Thursday, 30 April 2026
Comics and discussion of comics should be fun.
It was in the early 2000s when everyone was getting online and mentally deficient people started the Internet Troll/Spam War. Quite literally, if you had a blog on Freeservers or any other platform and whether it covered hobbies, art or anything else you suddenly found yourself at the end of abusive comments, rumour mongering and much more.
Comics was the worst genre affected. I had emails from comic figures/personalities that they never sent. Female creators or fans got a lot of abuse but in what existed as a You Tube comic community back then vloggers worked together in identifying the trolls and they were given an ultimatum to stop or have what they were doing online forwarded to their families. One troll was so disgusting toward a female blogger and her children and it was found he was married and had kids; "Does your wife know you call women this online?" It all stopped.
Myself, well it is well documented that trolls -cowardly little fungii- from the dying British comics industry began a campaign against me in the late1990s. Eventually it led to these people being reported to their ISPs and even legal threats. I ought to point out that I did not know, never met or worked with any of these people. It was just a case of nasty little people wanting to be nasty on the internet -two I approached at a comic event literally ran off in the other direction! Another, along with two pals, threatened to "get physical" if they saw me at an event. I saw them. They saw me. They didn't hang around.
Twenty six years on (yes, 26 years) these same people still tell their lies, try to spread false rumours and at one point bullied spineless event organisers to stop me going to their events. I am living rent free in the minds of people I have never met and only one I would recognise!
It looked at one point that groups and blogs would just collapse and disappear under all of this. No. Some grew (my Google Plus account hit 2 million views in a couple months) but what killed them were Freeservers, Yahoo and Google once they decided money was more important.
Oh, of course, starting a "Flame War" (argument online) and name calling was a trick to increase views -people really thought they would be the "shock jocks" of the internet. One insisted on being insulting and sending me links to his wannabe comic blog and took every opportunity to attack me personally -in fact his comment section and posts were just...me (I can understand that!). And he was really very too excited over his main post: "No name comic blog DEMANDS free comics". PDF comics were sent for review but then never appeared in print and people who paid in advance complained -to the platform CBO was on at the time- and although the platform showed that I had no involvement I made a declaration that I could only review printed comics in future because that was solid proof that they did exist. So my line "Sorry but due to all the problems with PDF comics sent in for review never being published and people losing money I can only review printed books in future" became "I DEMAND YOU SEND ME COMICS!!!"
Rather than concentrate on what his blog was about -supposedly comics- his whole blog seemed to be there to attack me personally and criticise CBO. I corrected him once in his comments section about why I could only review printed comics which he declared was me attacking him personally and that was it. He tried stoking things up but, do you know what? His blog vanished within a couple months.
I explain this as someone was saying that people might not comment on CBO out of fear of being the subject on online abuse. No. All comments are moderated and since this version of CBO was set up in 2011 no abusive comments.
Comics and discussion of comics should be fun.
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Cinebook: Emilie's Inheritance vol.5 - The Arcana
Author: Florence Magnin
Age: 12 years and up
Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm
Number of pages: 64 colour pages
£11.99 incl VAT
ISBN: 9781800441811
https://www.cinebook.co.uk/emilies-inheritance-vol5-arcana-p-4595.html
The Hatcliff Estate is dying, but its inhabitants have one last chance to escape the accelerated march of time: Emilie believes she has found the entrance to the Labyrinth, a passage to other worlds – a whole galaxy, waiting. Meanwhile, Hatcliff goes to plead with the Arcana, the mysterious entity rumoured to reign over the interstellar gates. He wants to put his mistakes right and saves his old friends in the estate. Can he really trust the Arcana, though …?
The one thing I can say about this series is that Magnin has written a series that you will need to read through more than once. Not just that but she has drawn and coloured every single page to perfection for the story; I get somewhat jaded at times and after almost four decades of reviewing that should not come as a surprise to anyone.
The characters are drawn beautifully but then the scenes are just so well drawn that they often had me stopping for a minute or so just to take them all in. From spooky magical forest, to some incredibly drawn architecture and all coloured in ways to add even more atmosphere to the scene/story.
Sitting back and thinking about it I believe that this is one of the best and freshest series Cinebook has published in the last couple of years. I hope we see more from Florence Magnin in the future.
Do I recommend the series? YES. It's only 5 volumes and you can buy from Cinebook direct. This afternoon I may well sit back and start from volume 1 again.
Cinebook Newsletter 220 - April 2026
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Tuesday, 28 April 2026
The Skeleton Crew, or, Wildfire Ned
Author(s) remained anonymous as content could be violent, sexual or otherwise publicly offensive! And on occasions several people wrote these chapters. A gentleman would never want his name associated with such material (that earned him money). As for the engraver-artists..many are simply anonymous and were happy for paying work! Wildfire Ned and The Shadow of Death are not the same character
This is one heck of a thick book and, again, you need to be able to read in the style of the time which can be very wordy to modern readers. Of course, when I turned the character into one suitable for comics (The Master Plan of Lord Sebastian Perish in Adventure 53 on) it was far more readable! There are incidentally over 550 pages so it's kinda epic!
This synopsis from Google books sums it all up:
"Venture into the shadowy world of Victorian London with "The Skeleton Crew, or, Wildfire Ned," a classic penny dreadful ripped from the pages of history. This gripping tale, steeped in gothic horror and laced with mystery, exemplifies the thrilling and sensational storytelling that captivated readers of the era. Originally published anonymously, this rediscovered gem of historical fiction plunges into the darkest corners of society, offering a glimpse into a world of intrigue and suspense.
"The Skeleton Crew" embodies the spirit of the penny dreadful, a genre renowned for its suspenseful plots, eerie atmosphere, and unforgettable characters. Carefully prepared for print republication, this edition allows you to experience the raw, unfiltered excitement that defined Victorian popular literature. Perfect for fans of gothic horror, historical mysteries, and anyone seeking a thrilling escape into the past. Discover the enduring appeal of this historical artifact, a chilling testament to the power of suspenseful storytelling.
"This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it."
If you have a love of comics, graphic novels or horror in general you really have to learn more about The Monk, Melmosth the Wanderer and The Skeleton Horseman/Skeleton Crew. It is part of what we would call pop culture history.
The Monk:A Romance -Readers were shocked by its sexually explicit content
The Monk: A Romance is a Gothic novel by Matthew Lewis. It was over 10 years ago that I read it for the second time (I really like to punish myself!) and I started to write a synopsis of the story and realised I was missing gaps all the time.
And then...Wikipedia. Someone -and full credit goes to him/her- did an excellent synopsis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monk and so I present what can be considered one of the influences on later story paper and comic set (strips) influencers.
The Monk: A Romance is a Gothic novel by Matthew Gregory Lewis, published in 1796 across three volumes. Written early in Lewis's career, it was published anonymously when he was 20. It tells the story of a virtuous Catholic monk who gives in to his violent and lustful urges, setting off a chain of events that leave him damned. It is a prime example of the type of Gothic that specializes in horror.
Upon publication, the novel proved scandalous. Readers were shocked by its sexually explicit content, and themes of rape and incest, leading it to become arguably the most controversial Gothic novel of the 18th century. Amidst a public outcry, the novel became hugely popular. Over time, Lewis came to feel that its writing had been in poor taste. Later editions were heavily censored by the author himself.
The Monk is considered part of the gothic literary canon, a forerunner to the popular Gothic novels of the 19th century, and an influence on the modern horror genre. It has been adapted or significantly inspired a number of plays, films, and writings.
Ambrosio was left at an abbey in Madrid as an infant and is now a famously celebrated monk. A beautiful and virtuous young woman, Antonia, goes to hear one of his sermons, and meets Lorenzo, who falls in love with her.
Ambrosio's closest friend among the monks, Rosario, reveals that he is a woman named Matilda, who disguised herself to be near Ambrosio. While picking a rose for her, Ambrosio is bitten by a serpent and falls deathly ill. Matilda nurses him. When he recovers, Matilda reveals that she sucked the poison from Ambrosio's wound and is now dying herself. At the point of her death, Matilda begs him to make love to her, and he agrees reluctantly. After having sex with Ambrosio, Matilda performs a ritual in the cemetery which cures her of the poison. She and Ambrosio continue to be secret lovers, but Ambrosio grows tired of her.
Ambrosio meets Antonia and is immediately attracted to her. He begins visiting Antonia's mother regularly, hoping to seduce Antonia. In the meantime, Lorenzo has secured his family's blessing for his marriage with Antonia. Matilda tells Ambrosio she can help him gain Antonia's charms, the same way she was healed of the poison: witchcraft. Ambrosio is initially horrified, but agrees. Matilda and Ambrosio return to the cemetery, where Matilda calls upon Lucifer, who appears young and handsome. He gives Matilda a magic myrtle bough, which will allow Ambrosio to open any door, as well as rape Antonia without her knowing. Ambrosio uses the magic bough to enter Antonia's bedroom. He is on the point of raping her when Antonia's mother arrives and confronts him. In panic, Ambrosio murders her and returns to the abbey, unsatisfied in his lust and horrified that he has now become a murderer.
Antonia, grief-stricken, sees her mother's ghost. She faints and Ambrosio is called to help. Matilda helps Ambrosio acquire a concoction that will put Antonia in a deathlike coma. While attending to Antonia, Ambrosio administers the poison, and Antonia appears to die. He takes Antonia to the crypt beneath the convent, where she awakens from her drugged sleep and Ambrosio rapes her. Afterward, he is as disgusted with Antonia as he was with Matilda, who arrives to warn him that the convent is burning down due to a riot (caused by the events of Raymond and Agnes's story). Antonia attempts to escape, and Ambrosio kills her.
Ambrosio and Matilda are brought before the Inquisition. Matilda confesses her guilt and is sentenced to death. Before she is executed, she sells her soul to the devil in exchange for her freedom and her life. Ambrosio insists upon his innocence and is tortured. He is visited by Matilda, who tells him to yield his soul to Satan. Ambrosio again proclaims his innocence, but when faced with torture, he admits to his sins of rape, murder, and sorcery and is condemned to burn. In despair, Ambrosio asks Lucifer to save his life, who tells him it will be at the cost of his soul. Ambrosio is reluctant to give up the hope of God's forgiveness, but Lucifer tells him that there is none. After much resistance, Ambrosio signs the contract. Lucifer transports him from his cell to the wilderness. Lucifer informs him that Antonia's mother, whom he murdered, was also his mother, making Antonia his sister, adding to his crimes the sin of incest. Ambrosio then learns that he accepted Lucifer's deal only moments before he was to be pardoned. Lucifer reveals that it has long been his plan to gain Ambrosio's soul, as he could see that Ambrosio was "virtuous from vanity, not principle." He also reveals that Matilda was a demon helping him. Finally, Lucifer points out the loophole in their deal: Ambrosio only asked to get out of his cell, and Lucifer did not agree not to harm him afterwards. Lucifer carries him into the sky and drops Ambrosio to his death, triumphant that Ambrosio's soul will now be damned for eternity.
Lorenzo's sister, Agnes, is a nun at the nearby abbey who is romantically involved with Raymond, son of a Marquis. Ambrosio hears the confession of the nuns at Agnes's convent. When Agnes confesses that she is pregnant with Raymond's child, Ambrosio turns her over to the Prioress of her abbey for punishment.
Lorenzo confronts Raymond about his relationship with his sister Agnes. Raymond tells their long history. Raymond was travelling in Germany when he was nearly killed by bandits. He avoided being killed, and rescued a Baroness who was also travelling. Visiting the Baroness afterward, Raymond fell in love with her niece Agnes. However, the Baroness was in love with Raymond; when he refused her advances, she made arrangements to send Agnes to a convent. Raymond and Agnes made plans to elope before Agnes left her aunt's castle for the convent. Agnes planned to dress as the Bleeding Nun, a ghost who haunted the castle and exited its gates at midnight. Raymond accidentally eloped with the real ghost of the real Bleeding Nun. Exorcising the ghost of the Bleeding Nun required assistance from the Wandering Jew. When Raymond was free, he found Agnes in the convent. There he seduced Agnes. When she discovered that she was pregnant, she begged him to help her escape.
When Raymond finishes his story, Lorenzo agrees to help him elope with Agnes. He acquires a papal bull releasing Agnes from her vows as a nun so that she may marry Raymond. However, when he shows it to the Prioress, she tells Lorenzo that Agnes died several days before. Lorenzo does not believe it, but after two months, there is no other word concerning Agnes. Eventually, to try to find Agnes, Raymond's servant disguises himself as a beggar and goes to the convent, where Mother St. Ursula sneaks him a note that tells Raymond to have the cardinal arrest the Prioress for Agnes's murder.
During a procession honouring Saint Clare, the Prioress is arrested. Mother St. Ursula publicly describes Agnes's death at the hand of the sisters. When the procession crowd hears that the Prioress is a murderer, they turn into a rioting mob. They kill the Prioress, attack other nuns, and set the convent on fire. In the confusion, Lorenzo finds a group of nuns and a young woman named Virginia hiding in the crypt. Lorenzo discovers a passage leading down into a dungeon, where he finds Agnes, alive and holding the dead body of the baby she had given birth to while abandoned in the dungeon. With Virginia's help, Lorenzo rescues Agnes and the other nuns from the crypt.
Virginia visits Lorenzo as he is recovering from his grief and the two become closer. Agnes tells the story of her miserable experience in the dungeon. Agnes and Raymond are married, and the couple leaves Madrid for Raymond's castle, accompanied by Lorenzo and Virginia, who are also eventually married.
----fin---
Reading the book itself in the 21st century it all seems rather tame and I am surprised no film studio or TV network has grabbed the work to "spice it up" to, as they keep saying, "make it understandable to a modern audience" (ie: sex scenes and lots of obscene language).
I really wish I knew what I did with the first 20-30 pages of a graphic novel script I did in...1998.
Steve The Horse Comic Strip,DVD and Mystery Statuette
There is,for some of us,a fascination for early British comics and the characters/creators. Ally Sloper and Steve The Horse I have tried to deal with on my Yahoo British Comic Books Archives group.
And,about five years ago I used pages of art sent to me by the late comic historian Denis Gifford to produce an A5 tribute publication to Roland Davies creation,Steve The Horse –“Come On Steve”.
above:Roland Davies Studio. Davies is in the cardigan and Steve statue to right
I knew Davies had been involved in animation and had produced features. However,I guessed that I’d never see these as buying 9.5mm 1930s film seemed like a fantasy.
Until,quite by accident,I was looking for more Davies info when I came across a site run by Grahame L. Newnham and well worth checking out if you have an interest in Pathe or other old films:
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I was an advertisement of Newnham’s for “Come On Steve!”—a complete collection of the character’s animated features on a DVD. And the price was perfect!
Sadly,ill health put all idea of buying a DVD out of my mind. However,when I recovered and realised that I hadn’t ordered it -I did!
The disc includes:
Steve’s Treasure Hunt [1936]
Steve Steps Out [1936]
Steve Of The River [1937]
Cinderella Steve [1937]
Steve In
Bohemia [1937]
Steve’s Cannon Crackers [1937]
Bal Costume [French Silent version] 1937.
With a wonderfully vintage sound track it might be that some would find, in these somewhat ridiculously over the top politically correct times,Steve Of The River a little “racist” in its depiction of African natives. But I am totally opposed to retro censorship of historical images [such as using computers to remove the cigar from the mouth of engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel!]. This was the 1930s and the truth is that not everyone was racist! This was the easiest way for a cartoonist to depict natives in a comical film.
So be warned!
The quality for 70+ year old films is great. I loved some of the wacky scenes featuring things such as a police gyrocopter!
If you don’t like black and white animation then it’s not for you. But if you have any interesting the history of British comics,the creators and animation you’ll LOVE this! And Grahame included some nice info fact sheets with background and all for £9.95 + 75p p&p!
Check out the website and contact Grahame for current price in case it’s altered. You won’t be sorry in adding this to your DVD animation collection!
But there is an up-date to this. After reading the above article,Patti Brown contacted me to see whether I could help her identify a Steve The Horse statuette? I thought that it must be the studio piece [see photo above].
That idea was quickly shot down. This was much smaller -you can see it below next to a 50 pence piece. There is no makers stamp or any other information. Only one thing is certain,though,the quality and glaze means it was a professional piece rather than a one-off a fan made. And,there is absolutely no doubt that this is Steve The Horse!
I have tried every toy or comic merchandise auction house/collector I can -nothing. I even tried BBC TVs Antiques Roadshow -nothing.Anyone out there have any ideas -I’d like to know details. Grahame Newnham would like to know details -Patti would definitely like to know more!
There,thrown open for you comickers.
above:Roland Davies a few months before his death.Denis Gifford wrote a wonderful obituary for Davieswhich I include below for those interested in the greats of the British Golden Age of comics:
DENIS GIFFORD
The Independent,Thursday, 16 December 1993
Roland Oxford Davies, cartoonist and animator: born Stourport, Worcestershire 23 July 1904; died 10 December 1993.
