comic bits online

Core File Started -Finishing all the other pages next!

2026-04-18T15:16:00.000-07:00

All of the 24pp lettered pages for Special Globe Guard 1 have now been cleaned, resized and are in a core file waiting for me to finish the rest of the pages.

I now have a portable A3 scanner which takes up no space but should allow me to go back to A3 original pages. I will let you know if the scanner is any good.

11.00 hrs UK Time -update

2026-04-18T02:56:00.000-07:00

And views stand at...

24,150

If 1% of those viewers want to buy some comics my online store link is on the right!

Update

1500hrsUK total views 36,778

So I hope that answers questions once and for all 😁

Brazil

5.09k

United States

3.86k

Germany

1.63k

India

1.39k

Argentina

1.13k

Iraq

1.08k

Bangladesh

1.06k

Canada

1.05k

Chile

1.02k

Spain

996

France

932

Mexico

846

United Kingdom

828

Colombia

814

Pakistan

803

Italy

779

Russia

777

Ecuador

671

Türkiye

655

Other

13.1k

Schwarze Laterne Schwarzwald Schwarzer Tod

2026-04-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

"What are your average daily views?"

2026-04-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely positive I covered this already but...

"What are your average daily views?" The following obviously excludes China which rarely gets a look in when it coms to Blogger stats:

Today15, 239

Yesterday14, 692

24 pages lettered...who says I deserve a salary?

2026-04-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

I started at 12 noon and it is 2130 hrs and I have just finished lettering 24pp of the Special Globe Guard 1. Tomorrow I will tidy up the pages and resize and put into a core file. Then I need to complete the art for the rest of the book.

Then, when finished, I can start on Black Tower Super Heroes 3: Chronal War

The "Hooper Defenestration Incident"

2026-04-17T04:15:00.000-07:00

Oh come on!

After yesterday's post two former editors ("I don't read CBO!") have claimed that they were the editors "held out a window" by me.

Which would make a total of five former UK comic people who have claimed that it was them!!!

I am sat here laughing because I KNOW the truth.

Thank you to those individuals who made me snort coffee through my nose in laughter.

Absolute Scarecrow Will Give You Nightmares | Absolute Batman

2026-04-16T15:23:17.892-07:00

Maybe I Did. Maybe I didn't. But I Probably Did

2026-04-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

For the last 30 years there has been a rumour, then a statement from someone who walked into the office that I held a certain editor at Marvel UK out of a window.

So let me tell you now, as a statement of fact: yes I did. The person who walked into the room took one look and left. I had travelled 200 miles to get to Marvel UK offices to find that the editor in question had decided to waste my time. Not phone me to save me the expense of the trip and to not waste my time.

Still, I decided to be diplomatic as the man showed that he was not fit to clean outa toilet bowl. Minute after minute dragged on as he proved himself an incompetent ass and he even tried to impress me by telling me all of the titles he had edited...but had not lasted very long. He criticised everyone from "hack" Leonardo da Vimci and what a crap artist he was to showing me drawers of samples sent to him that were incredible but he had rejected every one of the artists because "They aren't getting past me" -yeah I spaced out at that point.

I know it was a hot day so the windows were open and after 25 minutes I suggested he "take in some fresh air" and explained to him why he was not fit to run anything and that he needed to start respecting creators not deliberately block them from getting work -which he told me he was doing.

I was a "tad" angry. There was a heavy fire door that was stuck for some reason and I... well, I pulled it off its hinges and gave it to a staffer.

The fella vanished from comics, no surprise, and he even told someone the story about "the mad bearded bastard" who hung him out a window.

Now, regarding the real pain in the ass small press publisher who annoyed everyone: I did NOT throw him in the River Thames 0that started out as a joke in Zine Zone which people took to be a factual account.

In every story there are two sides but you know you are right when certain people only give the negative side of things and point the finger at you!

It was 1997..or 1998...uh, maybe 1999

2026-04-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

No names because...well, because.

I was asked today what exactly happened in 1998 (it was 1997, 1998 or 1999!) when a certain Marvel Comics executive was visiting the UK and very unexpectedly met him ay a mutual acquaintances in London. Well, I had been to Marvel UK and Egmont and the acquaintance introduced me to the Marvel person.

