X-Men - 1950's Super Panavision 70

Black Tower Comics: Tower Tales of Terror Special

 

Pages 80

Perfect Bound

Black & White

Dimensions A4 (8.27 x 11.69 in / 210 x 297 mm)

£8.00

https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/tower-tales-of-terror-special/paperback/product-dyngve9.html?page=1&pageSize=4

From robotic alien invaders dealing with ancient barbarians (or barbarians dealing with them),

Dene Vernon Ghost Investigator,

The Iron Boy (seriously),

Cast Iron Chris,

Ingy Roob,

Bring 'em Back Hank,

Devil Fish Treasure,

The Iron Warrior and much more. It's special -there you go!

Cover by Richard Anthony Pester

Cinebook Ltds: GOMER GOOF 11 - GOOF-OFF AT GOMER CORRAL

 

Authors: Franquin
Age: 8 years and up
Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm
Number of pages: 48 colour pages
Publication: March 2024

ISBN: 9781800441286

£8.99 incl VAT

https://www.cinebook.co.uk/gomer-goof-goof-gomer-corral-p-4544.html

When Gomer isn’t unwittingly sabotaging all work at Spirou Magazine, he naps at his desk and dreams of being a handsome, fearless action hero for Miss Jeanne – not realising that this is already how she sees him! But outside the office, out in the city streets, well, that’s Officer Longsnoot’s territory, and between him and gomer – and most importantly Gomer’s often apocalyptically tweaked car – a merciless war of nerves is waged every day! 

First thing -I am not going back to find all of the links! There's a search box in the upper left and just type in "Gomer Goof" and you'll find what you need.

Which leads me to the same problem as with Marsupilami and that is what can I say about Gomer Goof?  Firstly, this is Franquin's work so you can compare how the style of Batem matches his. In fact, looking at the two side-by-side I think Franquin squeezes in just about as much detail as he can where necessary.  I found it funny when big mouths at comic events used to say this was a simplistic cartoony style and no work really went into it. Yeah, you'll find those types everywhere. Can they produce work of a similar style and quality? Only one ever did and he then vanished from comics.   As for the failures (if they even tried) there were all sorts of excuses including "It's a European style of course a British artist cannot copy it!" (yeah of course not).

So the art might look simple but it is actually quite detailed and a style that carries through on the visual gags -the library shown in a panel on p. 23 is a fine example.  As is the cop and taxi sequence on p. 38. It's all rather lovingly drawn and I can only imagine that Franquin must have enjoyed drawing all of this "clutter"!

Although colourful the colours are rather subdued rather than eye-popping bright and that helps.  So art and colour are okay -this is the best reprint I have seen of this volume but that is probably down to digital work and modern printing.  The humour and gags...do they work? D'uh! Of course they do and it's nice to see comic albums that adults and children can read and get giggles out of. 

Imagine kids getting a birthday or Christmas package of Gomer Goof Albums....or Marsupilami albums! In fact there is so much from Cinebook that covers the ages from kids to adults that you are spoilt for choice and after all of these years looking at Cinebook and what they have produced it's nice to think of the idiots who said and wrote "It's all European stuff. No one is going to bother buying this" 😂😂😂

Gomer Goof recommended.

Cinebook Ltd: MARSUPILAMI 9 - THE BUTTERFLY AND THE TREETOP SQUID

 

Author: Franquin, Yann & Batem
Age: 8 years and up
Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm
Number of pages: 48 colour pages
Publication: February 2024

ISBN: 9781800441262

£8.99 incl VAT

https://www.cinebook.co.uk/marsupilami-butterfly-treetop-squid-p-4540.html?osCsid=v86lfll6h8eijve3hnjubj57r4

The Palombian jungle is a cornucopia of strange and mysterious animal and vegetal species. Among those, a butterfly whose female has never been captured is the object of the ambitions of many scientists – and competition causes conflicts. A situation that the Marsupilami, who hates having his nap interrupted, finds positively unacceptable … although the opportunities to play with this new treetop research lab that’s suddenly appeared might make up for the inconvenience! 

For those not familiar with the character; it's Marsupilami. There.

