Eagle Picture Library (1985)

Pocket picture libraries were all the rage amongst comic readers from the sixties to the eighties. Most of these were war stories with original material designed especially for the format. The idea was to literally stick these in your blazer pocket and take them with you. Of course by the eighties I had started work and didn't wear school uniform anymore but these mini comics were still a good read.

After Eagle merged with Tiger, the publishers tried to capitalise on the brand by launching the Eagle Picture Library. These were different to the majority of  it's "rivals" as these were reprints of previously published stories and were not designed for the format.

The first issue saw an adventure with Sabu (a Tarzan clone) The Talisman of Doom fighting evil hunters in their search for the lost city of Taal. Highly readable and enjoyable as we see the villains get their comeuppance (with a little help from the animal kingdom) and Sabu makes a new friend.

 

The second issue featuring Murder in Space sees Jet Ace Logan confront a murder on board his spaceship and meets a bunch of previously unknown aliens who were the real culprits. Now herein lies the problem for older readers. I found the typeface far too small for ageing eyes in this particular book and so am not enamoured to collect more.

However if your eyesight  can cope the variety of material printed in this short-lived title (there were just 14 issues over seven months) may appeal. Amongst the issues is an adventure with Janus Stark from the new look Smash!.

A Halloween Comics Gallery

A selection of various horror comics from over the years.

House of Mystery #285 (DC/1978)

 

House of Secrets (DC/1969)          Chamber of Chills (Marvel/1975)

Creepy #44 (Warren/1972)

 

Scream (IPC 1985)                                    Scream (Skywald/1974)

And my personal favourite....

Secrets of the Haunted House (DC/1981)

Stay safe tonight!

Fightin' Five (Charlton Comics 1966)

The Fightin' Five # 38 (Charlton Comics)

Joe Gill (w) Montes & Bache (a)

Charlton Comics were one of several major publishing companies churning out comics in the sixties. They were renowned for low quality production values, poor distribution and paid a pittance to their creators.  Nevertheless they did churn out of number of good titles, the horror comics probably being the best especially with Steve Ditko contributing a large amount of work.

In the sixties with the relaunch of Superheroes and action adventurers by both DC and Marvel, Charlton did turn their hands to producing it's own line of action heroes. Some were complete duds such as Son of Vulcan, remembered only because the last issue was the first professional work of a very young Roy Thomas.



Other comics in their line included the more famous Captain Atom and Blue Beetle (now owned by DC) and Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt.

There was one comic that does get overlooked even now. That of The Fightin' Five. These were a small group of elite fighting men who fought for the free world against all threats not just of super-villainy (S.A.T.A.N., D.E.A.T.H) but also communism.

Well this was the cold war.

Frankly although the stories are rather corny I did get a certain joy by reading these. There's not much in the way of characterisation and villains have absurd motivations. Add some wooden dialogue and you get pretty much the idea of what to expect.

In the following issue we meet Zeru. He's a commie and wants to wipe out the USA. Who do you call....

The Steam Man #1 (Dark Horse Comics)

The Steam Man #1 (Dark Horse Comics)

Joe R. Lansdale & Mark Alan Millar (w) Piotr Kowalski (a)

It's War of the Worlds "Steampunk" style, well sort of. The Martians have invaded Earth in 1895 and mankind has built giant steam powered robots to fight back against the blood suckers. Trouble is they were only the foot soldiers. Somethings worse has followed them.

The driving force of our fightback is inventor William Beadle who also seeks vengeance for his wife Matilda taken from him in front of his eyes. He won't rest until he has his revenge.

The enemy he seeks took her blood and left her for the bugs.

William won't rest until one them is dead.

That's the basic background to this entertaining little mini-series from Dark Horse, a much overlooked publisher these days. With a story by the very imaginative Joe R. Lansdale, script from Mark Millar and the gorgeous art of Piotr Kowasksi this a comic not to be missed.

The Shield #1 (Dark Circle)

The Shield (Dark Circle)

Adam Christopher Chuck Wendig (w) Drew Johnson (a)

The reinvention of the old MLJ/Archie superheroes has arrived under the Dark Circle Imprint. The Shield, one of the earliest patriotic characters rebooted for the modern age.

