Sunday, 18 October 2026
For Mr Schiltz
Terry Hooper-Scharf (often known professionally as Terry Hooper) is a highly prolific British comic book creator, editor, and historian who founded Black Tower Comics & Books in February 1984. Dubbed Europe's largest independent publisher of black and white comics, Black Tower operates as a prominent small-press outfit that keeps the legacy of classic British comic styles alive while publishing original fiction, historical studies, and anthologies. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Profile of Terry Hooper-Scharf
Hooper-Scharf has over 40 years of experience in the international comic industry. Aside from his extensive self-publishing through Black Tower, his background spans decades of diverse freelance and agency work. [1, 2, 3, 4]
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Industry Roles | Scriptwriter, illustrator, freelance editor, comics packager, publisher, and creators' agent. |
| Freelance Contributions | Worked between 1984 and 1994 for major UK and US publishers including Fleetway, IPC, MU Press, Blue Comet Press, and Fantagraphics Books. |
| International Work | Packaged comic content for companies in India, Hong Kong, and China. Produced single-panel gag cartoons for European agencies like Germany's Boiselle-Lohmann. |
| Other Specialties | British historian specializing in Pre-Roman, Celtic, and Roman Britain, alongside wildlife research and industry trend analysis. |
| Digital Platforms | Runs the long-standing blog ComicBitsOnline and manages active storefronts. |
Black Tower Comics & Books Overview
Originally started to kickstart a late-1980s UK small-press boom through the industry zine Zine Zone International, Black Tower has grown into a vast portfolio of niche independent publications. The group primarily focuses on keeping classic, black-and-white indie British comics alive while archiving forgotten golden-age history. [1, 2, 3]
| Core Publishing Category | Description & Major Titles |
|---|---|
| Original Comic Series | Character-driven action and indie horror sagas including The Bat Triumphant, Krakos: Sands of Terror, Return of the Gods, and Black Tower Comic Fun. |
| British Comic History | Dedicated archival volumes like the Black Tower British Gold Collection, preserving 1940s and 50s comic strips that have been out of print for over half a century. |
| The Strange & Esoteric | Books and prose collections chronicling real-world mysteries, paranormal interviews, and cryptozoology, notably Some Things Strange & Sinister. |
| Character Creations | Original figures like Sergeant Wilderforce, D-Gruppe, Xengragon, and Merriwether: God’s Demon-Thumper. |
Books and graphic novel collections from Black Tower are currently made available to the public via their direct Lulu Spotlight Storefront and updates are shared directly through the official Black Tower Facebook Page.
Saturday, 17 October 2026
Thursday, 15 October 2026
Released Yersterday so VERY Scare and Rare
This is why I have no rspect for UK comic shops or dealers. Captain Britain 50th Anniversary Special was released yesterday. It was also listed as "Rare" and "Scare" yesterday with a price of £25 and up. Why?
£25 plus £1.50 postage for a comic. I'd suggest the dealer and store owners offering the book at that price roll the issue up very tight then insert it up their money grubbing con men asses.,
Wednesday, 14 October 2026
A Meandering Post Full Of Things No One Cares About
Yes is the answer to the question if anyone asks it: I will be reintroducing British Platinum, Golden and Dark ages characters.
I have just finished another book but have delayed publishing it for any number of excuses. I also have the Special Globe Guard art that I have been putting off inking. Other projects I intend to combine IF I get the will power to complete any of them.
Health and financial situation are so-so (financially pretty bad). I had considered two options to make money.
One was to get the online advertising back but I cannot control what Adsense decides to show and with a world wide audience and all the various laws I am not going to put someone reading CBO in any type of legal risk. Also, like others, Adsense stiffed me on past payments so, no, not a real option.
The second option was making this a closed paying subscribers blog. That thought lasted two seconds as the very idea made my skin crawl. CBO is supposed to be about fun.
With the number of views CBO gets daily you might think there would be someone wanting to take advantage as a sponsor..... no.
You know a few words of encouragement might be welcome but after...I started blogging 1997... whoa. I've been running CBO on one platform after another since then so coming up to thirty years!! Not bad for a "no name blog" (as a person whose blog vanished after 6 months once put it).
I was going to ask the question of readers: NOT DC or Marvel but which super hero is your favourite? But I have asked for readers comments so many times in the past and gotten no responses so....
Someone wrote "You got it right!" referring to my post when Marvel purchased Marvel Man (aka Miracle Man). At the time I said that I predicted that after leaving the character al;one for a while following the flurry of publishing projects, Marvel would make him American. Was I surprised to see in Avengers Armageddon the reject Captain America (Colton?) suddenly turn into Miracle Man out of the blue? Nope.
Micky Moran was the only Marvel Man with a rich history and cast of villains Marvel in its now no longer the "house of Idea" could utilise. But no: Colton taps into the "force" and...ugh
Comics can still be fun but there are only two Marvel comics I now buy -and one is going to be dumped- and one DC title which as now ended. Too expensive and too much crap. Rebooted so often they are literally copying the movies that THEY inspired and becoming even more bland.
Monday, 12 October 2026
00:30 hrs
Stats today stand at 651,550 views
I hope people are finding enough things to read and enjoy!
Well....Even I was Not Expecting This
I always wonder just what people want when it comes to promoting their comics, comic and comic related merchandice?
Perhaps an active blog with world wide readership?
Views? Well, the Golden Age blogs average a few thousand and maybe not good enough for some people? Want more?
I had to check a feature on CBO and at first glance ignored stat numbers. With dyscalculus (a type of word blindness just involving numbers) it was just a jumble of numbers. I was about to leave the page and thought it was all strange as I rarely check.
I sat back and just said "WTF?" out loud. I think the screenshot of t6he stats tell you everything.
THANK YOU for visiting CBO.
Sunday, 11 October 2026
Some Changes To Golden Age Blogs
British Golden Age Comics has so far been viewed 214, 813 times while UK Golden Age Heroes and Comics has had 89,884 views.
Trying to publish new material to two blogs which, quite honestly, are on the same subject is a lot of work. Getting the material, writing it up, editing and posting can take time and there are things I have looked at when trying to make a decision as the their future.
Firstly, the posts attract no comments or VERY rarely attract a comment. There is no feed back or conversation with readers -that was the whole point of the blogs because you might assume with the number of views someone must think something or have questions.
Secondly, sales of the Platinum, Golden and Dark Ages compilations. Each book can take a couple months to put together and gathering the material can cost. But the books are a "passion project". There were at one time a lot of supposed fans of comics from these periods and the material I publish is what we would have grabbed like crazy in the years preceding the internet and the new age of illiteracy.
Of the Black Tower Gold reprints I believe that two copies have sold of each. Of the Ultimate Golden Age Collection about 5 copies. That is not weak that is an abject failure. Once I shift this mortal coil the online store closes. There are no stocks of books to buy in later years as everything is print on demand. Only books ordered get printed. Yep, I go everything goes and I had hoped there would at least be copies of the books out there for the future.
So, lack of any comments/conversations or sales of books has had me re-assess the blogs. What I do post in future will opnl;y be on the British Golden Age Comics blog.
These changes will begin at some point before Christmas so if you are still interested in the material BGAC is the blog to earmark.
Thank You.
Someone Asked...and I Rambled
"Why don't you publish a British Golden Age horror collection?"
Well, the pulp scene continued in a way with US reprints but not horror comics as such. We had Dene Vernon dealing with all sorts of supernatural menaces (and moe) and Krako was "The Angel of the Burning Death" but apart from incinerating some "unidentified European fascist troops" there was a lot of interesting but hardly "horror" action.
Most of this has already been reprinted in the Gold series and Dene Vernon has already had a reprint issue. The thinking at the time was that comics were for youngsters and it was probably considered giving kids horror stories when they faced bombing raids and deaths every night was a bit much. escapism was far better. The 1940s were the Dark Age of British comics as explainmed in this post: https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2019/08/redefining-ages-of-british-comic_15.html
If you want the quick snippet....
British super heroes and action was rife as were the humour comics so some of the 1930s Golden Agen creation spirit was still going strong. In fact, evn today I found yet another long lost and forgotten masked character of the 1940s. I think it fair to say that Dennis M. Reader and Denis Gifford (Reader in the main) created and kept the super hero alive and well during the 1940s. Other artists did contribute to the tights and capes (and bat-wings) set.
I have to also say that Mick Anglo and his creative run started while the Dark Age turned into the Silver Age; "He created Marvel Man" and that was it. Well, that is it unless you actually know something about Anglo's career drawing and writing everything from Sci Fi to Westerns, to crime stories and humour/ He may well not have been the greatest and most slick artist ever but he made up for it in what his mind created and visualised. We owe far, far more to Anglo than 99% of the supposed comic fans know.
After many years photographs of Dennis Reader (like other creators) still allude me and it would be nice to put a face to a name and set of work.
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