Firstly, apologies for any slightly "off" scans but I am working with an aging A3 scanner and small press comics that were often not well aligned before stapling.
"The Small Press???" you may ask and I say thee YES!
Just because it is not Marvel or DC Comics does not mean it is of no interest or significance. Someone had an idea and wanted to bring it to life on paper and either drew or wrote or got a friend to draw it and then published it. Maybe in the dozens of copies rather than thousands but they took that step.
As "just a bit of fun" or because they thought that the idea could "go places".
As legitimate as any big company comic.
I have boxes full of Small Press prose, illustrated prose, poetry, or just plain comics from the 1980's on -the rarer 1960's and 1970's ones I keep safe in a folder. But our task (mine actually) is to give a brief look at a few of these and add a few comments.
I would like to do more of these but no funding means they have to be rare posts.
Sugar Glider and Sugar Glider Comics (the latter being an anthology and hidden somewhere in a box)was the brainchild of Gary Bainbridge (artist) and Daniel Clifford (writer) under the Unterwelt and Cottage Industry Comics banner. I believe they were based in the NE (South Shields) and, as is traditional in these small press comics -no address was featured).
It was pretty crude art but never bothered me. I loved the idea of the character and I know I did have Clifford's address as I drew a spur-of-the-moment 3 pager and sent it to him. Never heard back and I think the 3 pages were amongst those I burnt a few weeks back.
The synopsis for the series -it was published in 2011 and I do not recall an issue 2 appearing:
Surrounded by friends and family with it all figured out, Susie Sullivan is desperately unsure of her purpose in life. Casting ordinary pursuits aside, Susie takes to the Newcastle skyline as the crime-fighting…SUGAR GLIDER!
Above Gary Bainbridge art
I am assuming that "Hyper Geek" had not read or seen any small press comics before! Whoever that was wrote:
"Sugar Glider #1 is a fantastic debut issue of a new all-ages superhero/masked avenger series, which is of a high quality rarely seen in small press comics. I would highly recommend picking this comic up" - Hyper Geek
Sugar Glider Comics was the anthology and featured other artists including Martin Newman (art above). I remember thinking this was a good comic and I know I gave a good review on CBO.
Did either comic go beyond issue 1 -if you know let me know.
Windrush was an A4 stitched (yes, stitched) comic with a cover that caught my eye straight away. I think this came out in 2012 -again, no real address or date given in the comic itself. Synopsis: – Helen Mu, aka Windrush, once the greatest protector of the Lambeth borough, has been assassinated. Now Lauren is forced to take up the Windrush mantle to prevent Lambeth and Southwark from going to war.
Created, written and drawn by T’sao Wei with front and back cover art by T’sao Wei and colours by Stuart Atholl Gordon.
Questions like "was there ever a second issue?" go unanswered. But this was a lovely comic and there should have been more!
Nik Morton (?) wrote and drew Vengeance of Vulcan in the A5 (Digest) Vulcan. This is again undated and there is no contact address. If I remember rightly I got this around 1995
but even the back-up strip Witch Finder written by John A. Short and drawn by Gurchain Singh is undated.
The signature is tiny but I am quite sure that it does say Nik Morton. PLEASE if you are an artist you really MUST make it clear you did the work and date it "Morton '95" would at least have given us a clear name and date.
There is another super hero in this comic....but it is a bit confusing. Again, unsigned Shadowfax featuring Kaleidoscope does not tell us much except some super powered goon is after, I assume Kaleidoscope? I write assume as at no point is the female character ever identified but as part 2 is credited as "Choir" I guess Shadowfax is a group and Kaleidoscope and Choir are members?
I have no idea why I keep think John Short had something to do with this strip?
David A. Johnson was the creator of The Blue Saviour as well as Madam Mystery, Enigma and others. A4 comic and text zines that were generally on sale at the Bath Comic Marts he organised. Dated 1985 and with clear creator credit AND an address. Bliss.
I did hear that David went on to work at BBC local radio -but that is not confirmed. I did draw an Enigma and Blue Saviour comic for David and I think (thank goodness) I have one of the very few copies remaining!
Lee Davis produced Mondo to no particular schedule as I remember and despite having an address for North London Comics nothing is dated here and...even the comic has no number on it! But we find inside part 3 of Lord Thunder -created by Lee Davis and Glyn Davies and written by Lee and drawn by John Woolley.
This particular issue also featured another female heropine -Vixen. One day I am going to have to dig this lot out and read through them again!
This "Fall" 2000 issue of Mondo had a very praising ad for Black Tower comics. Good taste. Anyway, the hero featured in this issue was Darkness -written by Tim James and drawn by Dek Baker and is a rather dark story
Lee appeared to be having great fun with producing Mondo and when I later tried to find out what happened to him I was told that "the word" (unfounded rumour) was that he had put this all together while at school.
Lee...if you, or anyone knowing Lee, can fill me in (oo-er) please get in touch.
Once more -I sent in some Darkness art pages but heard nothing back. Oh my genius will be recognised one day!
Willyprods/Small Time Ink really out to give you a clue that there was something gay about this comic. Matt Black, Charcoal was first published in 1986 and this issue, #4, was published in February, 1987. Created and written by Lionel Gracey-Whitman and drawn by Don Melia the duo also produced (?) Splashdown and planned Justice Force Europe. Sadly, Melia died in 1992 so how much was published I have no idea and most people remember BLAAM!, and anti homophobic comic.
The story intro reads:
"Born white to black parents, Matt Black's ability to control carbonized matter led to his becoming Britain's leading graphic artist. But the brutal murder of his loiver made him turn his powers to fighting crime. Matt Black is Charcoal."
So there you have it. This has taken me far too long to write and I need to get back to other things. There are many, many more British costumed/non-costumed heroes in comics and the Small Press and maybe one day I'll put them all into a book that no one will buy!
If any of the creators mentioned here read this please get in touch.
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Enjoy
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