ROLAND DAVIES was the epitome of the commercial artist, never happy unless he was drawing or painting. His long career covered sports cartoons, topical cartoons, strip cartoons, animated cartoons, children’s books and boys’ weeklies, and towards the end superb paintings which were sold in art galleries to collectors who never knew of his once famous comic horse, ‘Steve’.
Davies was born at Stourport, Worcestershire, in 1904. His father, a Welsh musician, was a conductor of theatre orchestras with an eye for art. ‘He always encouraged me as a boy,’ recalled Roland, ‘by ruling in the horizon line, which taught me perspective.’ Settling in Ipswich, the boy studied at the Art School there during the evenings, then at 16 spent two years as a full-time student before becoming apprenticed to a lithographer. Here he designed cinema posters and one for the Metropolitan Railway of which he was particularly proud. His obsession with speed, whether by aeroplane, train, racing car or motor-cycle, led him to freelance cartoons to Autocar and Motor Cycle magazines, and when a new weekly, Modern Boy, was launched in 1928 he found a regular home illustrating action stories and supplying wonderful two- colour covers depicting roaring motors and zooming planes.
Curiously, his greatest success came with the very antithesis of all this speed: a lumbering, genial old cart-horse in a weekly strip cartoon called ‘Come On, Steve]’ – the inspired title was the cry that sprang from a thousand racegoers’ throats as the jockey Steve Donoghue galloped to yet another win. Davies took his sample strips – devised over a weekend – down Fleet Street, trying first the Evening News, then the Evening Standard, then the Daily Express. Arthur Christiansen, showing the editorial acumen for which he became famous, took the strip to his editor on the Sunday Express, and the following week, on 6 March 1932, Steve made his top-of-the-page debut. Davies was pounds 4 a week richer, a fee that was shortly doubled.
‘Come On, Steve’ was soon so popular that Davies conceived the idea of animating the old carthorse. Buying a stop-frame cine camera for 18 shillings, he set up a studio in his kitchen and spent seven months making a short animated cartoon. Although full of faults, the film when projected gave him the thrill of his lifetime. ‘The biggest thrill in the world was to see my drawings move, even if I had got the speed all wrong, and Steve looked as though he was floating,’ Davies remembered. In his ignorance he had placed his cel-pegs at the top of his camera rostrum instead of the bottom, causing all kinds of odd distortions. ‘Well, I learnt animation from a three-page chapter in an old book,’ he said.
However, he had the nerve to show his film to John Woolf of General Film Distributors. Woolf would not give a decision until a soundtrack was added. Davies hired a studio, improvised a track – and was turned down yet again. He lowered his sights and showed his film to Butcher’s, a minor distributor of B-pictures. They promptly gave him a contract for six eight-minute cartoons at pounds 800 each. With finance from his father-in-law, Davies set up an animation studio in Ipswich, staffed by students from the Art School and headed by one professional animator, the young Carl Giles. One by one the six cartoons were made, this time complete with a signature tune composed by John Reynders, whose orchestra supplied the music track and sound effects. Steve Steps Out was the first, released in December 1936, and a children’s book-of-the-film was published by Collins. Best was Steve of The River (1937), a burlesque of Edgar Wallace’s recent film, Sanders of the River.
When the Sunday Express dropped Steve in 1939 Davies, who had wisely retained the copyright, took the strip over to the Sunday Dispatch. They snapped up Steve with glee, and soon gave Davies the added post of cartoonist. He supplied topical comment in a large weekly drawing, using the pen-name of ‘Rod’. After 10 years in the Dispatch, Steve moved into children’s books, and Davies wrote and drew a full-colour series for Perry’s Colourprints, plus a run of the Come On Steve Annual.
Davies’s work for children’s comics began in 1933 when he drew the cover for the Daily Express Children’s Own, a Saturday supplement starring ‘Larry Leopard’. When DC Thomson’s new comic Beano began in July 1938, Davies drew a tough-guy sheriff, ‘Whoopee Hank’, and ‘Contrary Mary the Moke’, a long-eared donkey who was clearly a close relation to Steve. But his mainline comic work started in 1949 with the weekly serial of ‘Sexton Blake’, the famous boys’ paper detective, in Knockout. For TV Comic he depicted the children’s hour detectives ‘Norman and Henry Bones’, and created the sci-fi superhero ‘Red Ray the Space Ray-nger’ complete with club and badge.
