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Archive for July, 2007

Cinebooks At Frankfurt

Posted by Terry On July - 25 - 2007 ADD COMMENTS

Cinebooks have announced their next European festival appearance. 

 

Cinebook will exhibit at

The Frankfurt Book Fair 10-14 October 2007

Stand 8.0.C989

***

If you wish to meet us, please contact Olivier CADIC

at info@cinebook.co.uk

 

This Week’s Releases 25th July

Posted by Terry On July - 25 - 2007 ADD COMMENTS


 

Avatar Press

Alan moore’s Hypothetical Lizard TP $ 14.99
Black summer #1 $6.99
Doktor Sleepless # 1 $ 3.99
Lady Death: Dark horizons $5.99
Lady Death / Shi # 0 $ 5.99

Dark horse

Berserk Vol. 18TP $13.95
Buffy # 5 $2.99
fear agent Last goodbye # 2 $ 2.99
Grendel Behold the devil # 0 $.50
Star Wars Knights of the old republic # 18 $2.99
Usagi Yojimbo # 104 $2.99

Hellboy darkness falls #4 $ 2.99
DC comics

52 Vol.2 TPB $19.99
Alan moore’s wild worlds TP $24.99
All star Batman and robin # 6 $2.99
American virgin Vol. 2 TP $14.99
Batman # 666 $2.99
Blue beetle # 17
Countdown # 40 $ 2.99
Crossing midnight # 9 $ 2.99
Deathblow # 6 $ 2.99
Green arrow year one # 2 $ 2.99
Green :antern # 14 $2.99
Hawkgirl # 66 $2.99
Hellblazer # 234 $ 2.99
JSA Classified # 28 $ 2.99
Ninja Scroll # 11 $ 2.99
Supergirl and LOSH # 32 $ 2.99
Superman # 665 $ 2.99
Teen titans # 49 $ 2.99
Testament # 19 $ 2.99
Wetworks # 11 $ 2.99
Wonder women # 11 $ 2.99

Dynamic Entertainment

Battlestar Galactica Vol.4 #12 $5.00
Red sonja # 4 $ 2.99
Rise of the dead # 4 $3.50

IDW

Fallen angel # 18 $7.00
Star Trek Seasson 4 # 1 $ 3.99
Transformers MEgatron origin # 2 $ 3.99

Image comics

24/7 $ 19.99 (graphic novel)
American Jr. TP $ 9.99
Battle pope Vol.4 TP $ 9.99
Bombqueen Vol. 2 TP $14.99
the chemist $3.50
Dust # 1 $ 3.99
Elephantmen # 10 $ 2.99
Hiding in time # 1 $ 3.50
Invincible # 44 $ 2.99
Topcrow/marvel Unholy union $ 3.99
Walking DEad # 39 $2.99
Witchblade # 109 $ 2.99

Marvel comics

All new official handbook of the marvel universe a to z update #3 $
3.99
Amazing spider-man # 542 $ 2.99
Annhilation conquest: starlord #1 $ 2.99
Black panther # 29 $2.99
cable/deadpool # 43 $2.99
Essential Spider-women Vol 2 TP $16.99
Fantastic five # 2 $2.99
hero’s for hire # 12 $ 2.99
Immortal iron fist # 7 $ 2.99
IRon man # 20 $2.99
Hulk # 108 $2.99
Mighty Avengers # 4 $ 2.99
Onslaught Reborn # 4 $ 2.99
Sensational spider-man # 39 $2.99
Silver surfer Requiem # 3 $ 3.99
Ultimate Fantastic four # 44 $ 2.99
Wolverine #55 $ 2.99
X-men First class # 2 $ 2.00
X-men #201 $2.99

Other

Love and capes # 5 $ 3.95

Manninen Masterpieces

Posted by Terry On July - 25 - 2007 ADD COMMENTS

teraslilja.jpg

TERASLILJA   

US size 96pp  b&w interior artE12.00  to order: http://www.zumteufelkustannus.net/store

 Pekka A. Manninen [see interviews] created the ultra-violent,cyborg [?] terminator-style character working for the futuristic World City Police.  The strip ran for a number of years[1990-1999] in the Helsinki Science Fiction Society’s Tahti Vaeltaja.  

But this collection is not all Pekka’s work.  Contributors include Hannele Kivilahti,Hannu Mikkola.Mikay Myyry and Jouko Ruokosenmaki.

Monsters and other crazy types abound in these pages where I note a cameo by Pekka and Hannele,a rather violent “punchline” to the slippery banana skin joke.  Teraslilja also gets to hold some biiiig guns and did I mention the violence?

“Tosi Paha Poliisi” is written by Pekka and drawn by another Finnish talent,Jouko Ruokosenmaki.You’ll gather that the book is in Finnish.  

Please,please,please do not let that  stop you from getting this book.  The art is wonderful and that alone ought to thrill you! 

kuolio_tokapainos.jpg

Kapteeni Kuolio:ja Pispalan Vampyyrit    62pp  Comic album size    E8.50   ordering:see Zum Teufel site

This book,”The Vampire of Pispala” sees the hero,Kapteeni Kuolio [check that interview out!] and Kapteeni Kokko [Capt Lumpy] go face-to…uh,faces,with vampire hordes.  All taking place in the real Pispala this is a great adventure with a bit of a sad ending [and I have an original panel from this book on my wall!].  Again,in Finnish,this is still Manninen at his best and is the second Kapteeni Kuolio book.

kuolio.jpg

Kapteeni Kuolio:Tamperkele    A5 [Digest size]  64pp  E3.50  see Zum Teufel for ordering.

 I got a poster for this with my copy from Pekka so nyah!nyah!!  Anyway,Kapteeni Kuolio comes up against a Cthulhu type creature coming from below the city of

Tamper –Tamperkele.  And to destroy the creature the Captain goes back in time to find a suitable weapon! 

If anyone deserves to get a break into English language comics I think it must be Manninen.   Perhaps Image Comics?  Language,sadly,does seem to be the big stumbling point for many but it shouldn’t be –comics are,after all,a visual medium!Go on,try copies and I should point out Pekka’s regular comic,Sarjari,is also available via Zum Teufel!

Red-Eyed Waiting?

Posted by Terry On July - 24 - 2007 ADD COMMENTS

This Press release from Engine Comics arrived today. 

REDEYE #7: PRESS RELEASE FROM ENGINE COMICS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Originally scheduled for release in the May,thecriticallyacclaimed REDEYE 7 has been hit with a number of delays, which has lead to a restructuring of the entire magazine, and a rethink on how best to produce a regular publication promoting Brit comics.

Says editor and publisher Barry Renshaw:

“I’m trying something new: RE7 will now become REDEYE WINTER 2007 SPECIAL. Double sized, it will serve as a bookend to the first volume. I think all the contributors have done some fantastic work they can be very proud of over the last few years, but without the financing to pay them, it’s not fair to expect them to be working all hours to send stuff in. And although we sell out of each print run, without the initial investment to push it beyond several hundred copies at a time, we won’t be able to get the mag in front of as many people as we
know would want to read it.”

With mounting costs of print bills, convention costs and postage charges as demand grows for the magazine, there comes a point when one have to step
back and decide in what direction the project should go.

“It’s a fact of life that the major problem facing comics in the UK is finance, a way to make it pay for itself,” states Barry. “What I intend doing, in the 18 month
long break between REDEYE Vol 1 and Vol 2, is to establish a business model that will not only serve to make REDEYE a success, but also one that can be
adopted and adapted by other publishers. As a companion peice almost to the Rough Guide out in October at the Birmingham Comics Festival, I’ll be
looking at any grants, government or arts council funding, private investing and advertising/marketing that can be used by Brit comics. The results, positive or negative, I hope will be a shortcut to success for other people.”
In the meantime to get the REDEYE WINTER 2007 SPECIAL to the printers, the editor is looking for help.

“I’m asking for donations to help make the
magazine to print, putting a request out on MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, blogs and message boards. I’ll be adding a Paypal Donate button to
www.enginecomics.co.uk

with the next update. The donations will go towards
not just the printing but the running costs of distribution, conventions and postage. If it doesn’t hit the required figure by October, the content will instead be published on the web in December. Subscribers will recieve a
refund at that point in October for any unpublished issues, and the REDEYE subscriber button will be taken down shortly from the site.”

