Thursday 29 February 2024
A Figure So 'rare' Sellers Have No Idea What It Is
Got this for £6.29 (that's with postage) as seller had no idea what the 12 inch thing was.
What Books Have I Written?
When the Doggerland bridge flooded the British Isles became separated from
Continental Europe and its wildlife developed uniquely. The British Isles, for the purpose of this work includes Ireland, and isolated the wolves on both became what would be island species not affected by the usual island dwarfism. These wolves, after millennia. Became “unwanted” and forests and woodland was burnt down or cut down for the specific purpose of lupicide; the killing of every and any wolf –and there was a bounty for “a job well done”. At the same time there also developed three unique island species of Old fox from the coyote-like Mountain or Greyhound fox, the slightly smaller but robustly built Mastiff or Bulldog fox and the smaller Common or Cur fox –the latter like today’s red foxes had a symbiotic relationship with humans. These canids were mainly ignored until it was decided that they could provide fur and meat and those things earn money. From that point onward, especially after all other game had been killed off, the fox faced what writers over the centuries referred to as vulpicide –extermination through bounties paid, trapping or hunting and despite all the hunters noting that the Old foxes were nearing extinction they continued to hunt until by the late 1880s the Old were gone and replaced by the New –foxes imported by the thousands every year for the ‘sport’ of fox hunting and this importation also led the the UK seeing the appearance of mange (unknown before the importations). The travelling British sportsmen went coyote, wolf and jackal hunting and on returning to England wanted to bring a taste of this to “the good old country”. Wolves, jackals and coyotes were set up in hunting territories from where they could learn the lay of the land and provide good sport later. Some hunts even attempted to cross-breed foxes, jackals and Coyotes. Then there were the legendary –almost mythical– “beasts”; the black beast of Edale, the killer canids of Cavan and the “girt dog” of Ennerdale. In more recent times raccoon dogs and arctic foxes have appeared in the UK; some released for ‘sport’ while others are exotic escapees long since established in the countryside. If you thought you knew what fox hunting was about prepare to be woken up by a sharp slap to the face and the reality that, by admissions of hunts themselves, this was all about fun and sport and nothing to do with “pest control”.
In 1896 Scottish naturalists and zoologists declared that the true Scottish wild cat had become extinct by the 1860s. What we see today is nothing more than a wild tabby cat. In this work the true history and destruction of wild cats from England, Wales (where hybrids clung on into the 1940s) and Scotland is explored and after decades of research the true look of the wild cat is revealed. The "English Tiger" and "Highland Tiger" truly lived up to that name.
Dogma is finally thrown out.
A4 FormatB&WPaperback358 pagesHeavily illustrated£20.00
After more than 40 years as an investigator and more than fifty as a naturalist,the author has opened some of the many files he has accumulated dealing with such things as..
The Terrifying Events At The Lamb Inn, The Ghosts Of All Saints Church, Dead Aquatic Creatures of Canvey Island, captured bigfoot like creatures in India -all exclusively presented for the first time and with new added research previously unseen.
PLUS a vastly expanded section on Spring-heeled Jack! Photographs, maps, line drawings and up-dated to make 358 pages looking at Things truly Strange and Sinister.
Cryptozoologist,Ghost Hunter,Ufologist or Fortean:this book has something for everyone -including the just plain inquisitive!
ContentsForeword by Travis L. Whitehurst
Introduction de occultis non judicat ecclesia
The Bristol Rocking Horse
The Terrifying Events At The Lamb Inn
The Coonian Ghost
The Ghosts Of All Saints Church
His Luminous Chamber
The Late Reverend Dr. Blomberg
And More Ghost Stories
The Thomas B. Cumpston Case
The Chupacabra
The Strange Case Of The Gotherington Gargoyle
What’s Tall,Hairy And Vanishes?
Mystery Beasts Of Ireland
The Creature Of The Dump
The Strange Creature Of Repton Woods
The Bizarre Legends,Crimes And Truth About Spring Heeled Jack
The Black Beast Of Darmstadt
The Nameless Thing Of Berkley Square
The Terrifying Case Of The U.S. Naval Transport
The Case Of The Ghost Lear Jet
Ghost Planes,Crashes And Dead Aquatic Creatures
The Mitchison Loch Ness Monster Video
From The Deep Below To The Air Above –USOs
Aerial Encounters Over Austria
A Crashed UFO In 1790?
