Some Of These Super Heroes May Not Have Lasted Long...But They Had Impact!

Even though many do not have a single visual reference online!

I think many people have this idea that only I have published super hero books in the UK.  Well, yes, I've been doing that over thirty years so I'm the longest lasting!  But there are and were others going back to the early 1980s.

There are those out there, at a ripe old age who are about to see these covers and say one of two things:

"OH MY GOD!!"

or if you are in comics:

"******* Hell!  I forgot about this *****!"

Yes, Dave Hornsby's Apocalypse -it became a four issue (A4) comic after, forgive me if I get this wrong but we are talking 1977, Ad Astra an astronomy/science magazine.  Apocalypse's epic battle with Warlord for the fate of the Earth had a very explosive, and completely unexpected, ending!

I have no idea what Dave is doing these days but if he is out there -PLEASE reprint this as a one off book! I loved this.  I have mentioned I'm a sad old man -?

 

Now, Apocalypse is near mythical. In thirty plus years I have met no one else who admits to having ever read the comic.  I guess I just never met the right people yet!

The other 1970s British legendary comic was, again, A4, had lovely printing and good paper and I still have my A3 D-Riders poster!

Super Adventure Stories appeared in 1978 (issues 1 and 2 had no date but no. 3 is 1978) was from Third Kind Magazines, based in Hertfordshire.

D-Riders. Oh, man, if you loved weird stuff in comics -mystical, cosmic hippy trippy with a rather grubby little panda then D-Riders was for you.  Clive Boyd wrote the script and Michael-Jan Gibas took to the drawing board with this joint creation.  I really do need to get a nice frame for my D-Riders poster!

 These comics obviously had their Marvel/DC influences to a degree but Underground Comix were also, I'm guessing, an influence.  Nudity and very definitely not Comics Code Authority approved language.  I still take these out every-so-often because they are still enjoyable.

The cover above features Sons Of The Phoenix written by Michael-Jan Gibas (publisher of Third Kind Mags) and art by Stephen O'Leary  and there are some good story twists.  These guys were well ahead of Moore, Ellis and Morrison.  And here's a kicker of a next issue tag line: "Some of you...are going to die!"

Omicron was Jason Harris who was out on his motorbike, got involved in a UFO incident, grabbed an alien suit and became...oh.  I've already written it.  Script was by Stephen O'Leary and the art by Andrew Dyrdzinski though the character was created by Dyrdzinski and Gibas.

And, of course, there was the legendary, near mythical Red Dragon -the creation of one Jonathan "Jonny" Kurzman -the original publisher, based in Plymouth at the time.  To my knowledge this was the first British comic character to have the name Red Dragon.  And the story was an epic one.ending in a full issue story in SAS no. 5 (I think).

These creators were true inspirations because they took super heroes and put a British slant on them, made them grittier than any US company did.  I've tried tracking down the various creators in the past but failed -not even any photographs!

If there is one reason I want to maintain an archive and want to see it continue on when I snuff it then it is to make sure people like Dave Hornsby and the SAS crew get their rightful place in British comics history.

Into the 1980s Bath or Bristol Comic marts were not complete unless David A. Johnson had a new Blue Saviour comic out -or Enigma.  Okay, they were not the greatest drawn comics but there is one thing that actually shines through -even more so reading them decades on - FUN.

David obviously had a story to tell and comics inspired him and he had no big ideas of a mega deal with Marvel or DC.  He was having fun and if his readers enjoyed the comics....what could be better?

Even inspired Messrs Brown and Dilworth to draw Blue Saviour in Death Disco!  I still have a copy or two.

And, yes, I got involved in the Blue Saviour and Madame Mystery craze.  How? Well check out the covers and ads below and you ought to see...unless you need very strong glasses!

Spot it?  No??!! oy.


1987 and A. O. Potter's Alpha Omega Collection heroes..  I wrote about Alf back in 2011...

A. O. Potter And Living The Comics Dream!

Comics, as far as I am concerned, is a mixture of the good and the bad. The rough and the smooth.  The- you get the point?

I remember that the best review I think I’ve given was published when I was working (and having to chase after payment) for the UKs Comics World magazine back in the nineties.  Story wasn’t good. Art was lousy. but the actual fun the person had writing and drawing it just seeped off of the page and to the reader.

In 1988, Alpha Omega Potter (seriously, his real name)  was based in a little place called Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands.

In The Alpha Omega Collection editorial (cover date August, 1988), Potter writes:

“I remember the day exactly when I discovered “Superheroes”.  It was the last day of term in my Junior School.  Those children who had a perfect track record for attending school, with few days off, were rewarded with the magnificent sum of 30p (in those days a lot of money, for me anyway).  I walked into a newsagents not knowing exactly what to buy, and there he was.  A big green man, who fascinated me. I picked up the comic and read his name. “The Incredible Hulk.” I was captivated with the monster, and my enthusiasm to learn more of the world of Superheroes grew.  So you can see my childhood favourite was the Hulk.  But, my true ultimate, mega-favourite has always been (ever since I was four years of age) the Dark Knight…Batman.  I’ve had my set backs in building my collection of comics in the early days, especially by my sisters.  They’d burn them out (sic) of revenge for arguements which they had lost.