You'll find reviews for 1-8 and these have come out quite regularly since 2017:

vol. 1

https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-marsupilami-1-marsupilamis-tail.html

volume 2 I never go so vol. 3

https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2018/12/cinebook-9th-art-marsupilami-3-black.html

vol. 4

https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2019/10/cinebook-9th-art-marsupilami-4-pollen.html

vol. 5

https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2021/01/cinebook-9th-art-marsupilami-5-baby.html

vol. 6

https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2022/02/cinebook-ltd-marsupilami-6-fordlandia.html

vol. 7

https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2023/01/cinebook-9th-art-marsupilami-7-gold-of.html

vol. 8

https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2023/09/cinebook-ltd-marsupilami-8-temple-of.html

What can I write about this book that I have not already written? Not a lot really. 

It's often slap-stick fun along with visual gags and the artwork is just plain lovely and Batem is a worthy successor to Franquin. Topping it all off is the nice colouring by Cerise which makes this the perfect team and a book that any child will enjoy...or adult with a sense for humour and slap-stick.  

With nothing similar coming from what is left of UK "comic" publishing these European albums show why Cinebook is the leader in the UK market.

Psst! People Are Talking About Me!

 

Interesting. I posted that last item and 30 minutes later I get an email from an Indie comic publisher in the United States and 45 minutes after from someone in comics from Europe (let's be vague).  

The American fella asked whether I was joking about not making money with CBO because "You got a world wide audience and it don't even get you sales of your own books?"  Yeah, t6hat about sums it up😄  He then added that at a recent con he was talking to others in comics and they were checking CBO  and they all decided that I was joking about making no money. The opinion they shared was that they would all kill to get the audience CBO has. No, don't kill. Peace and love, man. Just work daily for over two decades and you'll get there! 😅 

The fella from Germany (oops! Mystery lost) had the same opinion but told me I was obviously in the wrong country. Yeah, I guessed that years ago. Apparently people talk about CBO and Black Tower Comics (ahem; don't talk -buy!!) and the amount of German comic history I have covered that they did not even know about -including Second World War German comics.  It's what I do.  

Nice to know people are talking about me and CBO and far more positively than in the UK and I would love to attend European comic cons at some point before I croak!

I Make A Few Grand Each Year From CBO...I'm Told

 A few things I want to get off my chest. Ignore me.... you do read these posts, right?   

I have again been told how much money I must be making from CBO. Can someone explain to me HOW I am making money? I started CBO in 1997 and it has moved through various platforms after those were  ended or sold on.  

I heavily promoted the Bristol International Comics Expo each and every year.  The belief that I was being funded to do this is unfounded and looking back at it now I wish I had been paid. As soon as the new organisers took over and destroyed it in the first year I was, I was told, not welcome??  

I also promoted other UK comic events and again never paid to promote but asking to book a table event organiser after event organiser told me "none available" -basically because the UK comic bully boys scared them.  Now, if you do not get reciprocal support from people then you drop them and I made the decision a few years ago that I was no longer promoting UK events. But the long and the  short of it is that no money was made.  

Reviews make me money. How?  I did try for several years to get the companies whose books I was promoting to take out paying ads or even sponsor CBO but they all had excuses. 

If you were around in the early 2000s I was heavily promoting Archie Comics and even went to UK stores to try to get them to stock the titles. Daily news, reviews and promos and they were happy with that. Then, Archie Comics became "cool" and I was dropped like a hot stone. No more review books, no more promo material and the interviews planned to follow up after the first few....silence. That is the sort of "thank you" you get in comics. No money. 

The video reviews I did.... no money.   The Indie music...no money.  

Someone suggested Adsense. No. I did have adsense at one time and made £120.  Then I got a message that one of the ads put up led to a porn site. I checked. It did. About 30 minutes later Adsense sent a message to say my account had been suspended due to "suspicious activity". I asked what suspicious activity and I was told that I had clicked on an ad. I said yes I had and sent them the message I had received about a porn site. I had "admitted" to suspicious activity and the money made so far was withdrawn. At the same time two other bloggers had exactly the same thing happen. Suspicious?