We were talking and I mentioned the fact that Marvel titles (I was buying 97% of them at the time) had nose dived in quality after Jim Shooter left (I mention this as people have said that it was Jim I met; it was not) and the exec started quoting dropping sales figures like a human calculator; what sales were during Shooter's time and what they were now. So I asked the simple question as a Marvel fan: why not bring back Shooter? It was a rather uncomfortable question apparently. I was told that, honestly, people working for Marvel and who did not actually like a person doing their job to get comics out on time and maintain continuity had conspired to get rid of him. "It was week management. They let work for hire people pressure them and when they folded they realised it was a bad decision. It went from great selling titles to crap. The way Shooter was treated was disgusting but it was too late. The rats who went after Shooter also jumped ship."

Sadly, the demise of comics in the US as well as the UK can be seen from the point where fan boys started getting jobs in comics and those who knew their work and had helped sell comics for decades were pushed aside. If you know your comics history you know the people and despite producing some great comics they should never have become the people who were put in charge.

I think the Marvel man demonstrated how things went quite well. He raised his hand and moved it in a straight line "This is under Shooter" he said. He then suddenly dropped his hand. "That was the week after Shooter left!"

Small Press Day 2026

2026-04-16T06:40:00.000-07:00

Join us on Saturday 25th July for Small Press Day 2026; a hybrid SPD with events in-store and online – championing self-publishing, DIY culture, and grassroots comics across the U.K and Ireland and the internet.

HOW TO TAKE PART IN-PERSON

Want to host an event in a shop or venue? All the details of how to here

Have your Small Press Day event all figured out? Use our submissions form here!

HOW TO TAKE PART ONLINE

Join us on Bluesky with #SmallPressDay

Calling all artists, writers, and shops – showcase your small press publications! Continuing a tradition that started in 2020, our all-day social media SPD celebration is back on Bluesky.

Join us posting throughout the day and share your creations, recommendations, and small press stock with photos, videos, and all-important webstores and purchase links. We’ll be using the hashtag #SmallPressDay to connect, platform, and amplify all your small press amazingness. *

Join us to take part, to champion small press, and to reach a wider audience – and lets spread SPD love across the world wide web.

* We reserve the right not to promote content/publications that may be considered inappropriate or harmful to our community. More info here.

The "Combined Universe" Approach

2026-04-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

There is a way that I can get through a lot of long term projects that I am obviously never going to complete in full length as I intended.

The Combined Universe. Yes, everything published by Black Tower IS in the same "comic universe" and in the past D-Gruppe has visited UK heroes for a barbeque (The Trial) and heroes have popped up in stories featuring Western heroes.

Basically, in future books will feature long term failed projects stories such as the "lost in space" D-Gruppe members returning to Earth just as The Prof or Xendragon face the latest supernatural threat or the Avenger faces a new problem. It's "pick n mix"!

It also means I should keep future books to Comic Album format and concentrate on those rather than do a Prof book or a separate D-Gruppe book.

The planned Special Globe Guard albums are all scanned and just need lettering for 3 out of the four and art finished up for issue 1.

Time For A Rest?

2026-04-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

One more graphic novel out of the way and time for as rest....

Until tomorrow when I need to finish up some art and that will form the next book but not a graphic novel more comic album.

For those still confused Comic Album is a European term but should be well enough known by now. It is usually a book of 48-90 pages. Think Cinebook titles. A graphic novel is a book of over 100 pages and should not be confused with trade paperbacks which collect together comic series issues.

Having written "not a graphic novel" I have said that before but if you don't use a script a story can take off...fast!

Can You Name Them?

2026-04-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

Fast Forward! Marvel Legends Fanstream APRIL 2026 X-Men Spider-Man Rivals Alpha Flight More!

2026-04-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

Government Calls For Enquiry: CBO Not In The Top 10

2026-04-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

I've just been messaging with Dean who is doing a thesis on comics. He told me that the first comic blog he visits every day is CBO. Well, all the important people do.

Anyway, he checked "Top UK based comic blogs" and told me that CBO did not appear on any list. Well, hooperart.com is what CBO is also known as as is British Golden Age Heroes, UK Golden Age Heroes, Alan Class blog, Comic Bits 2, Comics Good Read, Zine Zone etc etc etc. He asked if I did not find that upsetting? My response was "Why?"

It is 1800 hrs in the UK so just under half day here and there are hundreds of views on the other blogs and over 6000 on CBO By the time I stop working on CBO, about 2200hrs the views can be between 12-20k. Views for last month (excluding China which Google does not include) 333,037 and it is 75, 625 so far this month (only the 15th). That is also a truly world wide audience and the UK plays little part in things. That is the decision of those in UK comics and the moral corruption within what was an industry is why I stepped back.

Check those top blogs and you will see everyone is a friend and who compiles these lists -one day of CBO views can cover total views for three of the named blogs. "Ranking" is a silly ego thing. I don't care. I don't care because of those view figures from people around the world who just want to read about comics and other fun stuff.