Angel Hair
Quimper-Corentin:Where “Thunder Fell”
Strange Aliens From Space
The Llandrillo ‘Saucer’ And Other Crash Retrievals
Transient Lunar Phenomena,Alien Structures And Moon Vegetation
Whiddon Down-Saint-Jean-du-Guard:Impossible Correlations?
The Venezuelan HorrorA Final Word.
A4
322 pages
B&W
Illustrated throughout
Paperback:
£20.00http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/some-more-things-strange-sinister/paperback/product-23770998.html
Follow-up to Some Things Strange & Sinister. For those interested in Ufology, cryptozoology, hominology, unusual natural history, ghosts and mysteries in general.
The secret history of gorillas -before they were officially 'discovered' along with exclusive lost photographs.
Wild men of Europe, the UK and US; from the bizarre to blood chilling. Hominology.
Giant snakes. Amazons. The Giant serpent of Carthage . Girt Dog of Ennerdale. The Beast of Gevaudan. Crocodiles in the UK . Silent City of Alaska .
And much more. Updated with extra pages and photographs.
240 pp
A4
B&W
Profusely Illustrated with photographs and illustrations
£20.00
http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/pursuing-the-strange-weirda-naturalists-viewpoint/paperback/product-23770944.html
UP DATE -From Dead Aquatic (Humanoid) Creatures, the giant squid and yet undiscovered sea creatures; submarine and ships crews encountering true leviathans. This is a fully expanded section which also refers to the so-called ‘Ningen’ sightings and video footage.
Extinct animals at sea that have been re-discovered.
The subject of Sasquatch and other mystery Hominids around the world is dealt with including a look at the “Sasquatch-killer”, Justin Smeja. Dr. Bryan Sykes and his DNA test results for TVs The Bigfoot Files as well as the controversial Erickson Project and Dr. Melba Ketchum’s even more controversial Sasquatch DNA test results.
Also included are two early French UFO entity cases that still baffle.
Ghosts, strange creatures and the Star-Child hoax. All dealt with by the naturalist and pursuer of the strange and weird
A4324ppB&W£20.00http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/mysterious-strange-beasts/paperback/product-23771024.html
Below cover for smaller format version
I was told that it was probably a good idea not to reveal all of the contents of the new book. Fair enough. It is 324 pages with lots of photographs. If you have read one of my previous books then I will point out that this new look at the chupacabra is expanded on. I have managed to draw some conclusions on certain previously unidentified beasts.
I am guessing that the conclusions in the chapter on the Shunka Warak'in and the famous stuffed and mounted specimen are going to really upset some cryptozoologists.
In High Strangeness and UFO Contact? I looked at the faults in Ufology and how the subject needed drastic overhauling and I do the same here regarding mystery animal research which seems to be full of charlatans and liars out to make money rather than look for the truth. I try to give anyone approaching the subject matter some advice and guidelines but 'cryptozoology' and 'cryptozoologist' are two words they ought not to use.
Strange & Mysterious Beasts is the smaller format book while Mysterious & Strange Beasts is the standard larger A4 format.
I need to point out that, much though I really do want to avoid this, US taxes are not leaving me much in the way of profit from sales. I really do not want to increase book prices since I think that at the moment they are fair (considering what a purchaser gets and the amount of my work that gets plagiarized). I am told that it has to be an option, however, I have until 1st February, 2018 to decide.
Anyway, enough publisher waffle, here are some of the contents:Forest of Mouliere Lyonnais Cevennes , Gard and Vivarais West Midlands Kent ! Hull Werewolf Corfu Sea Persian Gulf Bay of Flamanville
The Chupacabra
UFO Contact? Unidentified-Identified and Contact!
