He Died To Save The Earth

Now I am not sure why but when I found these it had a sticker on the back of page one that read "inks Dilworth".  I am guessing that came off of something else!

You see, these are NOT Ben R. Dilworth inks or lettering.

Let's get into explanations.

You'll note the date on The Avengers monument reveals the date of his death as 1992.  For delays before publication I usually date everything a year ahead.  So, this would have been inked in 1991 at least.  I think I drew the pencils in 1989?

There's a little oike (derived from "bloke" and "idiot") who has been telling people (offline as far as I can tell since he knows if he starts up his little games again he is in BIG trouble) that I am talking crap about when Return of the Gods: Twilight of the Super Heroes/"Invasion 1987" not to mention The Ultimate Game  began/happened/ whatever.  I have no idea what this is even about since my recorded history in comics is searchable online.  Also, I have all the existing artwork, scripts and even the my-company correspondence regarding these projects.

I guess some people just like being made to look arses.

Page 10...I do have page 10 "somewhere" -the original and an A4 copy.  But can I find them?  I will, though.  I just thought that I might treat you to the unedited pages of the aftermath of the Boarman Invasion which was later detailed in Return.  Of course, this never happened in the BT Universe (well, not now!) but it was nice for me to see the old characters.

And who inked it?  A fellow by the name of Dean Willets who, in the 1980s did a great deal of strip work for Martin Lock's Harrier Comics.  Dean also worked on a couple of the pocket-sized fantasy books from "the Scottish company whose name may not be spoken" and he drew issue 1 of The Survivor that I wrote and would have been linked into the whole Invasion saga.  And, Dean also drew the first issue of The Cosmic Fulcrum which went on to become Return.

Dean's inking style is very recognisable -even over my scrawling pencils!  It is fair to say that he was an artist that really SHOULD have gone on to draw for Marvel or DC and he certainly deserves a better mention in UK comics history.

I did find Dean again on Face Book a few years back but he vanished.  As far as I know he does not draw comics any more and that truly makes me sad.  A great talent.

So, here are the pages: