"When is the next UK Golden Age collection coming out?"

I have been asked several times now "When is the next UK Golden Age collection coming out?"

The answer is simple: Never. Though I should remember to "Never say never again".

Firstly, the collection (cover to the left...you see it?) is over 400 pages and quite simply does not sell. It's a work of love!  The strips in the book are so rare and the characters so obsolete that you will not find them anywhere else because no one cares.

Comickers go crazy for scans of old Beano or Dandy comics or even of Amalgamated Press comics or The Eagle and that's it.  I've been insulted by comic 'fans' for daring to even mention the publishers or titles because they are insignificant.

If we said that EVERY comic from the US Golden Age other than Timely or DC was ignored you GA comic fans will see what I mean.  In this case "It's not D. C. Thomson or Amalgamated Press!"  And then you get the asses who tell members of groups on the net "Oh, if you had a photocopier you could produce something just as good as these books"  Yeah, now that ass-wipe hid behind a pseudonym but I KNOW who he is because he filched as many UK GA scans off my groups as he could and has offered them all over the place as from "source unknown" (What the scan just appeared on his computer???)  or as his own work.  And you know what? I know for 100% certainty that he never ever purchased a copy of the individual issues.

Then you have the arse-cracks who write: "I don't like the humour strips. I don't think they are funny. I only want to see super hero strips!" and "If you continue to include humour strips I'm not buying."  Well, feck you. Because, I sold these books and I know again that these complainers NEVER purchased copies.  Then you have the "It's all black and white. No colour. I'd buy it if there were colour strips in the books!"

If any of you have checked out my GA blog -link to the right- you know the problems -orange, red, purple, blue, green and other awful ink colours that reproduce badly.  Now, had I included colour strips then the production cost is such that the Ultimate Collection would cost you over £100 a copy because even if there were only 10 colour pages out of 405 you are still charged the colour rate for EVERY page even if they are b&w!

Rarely I hear from someone who really appreciates the book. Brian "Bib" Edwards, creator of Captain Biplane and one of the minds behind the Braque comic, now in his 70s, wrote to say how much he enjoyed the collection and seeing strips from his youth he thought he would never see again.  That gives you a warm fuzzy feeling.

Black Tower has produced 100% more than anyone else on UK GA comics and strips and it is a LOT of work.

But it has not all ended.  Black Tower Super Heroes now includes a mix of old Golden and Silver Ages strips as well as new ones. And I ought really to say THANK YOU to the bosses at IPC Media who have been very kind.

So...BUY MY BOOKS!!!

I really do get encouraged by sales to produce more you know.

And if Ben Dilworth reads this take care of yourself, mate.


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Paperback, 

405 Pages 

Black & White

A4

Price: £20.00

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Combining volumes 1-6 of the BT Golden Age British Comics Collections (minus adverts) this is the ultimate for any Golden Age collector or historian or just plain comic lover. Features Ace Hart, TNT Tom, Electrogirl, Wonderman, The Phantom Raider, Captain Comet, Acro Maid, Phantom Maid, Dene Vernon,The Iron Boy, The Boy Fish,Professor Atom and MANY others!

NEW!! Black Tower Super Heroes 1

 TNT Tom, Invisible Avenger, Jack, Johnny Neg and many more. 48 black and white pages where the UK Golden Age meets the Silver and Modern Ages of comics.

Featuring work by William McCail, Terry Hooper-Scharf, Ben R. Dilworth and Stransky & Labatt!

Cover  £5.00

Order via the online store at:

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Face Book Pages Close

This is probably going to be referred to in amongst those interested on the net so here goes.

I set up the UK Golden Age comics page because that subject has no coverage.  Lots of covers from other countries comics were posted so to stop confusion I set up an International GA FB page.

Been unwell so apart from approving a few members yesterday, which is when the page was set up, nothing until this morning.

Here:

The last week, on top of everything else, I have had one idiot after another cause me problems on the net.  This morning I could hardly move but on opening my FB what do I get?...

“Lin Harrell

I am the admin for another [rather large and growing] comic book group and I don't like the idea that your guy ... Richard Boucher ... is asking members to leave my group and join this one. He is also posting links to another one of your groups. How about you do the work and build your own group. Stop feeding off other peoples hard work. He's banned from my group and I will not be adding anyone who is a member of this group or your other one.”

So I responded:

Lin. 'Thanks' for the rather aggressive message. I only set up my Face Book group yesterday morning and being unwell left it at that other than approving some people who asked to join.

I cannot be held responsible for what other people are doing without my consent.

I have a British Golden Age Comics FB page because there is very little about the UK GA out there so this was added to my web site. I started getting lots of postings of GA covers from other countries which is why I set up the International GA (which does not include US GA comics).

Banning some of your members because they joined mine?? And YOU joined it to find out who they were???

Man, what happened to freedom of choice and democracy??