530 pagesillustrated with maps, photographs and moreA4 formatB&WPaperback: List Price:£20.00 (excl. VAT) |Prints in 3-5 business days
Since 1947 it has been claimed that UFOs/flying saucers are evidence of aliens visiting the Earth. Since the 1950s claims of encounters with landed craft and alien beings were talked about but not taken seriously.
In the 1960s the subject of UFO abduction was a "slow-burner" until the whole "Grey" abduction phenomenon and claims made by researchers such as Budd Hopkins, Prof. John Mack and Dr David Jacobs and Whitley Streiber.
But is there evidence to back up any of the claims -and what about those encountering Alien Entities but who were not abducted?
Are these people all hoaxers, psychotic or suffering from some other mental illness as some claim?
Are those people who were exposed by Ufologists against their wishes, people who wanted to report what happened and then just get back to their everyday lives -thrust into the media glare against their will?
And if US authorities were so interested that in one case at least they broke into the home of two abductees and this was later proven -why?
Why did a hard core of these people never want publicity or to make money from what happened to them?
Above all, why did a major UFO landing incident take place on a US Inbterstate road in front of a large number of observers (all willing to talk to investigators) never get investigated? If it were not for a radio presenter interviewing and taking notes we would know nothing of the case -it would be labelled "insubstantial".
James and Coral Lorensen -the Scopolamine Kids; using a very notorious "truth drug" on alleged UFO witnesses and selling stories to newspapers. An investigator (a veteran) showing a witness images of "aliens" encountered in other cases before any memories were retrieved. Worst of all, the constant "pissing competition" and breaches of trust between UFO investigators.
2017 is the time to assess the past evidence and look at the faults within Ufology.
Not everyone is going to be happy -debunkers or ufologists. 
Smaller format version:
Pages 530
Binding Perfect Bound
Paperback
Interior Black ink &white
Weight 1.05kgSize 18.9 x24.59cm
£18.00
http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooperscharf/high-strangeness/paperback/product-23822248.html
Terry Hooper-Scharf
220 pages
A4
perfect bound
paperback
Fully illustrated with photographs and illustrations
£20.00 (excl. VAT)Prints in 3-5 business days http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/unidentified-identified/paperback/product-23799953.html
The follow up to the comprehensive book "UFO Contact?" The Author spent 1974 to 2018 specializing in the investigation and research of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (CE3K) and alien entity cases; the former involving an Unidentified Flying Object and the latter, apparently, involving none. Previously unreported cases as well as 'lost' cases are looked at as well as the possibility that some percipients suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome after their encounters
A must read for those with a serious interest in UFOs Some of the contents:
The Nottinghamshire UFO Crash of 1987…or 1988
The Llandrillo ‘Saucer’ and Berwyn Mountains
Strange Pennsylvania
UFO Abductees and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome
The UFO That Landed On A US Highway
My Encounters With The Men In Black
A Previously Un-noted Alien Entity Type
Early 20th Century UK
Close Encounter with a Boggart
Some Odd and Unusual Cases
Rosa Lotti and the Happy Entities
The Strange Case of the Woollaton Gnomes and the Mince-pie Martians
What Happened on the Isle of Wight and at Felixstowe?
The ‘Lost’ Belgian UFO Landing Case
Strange Aliens from Outer Space?
Encounter with Black Aliens and Landed UFO
Preliminary UK
A4
Paperback
370pp
Profusely illustrated with photos and maps
£25.00
https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/encounters-with-extra-terrestrial-entities/paperback/product-qwy7p8.html?page=1&pageSize=4
The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) says that we may have to wait many thousands of years before any signals sent gets a response if they are detected.
The real SETI may already have established the there is alien life –and it has been visiting Earth for at least 70 years.
Once the mass of reports of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and entity encounters are sifted there remains a strong core of cases that defy logical explanation and suggest that these encounters have resulted in physiological effects and post traumatic stress.
Terry Hooper-Scharf of the CE3K/AE Project has led research into these reports for over 40 years and in this work takes a look at rare or obscure reports as well as cataloguing encounters from Germany and Portugal and focuses in on correlations in the reports and how the Dandenong (Kelly Cahill) encounter could be the best case ever reported.