To give a taste of what will be in the Special, the magazine will expand on its normal mix of interviews and articles on creators old and new.

 ”Behind a fantastic wrap around cover by Malcolm Magic artist Lorenzo, we have a great interview with the Brothers Etherington on their new MOON! series; we also
speak with New York cartoonist Liz Baillie, creator of My Brain Hurts; the Godfather of modern British Comics, Pat Mills, in an uncut, epic face to face interview done over two days; the creator of Matter, Irish cartoonist
now living in Canada Phill Barrett; and inventor of the Ultranet and Book of Lists, Paul Rainey; plus a few surprises. We also have an article on the
Secret History of Irish Comix; Dave Baillie’s instructive Grammar of Comics; a retrospective on the much loved Transformers Marvel UK comic; and we
investigate the creation of LOOK AND LEARN, the highly influential 1960’s comic soon to make a comeback.”

Reviews will continue to be published at the Owl in Daylight blog, which will be updated again very shortly, so you can still send review copies to the same editorial address.

“In addition to this,” adds Barry, “I’m planning
more reviews the Indiespinnerrack podcast and a channel on youTube looking at Brit creators. By using these other mediums as alternate forms of marketing, we can help fulfill REDEYE’s original mandate of introducing
people to great comics. REDEYE SPECIAL will be the best of the bunch, and it’s best to go out on a high note. I hope everyone else will think so too.”

For further information or images on REDEYE or Engine Comics titles, contact editor Barry Renshaw at editor@enginecomics.co.uk.

Bristol Manga Expo Preliminary news

Posted by Terry On July - 22 - 2007 ADD COMMENTS

            Mike Allwood,organiser of the Bristol International Manga Expo has sent a few preliminary details!

             

MANGA expo

Sponsored by TOKYOPOP

 

A special MANGA themed 2 day event with panels, workshops, traders and international guests!

Inc. MISAKO ROCKS! Plus Expo regular YISHAN LI

 

More guests to be announced!

 

TOKYOPOP are spotlighting their creators ALEX De CAMPI ( Kat & Mouse ) 

 CHRIS DOWS ( Star Trek / Manga )

DAVID HINE ( Poison Candy)

 

Self Made Hero will be attending with creators,

Emma Vieceli, Sonia Leong,

Paul Duffield & Patrick Warren

 

Manga Shakespeare Original Art exhibition / solus panel and signing.

 

Look out for the Expo Exclusive Art Prints!

 

Yoko Ono senior lecturer in Japanese & film studies at Oxford

will be hosting a special Shojo panel.

 

 

Confirmed traders so far : Tokyopop,

Genki Gear,

Krackers Game Store,

MVM ,

Forbidden Planet / Titan. Astral Gypsy.

Tokyo Toys.

Psi Collectables / Letraset

Xll ra

 

Publishers attending : Self Made Hero,

DR Master. Net Comics,

Fanfare, Markosia

& the Umisen-Yamasen Collective.

 

EXpo EXclusives

 

MVM Anime Movie Suite.

 

ILYA presents The Mammoth Book of Best New Manga Vol 2

 

Original Art Exhibition.

 

 

Hosted at the Holland House Hotel Bristol in their dedicated conference

and events suites that occupy the entire 5th floor.

 

 

A further Read a Million Words Bristol Schools promotion is being

planned across 145 primary Schools.

 

Also Transformers artist

ANDREW WILDMAN for a special Draw the World Together signing for

 the official Comic Expo Charity. Who will be joined by

artist MIKE COLLINS

 

 

Dealer rooms, CosPlay Competitions , Interactive games, Wii &

Yu-Gi-Oh Tournament.

 

 

Film screenings, private café and Bar.

 

…. And much more!

 

www.mangaexpo.net

 

Online from end July 2007

PLANET KAREN to AMARANTH

Posted by Terry On July - 22 - 2007 ADD COMMENTS

REVIEWS [21st July,2007]

planetkaren3.jpg

 

 

PLANET KAREN issue 2   36pp  A6 [mini comic]  Ordering details:planetkarencomic@googlemail.com

This is a wonderful little mini comic by Karen Ellis.  This one has the title “Tiny Crises:My Diary for April,2006”.  The style is,in places,sketchy,while the Karen character is drawn Manga style –but that oddly works.  It’s difficult to say too much without ruining the readers enjoyment.  But I would recommend that you try getting a copy just to see what you think.  You’ll either love or hate it.  I’m curious enough to want to track down further copies!

