comic bits online

Marvel's Lost Generation - The Origin and History of the First Line

2026-05-30T08:12:41.636-07:00

Weekly Rewind! Ep125: Star Wars Marvel Legends TMNT DC Retro Madman Youngblood Conan More News!

2026-05-30T08:07:01.198-07:00

Kult Creations Shokwave Book 8

2026-05-27T09:49:18.508-07:00

52pp

Colour

US size

£9.00 UK £12.00 Europe

Order link https://shokwavecomic.blogspot.com

All stories by John A. Short so, if you have ever read any of his books or previous issues of Shokwave you know what to expect!

Nosferatu II art by David Hitchcock and I would love to see the original art pages of this -knowing my luck it's all drawn on computer! But each page is just totally insane and busy and that "Final Day" splash page...ooh, the chills! I really am hoping this is going to appear one day as a complete trade but I keep writing that so if it never happens blame me. And that last splash page...uh-oh. Someone is in deep doo-doo! Seriously this is fab!

The Clock Strikes! With art by Adam Jakes is still one I just cannot get into. I write that a day or so after someone told me to "get yer bloody eyes sorted!" which I assume means that person likes this. Fair do's I doubt Jakes would be fond of my artwork😄

Resistors art by Richard Pester actually kicks off this issue but at my age ... hmm. Bit of bondage, a shoot it up (with gunfire nothing drug orientated...you'd think I could write a decent review!). Poor Daisy. No repair job will fix her although having written that I realise I could be made to look stupid in Book 9 (no. John wouldn't do that...would he?!). Lovely colour work.

Anna Key with art by Chris Askham. It's odd that this was the one I was originally not keen on. Age, kids: it's full of rage against anything, more frequent bathroom trips and .... Lost track there. It's delineated nicely and full of colour and humour and guest stars Barry Gibb with his lion's mane of hair....it isn't Barry??? But he has the 1970s Disco white suit!! Whatever, a fun romp and warning about the dangers of universal translation devices.

All-in-all, a good fun read in 48C (I am sat in the greenhouse to prove a point...I can't remember what the point was but that's what happens when you get old kids -you even forget to order Shokwave9 so fight age and prove your youthfulness by ordering a copy today!

I have to get out of this greenhouse.

Tales of Terror 1

2026-05-26T05:49:42.312-07:00

72pp

B&W

Price: £6.15 (excl. VAT)

Prints in 3-5 business days

http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/tower-tales-of-terror/paperback/product-11921861.html

The main feature,"The Curse Of The McQuilligans" by Terry Hooper-Scharf (W) and artist Geoff Harrold starring Xendragon, leads off this collection of horror,ghostly and twist-in-the-tail stories.

The classic Torch Of Vengeance (W THS and art Terry Ford) is a tale of a wife’s rather Gothic vengeance......

..... while Graveyard is a cautionary tale for those curious to look into graves!

The Grave by THS (W/penciller) and Ben R. Dilworth ...never visit THAT grave!
Demons, time travel and much more.

Live on Fip: Jeanne Added "Goodbye"

2026-05-25T11:17:02.222-07:00

Texas or Wessex??

2026-05-25T11:11:39.329-07:00

The Return of the Gods and Green Skies Invasion Earth Series

2026-05-24T09:21:54.106-07:00

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.

D-Gruppe Annual

2026-05-23T14:01:27.827-07:00

A4
56pp
B&W
£6.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/d-gruppe-annual-2012/paperback/product-1pey2pg5.html

For D-Gruppe, Germany's first and only super team, things seem to have gone quiet since the Cross-worlds Zeitgeist event.

However, Tarot, the mystic, detects a great evil below D-Gruppe's very own HQ.

The ultimate evil has returned and this time it isn't just a question of whether D-Gruppe can stop it but how many of them will die trying?

Part 2 of the Zeit Geist saga contained in that volume

Weekly Rewind! Ep124: Marvel Legends DC Helldivers Street Fighter Mega Man Toys R Us More News!

2026-05-23T10:57:39.355-07:00

Wizards? Witches? Krampus?

2026-05-23T08:40:23.657-07:00

Great news if uyou are a gamer -fantasy etc. Dark Alliance has brought us Vampires and Werewolves (along with Kate Beckinsale and Hugh Jackman) that review can be found here:

https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2026/01/dark-alliance-vampires-and-werewolf-set.html

But now two -TWO- sets of Krampus, Witches and Wizards!! What next? (PLEASE say a Frankenstein and aliens sets!!) place my order as soon as they appeared on Hannants web site -in the UK unless you have a model shop nearby -and they are vanishing fast and some to Ebay- I would suggest Hannants as they are fast https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/ALL72068?result-token=NvD73

Plastic but these figures do paint up well -just finishing my large Amazon army, Vampires and Werewolves already done.

Two sets of Krampus... how out there is that?!

Taking some calming tablets now.

Kult Creations Shokwave Book 7

2026-05-23T07:57:59.107-07:00

Addendum: THANKS to John Short for supplying images.

52pp

Colour

US size

£9.00 UK £12.00 Europe

Order link https://shokwavecomic.blogspot.com

This is going to be a tad boring. I currently am awaiting a scanner to be delivered and you might ask why I need to tell you this? Well, looking over Kult Creations Shokwave page as well as the site in general I can find a cover image for issue 7 and that is it. Art styles have not changed and as usual all scripts are by John A. Short.

Nosperatu which is drawn by David Hitchcock just gets better. "Insane", "gory", "sinister" -all cover this one and it is still, in my opinion, a strip that one day needs to be made into a graphic novel. Hitchcock is obviously enjoying what he is drawing and that shows. Old Nosferatu never expected there to be radio in his time? Sadly it all led to Heart FM which is a horror in itself but not as big a horror as Nosferatu! Worth the cover price for just this strip alone.

Richard Pester draws Resistors in his own inimitable style. "Synthigeddon" indeed but some may ask why Mr Wallace is not more concerned about his hair? Fella needs some good hair treatment. The title splash page is really eye-catching and Pester's art seems to have gone up a notch I need to buy a red kimono. "It's plastic. About as sharp as a banana" is not a sentence I was expecting., WHAT is as sharp as a banana? Buy a copy to find out.

The Clock Strikes was okay but Adam Jakes' art style of photo reference is still jarring and I am wondering whether that might be down to lack of real backgrounds, with the exception of the splash page -see below. It's acceptable art but I just cannot get into it and I am still not sure why but at least that means I am looking at it and thinking!

Chris Askham's Anna Key was very enjoyable and his art style is improving and I like the way the borders had colour rather than just a white background. A question: would the sheriff hire someone to work as a janitor without running a security check? Your choice is (A) No. Why bother? or (B) Sorry, a what? I mean the person might have convictions or links to organised crime and.... oops. On an inspection day, too. But armed with a mop things should turn out fine.

D-Gruppe-Germany's First Super Team

2026-05-23T06:18:31.432-07:00

A4
B&W
31pp
£6.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/d-gruppe-vol1/paperback/product-159nejq4.html

Germanys first super team created in the 1970s when there were no German created super heroes.

D-Gruppe first saw print in the 1980s in this story "The Revenge Of The Ice Queen" written and pencilled by Terry Hooper-Scharf and inked/lettered by Ben R. Dilworth. The back-up strip is Deutscher Michael in "Carnival of Death" by John Erasmus.

B&W

22pp

£5.50
https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/d-gruppe-2/paperback/product-1j98pnmm.html

Following the events of issue 1, Kopfmann has strengthened D-Gruppe but when confronted by a series of unusual events and equally unusual abductors, can the team face the threat of the world destroying Zeit Geist?

Part 1 of the Zeit Geist story arc.

note:events in D Gruppe 1-6 take place BEFORE the Return Of The Gods story in BT Adventure.

A4
B&W
24pp
£5.50
https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/terry-hooper/d-gruppe-3/paperback/product-19q4q74d.html

Now gathered at The Place Of The Gods, D-Gruppe meet heroes from other worlds that have been attacked or face attack by the Zeit-Geist.

Sent to seek out the enigmatic being, the group realises that something is wrong -and Zeit-Geist strikes from within!

A4
B&W
34pp
£6.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/d-gruppe-4/paperback/product-15g4ye7v.html

This is it! The final showdown with Zeitgeist -but with heroes already dead can D-Gruppe and the other heroes stop the world destroyer??

Plus -Kopfmann's first appearance before D-Gruppe and the origin of The Mummy -and a new feature The D-Gruppe Fact File.

You want more????

You ain't getting it!

A4
56pp
B&W
£6.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/d-gruppe-annual-2012/paperback/product-1pey2pg5.html

For D-Gruppe, Germany's first and only super team, things seem to have gone quiet since the Cross-worlds Zeitgeist event.