If you go search hooperart.com online you get this:

hoopercomicart.blogspot.com (often referred to as Comic Bits Online) is a blog run by Terry Hooper-Scharf that provides news, reviews, and insights into the world of comics, frequently covering UK comics, Black Tower Comics, and European titles (such as Cinebook and Hexagon releases).

Key details regarding the site include:

Content: The blog features regular updates, including "Comic Bits" posts, reviews of graphic novels (e.g., Asterios the Minotaur, Authorised Happiness), and discussions on comic history and printing quality.
Focus: It heavily highlights independent and European comics, specifically those from Hexagon Comics and Black Tower.
Author: Terry Hooper-Scharf is a commentator and author within the comic industry.
Recent Activity: As of April 2026, the blog is still active, publishing regular "Comic Bits" segments and reviews.

The site also links to purchasing options for titles, such as through Lulu.com.

I started CBO in 1997/1998 and have stood by the principles of making the blog a safe place, non political (with the odd joke) and fun. Rather like the old Comic Bits magazine started in the early 1990s. "It heavily highlights independent and European comics" is something I started doing in the mid 1980s with Zine Zone and....I just love comics.

CBO is more a UK based international comic and pop culture site than a British comic site -Zine Zone and the Golden ages sites cover Platinum, Gold, Silver and Modern ages as well as the small press (ZZ).

I could be ranked number 1 and make no difference. Comics and the subjects CBO covers is the important thing (hey, I get no money or sponsorship!). FUN is what is important.

Enjoy comics.

Enjoy CBO!

😁

Proof Copy Now Ordered

2026-04-15T08:47:00.423-07:00

The file for BTSH The Ultimate Game has now been uploaded so once I have a proof copy to check I will post up all the details.

The Ultimate game Cover Done

2026-04-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

I started this at 1100hrs this morning and had various cover designs worked out but one thing after another led to them being thrown away.

Here are the three cover designs I went with..

This one (above) I did not like "The Ultimate Game" font. Really not happy with it.

The above has a bold and brassy font BUT it just did not seem right -I tried 40 different fonts with cover 1 and this one. Almost gave up.

The cover below will be the final one. Not what I wanted but "The Ultimate Game" font seems to work. I am NOT a cover artist but with a small company now having everything done by one man (me) it simply has to do.

The storyline:

The mystical traveller of the realms, The Thinker, meets a stranger while

travelling along the Path of Counter Actuality. But this stranger is a different type of traveller: he is Illuyanka and he has been charged with on sworn duty –to destroy specific Earths in the multiverse.

Finding that Illuyanka is partial to gambling the Thinker risks all by challenging him to a cosmic game pitting heroes against various challenges: they lose then their Earth dies.

The Thinker has no doubt that with all of his knowledge he can win.

But Illuyanka is not what he seems.

Bits and Pieces (and The Dave Clark 5 were not involved Google that one!)

2026-04-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

No Reason

2026-04-14T14:30:00.000-07:00

The Prof. He died at the end of The Green Skies. He's in two minds about it ...

The Leopard boy

2026-04-14T12:10:00.000-07:00

The Pied Piper

2026-04-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

D-Gruppe and The Ultimate Game (2012)

2026-04-14T10:02:00.000-07:00

Ben Dilworth was the original inker on The Ultimate Game back in the 1980s when it was submitted to Fleetway. Roll around to 2012 and he decided to retry the idea but include D-Gruppe.

I've added the original pages plus some of the 2012 pages as back-up content in The Ultimate Game -this is the 2012 rough pages.

Above: Prentiss aka The Mummy

Hexagon Comics STRANGERS #14: WORLDS WITHOUT END.

2026-04-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

STRANGERS #14: WORLDS WITHOUT END.

stories by Jean-Marc Lofficier; art & cover by Roberto Castro.

7x10 squarebound.

96 pages b&w.

$14.95

https://www.hexagoncomics.com/

HOMICRON, a NASA scientist whose body is possessed by a mysterious alien from planet Alpha. STARLOCK, a servant of the Towers, supremely powerful cosmic entities. GOLDEN BOY, champion of Urth, “brother” of Futura, empowered by the Great Mind... ARIANROD, a princess from the ancient Fomore race, who is also the Mistress of the Sword of Fire and Ice...

These characters, all “strangers” to Earth, are brought together by TANKA, a former jungle lord who has been recruited by entities from our planet’s farthest future to be their agent and is now empowered to protect our world from extra-terrestrial menaces.

