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Terry Hooper-Scharf

Tuesday 30 June 2020

OUT NOW!!! Halcon Lord of the Craterland No. 1 July 2020


A4
24pp
B&W
£5.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/halcon-lord-of-the-craterland-no-1-july-2020/paperback/product-7jy675.html

Halcon Lord of the lost craterland. Created by Nat Brand (Len Fullerton) in 1940 for Swan Comics and seen occasionally in various Black tower titles now gets his own one off books thanks to Ben Dilworth. 

Action and fun all the way with stories such as - 

"Alligator", "Lake Monster", "Monkey", "Pteranodon", "Into the Moon" and "Alien". 

The twist ending to "Werewolf" even had the old bearded one surprised!

After Orwell Talk

Deep Deep Blue
Grey concrete squares
Pedigree chum still warm
creepers smeared
gutter scrape to puddle

Bristol Haiku -My Spaghetti

My day old spaghetti
warmed up
cheesy taste
Bitter snap
Dead fly in my spaghetti

Bristol Haiku

Dog Mess
Grey Pavement
New shoes
Lick it
Life

If Only....

...there was a clue to the next Black Tower book.....

NOT the toy...that's mine!!

Monday 29 June 2020

Cinebook Ltd Newsletter 150 - June 2020


Dear Reader,
Let’s start this month’s titles with our 76th Lucky Luke already! We return to Luke’s childhood, when he was still Kid Lucky, and discover his first encounter with a quartet of unpleasant brothers. Throw in a genuine villain by the name of Oklahoma Jim, a dogged lawman, a schoolmarm in love, and you’ve got all the ingredients of a classic Western!
Different state for Alex and his son in The Route 66 List. Their continuing flight along the legendary road has led them to Kansas, in the middle of the 1961 floods, and once again what little safety they thought they’d regained is … swept away.
As for Ivan, one of the young heroes of Alone, he is mostly in a state of confusion – not to mention he’s even more alone than usual. A situation that simply cannot last, of course. Vehlmann and Gazzotti continue trying to fascinate and terrify us, and you could say with this story … they nailed it!
I’ll see myself out …
But before I go: we have two Clifton titles back in print! Volume 2, The Laughing Thief, and volume 3, 7 Days to Die. Enjoy!
June with Cinebook – a state of grace!


Alone 11
Gazzotti & Vehlmann
The Nailers in the Night
While trying to escape an avalanche triggered by the killers of the First Families, Ivan drowned. Though this is a less permanent problem than it used to be for the children, Ivan ‘returned’ far from his friends, in a small village in Brittany where he used to holiday with his parents ... Read more

Lucky Luke 76
Morris, Pearce & Léturgie
Oklahoma Jim
Kid Lucky, still travelling with Old Timer, arrives in Mushroom City. After months in the wild, they’re both glad to find a place where they can have some fun! While the old gold miner has every intention to enjoy himself, though, he immediately sends Luke … straight to school ... Read more

The Route 66 List 3
Eric Stalner
Kansas
During the 1961 floods in Kansas, the Clown is searching a house, looking for important documents. When the police arrive, though, a shoot-out ensues that ends in the killer’s apparent death. And yet ... Read more
The Regiment 2
The True Story of the SAS
Wyoming Doll
 
XIII 24
2,331 Yards

North-American readers, to locate a comic book shop near you that stocks or can order these titles and many more, us this handy Read more 

Or, if you're a retailer yourself, please go to: Read more

Sunday 28 June 2020

It's.....A Sunday Ramble About Comics

There are currently 128 publications at the Black Tower Comics and Books online store. This week that number should rise somewhat.  This while I am still toying with a cover for The Green Skies Vol. 3 Pt. 1 and some Captain Cosmic pages for Black Tower Super Heroes.

I let things slip somewhat.

With millions of views I suppose that I should not be surprised that posts from 2011 and 2015 are still being read in 2020. Some people interested in buying a title check out a review or post here and the number of comic history posts still being read 10 years later is good. People learn.

I do often think that I need to cater for specific countries. If I look at the countries visiting CBO in the last few hours I see the United States, UK, Canada, Japan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Germany, France, "Unknown Region" (we knowwho you are), Russia, Ukraine, Netherlands, Austria, Philippines, Portugal, Poland, Bulgaria...the list goes on and on.

Japan I am surprised at with 58 visits since, unfortunately, other than the posts on Manhwa, Manhua and Manga, I have had nothing to really offer an audience there but it could be these are people with a general interest in comics/media?

Perhaps the audience in Japan does not want to read about Manga -after all they are exposed to it everyday and I am sure that there are plenty of books on the history of Manga and creators.