However, Tarot, the mystic, detects a great evil below D-Gruppe's very own HQ.

The ultimate evil has returned and this time it isn't just a question of whether D-Gruppe can stop it but how many of them will die trying?

Part 2 of the Zeit Geist saga contained in that volume

A4
B&W
164pp
£12.00
http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/d-gruppe-the-zeit-geist-saga/paperback/product-21156613.html

Germanys first super heroes have fumbled along since the “Externsteine Event” One day something crashes into forestry followed by a “white out” event and the appearance of the Pied Piper of Hameln and then the appearance Frederick Barbarossa seemingly out of history at D-Gruppe headquarters and his calling them into action.

At the Place of the Gods, D-Gruppe meets heroes from other German parallels –all targeted and some destroyed by a seemingly all powerful being known as “Zeitgeist” and the race is on to find and stop “It” But there is a traitor amongst the heroes.

They were Germanys first. Germanys best heroes. But will they live long enough to succeed in their task?

This book collects together the first adventure of D-Gruppe –Revenge Of The Ice Queen– along with the three part Zeitgeist saga and the 2012 annual that concluded the German super hero epic— plus other features! Art by Ben R. Dilworth and Art/Stories by Terry Hooper-Scharf

Black Tower Super Heroes The Ultimate Game

2026-05-22T06:30:10.150-07:00

Story Terry Hooper-Scharf

Art Terry Hooper-Scharf, Thorroe Prey, P. Beard, Tomas Scharf

Pages: 188
Binding Type: Paperback Perfect Bound
Interior Color: Black & White
Dimensions: A4 (8.27 x 11.69 in / 210 x 297 mm); £15.00 UK see online store for outside UK price

https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/black-tower-super-heroes-the-ultimate-game/paperback/product-95d9z68.html?page=1&pageSize=4

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.

A story that throws in as many super heroes and villains as you could ever want plus an Earths parallel crossing storyline that will have you wondering who the real bad guy is!

Black Tower Super Heroes: Werewolves

2026-05-22T06:05:16.722-07:00

86pp

Black and white

£10.00 UK

https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/black-tower-super-heroes-werewolves/paperback/product-84wwge7.html?page=1&pageSize=4

The Prof, investigator of the paranormal, encounters two werewolves in Castle Park...and Devilina who has a "sort of" message for him. Kotar, Sabuta, Lady Silana, Tarot and others deal with new werewolf activity and Dr Lycaon is granted access to the labs at the HQ of the explorer/adventurer group The Questors. Lycaon believes he is close to a serum that will cure the curse of lycanthropy but someone or something is trying to stop him. Meanwhile in space Freelancer delivers justice to the Central Galactic Council after its betrayal (see The Green Skies) and on Earth the equally treacherous Council of Light meets its fate. Will Lycaon succeed with his cure or does the increased werewolf activity even in the halls of one of the UKs most secret buildings indicate that the cure is too late?

The World’s Greatest Video About Comics’ Greatest World

2026-05-21T11:19:40.449-07:00

The Cross Earths Caper

2026-05-20T09:56:50.248-07:00

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

Preview

Paperback,

Black & White

107 Pages

Price: £12.00 (excl. VAT)

Prints in 3-5 business days

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

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!

The Father of Garth - Steve Dowling

2026-05-19T09:00:12.287-07:00

Back in 2011, because it seems that everyone had forgotten him, and the legendary character he created,Garth, I re-posted an interview the late Denis Gifford conducted with Steve Dowling.

My Britcomics group and British Golden Age Comics sites were the only places where anyone could find photographs of Steve. Since that time, as is always the way, the photographs have been pilfered repeatedly and writers 'anecdotes' have been stolen from this interview. I know this because Dowling only ever got interviewed once as no one thought him important because he was not Asbury, Allard or Bellamy -most people seem to think Bellamy created Garth!

According to a family member, Steve had very little money after he was forced to retire (obligatory under company law -supposedly since it never stopped Giles from continuing on) and his younger family members had no idea he had been a working artist. In fact, after his death, apart from one or two drawing he had made for youngsters,the family had no samples of his newspaper work. Piers Morgan at the Daily Mirror, that had published Garth, made no secret that he detested newspaper comic strips. When I spoke to him on behalf of the Dowling family (whom the Daily Mirror had already refused a request from) it ended with him saying "Why are you bothering me with this rubbish?" and he put the phone down.