Have the serious investigators and researchers looking into UFOs been unearthing better evidence of extra terrestrial life and contact with humans than established SETI ?
A4
B&W
350 pp
Fully illustrated containing photographs and maps
£20.00
Beyond UFO Contact i the fourth book in the groundbreaking series looking at reports of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Alien-Entity reports from around the world and reassessing these. In addition there is a look at the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligences (SETI) and its relevance to the UFO phenomenon.
contents list:
Introduction: The Path of Counter-Actuality
1. Dionisio Llanca: Truck Driver, UFO Abductee and Human Guinea Pig
2. Aliens -What Can We Expect?
3. The Moreland Incident
4. It Is All Fake: Ufology Needs To Be Reassessed
5. Warminster UFOs and Entity Reports
6. Have Things Changed Since 1977?
7. The Beausoleil Cas -Even Aliens Like Theatre
8. The Pwca
9. Contact...with the Vegetable Alien
10. The Casitas Dam UFO Photograph and Entity
11. The Crystal Lake Encounter
12. The Humanoids at South Riverand the Luczkowich Encounter
13. Harrison Bailey
14. Sonny DesVerger
15. The UFO "Borderline"-The Imjarvi Skiers
16. Some Interesting Reports to Note
17. Dead Aliens in Photographs
18. Ufology, Government Cover Ups and Disclosure
19. The Reports That You Might Not Want To Look Into
20. Conil de la Frontera -a Credible Report?
21. Eighteenth Century Aliens?
22. Clearview Ranch
23. The Pat McGuire Case
24. Piero Fortunato Franzetta
25. The Silbury Hill Encounter
26. The Bridge Abduction
27. The Bagshot Heath UFO Incident
28. Lurkers and Alien Disinterest
29. What If YOU See Aliens Land?
30. So What Would YOU Do If You Encountered A Landed UFO?
From a huge selection of interviews covering the Small Press, Independent and mainstream Comics from the UK , Europe and US. Here are a few of the best interviews from 30 years.
Paperback
Someone referred to it as “Comics 101” –background info on creators, how they got started, what tools and even paper/board they use. Damn near damaged my wrist because it is a BIG book. And Who exactly is interviewed in this book?
Karen Rubins -The Dark, The Witch and other books
Alan Class -the man behind the Class Comics series
Kate Glasheen -the incredibly talented artist on Hybrid Bastards, Bandages and other works
Tom Pinchuck -writer of Hybrid Bastards
Dave Ryan -the artist/writer behind War of The Independents
Jon Haward -UK artist who worked of Tales of the Buddha, Dan Dare and more
Ron Fortier -the man behind Mr Jig-Saw and Airstrip 27 books
Michael Cho -creator of Max Finder Mysteries and some really cool art
Then there are a bunch of interviews related to The Black Coat that was published by Ape Entertainment -Francavilla may be a name familiar to DC and Marvel comic fans these days:
Jeremy Colwell
The comic character Gumby also returned to comics and that created another series of interviews titled: The Gumby Interviews (Gumby, himself, was never interviewed)
Mel Smith
Joe Martino -from Ripperman to Shadow Flame
Yishan Li -Seriously, do I have to explain who Yishan Li is? DCs Blue Beetle, the Buffy comic and much more!
Pekka Manninen -As far as I am concerned, Finland 's top comic creator and I'm not saying that because I am the UKs top Kapteeni Kuolio (Captain Gangrene) fan!
Lauren Watton -Pink Apple Jam and Sweatdrop Studios
Willie Hewes -Amaranth and Itch! Publishing
Emma Vieceli -come on. Star of stage and musicals not to mention one of the UKs top Manga artists -Manga Shakespeare, Dragon Heir and more.
Sonia Leong -another noted UK Manga artist whose credits include Romeo and Juliet for Manga Shakespeare.
Nick Defina -the man behind Septagon Studios and Scorn
Donna Barr -The Desert Peach and so much more that you can check up on at her Midnight Library blog. She's a comic book Goddess.
Roberta Gregory -The other comic book Goddess and pioneering female creator.
Roberta created Bitchy Bitch and many other characters.