 

 

 

 

 

amaranth1.jpg

AMARANTH 1-7  24pp   A5  [Digest]£1.50 ea [

UK]  ordering check out:www.WillieHewes.co.uk

Now,if you use the British Small Press link you will find a newspaper item on the Dutch born,Bristol living Willie Hewes.

The style in Amaranth has become cleaner and improved steadily since issue 1 and I’d say it was definitely Manga-like but with an individual touch of Hewes’ own.  Some company like Self Made Hero should be trying to recruit this creator!!

 

But,again,without spoiling the storyline too much [there are 7 issues so far!]:Amaranth is an ordinary English Lit. student living in

Bristol.  Or so she thinks,because,one day,she learns that she is in fact a changeling:a demon trapped within a human body. And pretty soon she is on her way back to the halls of demon Lord Rosa.  Some excellent artistic touches and worth getting copies of! zelta1.jpgZELTA 1-5   28pp   A5Prices vary but check out:www.zeltacomic.co.uk 

The cover to #2 is worth the £1.80!!  The artwork and story is by Marcus Jones,publishing under the Screaming Demon Comics banner.

The story is simple enough:Alex is an unhappy tattooist living in a grey and miserable town.  Suddenly,out of the blue,the woman of his dreams appears –Zelta!  But from the very moment they meet,Alex is plagued by nightmares and visions,all involving his new girl!  The trouble is,Zelta is the daughter of Satan!!!  This is really an adult rated comic involving bondage,sex,drugs,punks,Goths and much more.  There is some superb black and white artwork by Jones  -check out “Zombie Nurses From Hell” in #2!  In places the art gets a bit strained,but considering the work put in that is not surprising.

Zelta was a hit for me from the start and I’d recommend this to all [ADULT] horror fans.

 

malcolmmagic.jpg

 

 

 

 

MALCOLM MAGIC 1-       

US Comic book size

Ordering and more info try:www.malcolmmagic.com 

Co-creators Robin Etherington [writer] and Lawrence Etherington [artist] I first met a few years back at the Bristol Comic Expo.  They were pretty enthusiastic and willing to talk –even to old codgers like me!

What I could not believe was that this comic was produced at home and on a Canon printer!  The superb colour,thick stock covers were great enough,but the interiors! Man,those interior pages!!!  I guess you could say that the quality of the artwork is stunning.

The story is like a cross between Little Nemo In Slumberland-part Disney-part European.   However,the best way of describing the series is “unique”.  Issues 1-9 are all comic book size and approximately 24pp but from #10 onward the comic goes graphic novel format –these again are home made and incredible standard is maintained.

But the story…..Malcolm is a….rabbit.  A wannabe hero. He lives in a sleepy dull town but after a freakish drink-related accident,he has the ability to jump between his home town of

Fuzzton to “the crazed alternative world of…Happy Hippy Dale!”  No,seriously.  

The blend of black and white artwork intermixed with superb colour is just beautiful. It would not surprise me were this series eventually picked up by a European publisher…French no doubt because they’ll spot the quality!

Check out the Blink Twice Productions web site and learn more about Malcolm Magic,Tusk and Moon!

 

 

secretvoice.jpg

 

 

The Secret Voice  #1    64pp  

US Comic book size.

Ad House Books  $4.95 US       see:www.adhousebooks.com 

This one by Zack Soto is interesting.  Dr Galapagos takes up the first 31 pages.  Who is this bandaged,goggle wearing,caped invader of the Rock Trolls kingdom beneath the Earth?  Who knows.  Chapter 1 is,uniquely,almost devoid of speech balloons and text box captions [remember when Marvel tried that awful month of no dialogue in all of a month’s titles?] –here it works.  I want to learn more about Dr Galapagos and I really do love this art style.  “Day 34” I wasn’t too sure of but the rest of the strips are cool. 