So called British comic 'experts' also refused to get involved or track work down -it was one of the reasons that I set up the Yahoo Britcomics and British comic Book Archives groups. No creator should be forgotten or treated as though their original work had no value when compared to the later 'stars'.

Before I get too angry -here is the interview!

Steve Dowling -Father Of GARTH!

Around 1999, I had an email from the grandson of Steve Dowling who was living in Canada. I learnt that Steve had been bumped out of his job simply because he had reached 65 years of age (only in the UK!). He then spent many years living off a poor pension. Steve had no original art from his newspaper strip days to show his family -it’s why I was contacted because of my British Comic Books Archive project.

Apparently the family had asked the Daily Mirror newspaper if it could just get some photocopies of the pages for themselves. No. They asked then editor Piers Morgan (can I spit?) who basically responded that he had no time to waste of dumb comic strips (his hatred of them is well recorded).

I lost the email from the family when my old computer blew. IF Steve’s family in Canada read this then I have Garth strips I can offer on share file.

Published in ‘Ally Sloper’ #1, 1976, and reprinted in ‘Comic Bits’ #1, 2001. Denis Gifford conducts an on-stage interview at ‘Comics 101′ on 20 March 1976 with Garth creator Steve Dowling, who died in 1986.

STEVE: I might say that it’s been more than worthwhile to come all this way, because I thought nobody knew me any more, let alone thought me worthy of an award! Everybody’s been so kind to me and said so many nice things that I’ve really been rather overwhelmed by it all. Thank you very much, everyone.

DENIS: Well, we’ll get on to the British newspaper strip, which you were almost solely responsible for. You worked under several different names and different styles. How did it all start?

STEVE: It started by my going riding with a friend who did a strip called ‘Tich’ in the Daily Mirror, the ideas for which were supplied by my brother, Frank. Coming back from this event, rather full of liquor, unfortunately there was a car accident and the artist, Martin, died. And so I had to step into his shoes and was plummeted into the strip business in a rather shaky condition, having gone through the roof of a car! ‘Tich’ ran for some years. [from 1931 - DG]

DENIS: But you were an artist before this?

Steve Dowling receiving an Ally Sloper award from Denis Gifford and Bob Monkhouse at Comics 101

STEVE: I was in advertising. As a matter of fact, I was at the time Assistant Art Director for Dorland Advertising at the age of 24. I gave up my job at Dorland’s because I could do ‘Tich’ in one day a week – there were very few lines in the thing, very slick little drawings – and then I could go down by the seaside and put my feet up for the rest of the week, which was very nice indeed!

DENIS: There were strips in the Mirror before ‘Tich’, ‘Dud’ and ‘Jinks’ and so on – but after ‘Tich’ strips seem to blossom.

STEVE: Well, old Guy Bartholomew who was chairman of the Mirror was mad hot about strips. Having been an artist himself he regarded the strips as the main part of the paper. His opinion was that most people couldn’t read, anyway, and liked looking at pictures!

DENIS: What was the genesis of ‘Ruggles’, your first real strip?

STEVE: I think having seen American continuity strips. I got the idea for this character ‘John Ruggles’, an ordinary chap, and my brother who had quite a gift for humorous writing,wrote the words. In point of fact I think ‘Ruggles’ was the first continuity strip to appear in a national daily. The others were all daily incidents. The idea of having a serial story run in picture form was new in this country, although, of course, it had been done in America. I remember Cecil King, who was rather small-fry then, always wanted me to make ‘Ruggles’ build a shed in his garden, because his 14 year-old son had suggested the idea! If I had taken King’s advice ‘Ruggles’ garden would have been so stiff with sheds that he wouldn’t have been able to move!

DENIS: Did you sit down and create ‘Ruggles’ as the average man with an average family?

STEVE: Very average! In fact we were trying to write down to the readers, a thing one should not do! Trying to make the strip as like the family life as we could. After a time my brother gave it up – he became the editor of the Picture Post instead – and I took it over. I tried to strengthen the storyline and some of the humour went out of it.

DENIS: Why did you sign it with a pseudonym: ‘Ruggles – by Blik’?

STEVE: Oh, that was just a short name like: ‘Tich – by Dart’.

DENIS: And: ‘Belinda Blue Eyes – by Gloria’?