He drew ‘Dixon of Dock Green’ in Swift, ‘Wyatt Earp’, the western television series, and a string of Walt Disney characters (Jungle Book, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh) in Disneyland. He even drew the adventures of ‘Woppit’, Donald Campbell’s mascot, in Robin. This linked back to his old speed-mania, and he wrote and illustrated several books such as The Daily Mail Speedway Book (1949) and The Ace Book of Speed (1952).
The continuing pressure of strip art finally grew too much for him, and in his seventies Davies turned to painting. Under the guidance of a publisher turned art dealer, Alan Class, he began producing dramatic seascapes and colourful Parisian street scenes, which found their way into several good galleries.
below:Roland Davies painting
A4
B&W
32pp
£6.19
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/classic-fun-comics-1come-on-steve/paperback/product-1gq92mwe.html
Steve The Horse the creation of Roland Davies was a hugely popular newspaper comic stripin the UK and the Steve movies of the 1930s had an international audience.
Learn how Davies got started in animation and comic strips as well as more about his career as a fine artist.
And, of course, see some of the Steve strips reprinted and Ben R. Dilworth's modern take on the innocent character!
Monday, 27 April 2026
Gerry Conway 1952 - 2026
Gerry Conway, a writer for Marvel Comics who created the Punisher, Ms. Marvel and other famous characters, has died, Marvel announced Monday. He was 73.
“Gerry Conway was a gifted writer. He was thoughtful, deeply attuned to the emotional and moral core of storytelling, and a wonderful and articulate advocate for comics and creators. His writing has inspired all of us at Marvel, and will continue to inspire generations of writers, readers and fans to come,” said Dan Buckley, President of Marvel Comics and Franchise, in a statement.
Sunday, 26 April 2026
Black Tower: Dene Vernon -Ghost and Mystery Detective
A4
B&W
24pp
£7.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/dene-vernon-mystery-detective/paperback/product-124edpvm.html
After more than 70 years John McCail's ghost and mystery detective, Dene Vernon is back.
In this Classic Comic Fun reprint four of Vernon's terrifying cases
-The Burning Heart!
-The Terror of Steinlitz Castle!
-The Evil From The East!
and The Silent Pool Mystery.
A must buy according to my contact, The Monk!
Black Tower -The Ultimate British Comics Gold Collection
A4
Paperback
B&W
405 pages
Price: £25.00 (excl. VAT)Prints in 3-5 business days
Combining volumes 1-6 (still available as individual issues but that works out far more expensive) of the BT Golden Age British Comics Collections (minus adverts) this is the ultimate for any Golden Age collector or historian or just plain comic lover.
Features....
Ace Hart
TNT Tom
Electrogirl
Wonderman
The Phantom Raider
Captain Comet
Acro Maid
Phantom Maid
Dene Vernon
The Iron Boy
The Boy Fish
Professor Atom
The Tornado
Powerman
Wonder Boy
Slicksure
Masterman
Dane Jerrus
Alfie
Tiny Tod
Maxwell The Mighty
Back From The Dead
Zeno At The Earth's Core
Colonel Mastiff
Ally Sloper
Super Injun
Super Porker (oo-er, no, Madam, ooh),
Tiger Man
King Of The Clouds
Captain Comet
and MANY others!
Plus text features defining The Ages OF British Comics (Platignum, Gold, Silver), the artist William A. Ward and more.
If you knew nothing about British comics of the Platinum, Golden and Silver Ages then once you buy and read this book you'll be a goddam omic intellectual dinosaur! Yipes!
All in that beautiful Iron Warrior cover exclusively drawn for Black Tower by that meta-gargantuoso talented Ben R. Dilworth!
I sold my family to be able to get this book out! Help me buy them back by purchasing your very own
Melmoth The Wanderer-Often cited Rarely Read!
Melmoth the Wanderer, by Charles Robert Maturin (1770-1824), published in 1820 and considered the last of the classic English gothic romances. Maturin was a Irish playwright, novelist and clergyman born and died in Dublin (then Ireland now Eire) and the book appears to have been, if biographers are correct, written in haste to meet a deadline from a publisher.
The novel offers social commentary on early 19th-century England, which would have raised some eye-brows at the time, It also and denounces Roman Catholicism in favour of the virtues of Protestantism which would be expected at that time thanks to religious intolerance.
The story, a complex weaving of tales-within-tales, is set in the early 19th century, when John Melmoth learns the fate of his ancestor, the title character, by reading a secret document and through his contact with a Spanish sailor.
When this is listed anywhere online it is obvious that the person behind the post has not read the book itself but has "borrowed" the whole thing from someone else who has not read the book.
It chronicles the adventures of a man who sells his soul in exchange for prolonged life. There is an excellent synopsis on Wikipedia:
John Melmoth, a student in Dublin, visits his dying uncle. He finds a portrait of a mysterious ancestor called "Melmoth"; the portrait is dated 1646. At his uncle's funeral, John is told an old family story about a stranger called Stanton, who arrived looking for "Melmoth the Traveller" decades earlier.
A manuscript left by Stanton describes his first finding Melmoth laughing at the sight of two lovers who have been struck by lightning, and hearing of a wedding at which Melmoth was an uninvited guest: the bride died and the bridegroom went mad. Stanton's search for Melmoth is deemed to be madness and he is sent to a madhouse. Melmoth visits him there, and offers to free him, but Stanton refuses and escapes.
Following his uncle's wish, John burns the Melmoth portrait. He is visited by Melmoth in a dream, and later sees Melmoth laughing at a shipwreck. John tries to approach him, but slips and falls into the sea. He is saved from drowning by the sole survivor of the wreck, a Spaniard named Alonzo Monçada.
Alonzo Monçada tells his story (The Tale of the Spaniard), in which his family confines him to a monastery. He is mistreated by the monks, and his brother Juan arranges for him to escape with the help of a fellow monk, a parricide *the killing of a parent or close relative -TH). The escape plan is a trap and Juan is killed. Monçada is taken to the prison of the Inquisition. There he is visited in his cell by Melmoth, who says he will help him escape. A fire breaks out, and in the confusion Monçada escapes. He meets a venerable Jewish scholar, Adonijah, who lives in a secret chamber decorated with the skeletons of his own family. In exchange for food and shelter, Adonijah compels Monçada to transcribe a manuscript for him: the Tale of the Indians.
Isidora's father encounters a stranger at an inn who tells him the Tale of Guzman's Family. Guzman is a wealthy Spanish merchant whose sister marries a poor German musician, Walberg. Guzman decides to make Walberg's family his heirs, but his will leaves everything to the church, and the family sinks into poverty; almost insane, Walberg decides to end their poverty by killing them all – but before he does so news arrives that the true will has been found and the family is saved. By this point in the story, Isidora's father has fallen asleep, and wakes to find the stranger at the inn replaced by Melmoth.
Melmoth tells him the Lovers' Tale, about a young woman in Yorkshire named Elinor, who is jilted at the altar and is subsequently tempted by Melmoth, but refuses his help.
The Tale of the Indians resumes: Isidora returns to her family, but she is pregnant with Melmoth's child. She has a presentiment that she will not live, and gets Melmoth to promise that the child will be raised as a Christian. Isidora's father finds a husband for her, but in the middle of the wedding celebrations, Melmoth tries to abduct Isidora. Her brother tries to intervene, and Melmoth kills him. Isidora falls senseless and Melmoth escapes. Isidora reveals that she is already married, to Melmoth. She gives birth, but she and her baby daughter are imprisoned by the Inquisition. The inquisitors threaten to take away the child, but find that it is already dead. Isidora, dying of grief, remembers her island paradise, and asks if "he" will be in the heavenly paradise.
Monçada and John are interrupted by the appearance of Melmoth himself. He confesses to them his purpose on Earth, that his extended life is almost over, and that he has never been successful in tempting another into damnation: "I have traversed the world in the search, and no one to gain that world, would lose his own soul!" Melmoth has a dream of his own damnation, and of the salvation of Stanton, Walberg, Elinor, Isidora and Monçada. He asks John and Monçada to leave him alone for his last few hours of mortal existence. They hear terrible sounds from the room, but when they enter, the room is empty. They follow Melmoth's tracks to the top of a cliff, and see his handkerchief on a crag below them. "Exchanging looks of silent and unutterable horror", they return home.
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The story is complex, yes; but it is written in a style that so many people find difficult to read but, if like me, you are an archivist and your other avenues of work include reading works from pre 20th century sources...you'll do fine!. When I finished reading the book it left me thinking that this was an "open ending" -the reader had to decide whether Melmoth was dead or..... but that might just be me (it usually is).
I once tried to synopsize the story and it is very difficult but it would make a great graphic novel!
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