This fourteenth volume of Strangers opens our fifth “season”, in which our heroes face a terrifying new menace, one that threatens many parallel Earths: the mysterious Pentacle. This issue introduces a new superhero group: The Lightning Lords.

This parallel Earths thing is really catching on, isn't it? Castro gets to handle a full book of art here -in four different stories. The stories work well and it is interesting to see Tanka again and not running about the jungle. It can be quite difficult to find new stories that are original for a jungle lord so him being used by a "higher power" here is interesting.

Lightning Lords was interesting and Londinium as the centre of resistance was an interesting touch (presumably a far better governmental n body than we've had in the last 30 years in the UK -oooh. Bit of politics there!).

Throughout there are some very nice panels and with Strangers you never know what you are going to get from volume to volume. My guess is that if you have one person plotting, scripting then it makes it easier to draw in so many diverse characters and create a cohesive universe to mix with. With characters stretching back over 50 years there is a good enough history to build on -it is making it all seem seamlessly "one" where you might trip over but Lofficier knows his stuff!

There is far more to Strangers than that Image Comics series from...a long time ago now. There are 14 volumes now and I would always say, if unsure, go buy the first two volumes and see if you like what you see because you would then know the next 12 volumes should be fun!

Now...my PC is making noises so off to set up the new one!

The Return of the Gods and Green Skies Invasion Earth Series

2026-04-13T14:33:00.000-07:00

"I read the original quote from that German blogger and thought it was a lot of hot air. When Return of the Gods: Twilight of the Super Heroes arrived I thought "thick book" and knew you'd taken it from 96 pages to 360+...it looked impressive. I read through it in two days and -robots, aliens, "gods", super heroes, sorcerers, alien invasions and more and world-wide. And you tell me this was done without a script?! It's the only one I can think of so, yeah, the greatest British super hero graphic novel fits as a description." Pete Clark

"You say this is your final big story? The Green Skies was fantastic and everything laid out into chapters was a great touch!"

David Stephens, Comic Reviews

" 'Holy ******* ****!' was all I could say. I even tried counting the number of characters and how the **** you produced all of this without a script beats me. Return of the Gods: Twilight of the Super Heroes and The Green Skies could only have been better if George Perez had drawn it!"

Dan's Comics

"I have no idea why you are not pushing this even harder. The books Return of the Gods: Twilight of the Super Heroes and The Green Skies I would love to see in German or at least get German fans to read since it has a good number of German heroes in it. Next big comic event over here send me copies and I'll sell them on my table!"

Gerd Hammer, German comics historian and trader

Selected comic readers were also chosen to review copies and, obviously, two of these were people from Hong Kong who I corresponded with on Manhua over the years.

"I just wish someone like Tong Li would publish this in Chinese -I mean there are Chinese heroes in this so why not?"

Wang Xiuying

"There HAS to have been a script and more than one person working on this! Brilliant!"

Mike Wayne, Australian comic dealer

Generally, these comments were all similar and I only quote these as any more would be very egotistical. The books should speak for themselves.

Paperback

Black & White

331 Pages

Price: Reduced to £21.89

Prints in 3-5 business days

http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/the-return-of-the-godstwilight-of-the-super-heroes/paperback/product-22076337.html

It begins slowly. It always does. It's a deception that everything in the world is as it should be and that never changes.

Earth’s heroes and crime-fighters are going about their daily tasks –fighting a giant robot controlled by a mad scientist’s brain, attackers both human and mystical -even alien high priests of some mysterious cult and their zombie followers and, of course, a ghost and a young genius lost in time.

Pretty mundane.

But psychics around the world have been sensing something. A "something" that sends feelings of sheer terror through their psyches.

There is a huge alien Mother-ship near the Moon. Undetected by deep-space radar and other instruments, only a few on Earth have sensed it and they cannot penetrate the hull but only feel psychic screams and....worse.

And then it begins: strange orange spheres isolate and chase some of Earth’s heroes who then vanish into thin air –are they dead? An attack by an old foe or foes -?

Black, impenetrable domes cover cities world-wide.

Then it becomes clear to those within the domes what is going on: Alien invasion of Earth!

A war between the Dark Old Gods and the pantheons that followed!

Warriors from Earth’s past having to battle each day and whether they die or not they are back the next day!

No one suspects the driving force behind the events. One single evil guiding events. Events that could cause destruction and chaos throughout the multiverse.

Assaulted on all fronts can Earth’s defenders succeed or will they fail...is this truly the end?