STEVE: Oh, I was just one of a long line of Glorias! That was actually written in the first place by Bill Connor, who later became Sir William, ‘Cassandra’. He wrote it to order for Bartholomew the chairman. Everybody took a hand in those days. Basil Nicholson, the editor, who was the man who re-modelled the Mirror, his idea of having a comic strip was to have a different person every day slipping on a banana skin. One day a clergyman, the next day a policeman; he thought that was the level of public understanding.

Warrior World (1961) Full strip uploaded to the Face Book page

DENIS: Later ‘Ruggles’ featured the public actually in the strip. How did that unique series come about?

STEVE: They thought the strip was flagging a bit and Philip Zec, who was then the strip editor, asked me to come up with a twist. Well, Wilfred Pickles on the radio was then ‘Meeting the People’ and I thought I would try this in strip form. I took some roughs into Zec, who didn’t think much of the idea. He took it to the chairman, and next day I got a telegram from Zec: “Please draw some more along the lines I suggested.” Well, I did, and Zec got into trouble for claiming it was his idea – it became the chairman’s idea! But I must say that the idea eventually reverted to me – when they found that the series didn’t go down very well!!

DENIS: Why did ‘Ruggles’ come to an end?

STEVE: Well, they felt it wasn’t pulling. They asked for letters and, of course, more people will write and say they don’t like a thing than those who do, so ‘Ruggles’ went.

DENIS: And so, we come, at last to Garth. How and why did he begin?

STEVE: I had been writing and drawing ‘Belinda . . .’ and not enjoying it very much. Then they found another artist, Tony Royle, to take it on, so they asked me to produce another strip in order to justify my salary. It took me about three months to think up Garth and draw the first three weeks’ strips. The chairman thought that was rather too long – so he docked my pay!

DENIS: Did you set out to create a British equivalent to ‘Superman’?

STEVE: No, ‘Terry and the Pirates’ was my great influence, if anything. I was rather interested in Tibet, and the Forbidden City, and the magic that was there. For instance, in the beginning Garth was resuscitated by the ‘kiss of life’ from a rather attractive young woman called Gala. Well, the ‘kiss of life’ was not known here then, but I had read about it in a book on Tibet.

DENIS: Garth was a man of mystery. Did you have a solution in mind from the start?

STEVE: Oh, no. I had no solution at all. I had no more idea who Garth was than the reader!

DENIS: One mystery was that Garth drifted in from the sea, and there is no sea around Tibet!

STEVE: Artistic licence!

DENIS: Another striking feature was the constantly bared bosom of one of Garth’s girlfriends.

STEVE: One had to fight to show a little in those days.

DENIS: A “little”? I’d call it a lot! I suppose the exposure was very calculated?

STEVE: Oh yes. I certainly enjoyed drawing it.

DENIS: Why did you stop drawing Garth?

STEVE: I had to. I was freelance up to 1949. Then I joined the staff to get a pension, and when I reached the age of 65 I had to go. That was the rule, so I went.

And that, my friends, is how it ends. Sad, but at least Steve realised how much his work was loved by fans and he deserved even more than that Ally Sloper but....

Reviews Posted

2026-05-18T08:24:06.756-07:00

Just to make it clear all reviews are shared on social media so Twitter, Blue Sky, LinkedIn, Face Book and also posted on Comic Bits Online 2 and Comics Good Reads -which, considering they were both intended as CBO back-up blogs, get quite high views.

Kult CreationsL Shokwave Book 6 -The Vampire Has It!

2026-05-18T08:14:31.935-07:00

52pp

US size

full colour

£9.00 UK £12.00 Europe

order from https://shokwavecomic.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2025-05-29T07:59:00-07:00&max-results=7

Thanks to John Short for correcting me on who the cover artist was!

Firstly, that raging colour god of a cover is far more muted in print. Pity really as it is great but, sadly, as I have found too often, what looks vibrant in its original form can be quite toned down in printing. Still, Warwick Fraser-Coomb cover is very eye-catching and in the publishing business he who catches eyes first wind... no, that didn't sound right, did it? No real eyes are involved it's just a figure of spoeech.

All scripts are by John A. Short who can handle the serious and comedic -or twist both together if needed. Published in May, 2025 I would not normally review a year old book but Shokwave is fun and the sign over the door does say "If It's Receive It's Reviewed!".