“Then, in 1977, a friend of mine told me he’d made his own comic book.  I asked to see. He showed me.  It was in the ine of the Beano, with his own characters. So I did the same.  The  thing is though, most of my stories ended with a cliff-hanger. I only did one issue: comedy back then was not my strong point.  In comic book form thatis.  It wasn’t until a year later, 1978, that I started doing proper superhero material.  The story goes, I had…er…borrowed some drawing paper from school and was sitting in my room wondering what to do with it all, then it hit me. Marvel Matchstick Heroes.  Yep.  I started drawing my favourite Marvel Superheroes in my own matchstick form.  They started looking like the conventional form: I did over fifty different stories simply for my own pleasure.  The stories were my own, and I gained one reader, mt former teacher, who found my work very interesting.

“Then one day I picked up my pencil in order to doodle, but what I drew was the front cover of The Ace, who back then was in his own comic magazine.  It was not a matchstick form, but in a professional manner, or so I thought at the time.  The story was crude and saimple, nothing like it is today.  The art work, well the word I used to describe it can’t be printed, so rubbish will have to do.  I’d completed three issues plus one annual.  Many of my main characters were created in the summer of that year, and their stories are still strong in my memory.  It was then I started to dream about running my own comic magazine company.  From this dream grew a determined and firm ambition to make this a reality.

“Over the years since leaving school, I have developed my talent.  Often, I’d create and complete a full length adventure with a new Superhero on the spur of the moment.  I’ve been on various Training Schemes and had spells of unemployment and this has made me more determined to see my dream through to reality.  Even though at times I have met many people who have tried to discourage me from this.

“Over the years I have become my own worst critic: after I had sent one of my creations to 2000 AD’s Editor.  He told me to study the figures more.  Then I looked and saw I needed a lot of improvement.  So off to college I went and studied the human body.  There I started to develope my own style, which I’m still developing.  But this depends on the mood of the character.

“Well the dream has become a reality.  I have faith in the fact that my Superheroes will be to your liking.  The collection will introduce all these Superheroes to you, and you will meet the characters again in future issues.  But, for the time being, I’ll just stick with the four stories I’ve put in this comic.  Now “You” will get to choose who you want to see in a regular series. ”


The introductory Alpha Omega Collection.

When you read that introductory editorial you are reading the story of countless others, not just in the UK, but around the world.  And you are also reading how many of those youngsters set about making their dreams come true (Hey -my literary potential was noted and encouraged by my English teacher at Greenway Boys School).

But did A. O. Potter achieve what he hoped was a style of his own good enough to compete with other comics on retailers shelves?  Judge yourself:

No. But, and it is a major “but”, the one thing Potter achieved was the spread his enthusiasm and fun from the printed page to the reader.  One fan was the now vanished Lee Davies of the Mondo zine.  Another fan was yours truly and via my collection one Benjamin R. Dilworth.

Ben was on one of his visits to Bristol when he pointed at my copy of the Alpha Omega Collection -”Ah-ha! You’ve bought it, too!”  I think we bought copies of all three books and we even individually sent in designs for Potter’s “design a costume for Dragona competition”; not to win the competition but to show that maybe he needed two budding comic hacks to help him draw future issues!

One move after another and I’m sorry to say I no longer have half my Dilworth correspondence and not the Dragona costume design that was quite cool.

But, how exactly did Potter get the money to print a 60 pager in 1988?  I knew how expensive printing was and Ben said “I think he’s got onto some Government scheme?”  As it turned out, like one Paul Ashley Brown, Mr. Potter had gotten onto the Prince’s Trust which, in the 1980s, awarded grants.
A. O. Potter had gotten himself an offset printer.


Yes, decades later I am still pissed I got a copy with a label on the cover!

Crude but fun!

Now, I ordered a copy of issue 2 of the Alpha Omega Collection (below) and before you think I’ve really treated the comic badly -that’s how it arrived.  Same stick label used to address the envelope stuck on the cover and partly torn off.  Oh, and a cigarette burn hole!  I wrote back and got an apology and was told a new copy was on its way.  I never got that copy.


That was it.

It was the last I, Dilworth or anyone else ever heard of Alpha Omega Potter.  He vanished it seems.
Alright, the art was not great but it was fun -as were the stories- and I can only assume the grant ran out.  Today we have print on demand so buying in printing ink, paper and the other printing odds and sods aren’t needed.

What happened to Potter? Has he continued to draw? Did he just decide that it was a pipe-dream and quit?  I hope not.  I’d like to think that somewhere in the West Midlands A. O. Potter is still drawing comic strips and developing his style but it has been over twenty years.