I can’t wait for #2,though my local shops tell me they won’t be getting issues –this was basically a shelf filler!!  It should be on the shelves all the time.   But judge for yourself and let me know what you think!

Fired from SBC

Posted by Terry On July - 22 - 2007 2 COMMENTS

A few people have commented on the fact that there are rumours I no longer work for Silver Bullet Comics [SBC].

Well,yes,it is true but not of my own choosing.  It might be best that I explain what happened,especially since “someone” is passing along the SBC posts to others.

I had been getting a little concerned that the current SBC Features Editor was nit-picking at tiny things in my interviews. 

Having been a writer and interviewer for 30 years I used the industry standard 3 spaces after full stops -apparently this was not enough.

Then,quite accidentally,and for the first time ever,I sent an interview as an email but realising immediately apologised.  I was sent a lecture on sending interviews as word documents in future.  

Now,being generally thick-skinned I took this all in my stride.

However,as a three part series I used the title “Rising Stars Of Manga”.  Yishan Li,Sonia Leong and Emma Vieceli were the interviewees.  When it came to the Sonia Leong introduction I was told off again but this time for using the “one of the rising stars of Manga” intro -but it was part of the series.  Instead,a huge chunk of Sonia’s blog was used as an intro -eliminating the point of several interview questions!

In the Pekka Manninen interview my credit was removed and it appeared that the editor was taking credit for not just my interview but also my magazine Zine Zone.

I sent a short,but polite,mail asking whether this was a mistake.  When I checked later my credit had been placed back on the interview. I assumed an error.

I completed a couple of edits on interviews and sent them off. 

Next day I received a mail from the Editor.  Despite several exclusive interviews,he would no longer  even consider running anything by me.  The reason? Because:

“…I have no interest in risking of any further accusations when running your interviews.”

To be honest,I was rather confused.  Because I had asked one time about something,all the interviews and material I had gathered for SBC was dumped?

Well,childish tantrums say a great deal about people.  I did try to contact SBC via its yahoo staff group but received the message that I could not post there.

SBCs loss.  But that’s how it happened.

Comics.  Funny old business!!

Too Many Super Heroes?!!

Posted by Terry On July - 21 - 2007 ADD COMMENTS

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THE MIGHTY CRUSADERS –Too Many Super Heroes? My first introduction to Mighty Comics Group and its characters came while

purchasing the black and white reprints of Alan Class such as SUSPENSE [you can learn more at -http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alanclasscomics] However, around 1971 I walked into a bookseller that also stocked back issue comics. It was in one box that I found MIGHTY CRUSADERS #4 [April,1966].This comic really hit my button! There were heroes I had never seen or heard of before such as MR JUSTICE, FIREBALL, INFERNO and FIREFLY, BLACK JACK and my all time image favourite: The FOX! Twenty-one heroes, plus two former heroes-turned-villains: HANGMAN and The WIZARD [a cheat here since the Golden Age goody WIZARD turned up at the end to defeat his future evil counterpart!].


Yes, it was Jerry Ess writing but I still enjoy the comic and only now does it read rather inane in places. Paul Are did the art chores and I must admit that Are and Reinman have come in for a great deal of stick over the years but they did the job! I love their stuff and it was only in 2004 that I got a copy of MIGHTY CRUSADERS #4 to replace the one destroyed years before.

Someone, I am sure, will correct me if I am wrong, but the internal squabbling and fighting of the Crusaders pre-empted the Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch AVENGERS team? I know I kept thinking “why can’t they just work together?” but it was still enjoyable –like squabbling kids in the age group the comics were aimed at! It was like your gang, friends but fights breaking out amongst the members.

There was more, though; one thing that always sticks in my mind is the difficulty two of the characters had in private. BILL HIGGINS, aka THE SHIELD, had to constantly get fired for fouling up haircuts and more so that he could get into costume and away –in this aptly titled “TOO MANY SUPER HEROES”, Bill is a removal man who has to fumble and smash a mirror. I always felt sorry for him.

Then there was JOHN RAYMOND, aka THE WEB. Poor John, his wife was somewhat of a nagger but also highly strung. John had to constantly slip away from Rosie, a woman he dearly loved, and leave the dishes to return to adventuring.

