This is coming along really nicely. The character development is enticing, I'd like to see this as a miniseries (a film would have to cut out too much for time).
Legend Horror Classics is extremely rare, issues achieve over £100 each at auction. Launched in 1975, a complete horror strip featured in every monthly issue and the debut issue contained an 11 page Dracula tale, loosely adapting the 1973 movie starring Jack Palance. It was evident that the comic wasn't going to be traditional British comic fare. This was strong stuff for Seventies kids, if they could afford the then-hefty 25p cover price (Comics were around 4p each at the time.)
Issue #2 adapted the 1931 Frankenstein movie, with altered dialogue and design (presumably for copyright reasons), and used Peter Cushing’s image for the Baron.
Later topics covered were The 7th Voyage of Sinbad in issue #3, Blood Lust of the Zombies in issue #4 and Hammer's Dracula has Risen from the Grave in issue #5.
Issue #8 is interesting, a year before HookJaw devoured his first victim in Action (featured previously in this thread), here we have Killer Jaws tearing chunks out of a swimmer. The shark also gets a protuding harpoon stuck in its body, which impales a victim, just as HookJaw would later do the following year. It seems too much of a coincidence to think anything else other than this was the inspiration for HookJaw.
Issue #9 featured a cover that wouldn’t make it to newsagents racks of kids comics today. The Jokers showed a gory decapitation scene. This was on display alongside the likes of Lion and Diana, and no one batted an eyelid. Kids were made of stronger stuff in those days. From issue #10 the comic strips were dropped and the comic bit the dust with issue #12.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
The Nelson Lee Library was published by The Amalgamated Press and ran for a total of 948 issues between 1915 and 1933 before merging into The Gem Library.
Nelson Lee was a famous detective with a sidekick called Nipper. He was created by Maxwell Scott (Dr. John Staniforth) and first appeared in The Halfpenny Marvel in 1894. His adventures were also published in Union Jack, Pluck, and a number of other boys' papers. He was then featured in the Boy's Herald, with stories being written by authors other than Maxwell Scott, until 1915, when he was given his own comic, The Nelson Lee Library.
The action shifted to St Frank's School in 1917 when Nelson Lee and Nipper went undercover to avoid a death threat. Nelson Lee became House-Master and Nipper, Captain of the Fourth. The stories then became school based mysteries and adventures which often led to travels around the world.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
The history changed over time - these are still Golden Age strips, the backstory changes in the Silver Age run.
CHAMBER OF CHILLS was published by Harvey Comics from June 1951-December 1954 - there were 26 issues in total and continued as CHAMBER OF CLUES from 1955 (the numbering of the issues is all over the place and too long and uninteresting to tell here). It was a horror/thriller anthology comic and issue #7 contains stories and illustrations used in the SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT legal case that forced a comic code censorship battle (far too long to explain here, though).
An unrelated comic-book series titled Chamber of Chills was published by Marvel Comics, it ran for 25 issues (Nov. 1972 - Nov. 1976).
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Diana was a 24-page weekly girls' comic published by D C Thomson from February 1963 to December 1976, a total of 720 issues. Romeo merged into the title in September 1974. It aimed to capture a wider age range than some of its sister titles, and the strip content was frequently slightly edgier, including supernatural themed strips. But it was it’s retelling of standard classics that was a main feature of the comic. It was a high quality comic with over half of its pages in full colour. Printed using the expensive Photogravure process, it allowed artists to produce full colour painted artwork, as opposed to the the flat overlays used in most comics of the time. John M Burns was a very good artist who captured the essence of the classics in visual form. Some of his art follows…
Some covers…
Diana was cancelled after 720 issues and merged with its even more famous sister title Jackie.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
It was in the shelves when I was a kid but no boy would be seen dead with a girls' comic in those days. A pity, those are good versions of classic tales.
