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Origins: Ultra Man, Ultra Woman, Polaris and A White Out

 

 Back in the late 1960s when Kotar and Sabuta were still young, a strange event took place in a Bristol department store.   These days a "White Out" in comics is nothing rare but back then a "white out" usually meant a fog t6hat was lit up by street lights and in which you could see nothing. Sounded like a fun term to me back then.

The dream I had involved a department store and people going about their business. Cathy, Steven and  Paul Lloyd were three such people -brothers and sister. Without warning everything went white -probably only for a split second but everyone in the department store seemed unaffected. The trio were stumped. All three also noticed that their hair had turned white and looking around saw the odd shopper and staff member had similar.

Within days Paul noticed that he had developed strange powers and began testing them out. When he sat down to tell his siblings he was shocked to find they also had special powers and eventually (being a tad slow) realised that everything had started after the white out and their hair changing to white.

Paul (later to become Ultra Man) heard about thefts that seemed to have been committed by a person with special powers AND white hair. Initially he suspected Steven even though he could not believe it. As is usual in such stories each of the Lloyds had thought the same thing but realising they were on a wild goose chase realised that if the thief had special powers and white hair then he must have been in the department store during the white out

Initially wearing masks, Paul became Ultra Man, Cathy Ultra Woman and Steve Polaris. Their adventures would follow them tracking down anyone from the department store who had white hair and finding the various customers affected. None of them suspecting that a crook had been tracking them down when he realised the same thing.

Eventually the trio became more public and Polaris joined the Special Globe Guard; during the Return of the Gods storyline he seemingly gave his life stopping an alien invasion craft.Ultra Man and Ultra Woman were both active during that story as well as The Green Skies.

Browner-Knowle Volume 2 Number 3

Black and white

A5 (Digest) format 

56pp

£7.00 GBP

Shipping costs will be calculated at checkout.

https://www.paulashleybrownart.com/browner-knowle-volume-2-number-3

A further narrative salvo of  poetic , melancholy stories and observed moments fired over the head of  the UK comic book landscape. 

Tales of memory, grief, loss, hope, discovery, fear, love and late night Columbo re-runs. 

Get issue 3 and continue the fun you never had in this double-sized bumper issue.   And he is not joking about this being a bumper sized issue -although I admittedly misunderstood when he said "Tel, I got a lovely big one to give you!" 

First thing top write on a Christmas Day is that people need to make images available as well as page counts rather than have you warm up the scanner and then thumb  through to count the pages. Who that particular person is I shall not mention as I am a professional. Just need to calm down and think of....something. I dunno. 

 Anyway, considering this is a pro printed book away from the Hell that is print On Demand it looks really good. The solid blacks and cross hatching, etc all come out nice and crisp. Even better it looks as though it was printed on a nice thick premium stock paper.  Also, my scfanner does not do the front cover justice.

The contents page tells you everything you need to know about what you are buying -and the sales mean you better hurry before these are out of print. Anyhoo the contents:

 Untitled

Hauntology

Anne In The Garden At Night

Peter Falk Is....

As If!

Broken English

That Friday Feeling

Remembering A Yesterday

Poptones

Fork In The Road

Through A Small Window A Big Sky

Bread

See, that's what you can come up with if you have a degree in something-or-other. After reading Untitled I was ready for a double bill of The Two Ronnies Christmas Specials. Hauntology got very surrealistic and stepped up the cheer (that's me being very slightly sarcastic). Details in the background could teach a few of the "new generation" of zinesters how to draw a comic strip.

Peter Falk Is can be described as a sad middle aged (I am being generous) man sat watching TV in the dark while eating a Fab ice lolly at 2 a.m.   Come on -we have all been there!

oh gods....Broken English reminds me of a Polish fella who stopped me to ask where a place was as he had an interview there. I spent 40 minutes going him around a trading estate while trying to find out where the place was as the Polish fella had only gotten blank looks as he tried to explain.  Which has nothing to do with Mr Brown's rather bitter sweet story or, for that matter his That Friday Feeling -here is a man in need of some "Uppers" (whatever they are).

Poptones ended with Mr Brown's passport description "a know nothing, ham-fisted sham splashing and slapping acrylic on paper" -he had to write a lot of that in the margin. Methinks Mr Brown needs to be reminded of the great Tony a rather disaffected office clerk who donned his artist's smock, and set to work on work on "Aphrodite at the Waterhole" every evening!

Fork in The Road was thoughtful. My own mind thought of a mince pie and some canned whipped cream.

Joking ( I think) aside the big story in this bumper issue was  Through A Small Window A Big Sky Brown's tour de force.  Don't misunderstand; there is some excellent black and white artwork using some techniques that appear to have been forgotten in the age of "slap it out on the slap top"  (eurgh) but in this 25 pager we see that while "Old Slow Hand" takes his time carrying out his work it is worth the wait.