Okay, the story was a series of in-fights but there were the villains. I was glad to see the HANGMAN become a hero again in the

1980s Red Circle

run. However, his team up with the now villainous WIZARD was interesting. That, at the end of this story,

ROY THE MIGHTY BOY appears from the past, followed by the Golden Age WIZARD was a very nice touch indeed.The splash page to Part Three shows a lovely use of blacks by Are and I think the reason this particular issue sticks in my memory is the story and art and the feel of the mid-1960s and the so-called “camp” hero period that ran alongside the imaginative story telling and art of Marvel Comics…..what might the MIGHTY CRUSADERS have been like had Jack Kirby been drawing or even drawing and writing the series?I also sit back and, looking at this and the other MCG titles, wonder why Archie has never tried to pull together this original series, the one of the 1980s and produce an “Essentials” style black and white book?


There are also the appearances of a more cohesive Crusaders team in ARCHIE WEIRD MYSTERIES #3 and 14. What a book that would make!!
Never was there ever a gathering of super heroes in a MCG title again. Odd how time plays with your memories but I thought there were far more heroes in this issue!!

If you can get a copy of this comic- do! This is certainly one of my all-time 1960s favourites and I’m glad I managed to find a replacement copy.

That’s a little piece of the comic mind of Terry Hooper!
__________

MASSIMO BELARDINELLI

Posted by Terry On July - 21 - 2007 1 COMMENT

dscf0029.JPGThere can be very little doubt that amongst those great South American,Italian and Spanish artists who created the unique “British look” to weekly comics,Massimo Belardinelli was a giant!

I think most of us really noticed Massimo’s work in the 1970s after 2000 AD hit our shops.  My younger brother,Mike,must have been 5 or 6 at the time but,like everyone else,the new look Dan Dare caught his imagination.  Pretty soon,toy tanks and Airfix aircraft were under attack by plasticine Biogs!

Kids,and older readers,were all raving about the Biogs and few referred to other strips in the then new comic.

But then we got Meltdown Man,Ace Trucking and so much more that made many wonder just what drugs this man was on!  I recall the Dan Dare strip where our hero,returning to Earth,visited the alien tourist filled,over vegetated Downing Street.  Despite some great artists later on -and in the New Eagle- none matched Massimo’s seemingly unstoppable visual imagination.

It was with disbelief that I found no group existed on the internet dealing with the Great Man!!  One of his biggest fans [and a man with a huge collection of Belardinelli original strip pages and paintings from MB dedicated to him]Robert Cox and I discussed this.  And so the Massimo Belardinelli group was formed [see Links]!

Romano Felmang interviewed Massimo for the Italian comic mag Ink [no.39].  I apologise for having somehow lost [if I knew!] the name of the translator.

Following long ill health,Massimo died in March this year. A very sad loss.  But for now,go to features and read Romano’s interview -and enjoy!

Terry

The Man Who Drew The Biogs!

Posted by Terry On July - 21 - 2007 ADD COMMENTS

MASSIMO BELARDINELLI

   June 1938-March 2007

 

An interview by Romano Felmang for INK no.39

mbel.jpg

In the summer of 1966 two positive things happened in my life: military service had finished and I met a brilliant artist.  He was Massimo Belardinelli, born in Rome on 5th June 1938.  His father’s hobby was painting, and he painted high quality oil figures on canvas. Massimo is a cartoonist more recognized in England than in Italy, were hundreds of his work were published in weekly English comics (from the middle of the 60s until the end of the 80s).

This interview took place in his garden, full of wooden sculptures of fantastic animals, a world of fantasy!

In which moment of your life did you decide to become a comic artist?

When I was very little and my mother took me to the cinema to watch Walt Disney’s ‘Fantasia’, in that moment I decided that when I grew up, I wanted to be a cartoon artist.

What did you do then, as in 1966 I saw a backdrop for an animated cartoon by you which was 50 – 60cm in height, which was then developed to two metres in height?

In the 60s I started working in the field of animated cartoons, in Sergio Rosi’s office, principally following the development of various action backdrops, like those you remember. However the animated cartoon came about by teamwork and I realised that I wasn’t satisfied with this, so I decided to design comic strips, which was much more individual.  I started designing only backgrounds which were my specialty, then slowly, I acquired experience and started also to design characters.


