Saturday, 21 February 2026
Friday, 20 February 2026
WHO is publishing British Super Hero Comics (NOT Marvel reprints)?
I had to correct someone. Black Tower Comics and books does NOT just publish super hero genre. We do supernatural, sci fi, slice of life and much much more.
We also publish non comic books -on wildlife, mysteries, etc. If you check Black Tower Comic Shop News you'll find that out (link in the blog roll).
The other question was who else in the UK is publishing super hero comics if you ignore Panini Marvel reprints? To be honest I have no idea. If you check out the obscure British Super Heroes post you'll see that most have vanished -Lee Mondo, A.O. Potter, Chris Morgan's CM Comics et al have all gone.
I would have loved to see a trade of the old Super Adventure Stories feature Red Dragon or one of the other series that featured in that title. I did offer to publish any collection a few years back but was told there was no interest from the creators which is a pity as a lot of people loved Johnny Kurzman's Red Dragon.
Black Tower started over 40 years ago so has been consistent and is not going anywhere soon. If anyone knows of someone publishing a British super hero strip or comic ask them to get in touch -I do review others work!
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Thursday, 19 February 2026
First 10 Super Heroes in Comic Books -and a few notes from Hooper (because)
I find it all very amusing that so many videos by Americans only include American created characters., I should not be that surprised since most Americans buying comics tend to get shocked when they discover that there are actually non American comics and comic strip characters all over the world. They are fed this ill educated tripe and accept it as fact -if I cared I would argue that Superman was NOT the first American super hero. 30 Minutes research would help you discover that...if you read books or just go to actual serious comic research web sites.
British Penny Bloods of the 19th century featured characters that would be classed as super heroes from The Skeleton Horseman, the Pirate Prince and so on and so forth. We even have the pre Dracula "King of the Vampires" -Varney. German pulps had Captain Mors, Sun-Koh and others.
"Comic books" as such were late comers. British boys adventure papers featured a whole legion of super villains and heroes as detailed over at the British Golden Age Comics and UK Golden Age Heroes and Comics blogs -links on the right.
Remember that Hugo Hercules is widely perceived as the first superman and Doc Savage "Man of Bronze" was a 1930s character who owned a "Fortress of Solitude" long before Superman. There is even the suggestion that Philip Wylie's pulp Gladiator was an inspiration (as he was for Roy Thomas' Iron Munro in the 1980s.
British comics never used the term "super hero" until the 1960s for its characters who were all "masked adventurers" or even costumed crime fighters. Some used gadgets or disguises and even used glider wings -looking exactly like those you can find being used in real life today! Not all of those with "special abilities/powers" wore costumes.
As this is my blog I'd like to promote my Obscure British Super Heroes post
https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-obscure-british-super-heroes-mega.html
You will find other lost or forgotten characters mentioned in Comic Bits -issues 1-3 available and jolly good reads I am told!
Cool French Comics will also give you the history of many French pulp and comic book characters that were around before American comics https://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/
Just never take You Tube as being "gospel" on anything no matter how loud or funny you might find them. Then again -I am an old dinosaur heading for extinction!
Designing The Clock Final Cover
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!)
Tick-Tock It's The Clock!
Ben R. Dilworth
32pp
A4
black and white
£7.22
Feature Comics #21, 1936. the Clock, eventually revealed to be society man and former district attorney Brian O'Brien, wore a three-piece suit, a fedora, and a black full-face mask. The first masked hero of comics dealt with crime using guile and gun and usually left a calling card that bore an image of a clock and the words "The Clock Has Struck." Ben Dilworth steps in to fill in the gaps and what MADE the Clock -plus a revelation: What happened to O'Brien's look-alike and crime busting companion Pug? Prepare for violence, harsh language and to ask the question:can there ever really be justice from the barrel of a gun?
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I Really Should Not Have To Write This Again
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I really should not have to write this again but...
Books ordered from the online store are printed and use the mail system in the region they were ordered in.
You order in France books are printed and posted in France.
You order in the USA then books are printed and posted in the USA.
You order in Australia the books are printed and posted there.
There is no international shipping costs or import tax.
That is why I use an online store -you can see the cost of books in your own currency whether Francs, Yen, Dollars or Euro. No hidden costs.
Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Major Victory
A4
44pp
Black and white
£6.48
He is Britain's latest super hero...or is he?
What part do the gods have to play in the life of Woking's hero?
Why the symbolic "V" and Welsh dragon motif?
Who IS Major Victory and why is the President of the United States visiting Woking and WHO is plotting his assassination?
Is it safe to live in Woking?
Easy solution: buy the book and find out! Big Bad Ben Dilworth is back (admittedly he was only captured by tiny super heroes and whisked away to a mysterious tower in his head but....he's cheap!)Tuesday, 17 February 2026
Saturday, 14 February 2026
Comic Bits 3 -A Treasure Trove of Lost, Found and Forgotten!
A4
Colour/BW
80pp
£10.00 UK
Comic Bits is the only journal dealing with the Platinum, Golden, Dark and Silver Ages of British comics and the creators involved.
This edition looks at the number of British "Bat men" -characters lost to time. The Bat by William McCail stars in his only ever appearance
We take a look at Tom Browne and Oliver Veal recognised as creators of what became the "British style" for over 100 years.
Prolific creator Terry Bave and his wife Sheila give us a glimpse of working in Silver age weekly comics.
Then there three rarities: the first is the origin of T.N.T. Tom a true star of Swan comics. Secondly we have the other star of Swan in Dene Vernon -Ghost Investigator. His very first pouting from 1940.
Third...well, a massive shock was the discovery of a super heroine not mentioned in any sources and this one off appearance drawn by E. H. Banger (we look at his career in this issue as well) -after 60 years Wanda the Wonder Girl is revealed!
Comic strips from some of the greats of British comics add extra zing to this issue.
Why miss out!
Thursday, 12 February 2026
Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Black Tower Super Heroes: Werewolves
86pp
A4
Black and white
£10.00 UK
The Prof, investigator of the paranormal, encounters two werewolves in Castle Park...and Devilina who has a "sort of" message for him. Kotar, Sabuta, Lady Silana, Tarot and others deal with new werewolf activity and Dr Lycaon is granted access to the labs at the HQ of the explorer/adventurer group The Questors. Lycaon believes he is close to a serum that will cure the curse of lycanthropy but someone or something is trying to stop him. Meanwhile in space Freelancer delivers justice to the Central Galactic Council after its betrayal (see The Green Skies) and on Earth the equally treacherous Council of Light meets its fate. Will Lycaon succeed with his cure or does the increased werewolf activity even in the halls of one of the UKs most secret buildings indicate that the cure is too late?
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