Opening in 1776 during the War of Independence, this new version of the Shield has lived and died many times across American history and is a woman this time round.  A confused character at the beginning but one with plenty of potential for the future as Victoria Adams tries to find her place in the world and remember who she is.

The reason for her re-appearance is more than just fighting purse snatchers and house robbers as we glimpse the villain of the story who seems to revel in chaos.

With great art and a good pace Dark Circle certainly should have a hit on it's hands.

The Shield first appeared in Pep Comics way back in 1940 sporting a patriotic costume based on the American flag a whole year before Captain America came on scene.

 

The character reappeared in the late fifties in a new form but I didn't come across The Shield until the short-lived age of the Mighty Comics Group which Archie tried to compete with Marvel in the sixties. That revival didn't last long.

A further attempt was made with the Red Circle line of comics, a revamp that I enjoyed back in the eighties but didn't last long and didn't catch on. The last attempt was with the New Crusaders where the old heroes were killed off except for an ageing Shield and their kids became the new generation.

Archie did make an effort with this version which was too short-lived but this time I think they've got it right. The new versions of The Hood and The Fox  have been excellent updates though no collected editions have yet been released to enable the new reader to catch up.

 

So back to today's Shield. Here's some preview pages.

I highly recommend this one and it's on sale now. Don't miss out.

Eagle and Tiger (1985)

The 1980's saw the gradual decline of the British comics industry though one title continued to stand out, the Eagle. With the long running and well known Dan Dare as it's lead character it was strong enough to continue and became the place other titles merged with.

And so in 1985 that famous slogan "Great news inside" saw the end of the long running sports orientated comic Tiger.

Eagle and Tiger was born.

 

The new comic promise 9 great stories inside and most of them were depending on your tastes. Kicking off with Doomlord, a major feature of the relaunched Eagle under Fleetway we see our hero impersonated by an escaped prisoner Zyn, one of the villains sent to destroy Earth.  A "zombie plague" seems to begin.

Followed by the inevitable football story Billy's Boots (which I skipped over having no interest in sport whatsoever) you then get to a rather charming little adventure Star Rider about an alien youth riding one of those "Mountain Bikes" that were popular at one time. Trouble is spaceship is hidden in two power station chimneys due for demolition....will he be too late to save his ride home?

The Ultimate Warrior seems to have been inspired by those early computer games and the film Tron. Not bad, but Dan Dare takes the centre pages with an adventure involving flesh eating blobs in the shires of England. Charming.

The other stories included a Transformers clone Robo-Machines and Death Wish about a chap with a rather deformed face and some ghosts looking for vengeance.

Golden Boy features  athlete Jamie Speed playing some kind of suicide game in a South American banana republic but I was pleased to see the last remaining feature from the short lived but much loved Scream comic absorbed by Eagle earlier in the eighties. The Thirteenth Floor featuring Max the Killer computer killer, now installed in a department store. Great fun.

This is turning out to be a good run to collect. Like all anthologies this has varied contented depending on ones interests but I'd recommend it.

 

The "last" Betty and Veronica #278 (Archie Comics)

Betty and Veronica #278 (Archie Comics)

Dan Parent (w) & (a)

Following the relaunch of the main Archie series and it's companion title, Jughead it became pretty obvious that the remaining old style Betty and Veronica comic would come to an end and prepare to join the new re-vamped line published by Archie comics.

The two girls fighting over Archie Andrews have had this joint title since 1951. Relaunched in 1987 the two volumes combine to an amazing 625 issues, hence the two numbers on the front cover. This isn't the last issue of course, Betty and Veronica is just going on hiatus to be relaunched in the near future.

And what way to go out? A school dance and a squabble over Archie Andrews affections once again.

Here's a couple of preview pages for your enjoyment:




Readers of this blog will notice I have a bit of a soft spot for Archie Comics. They always were good wholesome fun. Here's another couple of covers for old times sake.

So who would you choose? Betty or Veronica?