Which cartoons did you design in the Rosi Office?

Together with Giorgio Cambotti we designed weekly titles for the English editing company Fleetway for ‘Steel Claw’ through the Euro office of Rinaldo Dami and we had to imitate the style of Jesus Fiasco, who was the owner and graphic creator of the character.  In that period Fleetway also published a pocket series.  In fact in England, Fleetway published a series of pocket books which were requested by several publishers for the Italian market.  Barracuda, Jonny Nero, Spider and Steel Claw. The last one, we completed in the Rosi office and also the pocket series.

Did you only work for English publications in the Rosi office?

No, around 1968 together with the group we created other characters such as Kriminal, Messalina and Jacula. 

Copertina di Massimo Belardinelli

In the same period I also drew  Perry Rodan and Altan for the German market . . .  This was a time where there was much demand for cartoons from the German market.  In fact in 69, Alberto Giolitti, who had connections with ‘Bastei’, asked Giorgio and I if we were interested in collaborating with him.  The economic propositions were very interesting, and we left the Rosi office and transferred to his office. 

Giolitti didn’t just have an office, he also acted as an agency and collaborated with various publishers in

England, Germany, USA and also the Italian markets.  Personally I collaborated with Alberto on the sketches that he drew for ‘Gold Key.  Another example is when we drew various episodes of ‘Star Trek’.  He designed the

faces, and I always drew the spacecrafts.  For the German ‘Bastei’, I continued drawing the ‘Perry Rodan and Altan’ characters which were published in the ‘Perry’ appendix.  For the Italian market I drew four episodes of ‘Phantom’, the masked man, published by the Spada brothers.  Meanwhile for the periodicals I drew No. 1 of Cosmine and No. 1 of Super Black.  But the biggest part of my work I did for the English weeklies, drawing a myriad of serials with hundreds of titles.

Which characters have you drawn?

Many, but I don’t remember all of them.  I don’t keep copies of the publications.  In February 1977, the first edition of the weekly ‘2000 AD‘ came out on which I mainly worked on.  This edition had the classic character Dan Dare in new adventures. 



 

Initially I drew Dan Dare according to whatever came to mind.  However after editing it was decided that he should resemble the pop star David Bowie and so I had to correct some episodes, redrawing all the heads of Dan Dare.  Other characters that I have drawn are Slaine and Ukko, the Moon Runners and Ace Trucking Company. 

I also completed many covers for ‘2000 AD’ and for other publications.

Have you ever worked in other areas?

Between one cartoon and another I completed moderate illustrations for LP covers of various English groups in the 70s and 80s.

Which were the last cartoons that you completed?

Among one of the last things that I drew were the Ninja Turtles for Fleetway at the beginning of the 90s.

Slaine, by Massimo Belardinelli

Of all the original titles that you’ve completed, how many have you recovered?

Very few originals.  Fleetway asked me if I  wanted the originals returned, but not knowing where to keep them and not wanting to face expensive postal expenditures I declined.

At one point you stopped drawing cartoons.  Why was this?

Halfway through the 80s I was approached by an important architectural office ‘ADA’ who were working on creating a Disneyland project for a rich businessman in Singapore.  This work engaged me for many years.  I created many characters, monsters, medieval horses and wizards.  An enormous and very interesting project which in the end was not created.

    

How did these beautiful sculptures that adorn your garden come about?

 Sculptures have always fascinated me and for a certain period I dedicated myself to sculpting fantasy animals or whatever took my fancy.  I have now abandoned sculpting as it was very hard work.  I now prefer to paint towns with water colours, it’s much more relaxing.

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About Me

Comic Bits Online is the web version of the Comic Bits magazine Edited and run by Terry Hooper. Currently Interviews Editor at Manga Life,Terry has over thirty years experience in the comic industry as script writer,artist,freelance Editor,publisher and much more. But if you want the facts: Curriculum vitae Name:Terry HooperDob:6th June 1957 [50 yrs]Currently living Ashton Vale,Bristol,United Kingdom ...Read More

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