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!