The publication of the latest issue of Comics Unlimited caught me by surprise but more than a welcome one. As usual this printed to order publication from Glen Fleming & friends via Amazon contains material that will be of interest to fans of both British and American comics.
Rather than go through the contents article by article I thought I would concentrate on the highlights, well at least mine. First up of course is a terrific article on Strontium Dogs early years in the short-lived but fondly remembered Starlord comic. I only have a couple of original issues of this but did get hold of Rebellions Strontium Dog-Search and Destroy: The Starlord Years which should still be available on the 2000AD website.
Frankly if you read the article by Tony Ingram I'm sure you'll want to to read the original source material. O course the other material covered in this eighty page journal isn't readily available in such an easy to collect format but for those of you interested in the history of Marvel UK there are two important articles.
Spider-Man's comics are given quite a comprehensive history by Tony Ingram up until the late eighties. Some of the later comics are unfamiliar to me as this was a period I was not taking much notice of British comic and by late 89 was taking a nearly decade long break from the hobby due to the rise of the speculators.
Steve Hooker adds to Marvel's UK history with an overview of just that until the departure of Dez Skinn. I recall the later period as I was picking up the Hulk and Marvel Comic for most of their fairly short runs.
DC fans haven't been left out either as there's a very interesting piece on "Earth B" mainly around The Brave & The Bold one of my favourites and how Bob Harney managed to ignore even rudimentary continuity and we are told how he managed to create Donna Troy through just using Wonder Girl (Wonder Woman in her youth) in his work on The Teen Titans.
The influence of British talent on DC is also examined by Tony and how this led to some of the most iconic works such as The Watchmen, V for Vendetta and of course Batman: The Killing Joke which shocked readers by leaving Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) permanently disabled. Comics were really growing up with their readers!
There's plenty of other stuff for the casual reader including a look at the short-lived Eagle/Quality line of 2000AD comics launched in the USA that sadly failed. Other articles include a look at Ron Noble, The Unknown Soldier and a couple of pieces on comics I've never come across Retrieve and Rammur.
As always well worth grabbing a copy.
Rating 5 Stars (Recommended)
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