The Cross-Earths Caper: Part II of the Invasion Earth Trilogy

Paperback,

Black & White

107 Pages

Price: £12.00

Prints in 3-5 business days

http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/the-cross-earths-caper/paperback/product-22076318.html

Following the events on Neo Olympus and the Boarman invasion of Earth, many heroes and crime-fighters have withdrawn from activity. Some are trying to recover from injuries while others are fighting the mental scars left by the events.

But things have to go on. As heroes from other parallels who helped during the recent events return home, members of the Special Globe Guard are shocked at the sudden appearance of Zom of the Zodiac. Never a sign of good things a-coming!

Very soon, a group of heroes mount a rescue mission and find that a quick rescue mission can turn sour equally quickly. As they overcome one challenge the the heroes become lost between parallel Earths and face new threats.

Sometimes one Earth just is not enough. The complete story published in issues 7-10 of Black Tower Adventure now in...one handy dandy book!

B&W

124pp

£15.00

https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/the-green-skies-vol-3-part-1/paperback/product-5j4y7e.html?page=1&pageSize=4

It all began in 1987 and the Black Tower Universe has seen alien attacks, heroes kidnapped to be put into the middle of a war of the gods.

Despite the deaths and losses the heroes -crime fighters, super powered and members of the magical union have come back but now unaware that alien races are escaping through the Sol system and that a mysterious space fleet is heading towards the inner planets, they find themselves trapped or distracted.

The Many Eyed One is finally coming.

The Multiversal Council has quarantined Earth and forbidden any to help.

The evil has spread and there is treachery striking at the very core of Earth's defenders

B&W

126pp

£15.00

https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/the-green-skies-vol-3-part-ii/paperback/product-nj7wqr.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Following on from events in Green Skies V. 3 Part I the Clone Zone Boyz are increasing in number while those who created them, the Vampirons, continue to plot and await the arrival of their 'God' -The Many Eyed One.

The Druid finds that his physical and mental state are deteriorating and even the Rev. Merriwether cannot help him.

Shockingly, the Clone Zone Boyz claims someone close to Merriwether and this leads him to team up with two 'unsavoury' characters.

In space Krii and Tyn hrrn face a seemingly unstoppable enemy.

On The Moon the Selenites and representatives of other worlds meet and decide that Johnny Apollo, the Z-Man, is the only one who can lead the counter invasion fleet.

With the enemy striking Mars and then the Moon things look grim

B&W

208pp

£16.00

https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/the-green-skies-vol-3-part-iii/paperback/product-kj6r7r.html?page=1&pageSize=4

The gathered Sol Defence fleet is prepared to make its final stand led by Johnny Apollo the Z Man. If it fails to halt the invaders then the doomsday weapon will be detonated and destroy the entire Sol System.

Meanwhile, unaware of the threat in space, Jack Flash, the Avenger and others prepare for a final show down with the Many Eyed One; a final confrontation they know they do not have the power to win.

Is this Humanity...the Earths...final day?

woven into The Green Skies is the story of the harbinger of destruction: the story of Varik Dann -The Man Who Walked Through a Door and Into Another World

Varik Dann is but one character as we follow the attempts of heroes and adventurers as well as the military as they try to confront the Clone Zone Boys with no idea of who or what is behind them. And in space the very existence of not just the Earth but the solar system rests on efforts to stop an alien invasion fleet and if it cannot be stopped them there will be no conquest: the entire solar system will be destroyed by a doomsday device.

Comic Bits 3 -A Treasure Trove of Lost, Found and Forgotten!

2026-04-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

Colour/BW

80pp

£10.00 UK

https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/comic-bits-no-3-2026/paperback/product-q6wqden.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Comic Bits is the only journal dealing with the Platinum, Golden, Dark and Silver Ages of British comics and the creators involved.

This edition looks at the number of British "Bat men" -characters lost to time. The Bat by William McCail stars in his only ever appearance

We take a look at Tom Browne and Oliver Veal recognised as creators of what became the "British style" for over 100 years.

Prolific creator Terry Bave and his wife Sheila give us a glimpse of working in Silver age weekly comics.

Then there three rarities: the first is the origin of T.N.T. Tom a true star of Swan comics. Secondly we have the other star of Swan in Dene Vernon -Ghost Investigator. His very first pouting from 1940.

Third...well, a massive shock was the discovery of a super heroine not mentioned in any sources and this one off appearance drawn by E. H. Banger (we look at his career in this issue as well) -after 60 years Wanda the Wonder Girl is revealed!

Comic strips from some of the greats of British comics add extra zing to this issue.

Why miss out!