I'm quite sure the new members are dumbfounded because I am. I am NOT filching your members -if they are members of your group they are still (or were) there but were probably interested in seeing another perspective.  I have no idea since I've not seen your group or what it's about and am banned anyway.

Is this what internet comic fandom has come to??? "You are in my collection of members and if you look at someone elses page -yer out!"

It would have been far better had you messaged me and explained what was going on so that I could have asked whoever is responsible to stop. I do not even know the name of your group or else I would have joined (nothing came up when I searched FB).

You HAVE over reacted without contacting me first because if your group covered the same subject as mine I would have closed mine.

Terry”

Yes, HE joined to see who from his page had joined mine to ban them.  I know America is going slightly insane and comic fandom is not what it was but really? I do agree that they guy involved should NOT have started posting to his group about mine but I should have been told about this not have the pratt join my group to find out who else was on it.

I’m closing both my groups because these aren’t fans or people interested in comics just in themselves and I have nothing to say to them.

Face Book Page

Not sure whether anyone is going to be interested but I set up a UK GA Face Book page where people can ask questions, etc..

I'm also wondering whether GA fans or those interested might be equally interested in a get together at the 2014 Bristol Comic Expo?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/531190066953781/

No "Point Scoring" Allowed.

In the old days you had the fan press that used to have LOCs -Letters of Comment".  There were articles by fans on characters and or specific comic titles or artists. You would get the odd "nasty" letter but once the moron responsible realised he would be getting no publicity he stopped.

The advent of the internet has put pay to that.

Trollers and flamers abound not just attacking via peoples' personal blogs but on "comic forums" (where for the most part they seem to be allowed to write whatever they want and get away with it -the moderator/owner having a spine of jelly).

I have been the victim of name calling, lies, slurs on my reputation and skills and knowledge.  I have had this every week, sometimes as many as ten mails a week.  Now I note ISP numbers and report them. They seem to think that they and their snide little pals can hide behind anonimity. That shows how dumb they are.  Even posting from cyber cafes or, of all places, public library computers, you leave a signature.

Those people, they know who they are, have mental health problems. It is as simple as that.  They contribute nothing.

But the type I really do hate are those who set themselves up as "comic experts" and who try, continuously, to demean other comickers.  They waste your time as you try to be helpful and then do not reply via email, where they set you queries, giving you all the information they asked for, but on publiv comments on blogs.

WHY would someone ask for information on characters and then tell you they have the information already having wasted hours of your time?

These are not true comickers. Not fans. They are trying to score points against you -"Nyah-nyah -HE doesn't have the information I asked for but I do!"

Sadly, these people get onto internet You Tube communities where it is easy to set up fake email names. Or they join your groups under THREE different names so if you kick them off once for misbehaving they are still there with two more chances.

All we can do as an online comic community is cold shoulder these people. Ignore them.

Comics are fun and some of us enjoy them!

William A. Ward's Sheriff Fox

William A. Ward, creator of The Bat (for Gerald Swan) and many others. A 1948(?) strip of Sheriff Fox!

Professor Crackpot by Protheroe...

Another of those Golden Age British nightmare pages to share.

Firstly, thanks to smoky1980 for scanning/forwarding this and its from a batch of loose pages marked "Swan 1948/49".

Even had this not been signed the art style is a dead give-away.  This is the work of Glyn Protheroe who was born in Swansea, Wales, on the 3rd July, 1906.  Sadly, I can find no record of when he died. After leaving school, Protheroe went on to study art under Walter Fuller.  

In the 1920s he moved to London and became a professional cartoonist and press artist.  At that time he had a studio in  Shaftesbury Avenue but also worked from Southampton Row. His work appeared in Sports Post, The Journal, Sporting News and The Leader -all well known national publications.

His comics work took off in the 1940s when Soloway, Amex and Gerald Swan used his work.  His first work for Swan appeared in 1942 and titles he contributed to included War Comics, Cute Fun, Topicaol Funnies, Slick Fun, Thrill Comics and New Funnies.  Work was also contributed to a number of albums from Swan -Albums were collections of reprint strips with more pages than weekly comics -more like the yearly annuals but soft covered not hard cover.

For Soloway, starting in 1943, he contributed to Comic Capers, All Star and Comic Adventures.

For Amex, Protheroe contributed to Merry Midget, Midget Comics, Bantam Comics these were all from 1943.

The sets (strips) that Protheroe provided were usually a collection of jokes strung together in a "talking heads" format.  According to Alan Clark, from whom most of the data is culled: "His style was instantly recognisable; his characters looked like clowns...a distinctive 'morose' quality." 

And the artist signed himself as either "Glynne" or "Protheroes".

The below Professor Crackpot strip is a typical nightmare and the orange ink might have looked bright and fun to war time kids but....oy.

I had to remove the colour and alter brightness and contrast four times to make it a mere black and white page. 

So, here is your example of Glyn Protheroe at work!

An extra treat for you all!