Sunday, 22 October 2017
Thursday, 19 October 2017
Comic Events
I assume that it is a joke when three people ask what events I will be selling books at?
This is the UK and if you are not cowtowing to the bully boys then event organizers are not letting you have a table.
THREE events I contacted within five minutes of their saying tables were now available. All gone it seems, though I'm told by someone an hour later that they JUST booked a table.
You do not just get bullying and sexism in "big" industries and it happens in comics and I will NOT just stand by and let it happen so I can sell books.
I have an online store. Buy there!
This is the UK and if you are not cowtowing to the bully boys then event organizers are not letting you have a table.
THREE events I contacted within five minutes of their saying tables were now available. All gone it seems, though I'm told by someone an hour later that they JUST booked a table.
You do not just get bullying and sexism in "big" industries and it happens in comics and I will NOT just stand by and let it happen so I can sell books.
I have an online store. Buy there!
Tuesday, 17 October 2017
Saturday, 14 October 2017
The Thing Below!
Dene Vernon From The Burning Heart To The Thing From Below
Firstly,his proper credit was “Dene Vernon. Ghost Investigator”. In the 1930s and 1940s the work of ghost investigators such as Harry Price [despite what people write about his work at Borley Rectory] and the great Elliott O’Donnell could be found reported on in national newspapers as well as on radio.
If they could inspire me as a teen to get involved in this type of work imagine the effect on everyday folk in the pre-TV era and before all the faking of Most Haunted and Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures as well as others.
But Amalgamated Press and D.C. Thomson were too “clean” to touch this type of subject unless it was a “real hoot” in a humour strip.
Gerald Swan changed all that. His comics introduced a whole group of paranormal/occult types fromKrakos The Egyptian to Robert Lovett:Back From The Dead [all subjects of Black Tower collections]. Vernon’s appearance in Thrill Comics No.1,April,1940,marked the very first truly supernatural strip series in British Comics.
Tall,lean with a high forehead and thinning hair,Vernon bore a resemblance to the young Harry Price in a way. However,his cases seem to have been pure O’Donnell and in case you are asking who O’Donnell is I give you Wikipedia's somewhat weak entry on the man:
Elliott O’Donnell (February 27, 1872 – May 8, 1965) was an Irish author known primarily for his books about ghosts. He claimed to have seen a ghost, described as an elemental figured covered with spots, when he was five years old. He also claimed to have been strangled by a mysterious phantom in Dublin.
But Amalgamated Press and D.C. Thomson were too “clean” to touch this type of subject unless it was a “real hoot” in a humour strip.
Gerald Swan changed all that. His comics introduced a whole group of paranormal/occult types fromKrakos The Egyptian to Robert Lovett:Back From The Dead [all subjects of Black Tower collections]. Vernon’s appearance in Thrill Comics No.1,April,1940,marked the very first truly supernatural strip series in British Comics.
Tall,lean with a high forehead and thinning hair,Vernon bore a resemblance to the young Harry Price in a way. However,his cases seem to have been pure O’Donnell and in case you are asking who O’Donnell is I give you Wikipedia's somewhat weak entry on the man:
Elliott O’Donnell (February 27, 1872 – May 8, 1965) was an Irish author known primarily for his books about ghosts. He claimed to have seen a ghost, described as an elemental figured covered with spots, when he was five years old. He also claimed to have been strangled by a mysterious phantom in Dublin.
He claimed descent from Irish chieftains of ancient times, including Niall of the Nine Hostages (the King Arthur of Irish folklore) and Red Hugh, who fought the English in the sixteenth century. O’Donnell was educated at Clifton College, Bristol, England, and Queen’s Service Academy, Dublin, Ireland.
In later life he became a ghost hunter, but first he traveled in America, working on a range in Oregon and becoming a policeman during the Chicago Railway Strike of 1894. Returning to England, he worked as a schoolmaster and trained for the theater. He served in the British army in World War I, and later acted on stage and in movies.