Jeff Brooks -the man behind the UK editions of Classics Illustrated
Matt (D'Israeli) Brooker -from zines to "proper comics" including Deadline in the 1980s
Tania Del Rio -Sabrina the teenage Witch and more for Archie Comics
Holly Golightly -Broadsword Comics, Archie, Schoolbites and much more
Vanessa Wells -superb creator of a comic I loved titled Shrouded and much more these days -http://www.vanessa.withbits.com
Marv Wolfman -Yes. The Marv Wolfman.
Morag Lewis -another UK Manga artist who worked with Sweatdrop Studios
The Etherington Brothers -if you've ever been to a good UK event you will have seen the duo behind Malcolm Magic, The 8th Moon Sketchbook, Moon and more.
Nicole Damon -CBOs favourite fantasy art model. Nicole has worked with Ben Uriegas, Loprenzo Sperlonga, Greg Hildebrandt and others.
Olivier Cadic -the man who brought Franco-Belgian comics to the English language readers via Cinebook The 9th Art! Everything you need to know.
Mike Western -"The Guv'nor" of British comics with strips such as The Wild Wonders, The Leopard From Lime Street and so many more to his name they would need a book to list.
John Cooper -Again, a creator who worked on many UK comic strips from Judge Dredd, One-Eyed Jack, Johnny Red and many others.Below original Red Paper (2010)
202 Pages
The Red Paper: Canids Up-dated edition includes section on sarcoptic mange in foxes and treatment plus a list of wildlife sanctuaries and rescue centres in the UK .
By the 1700s the British fox was on the verge of extinction and about to follow the bear and wolf having been hunted for sport for centuries. The answer was to import thousands of foxes per year for sport. But foxes kept dying out so jackals were tried. Some were caught, some escaped. Even wolves and coyote were released for hunting.
The summation of over 30 years research reveals the damnable lie of "pest control" hunting but also reveals the cruelty the animals were subject to and how private menageries as well as travelling shows helped provide the British and Irish countryside with some incredible events.
After more than 40 years as an investigator and more than fifty as a naturalist,the author has opened some of the many files he has accumulated dealing with such things as..
ContentsForeword by Travis L. Whitehurst
Introduction de occultis non judicat ecclesia
The Bristol Rocking Horse
The Terrifying Events At The Lamb Inn
The Coonian Ghost
The Ghosts Of All Saints Church
His Luminous Chamber
The Late Reverend Dr. Blomberg
And More Ghost Stories
The Thomas B. Cumpston Case
The Chupacabra
The Strange Case Of The Gotherington Gargoyle
What’s Tall,Hairy And Vanishes?
Mystery Beasts Of Ireland
The Creature Of The Dump
The Strange Creature Of Repton Woods
The Bizarre Legends,Crimes And Truth About Spring Heeled Jack
The Black Beast Of Darmstadt
The Nameless Thing Of Berkley Square
The Terrifying Case Of The U.S. Naval Transport
The Case Of The Ghost Lear Jet
Ghost Planes,Crashes And Dead Aquatic Creatures
The Mitchison Loch Ness Monster Video
From The Deep Below To The Air Above –USOs
Aerial Encounters Over Austria
A Crashed UFO In 1790?
Angel Hair
Quimper-Corentin:Where “Thunder Fell”
Strange Aliens From Space
The Llandrillo ‘Saucer’ And Other Crash Retrievals
Transient Lunar Phenomena,Alien Structures And Moon Vegetation
Whiddon Down-Saint-Jean-du-Guard:Impossible Correlations?
The Venezuelan Horror
A4
322 pages
B&W
Illustrated throughout
Paperback:
£20.00
240 pp
A4
B&W
Profusely Illustrated with photographs and illustrations
Below cover for smaller format version
530 pages
Since 1947 it has been claimed that UFOs/flying saucers are evidence of aliens visiting the Earth. Since the 1950s claims of encounters with landed craft and alien beings were talked about but not taken seriously.
In the 1960s the subject of UFO abduction was a "slow-burner" until the whole "Grey" abduction phenomenon and claims made by researchers such as Budd Hopkins, Prof. John Mack and Dr David Jacobs and Whitley Streiber.