I take each Small Press or Independent comic that comes to me individually. I never say “this isn’t as slick as a Marvel or DC comic.”   I try to look at each book as an individual item created by a writer and artist or writer-artist.  I try to look past flaws, though I do note them and offer any suggestion to help overcome them.

There are many, many A. O. Potters out there all dreaming the dream.  Very few, perhaps, 2% make it into published comics.  Many work in the Small Press for fun. It doesn’t matter if they do not become big comic stars.  What matters is that they enjoy what they are writing and drawing.  If they say “Hey, I’m never gonna work for Marvel or DC but what the hey!” but continue because they love the medium then I say “Go for it, baby!”

Very, very few people in comics get rich -I had my days of no food for five days or just surviving on toast or boiled cabbage (!).  I had my faqir share of “red letter bills” and trotting around to publishers in all sorts of weather.  I’m not the only one.

I like to think that out there, in Cardiff, Newcastle, Birmingham, London, New York, Los Angeles, Topeka, Greenville, Berlin, Bonn, Paris, Brussels -all over the world, there are plenty of A. O. Potters working away and dreaming the dream.

Bless you all and I really hope that, even if you do not become a comic star,, you at least enjoy what you do.

Never lose the dream

Hugs

And Alf was back but publishing is on hiatus as he is busy studying.  A link to his site:
 http://www.alphaomegaeditions.co.uk/

Peter Phillips (I hope I remembered the name (it was a long time ago) did a zine called The Super Heroes. He was 18 years old in 1986, living in Leicester and...unemployed (unusual for the 1980s!).  Aaaand, I just found the books which are A5 and, feck me I got it all right.  I need to get a woman.

The comic featuring The Liberty Rangers, which was written by him and art was by Ian Douglas -who showed some promise!  Only two issues that I know of as my letters never got replies but I hope Peter is still out there somewhere digging super heroes!



1986 was Atomic Comics of Scotland produce an A4 super hero comic -fastened inside a plastic folder (?) for some reason.  This was Captain Scotland!

In fact it was a fantasy gaming special "You Are Captain Scotland!"  The character was created and written by Tony Foster (another name I know!), Michael Duncan, Eggy Harding and Craig Conlan.  Craig Conlan also did the art chores.

That was it.  My question is: where is Captain Scotland when Scotland needs a hero, hmm??

In the mid 1990s -to be exact 1994-1994- there was CM Comics.  The owner of CM Comics was Southampton based Chris Morgan.

There seem to have been a number of titles all in the US comic format with glossy cover and pages.  There was some great art by people such as Russ Leach, who I think is fair to say had a bit of an Erik Larsen style going on. Andrew Radbourne (I am positive I've met him at a Bristol Comic Expo) did some pencil work -inked by Chris Morgan and Kelvin Cox did some layouts for Brit Force.

Not really sure why CM Comics stopped publishing but I do recall about, perhaps five years ago(?), Chris Morgan emailing me and saying CM Comics was returning.

Anyone?

A new century dawns and we have...The O Men!  created by Martin Eden -Doctor O gathers a new superteam to fight his nemesis, Anathema. But can they stop Anathema before she takes her revenge on their friends and family - and finally, on themselves?

Buy the book(s) and find out!

I have the Issue 0 from years ago but nothing else -though I have seen sample pages.  Yes: not in my collection and never ever reviewed a copy.  Someone just fainted at the back of the room again!


There is, of course, the rather fun...Spandex!  And I do mean fun.



 Then there was Sugar Glider appeared a few years ago but I think there were two books before it vanished?  Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Sugar Glider was created by writer Daniel Clifford and artist Gary Bainbridge.

Set in Newcastle upon Tyne, Sugar Glider tells the story of Susie Sullivan - an 18yr old with a habit for giving up on hobbies, jobs and potential careers at a moment’s notice. Having given up on so many ‘dreams’ already in her short life, Susie is poised to drop out of college and give her mother, Brenda, an ulcer.

But Susie has a secret more likely to give Brenda a mischief; she’s gotten hold of a high-tech gliding suit and is quickly becoming attached to it. Susie’s late night crime-fighting adventures are becoming more frequent and more successful. But there’s something else about that suit - it bears a striking resemblance to the ones worn by MI5’s Vigilance super-agents. The same super-agents who are about to be rolled-out all across the UK.

 

Ahh, no, I have a note and image for the final issue -number 3.  Again, never saw a copy. I'm currently trying to sort that out!



As I wrote, there are others who have tried their hands at British super heroes.  These are a few and, as stated at the start of the post, some of the important ones have no presence on the internet!

It's taken me all day of sorting through books, scanning and trying to remember half this stuff.  I hope you think it was worthwhile!

Doing a super hero comic? I'll review it.  Know of obscure ones I've not mentioned? Get in touch.

Everything is now so blurry I am calling myself....

                  BLURRY MAN!