Pocket-Money Comics: Batman Monthly

You'd think that for a relatively recent comic (say, from the late 1980s) it would be easy enough to track down all the info. But not so! The publication life of London Editions' Batman Monthly is annoyingly vague. The majority of the evidence suggests that it ran for fifty-six monthly issues, then it was relaunched …

Oddities: Superman’s Boots

When I was younger (which doesn't narrow things down much: until now I've always been younger) I used to draw -- or rather colour -- Superman's boots with a yellow stripe around the top, the same yellow as his belt and the blobs on his chest's S-symbol. The angle of the top of the boots …

Oddities #20191101

A somewhat personal oddity this time, though I guess it's not necessarily all that odd... This is the bag I was given in Forbidden Planet in Denmark St., London, on Tuesday May 25th, 1982. It was my first ever visit to an actual comic-book store, so naturally I kept the bag because I was a …

Oddities #20191018

Today's oddity is a piece of comics promo... a double-sided newspaper/poster given away in 2012 to promote the then-upcoming Before Watchmen series. Younger readers might not recall the ire that this series raised. Watchmen was a ground-breaking and beloved twelve-episode maxi-series created by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins. It was collected as a …

Noncomics: Making Superman’s Shield

For a change, today's article isn't about something created by someone else... this is a vanity project! (In stark contrast to the pure altruism that drips from every other article on this blog...) If you're a regular reader of this blog you'll likely be aware of my interest in logos and symbols, particularly when it …

Noncomics: Superman: The Man of Steel – A Which Way Book

This 1985 paperback book opens with a warning: "Do not read the pages in order. If you do, the story will make no sense at all." Ah, the noble "choose your own adventure" experience! Game-books like this were all the rage back before we had convenient interactive electronic entertainment. The book looks like a proper …

Super DC Bumper Book

Super DC was a forty-page monthly comic published by Top Sellers (AKA Thorpe & Porter) in the UK from June 1969 to July 1970. It reprinted American DC Comics strips alongside home-grown text features, puzzles, letters pages, etc. The strips were in black-and-white, culled from titles such as Action Comics, Detective Comics, Superboy, Superman's Pal …

Superman’s 50th Anniversary… Radio Times’ coverage, 30 years on

The June 4-10, 1988 edition of Radio Times celebrated Superman's 50th birthday (albeit a couple of months late) with a cover feature, a small article, and a brand-new two-page Superman strip written and drawn by Dave Gibbons (who also drew the cover) and coloured by John Higgins from a concept by Dirk Maggs. (I'm saving …

Altered Images: Superman #1

Original: Superman #1, June 1939. Art by Leo O'Mealia.

Altered Images: Watchmen

Original: Watchmen #4, December 1986. Script by Alan Moore, pencils & inks by Dave Gibbons, colours by John Higgins. New internal monologue by Princess Elsa of Arendelle.