You might think that having gone over 10 million views and with 2-3k views from around the world that someone might want to take advantage of that -paying ads, promos or whatever. No.  

The thing is that people refuse to accept in their little minds that I am not paid for all the time and effort put into CBO.  "Hey, my company is producing a new series of titles and we'd like to take advantage of all your audience" does not even happen. It's almost a joke. 

So if you see on any UK comic forum the claim that I say I make no money but I make a few grand each year ask for the proof. Seriously, if I am making a couple or a few grand each year I want to know where it is!

Savage Crucible Wave 1 Lemurian Savage | Unboxing and Review

Cinebook Ltd Newsletter 196 - April 2024

 

Dear Reader, How would you like to go back in time? Follow in H.G. Wells’s footsteps and visit earlier eras and famous historical periods? Well, you’re in luck! First, let us take you back to the Old West to pay our old friend Lucky Luke a visit. Except this time, Luke’s outing is written and drawn by a legend of French comics, holder of many prestigious awards including the Angoulême Festival Grand Prix: Blutch! Get ready for a crazy adventure in the man’s inimitable style, yet still very much starring the same cowboy we know and love, in this new volume of the homage series Lucky Luke by … Side note: do you know how Christian Hinker came to choose his pen name? Because he looks a lot like one Corporal Blutch from The Bluecoats! Next, we go back to immediately after the second World War to meet with an old friend: Kathy Austin, MI6 agent, reluctant specialist in unexplained phenomena and alien footholds, and heroine of two previous series, Kenya and Namibia. This time, the mystery crops up in South America, so let’s follow her to Amazonia! Finally, Yoko Tsuno returns, and in her case, time travel is extremely literal! A four-hundred-year-old painting featuring our electronics engineer sends her on the trail of a mysterious astrologist, a pact with the Devil and the spectre of the Black Death … in 16th century Bruges! April with Cinebook : a blast from the past ! Amazonia 1 Bertrand Marchal, Leo & Rodolphe Episode 1 Brazil, 1949. A photographer crawls into a mission deep in the Amazonian rainforest and dies. On one of his films is an extraordinary shot: a man with skin white as snow and an elongated cranium. Deformed human … or extra-terrestrial being? … Read more Lucky Luke by … Blutch Blutch Untamed Lucky Luke enters a small town to drop off at the sheriff’s office a young man who tried to steal Jolly Jumper. A few miles down the road, in the middle of nowhere, he suddenly finds himself threatened … by a little girl! … Read more Yoko Tsuno 19 Roger Leloup The Astrologist of Bruges Yoko goes to Bruges, Belgium. She’s been invited there by a local artist, Van Laet, who wants to show her portrait of her he supposedly painted. Taking in the sights before their appointment, the young woman learns that the man has an unpleasant reputation … Read more Emilie’s Inheritance 1 The Hatcliff Estate XIII Mystery 3 Little Jones XIII Mystery 4 Colonel Amos North-American readers, to locate a comic book shop near you that stocks or can order these titles and many more, use this handy Read more   Or, if you're a retailer yourself, please go to: Read more Amazonia 1 Episode 1 Rin Tin Can 2 The Godfather

Review! Haslab Galactus Marvel Legends Mega Hog with Unboxing

An evening with “Moebius” A CTN exclusive special event (2010)

New Toys and a Clearance Score | Walmart and Target Toy Hunt

Cinebook Ltd: BILLY & BUDDY 9 - SYMPHONY IN BUDDY MAJOR

 

Authors: By Christophe Cazenove, illustrated by Jean Bastide
Age: 8 years and up
Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm
Number of pages: 48 colour pages
Publication: March 2024

ISBN: 9781800441293

£8.99 incl VAT

https://www.cinebook.co.uk/billy-buddy-9-symphony-in-buddy-major-p-4543.html?osCsid=mqqggmbjluu30v75ijoa493j56

Music soothes the wild beast – it’s a well-known fact. Though you have to admit it very much depends on the music. Dad’s bagpipes tend to give people murderous ideas, Billy’s flute is torture on all delicate ears … and as for Buddy’s various artistic forays, they generate far more noise than harmony. When all’s said and done, though, there’s nothing like a family jam session to have jolly good fun!

