Ace Hart & Val -The Planet of Wanted Men

My scans are...somewhere so THANKS to Comic Book Plus for these!

Super Thriller Comic 16

 

Ace Hart in Men of Rubber

 My scans are...somewhere so THANKS to Comic Book Plus for these!

Super Thriller Comic 11

Ace Hart In Super Thriller Annual

 For those who came in late....

Ace Hart, the Atom Man, first appeared in Superthriller Comic #6 (1948). His stories were initially published by the Edinburgh-based Foldes Press but after a few issues the title was purchased by World Distributors Ltd, based in Manchester, England. The series ran for eighty-two issues, with writers such as James Bleach and C. Purvis writing stories for the character. Changing tastes among readers result in the series eventually undergoing a name change to Western Superthriller. The series continued with several annuals from 1947 through 1959. Ace Hart text stories by Bryn Cullen and illustrated by Edgar Hodges would feature in these annuals. 

For reference Super Thriller Comic (22 issues, 1948–1950) — numbering continues from Superthriller ( Foldes); numbering continues with Western Super Thriller Comics

You might be forgiven for thinking that mentioning Ace Hart The Atomic Man  appeared in the three Super Thriller Annuals would mean comic strips.  Sadly, no. The character along with Val were consigned to text stories broken up by the occasional not great illo.,

Above 1958 Annual and I have no idea who this is since Ace didn't carry a sword and it cannot be him -it's not even his costume! Bryn Cullen wrote the story titled The Threat. That was it. The rest of the contents were reprint strips and other text stories in which Ace Hart did not appear.

Above 1959 had that oddly dressed bloke again. In this annual Ace and still blond Val had to wait until page 73 for their text story with illoes (Edgar Hodges) written again by Bryn Cullen and titled Earth At Bay. In one illo Ace has a holstered weapon but not in others. Val, however, is seen brandishing a rifle blaster.

Above 1960 and, yes, Val and Ace do have holstered blasters and the story is again by Bryn Cullen and titled Holiday In Space (it wasn't). This was the Sci Fi age of Ace Hart.

Ace Hart's elixir enabled him to harness atomic energy, giving him super strength and flight  his flying speed exceeded that of a jet. He is invulnerable to bullets and energy rays, and can withstand the cold and pressure from outer space. He carries an atomic ray gun with him, and has even displayed the power of hypnosis occasionally. Hart is a superhero, operating from a laboratory and has a computer of his own design that alerts him to any trouble wherever it may be, so that he may swoop down and save the day. His partner is Jessie King, who also possesses superpowers from his elixirs. This was the super hero age of Hart.

Ace Hart would later join the Department of Space Defense and gain a new partner in Val Venture. The stories themselves would shift to more science-fiction adventures. So we have two versions of Hart which, if you want to, you might call two parallel Earth versions (makes more sense).

Jess is a brunette -as seen in the Black Tower Gold reprints but...Val is also shown as a brunette. I guess continuity was not a great concern back then so long as kids spent their money on Ace Hart's comic that was all that mattered. The Pemberton Brothers were no longer involved as publishers by the late 1980s and the people I dealt with were quite literally selling off whatever they could and the future looked bad for World Distributors who, circa 1999 sold what they had left to Egmont who also bought up Fleetway and turned it into Egmont Editions.

One odd thing was that when I did my deals with the company I expected original art but I was told that none of the old comic strips existed any longer; this was revealed after  I spent my money.

As I found out with Gerald Swan in the 1980s the old publishers were quite slick and not worried about being not too honest or 'forgetful' when doing deals.  They were a dying breed!

Cartoon Art Productions

 

While much of Cartoon Art Production’s output was due to the industriousness of Dennis M Reader, they did have other talents, such as Crewe Davies, who drew Dane Jerrus, Agent One of the Interplanetary Solar Force, and Captain Magnet.

Another key creator who worked between Glasgow and Dundee was Irish artist Paddy Brennan, who became a DC Thomson creator. His first published work was for The Magno Comics (1946), a one-shot published by Cartoon Art Productions, for which he drew ‘Jeff Collins - Crime Reporter’. Brennan then produced the wonderfully offbeat Marsman Comics (1948), a single issue also for Cartoon Art Productions. He then went on to work for their flagship title, Super-Duper Comics, which ran until 1950,

It was in 1950 that the company seems to have shut down, possibly due to the fact that an exhausted Reader had quit by this point. Also the boom in post war comics and printing while ink and paper were still rationed until the early 1960s.

The address was 141 Bath Street, Dick Glasgow

In the early 1980s, via an address given me by Gerald Swan (far from interested in his own comics history) I contacted one of the surviving CAP owners and even though public domain at that point I did pay a fair price for the characters and titles.

You can read more about Dennis here

https://britishgoldenagecomics.blogspot.com/2015/05/dennis-m-reader-1927-1995.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2-g2rcfUhLi8DObO8OQG32Dsw71YYB1zFOLqCycABf9d3XPggvI8pCBMA_aem_ZmFrZWR1bW15MTZieXRlcw

Black Tower Comics and Books Ordering -NO International Shipping

 

To make it clear: 

1.  if you order a book from the online store it does not involve international shipping. Books are printed in your region -that's how print on demand works.  

2.  The price of the book should be shown in your own currency.

3.  Obviously your local postal rates apply and there are options for tracked, special delivery and untracked (the least expensive) postage from within your region.

Ordered in your region, printed in your region and delivered by the postal system in your region.  It could not be more simple.

One important thing to note is that third party sellers will state "post free" and that is a lie. You often pay 30-75% more on a book ordered through a third party seller than from the online store. The reason is because the third party seller HAS to buy from the online store and the selling price usually covers two postal payments -0from store to them and then to you.  

People have purchased from third party sellers and not gotten their books or have had to wait over a month for them to arrive. At that point they contact me and it is all very simple: they tried to rob me of a sale and bought a book at a far more expensive price because they read "post free". That is important because if you buy from a third party seller you are removing the small profit I make on a book. Also, ordering from the online store is not just cheaper but, even though it has never happened since I started selling in 2009,  I can actually look into why you have not had your book delivered. Third party seller -your tough luck.

Support the creator and publisher not third party scammers.

I have asked to clarify which countries books can be ordered from as I know someone in Hong Kong and China were interested and it looks like you can order from there. According to the  print company:

We do NOT ship to the following countries/territories:

• Belarus
• 
  
• Region of Crimea
• 
  
• Cuba
• 
  
• Iran
• 
  
• Johnston Island
• 
  
• North Korea
• 
  
• Russia
• 
  
• Saint Pierre Et Miquelon
• 
  
• South Sudan
• 
  
• Sudan
• 
  
• Syria
• 
  
• Republic Of Turkmenistan
• 
  
• Ukraine
• 
  
• Wake Islands
• 
  
• Yemen Arab Republic
• 
  
• Venezuela
• 
  

Hope that helps!