Can anyone remember that wretched American TV show "Toy Hunter" -inspiring greed and ruining the joy of collecting toys?  There was an episode where the, uh, "Toy Hunter" came to a London based event. Still the usually set up/faked scenes but he -as THE expert ("X"=The Unknown and "Spurt" is a drip under pressure) made the mistake of a newbie.  He reasoned that if he came to the UK and bought up items that are popular and sought after here then he'd "make a killing". Despite the show trying to gloss over the failure to a degree, he later realised his mistake.

People in the UK might well be on the look out for this or that item but if it is a UK manufactured toy then collectors can buy them at any time.  The "Rare"/"Very rare" etc that Ebay dealers add to their descriptions of toy soldiers are just bull-shit. I once spoke to a fellow who worked at the old Timpo factory and asked him about their "Solids" and "Swoppits" (figures you can take apart and add items from other Swoppits to) and how many they manufactured in a year. "I have no idea" he told me: "We made thousands per day so I'm guessing more than a million each year other the decades". The same applies to William Britain's soldiers. An example: an "exceptionally rare" cowboy in the Crescent 60mm range I picked up for £2.50 including postage. When I was told how rare it was I checked Ebay. There were at least 10 in my 20 minutes search -all described as "very rare".

The reason collectors went to see what a US toy seller had was to buy American toys that were hard to find in the UK. I think they even showed people on the episode stating this. "You do not send coal to Newcastle" as the old saying went.

So I spend time looking for Manga related stuff for Japanese readers and it dawned on me that it would be like asking someone in Japan if they had ever heard of Ramen noodles!

The same applies to other countries; I tend to not try to tell people about comics they see regularly. If I did (I think I did a long while ago) a post on Bulgarian comics it is not to tell Bulgarians that they have these comics but to show people with an interest in comics what Bulgaria publishes. There are exceptions of course.

I was once pretty active on Chinese Manhua sites -Hong Kong, Singapore, etc., and mentioned certain titles from the 1960s to 1980s and was shocked that no one on the forums of "avid collectors" had heard of these titles. I thought I was being kidded but I was assured that they had not heard of these books. So I posted articles on them

I had a similar experience with Germany where I was even outrightly insulted by a couple of people on a forum (that type are everywhere it seems) because I insisted that there were comics in Germany during World War 2. It was rather like the insults I got from the comic "elite" in the UK during the 1980s when they told me very fdirmly that "There were no super hero comics in Europe and few now".  In both cases it showed a complete ignorance of the subject matter (the "elite" now claim "we knew that" but still have little knowledge).

See http://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2016/11/german-comic-book-history-there-were.html

And the existence of the site in question shows that I am NOT the only German comic book historian out there.  I am damned sure that there are others interested in Chinese Manhua other than Wendy Siuyi Wong and myself.

So, if and when I can, I will post items on comics from different countries (anyone wants to donate some let me know!) but I won't drive myself to distraction trying to cater to a particular country where comickers know what they have!

A closing note: if you like the content then please consider a donation to help keep CBO going beyond September. There is a nice little box top right of the page.  Thank You

Thursday 25 June 2020

A Little Midnight Horror No. 6....The final spurt of blood!


Stransky & Labbat
Ed. B. R. Dilworth
A4
24pp
B&W
£5.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/a-little-midnight-horror-no-6-july-2020/paperback/product-482645.html

The final gut-wrenching issue of the magazine that will whiten your hair! 

They dared us not to publish -so we did! 

Stories include: 
"Watch Your Step" 
"Lady Silana" 
"You Pay For What You Use" 
"Death Is Just The Beginning" 
"Asimov's Horror" 
"Death In The City" 

and more!

Wednesday 24 June 2020

NEW COMIC BOOKS RELEASING JULY 1ST 2020 MARVEL & DC COMICS PREVIEW COMIN...

Despite what it says NO DC and NO Marvel comics this week!   Plenty of Black Tower titles at the online store though :-)

A Little Midnight Horror No. 5 -OUT NOW!


A4
B&W
24pp
£5.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/a-little-midnight-horror-no-5-july-2020/paperback/product-98y9v6.html

The 5th in the 6 issue series of hair-whitening short stories from Stransky and Labbat is here -edited by the Big Man from Osaka Ben R. Dilworth. 

Stories include "Vampire"; "Tree", "The Wicked", "Scream"m "The Ghost Dance", "The Rule of Wolves" and more. 

Illustrated text stories for bedtime, on the bus or during lunch"!

Tuesday 23 June 2020

Krakos Sands of Terror


64pp
black and white
comic album (A4)
£8.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/krakos-sands-of-terror/paperback/product-1rg8ngqv.html

Created by William A. Ward for Swan Comics in the 1940s,Krakos was one of Ward’s supernatural anti-hero types.