Well, I saw this and thought "Oh...how long ago was the last book out?!" In fact volume 8 was out in 2022. Then I realised that it doesn't matter. Why? In December 2022 I wrote that:

"With a book like this having to wait between volumes is no problem as they are all self contained stories. The style is close enough to Roba that unless you pay VERY close attention you will not notice the difference.

The art is lively and the colour work of Luc Perdriset and Jean Bastide make it even more so. "Maybe I shouldn't have asked Buddy to help me put my toys away?" sums it all up. This is fun and I think we all need a fun read these days in between checking if the UK has another new Prime Minister yet.  Supposedly for youngsters this series is also a treat for adults of an immature mindset!"  

And I stand by that.  The art is lovely and the colour work by Luc Perdriset and Jean Bastide really makes the art stand out even more and that colour work really "makes the eye smile" as someone once wrote (it sounds so dumb it may well have been me).  It just gives you that buzz of innocence from when you were a kid and picked up a comic and it was all new and escapism from the every day greyness of a working class life (ooh, hark at me getting all artsy!).

But for sheer fun and joy and smiles I do recxommend this book...or series!

Hexagon Comics: Guardian of Senegal

 Story: Mouhamadou Moustapha Sy - Art: Narotam

Cover: Narotam

Editor: Jean-Marc Lofficier

7x10 squarebound comic, 

52 pages b&w

ISBN-13: 978-1-64932-269-2. 

$12.95

https://www.hexagoncomics.com/shop-the-guardian-of-senegal.html

Kanta, the Guardian of Senegal, made his first appearance in The Partisans #2, a story that took place in 1942, pitting him against Nazis and emissaries of the evil god Set, and aided by Baroud, the amazon Antales and a young Tanka. However, his origins were not detailed until now.

it took two years to put together the authentic Senegalese writer-artist team who produced this issue. Writer M. M. is the author of Sapiens Vampiris, a novel published in 2021 to critical acclaim. Artist Narotam works as a political cartoonist for the Senegalese newspaper, Le Politicien.

The story spans the period between 1914 and 1938 and features the Senegalese Tirailleurs (“Riflemen”), a corps of infantry created in 1857 who fought courageously during World War I.

The artwork may not be polished Marvel or DC artwork but then even those two companies fail to maintain that standard. This is an art style I have seen before and mainly in Independent comics where creators are given a chance to show off what they can do. As someone who basically draws satirical cartoons for a newspaper Narotam has not done a bad job. The grey tones work and it will be interesting to se how he develops his style.  The story written by Sy works well and it was enjoyable.

To give more background here is the press piece I did back in January:

THE GUARDIAN OF SENEGAL

 

Story: Mouhamadou Moustapha Sy

Art & Cover: Narotam

Adapted into English by Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier

The Guardian of Senegal, made his first appearance in The Partisans #2, a story that took place in 1942. Jean-Marc Lofficier, EIC of Hexagon Comics, had wanted to include an authentic African hero rising from the ashes of the French Western African colonial empire.

However, Lofficier felt that the degree of authenticity that he sought would be better served if a Senegalese artistic team could craft his origins.

“I should state that I do not agree, in principle, with the notion that only writers of a certain ethnicity or origin can or should write characters of that same ethnicity, etc.” said Lofficier. “I think talent, research and an open mind can be adequate substitutes. Nevertheless, I can see the wisdom of entrusting Black American heroes such as Luke Cage or Black Lightning to talented Black-American creators, and the results have certainly more than justified that choice.

“However, I confess that I fail to see how the same applies to Black Panther, a character from a fictional Eastern African country. To me, the versions of that character crafted by Don McGregor, Peter Gillis and Jonathan Maberry are just as noteworthy as those produced by Christopher Priest, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Nnedi Okorafor, but still a product of American culture. In my opinion, it would have been more interesting to see what might have happened if Marvel had looked for creators from Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, or South Africa. It took me two years to put together a Senegalese writer-artist team to produce this issue.”

Writer M M Sy is a young Senegalese engineer who first wrote fanfiction before being published professionally. His first novel, Sapiens Vampiris, was published in France in 2021 to critical acclaim. Artist Narotam works as a cartoonist for a Senegalese newspaper.