A while back I did a piece on the changeover of Smash! when IPC bought the title and changed the direction of the comic. That was in 1969 and in the same year there were a few more changes afoot…
The first was in January 1969 with D.C. Thomson's Sparky. It had evolved from its launch from an the old fashioned comic to something more contemporary and offbeat. The biggest change came when its cover star Sparky, an outdated racist caricature, packed his bags for the final time with issue #210 and the following week saw the comic given a snazzy new logo, free gift flip frog, and cover star Barney Bulldog.
IPC were determined to shake up the comics line they'd bought from Odhams and Fleetway. A few weeks later, it was the turn of Jag to face even more drastic changes. Only launched 43 weeks earlier by Fleetway, this March issue was to be its farewell and it merged with Tiger. The new combined Tiger and Jag included not only the best of Jag's stories but also gained the superior paper quality that Jag had been using, upgrading Tiger from newsprint to web offset printing.
Changes were happening quickly. The long running Eagle was the next comic to face the axe with its April 26th issue...merging into Lion the following week.
A very unusual happening occurred over at City Magazines - Joe 90 Top Secret ended in September after just 34 weeks...and TV21andTVTornado ended at the same time after 242 issues, only to combine into a brand new comic starring at #1 three weeks later called TV21 and Joe 90.
Strangely with a big TV lineup they went with a football cover which probably alienated a lot of potential purchasers. The Joe90 title was dropped from issue 37 and the now renamed TV21 lasted until issue 105 where it merged into Valiant.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion was a horror-suspense-romance comic published by DC Comics from 1971 to 1974 in a 15 issue run. After four issues as The Dark Mansion Of Forbidden Love, the romance angle was abandoned and the title changed to Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion. This issue #5 featured an Agatha Christie rip-off of AndThenThereWereNone. Written by Jack Oleck, I’m not sure if he or DC were ever sued by Christie’s publishers, if not, they may have been unaware of this publication.
So for the next 5 days let’s see how the tale unfolds…
Chapter 2 tomorrow…oh, and who fancies a Raquel Welch pillow? 😁
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
This weeks birthday comic covers features two issues with merged titles - in fact it’s the first Buster cover I’ve posted so far - there are another 12 to feature (including its own singular title) the comic absorbed more other titles than any other comic in the history of British comics.
31 March - 6 April…
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Agreed, it's a ripoff of that variously-titled and often-filmed Christie book. As you say, her publishers must have been unaware. The other thing from that time period it reminds me of involves 4 teenagers and a big hungry dog that sort of talks.
Love those ads!
The quick mention of FYEO reminds me I still have a copy of "Film Review " from 81 covering both that and the Jedi title.
"Weekly Welcome" looks incredibly twee and dated, I wouldn't have been surprised if the year had said 1932.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 31,103Chief of Staff
Crag Island….at first I thought it said Craggy Island 🤣
The story was also ripped off by the fabulous Murder by Death movie from 1976 🤭
Comments
This is coming along really nicely. The character development is enticing, I'd like to see this as a miniseries (a film would have to cut out too much for time).
I agree, it’s a slow burner but well worth sticking with…and a mini-series would be brilliant!
SAUCER COUNTRY Part 8 - 2 of 2
WARNING: This story contains strong language and scenes that may cause distress.
Continues next weekend…
👍 Enjoying this.
Legend Horror Classics is extremely rare, issues achieve over £100 each at auction. Launched in 1975, a complete horror strip featured in every monthly issue and the debut issue contained an 11 page Dracula tale, loosely adapting the 1973 movie starring Jack Palance. It was evident that the comic wasn't going to be traditional British comic fare. This was strong stuff for Seventies kids, if they could afford the then-hefty 25p cover price (Comics were around 4p each at the time.)
Issue #2 adapted the 1931 Frankenstein movie, with altered dialogue and design (presumably for copyright reasons), and used Peter Cushing’s image for the Baron.
Later topics covered were The 7th Voyage of Sinbad in issue #3, Blood Lust of the Zombies in issue #4 and Hammer's Dracula has Risen from the Grave in issue #5.