Used,with Swan’s permission,in Black Tower Adventure strips in the 1980s/1990s,this is the character’s first solo outing.

But will Krakos fulfill the Goddess Isis’ dream and become the new pharoah of a New Egyptian Kingdom that will encompass all of the Middle East? Did anyone actually ask Krakos?

The book contains information on Ward and his work plus sample pages rescued after 60 years of neglect!

Dark Night Detectives


 
A4
Black & White
50 Pages
Price: £8.00 (excl. VAT)
Ships in 3–5 business days
 http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/the-dark-night-detectives/paperback/product-21975325.html

Its a world where if you stand up for what is right you'll be lucky if its just a beating you get.

A world where people are starving (if poor) and the rich live in luxury.

A world where you have to have birthing Rights.

Where sacrificing someone to the Devil is acceptable -as long as they pay the wages.

A world where if you DO NOT take that bribe you WILL be made an example of.

This shows off Dilworth's skill at writing dark and brooding stories with a hint of satire but just too true to modern life!  It also shows his skill as an artistic story teller and designer.  Some of Ben Dilworth's most provoking and dark work in ages.

Sunday 21 June 2020

Over 20 Books Published This Year -Why Not Give One A Try?

 






Black Tower Super Heroes N0. 4


A4
B&W
80pp
£6.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/black-tower-super-heroes-no-4-may-2020/paperback/product-176j4k6g.html

Hot off the presses! 

Yes, the fourth issue of BTSH is here and it is so crammed full of eye boggling action that we had to use adamantium staples to keep it all together! 

Kotar, Sabuta along with Tarot and Lady Silvana face the werewolf while the Zero Heroes are in a church surrounded by zombies and what happens to "the other guy" at the end...I'm asking -what happened? 

Jack finds that he could have had a fatal dose, while The Trial continues and the mystery deepens. 

There is more -much much more! 

Blue Saviour is the cover star and a tribute to creator David A. Johnson who brightened up Bath comic marts with his Blue Saviour, Madame Mystery and Enigma comics! 

COMICS ARE FUN!

Black Tower Super Heroes N0. 3


A4
B&W
80pp
£6.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/black-tower-super-heroes-no-3/paperback/product-124e57p6.html

Collecting together the best of the British Golden, early Silver and contemporary ages comics

Black Tower Super Heroes No. 2


A4
B&W
80pp
£6.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/black-tower-super-heroes-no-2-june-2020/paperback/product-48pdw5.html

Bringing the best of the British Platinum, Golden and early Silver Ages as well as contemporary

Black Tower Super Heroes No. 1


A4
48pp
B&W
£6.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/black-tower-super-heroes-no-1/paperback/product-24458078.html

Where the British Golden Age meets the Silver and Modern Ages!from Jack to TNT Tom to Johnny Neg, Merriwether and many others.

The Collected Merriwether -God's Demon-Thumper


A4B&W85pp£8.00https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/merriwether-gods-demon-thumper/paperback/product-1rejer94.html

The complete Merriwether series, originally published in Black Tower Adventure and A Little Midnight Horror–but with three strips never before published… 

including the Reverend’s battle with the ultimate Evil! 

From The Horror Of Hob Street to The Village Of Demons and Varney the Vampyre to The Fallen Angel himself, see how one Church of England vicar deals hard-fisted [and various spiked objects] justice to the ungodly ...and pays the ultimate price!!! 

If you were into Charlton Horror Comics or any horror comic then this one is for you! 

At the end of Merriwether:Gods Demon-Thumper, the Reverend had been confronted by Satan and as a consequence lay fatally injured. Star of 1980s comics, Benjamin R. Dilworth, takes us through the fleeting seconds before death as Merriwether has flash backs showing just why he took on the career he did. Be prepared for horror and a little tongue-in-cheek humour. 

COMIC HORROR FANS WILL LOVE THIS!

Lis & Jen


A4
B&W
21pp
£5.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/liz-jen/paperback/product-1m4g7pe4.html

Originally drawn back in the 1980s, this story of the coming out of two life long friends has never been properly published. 

Up-dated for 2011 with story and pencils by Terry Hooper and inks by Ben R. Dilworth

Cruisers In The Clouds


A4
B&W
40pp
£6.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/cruisers-in-the-clouds/paperback/product-1k8w97q5.html

If you have any interest in history or the development by the pioneers of hot-air ballooning,including the first use of parachutes in the 1800s,then this collection of articles by John Lea from 1905 and illustrated by H. J. Hodges,is for you.