The story spans a period ranging from 1914 to 1938 and draws on the history of the Senegalese Riflemen who fought during World War I, 30,000 of whom were killed in battle. The keystone is a tragic friendly fire incident that happened at Chateau-Thierry on June 1st ,1918,” explains Lofficier. “American machine gunners mistakenly fired on what they believed to be a night attack by German troops. Instead, they were soldiers of the French 10th Colonial division from Senegal, who had been trying to get back across the river.”

There, now you know as much as I do but...you need to buy the book to catch up with me. 

Ace Hart and Korgo5 (EP 1948) and Ace Hart (EP 1984)

 Ace Hart of EP (Earth Parallel) 1948 and Korgo 5

Yes, I know my very old camera is crap

Ace Hart EP 1984. This costume is based on the one from Ben Dilworth's Ace Hart The Atomic Man series and I am planning to work on a conversion to make an Ace Hart in original costume.

Cinebook Ltd：熊牙 6 - SILBERVOGEL

 

作者：  Yann 和 Alain Henriet
年龄：  12 岁及以上
尺寸：  21.7 x 28.7 厘米
页数：  64 彩页
出版日期：  2024 年 1 月

ISBN: 9781800440883 有库存 

£11.99 含税增值税

一切都已就位。无线电制导中继器已启动，  Silbervogel洲际轰炸机已投入使用，安娜已准备好将其飞往美国——这是一次自杀式任务。至于维尔纳，他似乎无法完成他的任务并杀死美丽的试飞员，他仍然在她身上看到了他儿时的朋友。苏联军队的到来，加上少数囚犯和游击队员的勇气，将为他们俩提供最后一次做正确事情的机会……他们能抓住这个机会吗？

七年前……这就是从那时开始的。我很难记起第五卷之前发生的事情，所以第一卷？！无论如何，我在 CBO 上进行了深入搜索，花了一段时间，因为这些帖子太靠前了，Blogger 不会在搜索中显示它们，以下是第 1-5 卷的评论：

2018年

第一卷  https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2018/03/cinebook-9th-art-bears-tooth-1-max.html

第2卷  https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2018/10/bears-tooth-2-hanna_32.html

2019年

卷。 3   https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2019/02/cinebook-9th-art-bears-tooth-3-werner.html

2023年

卷。 4   https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2023/09/cinebook-ltd-bears-tooth-4-amerika.html

2024年

卷。 5

https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2024/03/cinebook-ltd-bears-tooth-5-eva.html

我知道你在问什么——“结果如何？”你想要那么大的剧透吗？离开这里！！我想说的关于这本书的所有内容都包含在所有其他评论中。艺术非常精彩，制服、车辆和场景都非常到位，历史也不是虚构的（现在我发现很难区分它们）。艺术品无可挑剔。

故事呢？好吧，正如你所预料的那样，其中有一些情节曲折，一些事情发生在你没有预料到的地方，并且有一些非常好的曲折让你不断猜测。我确实很喜欢一位名叫克拉布的海军潜水员的触摸，如果你想知道为什么这引起了我的注意，那么请查看  莱昂内尔·肯尼思·菲利普·克拉布中尉 的神秘面纱，  OBE，  GM  （1909年1月28日 - 推定死亡 于1956年4月19日），已知饰演 巴斯特·克拉布 (Buster Crabb)，一名 皇家海军蛙人 和潜水员，  1956 年在军情六处执行一艘 停泊在朴茨茅斯造船厂的苏联巡洋舰 周围的侦察 任务  时 失踪 。我的过去在记忆中追上了我。 

你可能会说这个系列的结局“很好”，但很难放弃任何东西，但现在你可以购买已完成的第 1-6 卷，我会推荐它。如果您喜欢战争漫画，特别推荐 - 这里有三重交叉特工 Zigzag 的元素 -爱德华·阿诺德·查普曼 和十字弓行动（乔治·佩帕德在 1965 年拍摄了一部名为《十字弓行动》的电影，克里斯托弗·普卢默在 1966 年的电影中扮演查普曼）三重十字）。

受到推崇的