Issue #8 is interesting, a year before Hook Jaw devoured his first victim in Action (featured previously in this thread), here we have Killer Jaws tearing chunks out of a swimmer. The shark also gets a protuding harpoon stuck in its body, which impales a victim, just as Hook Jaw would later do the following year. It seems too much of a coincidence to think anything else other than this was the inspiration for Hook Jaw.
Issue #9 featured a cover that wouldn’t make it to newsagents racks of kids comics today. The Jokers showed a gory decapitation scene. This was on display alongside the likes of Lion and Diana, and no one batted an eyelid. Kids were made of stronger stuff in those days. From issue #10 the comic strips were dropped and the comic bit the dust with issue #12.
This weeks birthday comic covers 24-30 March…
Gruesome, I would have liked that one if I had been the right age at the right time.
The Nelson Lee title looks interesting. Almost 100 years old. Perhaps you could tell us a little about this?
The Nelson Lee Library was published by The Amalgamated Press and ran for a total of 948 issues between 1915 and 1933 before merging into The Gem Library.
Nelson Lee was a famous detective with a sidekick called Nipper. He was created by Maxwell Scott (Dr. John Staniforth) and first appeared in The Halfpenny Marvel in 1894. His adventures were also published in Union Jack, Pluck, and a number of other boys' papers. He was then featured in the Boy's Herald, with stories being written by authors other than Maxwell Scott, until 1915, when he was given his own comic, The Nelson Lee Library.
The action shifted to St Frank's School in 1917 when Nelson Lee and Nipper went undercover to avoid a death threat. Nelson Lee became House-Master and Nipper, Captain of the Fourth. The stories then became school based mysteries and adventures which often led to travels around the world.
Thank you!
Love the extra details, thanks 🍸
You’re welcome, gents.
DETECTIVE COMICS #205 - March 1954 - The Origin of the Bat-Cave - In which the title explains it all…
...so Bruce bought the mansion? I was always under the impression that stately Wayne Manor had been in the family for generations.
The history changed over time - these are still Golden Age strips, the backstory changes in the Silver Age run.
CHAMBER OF CHILLS was published by Harvey Comics from June 1951-December 1954 - there were 26 issues in total and continued as CHAMBER OF CLUES from 1955 (the numbering of the issues is all over the place and too long and uninteresting to tell here). It was a horror/thriller anthology comic and issue #7 contains stories and illustrations used in the SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT legal case that forced a comic code censorship battle (far too long to explain here, though).
An unrelated comic-book series titled Chamber of Chills was published by Marvel Comics, it ran for 25 issues (Nov. 1972 - Nov. 1976).
Thanks, CHB.
That was a weak story, we've seen plenty better ones from similar comics here. The magic tricks were fun, though.
Diana was a 24-page weekly girls' comic published by D C Thomson from February 1963 to December 1976, a total of 720 issues. Romeo merged into the title in September 1974. It aimed to capture a wider age range than some of its sister titles, and the strip content was frequently slightly edgier, including supernatural themed strips. But it was it’s retelling of standard classics that was a main feature of the comic. It was a high quality comic with over half of its pages in full colour. Printed using the expensive Photogravure process, it allowed artists to produce full colour painted artwork, as opposed to the the flat overlays used in most comics of the time. John M Burns was a very good artist who captured the essence of the classics in visual form. Some of his art follows…
Some covers…
Diana was cancelled after 720 issues and merged with its even more famous sister title Jackie.
It was in the shelves when I was a kid but no boy would be seen dead with a girls' comic in those days. A pity, those are good versions of classic tales.
A while back I did a piece on the changeover of Smash! when IPC bought the title and changed the direction of the comic. That was in 1969 and in the same year there were a few more changes afoot…
The first was in January 1969 with D.C. Thomson's Sparky. It had evolved from its launch from an the old fashioned comic to something more contemporary and offbeat. The biggest change came when its cover star Sparky, an outdated racist caricature, packed his bags for the final time with issue #210 and the following week saw the comic given a snazzy new logo, free gift flip frog, and cover star Barney Bulldog.
