comic...

"I am pleased to tell you that today Aces Weekly marks its 3rd birthday! It's  entertained readers with some of the best comics creators from around the globe in 18 Volumes of fantastic storytelling, and there are no plans for it to stop. Aces Weekly will be celebrating this happy event with a very special deal for buyers that will be announced very soon today! Meanwhile, we raise a glass to all our current readers and subscribers to thank them for their continuing custom and support, and to all our terrific Aces, who have made Aces Weekly the most amazing and varied, and radical and revolutionary, and extraordinary anthology of comics that can be found anywhere in the world! Cheers! www.acesweekly.co.uk."

As for the special deal that David mentions, they're Birthday Box Sets. You'll find it revealed on the Aces Weekly website at the line above.

As a sometimes-contributor to Aces Weekly myself with all-new Combat Colin strips I'm pleased to see it celebrating another anniversary and I look forward to contributing again in the future.