We have the solid blacks, the line work and the underwater swimming page must have taken ages to complete -and some well drawn and effective backgrounds when Gillian (the feature character) gets to travel abroad.  The ending was quite shocking to me...an happy ending? In a Browner Knowle?!?!?!    Also, after Broken English it is the only strip to use speech balloons.

Overall it was an interesting read for Christmas Day and is, as usual, highly recommended but be quick if you want to get a copy.

Me? I am now off to find something featuring big muscle men  in colourful costumes fighting.

Comic Bits No. 2

 

Ed T Hooper-Scharf
A4
B&W
80 pp
£8.00
https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/comic-bits-no-2/paperback/product-2ed6pe.html?q=&page=1&pageSize=4

The second issue of the magazine celebrating creators, titles and characters of the British Platinum, Golden and Silver Ages of comics. 

In this issue William A. Ward finally gets some long deserved recognition for his contribution to comics John McCail gets "bigged up" something rotten!

 We look at comedian and actor Bob Monkhouse's comic creation career 

Steve Dowling -Father of the Garth newspaper strip speaks to Denis Gifford (the ONLY interview he ever gave) 

There is a look at Dennis M. Reader and his comics work that spawned some of the UKs first super heroes. 

also a look at William Fletcher Thomas, Ernest Wilkinson, Jos Walker, Mary Byfield and William H A Chasemore... oh, and LOTS of lovely art and stripwork!

Comic Bits: THE British Golden Age of Comics magazine!

  

A4
B&W
80pp
Text, comic strips and some rare photographs!
£8.00

https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/comic-bits-no-1/paperback/product-kjgvzy.html?q=&page=1&pageSize=4

The return of THE British Golden Age of Comics magazine! 

Interviews with Mike Western, John Cooper and Jon Haward plus a look at Ally Sloper on film, Defining the Ages of British Comics, William McCail plus a lot of art and stripwork. 

At this price -cheap!

The Return of the Gods and Green Skies Invasion Earth Series

 

 "I read the original quote from that German blogger and thought it was a lot of hot air. When Return of the Gods: Twilight of the Super Heroes arrived I thought "thick book" and knew you'd taken it from 96 pages to 360+...it looked impressive. I read through it in two days and -robots, aliens, "gods", super heroes, sorcerers, alien invasions and more and world-wide. And you tell me this was done without a script?! It's the only one I can think of so, yeah, the greatest British super hero graphic novel fits as a description." Pete Clark

"You say this is your final big story? The Green Skies was fantastic and everything laid out into chapters was a great touch!"

David Stephens, Comic Reviews

" 'Holy ******* ****!' was all I could say. I even tried counting the number of characters and how the **** you produced all of this without a script beats me. Return of the Gods: Twilight of the Super Heroes and The Green Skies could only have been better if George Perez had drawn it!"

Dan's Comics

"I have no idea why you are not pushing this even harder. The books Return of the Gods: Twilight of the Super Heroes and The Green Skies I would love to see in German or at least get German fans to read since it has a good number of German heroes in it. Next big comic event over here send me copies and I'll sell them on my table!"

Gerd Hammer, German comics historian and trader

Selected comic readers were also chosen to review copies and, obviously, two of these were people from Hong Kong who I corresponded with on Manhua over the years.

"I just wish someone like Tong Li would publish this in Chinese -I mean there are Chinese heroes in this so why not?"

Wang Xiuying

"There HAS to have been a script and more than one person working on this! Brilliant!"

Mike Wayne, Australian comic dealer

Generally, these comments were all similar and I only quote these as any more would be very egotistical. The books should speak for themselves.

Paperback

A4

Black & White

331 Pages

Price: Reduced to £21.89 

Prints in 3-5 business days

http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/the-return-of-the-godstwilight-of-the-super-heroes/paperback/product-22076337.html

It begins slowly.  It always does. It's a deception that everything in the world is as it should be and that never changes.

Earth’s heroes and crime-fighters are going about their daily tasks –fighting a giant robot controlled by a mad scientist’s brain, attackers both human and mystical -even alien high priests of some mysterious cult and their zombie followers and, of course, a ghost and a young genius lost in time. 

Pretty mundane. 

But psychics around the world have been sensing something.  A "something" that sends feelings of sheer terror through their psyches.

There is a huge alien Mother-ship near the Moon. Undetected by deep-space radar and other instruments, only a few on Earth have sensed it and they cannot penetrate the hull but only feel psychic screams and....worse.

And then it begins: strange orange spheres isolate and chase some of Earth’s heroes who then vanish into thin air –are they dead?  An attack by an old foe or foes -?

Black, impenetrable domes cover cities world-wide. 

Then it becomes clear to those within the domes what is going on: Alien invasion of Earth! 

A war between the Dark Old Gods and the pantheons that followed! 

Warriors from Earth’s past having to battle each day and whether they die or not they are back the next day! 

No one suspects the driving force behind the events.  One single evil guiding events.  Events that could cause destruction and chaos throughout the multiverse.

Assaulted on all fronts can Earth’s defenders succeed or will they fail...is this truly the end? 

The Cross-Earths Caper: Part II of the Invasion Earth Trilogy

Paperback, 

A4

Black & White

107 Pages

Price: £12.00

Prints in 3-5 business days

 http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/the-cross-earths-caper/paperback/product-22076318.html

Following the events on Neo Olympus and the Boarman invasion of Earth, many heroes and crime-fighters have withdrawn from activity. Some are trying to recover from injuries while others are fighting the mental scars left by the events.

But things have to go on.  As heroes from other parallels who helped during the recent events return home, members of the Special Globe Guard are shocked at the sudden appearance of Zom of the Zodiac. Never a sign of good things a-coming!

Very soon, a group of heroes mount a rescue mission and find that a quick rescue mission can turn sour equally quickly. As they overcome one challenge the the heroes become lost between parallel Earths and face new threats.

 Sometimes one Earth just is not enough. The complete story published in issues 7-10 of Black Tower Adventure now in...one handy dandy book!

A4

B&W

124pp

£15.00

https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/the-green-skies-vol-3-part-1/paperback/product-5j4y7e.html?page=1&pageSize=4

It all began in 1987 and the Black Tower Universe has seen alien attacks, heroes kidnapped to be put into the middle of a war of the gods. 

Despite the deaths and losses the heroes -crime fighters, super powered and members of the magical union have come back but now unaware that alien races are escaping through the Sol system and that a mysterious space fleet is heading towards the inner planets, they find themselves trapped or distracted. 

The Many Eyed One is finally coming. 

The Multiversal Council has quarantined Earth and forbidden any to help. 

The evil has spread and there is treachery striking at the very core of Earth's defenders

A4

B&W

126pp

£15.00

https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/the-green-skies-vol-3-part-ii/paperback/product-nj7wqr.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Following on from events in Green Skies V. 3 Part I the Clone Zone Boyz are increasing in number while those who created them, the Vampirons, continue to plot and await the arrival of their 'God' -The Many Eyed One. 

The Druid finds that his physical and mental state are deteriorating and even the Rev. Merriwether cannot help him. 

Shockingly, the Clone Zone Boyz claims someone close to Merriwether and this leads him to team up with two 'unsavoury' characters. 

In space Krii and Tyn hrrn face a seemingly unstoppable enemy. 

On The Moon the Selenites and representatives of other worlds meet and decide that Johnny Apollo, the Z-Man, is the only one who can lead the counter invasion fleet. 

With the enemy striking Mars and then the Moon things look grim

 A4

B&W

208pp

£16.00

https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/the-green-skies-vol-3-part-iii/paperback/product-kj6r7r.html?page=1&pageSize=4

The gathered Sol Defence fleet is prepared to make its final stand led by Johnny Apollo the Z Man. If it fails to halt the invaders then the doomsday weapon will be detonated and destroy the entire Sol System. 

Meanwhile, unaware of the threat in space, Jack Flash, the Avenger and others prepare for a final show down with the Many Eyed One; a final confrontation they know they do not have the power to win. 

Is this Humanity...the Earths...final day?

woven into The Green Skies is the story of the harbinger of destruction: the story of Varik Dann -The Man Who Walked Through a Door and Into Another World

Varik Dann is but one character as we follow the attempts of heroes and adventurers as well as the military as they try to confront the Clone Zone Boys with no idea of who or what is behind them. And in space the very existence of not just the Earth but the solar system rests on efforts to stop an alien invasion fleet and if it cannot be stopped them there will be no conquest: the entire solar system will be destroyed by a doomsday device.

Tick Tock It's The Clock and The Cover Design

  I had Ben Dilworth's superb comic work and unfortunately, thanks to the process used by my printer, the cover that was sent could not be used. I was left with the option of not publishing, just adding the occasional strip to an existing anthology (The Clock did appear on the front cover of the final issue (vol. 2 no. 10) of Adventure which featured a Dilworth illo colourised by my brother, Mike.

(c)2025 BTCF

I hate doing covers! But I suck it up and get to work. Apparently, I am told, the various book covers stand out and are "unique" in not just having fight scenes on them.  So I tried one idea. Threw it out. Brilliant idea next and....threw it out. Another idea seemed to be perfect. Can you guess what happened? Yup, threw it out!

There I sat looking at a rough outline sketch (by "outline" I actually mean pencilled outline) and I thought keeping that clean white background would be nice. At that point my black and white artist brain kicked in and I left The Clock as a silhouette against a white background..with some bullet holes (we all knew it was heading that way).

(c)2025 BTCG

Completed I went away and made some coffee (NOT instant. NEVER instant!!!) came back to the image and threw it to one side. It wouldn't work. I tried another design. Nope. How about that silhouette in a darkened alleyway with trash cans over turned and bullets whizzing (giggle)  by.

No.

I looked at that illo and again and said something rude and it became the final cover!  

Still don't think it did justice to the interior art but if you have a book you need a cover -right?

all art (c)2025 Ben R. Dilworth (except the cover I did!)