IPC were determined to shake up the comics line they'd bought from Odhams and Fleetway. A few weeks later, it was the turn of Jag to face even more drastic changes. Only launched 43 weeks earlier by Fleetway, this March issue was to be its farewell and it merged with Tiger. The new combined Tiger and Jag included not only the best of Jag's stories but also gained the superior paper quality that Jag had been using, upgrading Tiger from newsprint to web offset printing.
Changes were happening quickly. The long running Eagle was the next comic to face the axe with its April 26th issue...merging into Lion the following week.
A very unusual happening occurred over at City Magazines - Joe 90 Top Secret ended in September after just 34 weeks...and TV21 and TV Tornado ended at the same time after 242 issues, only to combine into a brand new comic starring at #1 three weeks later called TV21 and Joe 90.
Strangely with a big TV lineup they went with a football cover which probably alienated a lot of potential purchasers. The Joe 90 title was dropped from issue 37 and the now renamed TV21 lasted until issue 105 where it merged into Valiant.
Always fascinating to read these merger stories.
Alan Ball…my dad used to occasionally get a lift to play football with Alan and his dad…when they were kids.
Roy of the Rovers was the comic I got for years 😁
I liked Alan Ball Sr. and Jr. both proper football men. I read the younger Alan’s autobiography, it was very good.
SAUCER COUNTRY Part 9 - 1 of 2
WARNING: This story contains strong language and scenes that may cause distress.
More tomorrow…
Thos is overlapping nicely with Department of Truth, which of course you knew about and explains why you picked it. It fills the gap rather well.
I liked Alan Ball Sr. and Jr. both proper football men. I read the younger Alan’s autobiography, it was very good.
I’ve never read his autobiography…I probably should…he will mention places where I grew up…
SAUCER COUNTRY Part 9 - 2 of 2
WARNING: This story may contain strong language and scenes that may cause distress to those of a nervous disposition.
Part 10 next weekend…
And in a change to the usual format. this week Mon-Fri is a 5-part mystery/thriller with very big nods to Agatha Christie…
Sounds good, count me in.
Me too 😁
Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion was a horror-suspense-romance comic published by DC Comics from 1971 to 1974 in a 15 issue run. After four issues as The Dark Mansion Of Forbidden Love, the romance angle was abandoned and the title changed to Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion. This issue #5 featured an Agatha Christie rip-off of And Then There Were None. Written by Jack Oleck, I’m not sure if he or DC were ever sued by Christie’s publishers, if not, they may have been unaware of this publication.
So for the next 5 days let’s see how the tale unfolds…
Chapter 2 tomorrow…oh, and who fancies a Raquel Welch pillow? 😁
This weeks birthday comic covers features two issues with merged titles - in fact it’s the first Buster cover I’ve posted so far - there are another 12 to feature (including its own singular title) the comic absorbed more other titles than any other comic in the history of British comics.
31 March - 6 April…
Agreed, it's a ripoff of that variously-titled and often-filmed Christie book. As you say, her publishers must have been unaware. The other thing from that time period it reminds me of involves 4 teenagers and a big hungry dog that sort of talks.
Love those ads!
The quick mention of FYEO reminds me I still have a copy of "Film Review " from 81 covering both that and the Jedi title.
"Weekly Welcome" looks incredibly twee and dated, I wouldn't have been surprised if the year had said 1932.
Crag Island….at first I thought it said Craggy Island 🤣
The story was also ripped off by the fabulous Murder by Death movie from 1976 🤭
oh, and who fancies a Raquel Welch pillow? 😁
Yep…first thing I noticed was that 🤭
I have never seen Father Ted…is it worth watching?
FORBIDDEN TALES OF DARK MANSION #5 - They All Came To Die - Chapter 2
Chapter 3 tomorrow…
Is Father Ted worth watching?
Go on, watch it. Go on, go on, go on.