His first book, written in his spare time, was a psychic thriller titled For Satan’s Sake (1904). From this point onward, he became a writer. He wrote several popular novels but specialized in what were claimed as true stories of ghosts and hauntings. These were immensely popular, but his flamboyant style and amazing stories suggest that he embroidered fact with a romantic flair for fiction.
As he became known as an authority on the supernatural, he was called upon as a ghost hunter. He also lectured and broadcast (radio and television) on the paranormal in Britain and the United States. In addition to his more than 50 books, he wrote scores of articles and stories for national newspapers and magazines. He claimed “I have investigated, sometimes alone, and sometimes with other people and the press, many cases of reputed hauntings. I believe in ghosts but am not a spiritualist.”
Remember that bit about being strangled by a ghost [not unique in the lore itself]. This is what Denis Gifford wrote about Vernon’s first adventure:
“..Vernon spends the night in a haunted bedroom where a weary wanderer was found on the floor. ‘A gasp of horror came as they gazed on the terror-distorted features of the dead traveller!’ Vernon saves Dick from being throttled by a grinning black monster,chained by its neck since 1785. But he had to burn the house down to do it.”
You know, I am quite sure that there is a similar O’Donnell story -though he never burns places down!
The creator of the strip was Jock McCail who also drew oriental detective Ah Wong for Swan’s New Funnies [1940-1949], Darrell King Of The Secret Service in Thrill Comics [1940-48],New Funnies [1949] and Slick Fun [1950]. McCail also drew Get-Your-Man-Gilligan, a Western strip for the Amalgamated Press title Jolly between 1938-39.
Dene Vernon ran as a strip between 1940-1946 so must have been popular -as many of the Swan horror strips were.
It would be nice to put together a complete Dene Vernon book at some point but these old British comics are very rare to get hold of either as printed items or scans!
But, in 2011, Vernon featured in his first adventure since 1946. Yes, post-war Britain was the setting for…
DENE VERNON -THE THING FROM BELOW!
A4B&W54 pages£8.00
hehehehehe er, Sorry.
But maybe an appearance in Black Tower Super Heroes before that? I can't really say -I don't want to spoil the fun!!
Remember the name, though: Dene Vernon!
Comics, Books, DVDs and Action Figures ~Why CBO?
The short answer is that it is not compulsory. No one is obliged to send anything for review. Publishers and companies decide that. But there are reasons why it might be a good idea.
Absolutely no press or advertising campaign guarantees sales. That is a fact. However, to get people aware of your product and whether it is any good, though again not guaranteeing sales, is a vital part of business.
And getting people interested in action figures and pop culture to know your product is out there is something Comic Bits online can do.
I could post some staggering figures about how many sites feed off CBO postings, re~posts and so on. However, I decided to stick with only CBO/Blogger stats.
Page views daily 2~3,000
Page views last month 99, 543
Page views all time 3,147,092
So when a review or posting is published it is seen by 2~3,000 people. As you will see from popular posts (to the right), some of those are quite old but still get viewed in high numbers such as Titan Books:The Secret Service -Kinsman which was first posted in 2014! Others such as reviews for Cinebook The 9th Art titles and so on are still checked out in enough numbers to make them keep appearing in the stats.
CBO is not just about "post now. Forget it" and with a world wide audience new viewers drop by all the time and that means posts get a new audience. Far East, Africa, New Zealand, Australia, China, Europe, united States, Canada ~quite seriously, countries I never knew existed until they popped up in stats! Sadly, though we get views from there, nothing really turns up from China to review.
The Kick Ass 2 DVD review is still being checked out. That surprises me. Some of the old toy postings still get high views. Comic history and pop culture related books that were reviewed 6 years ago still get checked out.
So, you may not want to pay for advertising but if you want your product to get noticed then CBOis the place.
Simple as that. CBO has been going since 1998 and on this current site since 2011 so it isn't a fly~by~night temporary interest project!
Initial contact by email please to:
blacktowercg@hotmail,com
Thanks!
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