But is there evidence to back up any of the claims -and what about those encountering Alien Entities but who were not abducted?
Are these people all hoaxers, psychotic or suffering from some other mental illness as some claim?
Are those people who were exposed by Ufologists against their wishes, people who wanted to report what happened and then just get back to their everyday lives -thrust into the media glare against their will?
And if US authorities were so interested that in one case at least they broke into the home of two abductees and this was later proven -why?
Why did a hard core of these people never want publicity or to make money from what happened to them?
Above all, why did a major UFO landing incident take place on a US Inbterstate road in front of a large number of observers (all willing to talk to investigators) never get investigated? If it were not for a radio presenter interviewing and taking notes we would know nothing of the case -it would be labelled "insubstantial".
James and Coral Lorensen -the Scopolamine Kids; using a very notorious "truth drug" on alleged UFO witnesses and selling stories to newspapers. An investigator (a veteran) showing a witness images of "aliens" encountered in other cases before any memories were retrieved. Worst of all, the constant "pissing competition" and breaches of trust between UFO investigators.
2017 is the time to assess the past evidence and look at the faults within Ufology.
Not everyone is going to be happy -debunkers or ufologists.
Smaller format version:
Pages 530
Binding Perfect Bound
Paperback
Interior Black ink &white
Weight 1.05kgSize 18.9 x24.59cm
£18.00
http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooperscharf/high-strangeness/paperback/product-23822248.html
220 pages
A4
perfect bound
paperback
Fully illustrated with photographs and illustrations
£20.00 (excl. VAT)
A must read for those with a serious interest in UFOs Some of the contents:
The Nottinghamshire UFO Crash of 1987…or 1988
The Llandrillo ‘Saucer’ and
Strange
UFO Abductees and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome
The UFO That Landed On
My Encounters With The Men In Black
A Previously Un-noted Alien Entity Type
Early 20th Century
Close Encounter with a Boggart
Some Odd and Unusual Cases
Rosa Lotti and the Happy Entities
The Strange Case of the Woollaton Gnomes and the Mince-pie Martians
What Happened on the
The ‘Lost’ Belgian UFO Landing Case
Strange Aliens from Outer Space?
Encounter with Black Aliens and Landed UFO
Preliminary
Paperback
370pp
Profusely illustrated with photos and maps
£25.00
https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/encounters-with-extra-terrestrial-entities/paperback/product-qwy7p8.html?page=1&pageSize=4
The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) says that we may have to wait many thousands of years before any signals sent gets a response if they are detected.
Once the mass of reports of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and entity encounters are sifted there remains a strong core of cases that defy logical explanation and suggest that these encounters have resulted in physiological effects and post traumatic stress.
Have the serious investigators and researchers looking into UFOs been unearthing better evidence of extra terrestrial life and contact with humans than established SETI ?
A4
B&W
350 pp
Fully illustrated containing photographs and maps
£20.00
Beyond UFO Contact i the fourth book in the groundbreaking series looking at reports of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Alien-Entity reports from around the world and reassessing these. In addition there is a look at the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligences (SETI) and its relevance to the UFO phenomenon.
contents list:
Introduction: The Path of Counter-Actuality
1. Dionisio Llanca: Truck Driver, UFO Abductee and Human Guinea Pig
2. Aliens -What Can We Expect?
3. The Moreland Incident
4. It Is All Fake: Ufology Needs To Be Reassessed
5. Warminster UFOs and Entity Reports
6. Have Things Changed Since 1977?
7. The Beausoleil Cas -Even Aliens Like Theatre
8. The Pwca
9. Contact...with the Vegetable Alien
10. The Casitas Dam UFO Photograph and Entity
11. The Crystal Lake Encounter
12. The Humanoids at South Riverand the Luczkowich Encounter
13. Harrison Bailey
14. Sonny DesVerger
15. The UFO "Borderline"-The Imjarvi Skiers
16. Some Interesting Reports to Note
17. Dead Aliens in Photographs
18. Ufology, Government Cover Ups and Disclosure
19. The Reports That You Might Not Want To Look Into
20. Conil de la Frontera -a Credible Report?
21. Eighteenth Century Aliens?
22. Clearview Ranch
23. The Pat McGuire Case
24. Piero Fortunato Franzetta
25. The Silbury Hill Encounter
26. The Bridge Abduction
27. The Bagshot Heath UFO Incident
28. Lurkers and Alien Disinterest
29. What If YOU See Aliens Land?
30. So What Would YOU Do If You Encountered A Landed UFO?
Below original Red Paper (2010)
Wednesday 28 February 2024
How To Character Assassinate A Comic Creator
A few posts back we had a video on Don Simpson's X-Amount Of Comics
https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-lost-1963-annual-x-amount-of-comics.html
I decided to have another look at it and not sure why I missed it the first time, probably lack of interest, but it reads as a nasty, spiteful dig at Alan Moore over the whole Image Comics 1963 fiasco which, quite clearly was down to Jim Lee and others. I write that as I checked online and anyone discussing the series is pointing at Moore as the problem. Yeah, Jim Lee is pure, sweet and innocent and not in it for the dollar.
I really hate having to do another post on Moore but I think we are seeing the problems surfacing that have become part of modern comics.
DC Comics and Marvel Comics editors having arguments with Rob Liefeld and saying "He will never work for us again!!" then a month or two later all smiles as they welcome "Good ole Rob" back to the DC/Marvel team. The arguments were all staged and fake as hell. Playing the comic readers for all they could and no one questioned all of this?
Fantagraphic Books is the publisher of Simpson's nasty swipe at Moore and we know how Fantagraphic's feels about Moore.
Full disclosure here; I created and wrote two best selling and multiple printings series/comic albums and graphic novels for Fantagraphic's under their Eros Comix banner. They have no respect for a signed contract, will argue, lie and cheat -ie "First printing in English language" rights became multiple reprints without consulting the creators as per contract and even selling foreign rights editions which they had no legal right to do without creators approval. Complain and "Oh, more Hooper hyperbole!" or, once, "F*** off!" And add to that neither I nor the artist of one book or family of the other, has received a cent in royalties from Fantagraphics in over a decade. "People in glass houses" as the expression goes.
The book itself can be seen as a direct attack on Moore -the name "Al" is used as well as images showing who is being slated here. I liked Simpson's artwork but this book the distraction was the nastiness and it ruined what was looking to be a fun read. Not that I think this was intended to be fun unless you like slating Moore. And the suggestion that certain comic creators get a big ego is something that boomerangs back at Simpson in this book. The ego has it.
Over all I was sitting here and stumped as to why I had not noticed this all before? The double helping of Johnny Covid? The tons of books I have to review meaning that books I am not reviewing I was not concentrating on?
There is a saying that "we like to build up our idols then tear them down...the nastier the better" and it seems to apply here. The amount of arse-licking Moore when it came to Marvelman/Miracleman and Watchmen is similar to what music and movie stars get. But, oh, once you are no longer new you have to be torn down, spat and stamped on. I was going to give some examples but if you are on the internet you see it daily or weekly and it is all done so that the target of all of this finds it best to stay silent because even "Hi" will be used against them.
Look at Jim Lees career in comics. Not squeaky clean and every move deliberate to make money or take control for self gratification no matter who gets shafted. Good artist but... and there are numerous others both old editors and new who have their cults re-write their parts in comics so they become the "saviours" of the comic industry. Again, if you know anything about the comics industry you know what I am talking about -UK or USA.
"all comic book creators think they're geniuses...a little fan adulation, and they be3come pretentious, insufferable!"
Well written Simpson. Say, have you looked in a mirror at all?
As for huge amounts of money being paid out; the comics industry has a very long, sad and depressing history of comic creators being cheated, ripped off, paid fuck all while some crooked publisher does his dirty deal. How many well off comic creators are there? Not many. How many super rich comic creators? You count them! Moore from what I can find out was not paid a fortune in the case of 1963 and that's where I'm leaving this.
Comics should be fun but things like this sicken me.