NOSFERATU II with art by David Hitchcock. What can I say? It stays creepy and gory and and is just like watching a horror movie as the plot develops. Dr Gruber is not having a very good time and to be honest his next trip may be to the real actual Hell. Goes from strength to strength and one day may make a fine collected edition.

RESISTORS has art by Richard Pester and it leads you to ask whether a Standard Sexbot can outfight a trained Global Head of Security/ex-marine war veteran? It is a question demanding deep analytical analysis and the question of whether a Sexbot should be fighting at all. Do we get the answer? There's lots of fighting so buy a copy to find out!

Honestly, I never thought I would get to an age where as a reviewer I have to question a Sexbot and its fighting capabilities. In my day it were all one eyed tyrannosaurus Rex's and cowboys.

ANNA KEY with art by Chris Askham has nice clean art and good colouring along with everything you expect from a Short script and, oddly, the style is growing on me. Anyway, there is a chase because... but have no fear the sign painter does make it out alive

THE CLOCK STRIKES! with art by Adam Jakes and Brian Donlevy is back. Yep old Quatermass himself. There is nothing wrong here but it just leaves me cold. I think it may be the fact that each panel looks to be a photo reference and I'm sure Jakes puts a lot of work in and despite the story being okay ...nope. I just cannot get past the photo reference images and it is annoying because I cannot put my finger on WHY.

LP - Shelly

2026-05-14T12:00:08.360-07:00

Kult Creations: Shokwave 5

2026-05-14T07:22:19.809-07:00

52pp

Colour

US size

£9.00 UK £12.00 Europe

Order link https://shokwavecomic.blogspot.com/search?q=shokwave+5

Previous reviews can be found here and I actually thought I was seeing things as Book 4 was 2023. I was absolutely positive I had reviewed Book 5....Terry is getting very old.

Book 1 https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2023/01/kult-creations-shokwave-book-1.html

Book 2 https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2023/05/kult-creations-shokwave-book-2.html

Book 3 https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2023/10/kult-creations-shokwave-3.html

Book 4 https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2024/05/kult-creations-shokwave-4.html

Anyway, here is 2024s offering.

Firstly, as usual, John Short writes everything from the comedic to deadly serious. The issue leads off with Nosperatu which is drawn by David Hitchcock. The art style is still creepy and stylised so that it fits the story perfectly and is in greyscale which also adds a lot. With the gory scenes it works which is good because the amount of red ink needed would have been even scarier. That final page... 😱

Resistors – "Our rebel robots are on a mission in this episode... Get ready for heist-style hi-jinks with Jez and Daisy behind enemy lines! Sexbot versus war-droids!" Reading that for some reason gave me a flash back to 1980s sci fi horror films (probably starring Tim Thomerson, Tom Atkins or Treat Williams -it was a thing). the last two pages in a vibrant red really wakes your eyes up after grey scale!!

Now, The Clock Strikes was okay but Adam Jakes' use of movie photo references made this jar a bit for me. Brian Donlevy as Prof Bernard Quatermass in scenes from The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) - in the US renamed The Creeping Unknown was hard to take. Of course if you are not into sci fi horror or a huge fan of the Quatermass films none of this will mean a thing!

Anna Key goes on a fake date which isn't surprising since she tricked her was into becoming sheriff. What can go wrong? A restaurant, a little eaves-dropping. Oh, Zinks Karos - who is, apparently, a notorious "hits-being" so, yeah, should be memorable. Chris Askham's style is still growing on me so that's a plus.

Luckily each strip has a "Previously" to remind old folk like me what happened in the previous issue... probably be why it is called "Previously" -a service to the old croakies.

All fun and recommended!

I Apologise Again. I Was Young!

2026-05-14T04:50:05.311-07:00

Regarding the whole "I never had anything to do with the Green Skies in South Dakota" post. Mr Stransky responded:

" Green skies ? Yep. Your fault. You brought the story into being....you own it.... Terry Hooper....destroyer of worlds!"

I thought I would just ignore that but then someone tried outing my past with this photo:

Oh come on. I was young(ish) and angry and conquering the world and total subjugation of humanity was just a phase. It isn't what I am now It was in the past and who hasn't tried to usurp the throne or build a weapon of mass destruction to enslave the world?

Please believe me I am a mature and tolerant human being now and, Mr Stransky: I still own that mega accelleron destructo ray gun in the photo.

I Would Like To Officially DENY The Claims

2026-05-13T03:24:52.714-07:00

In 2022, the sky turned an incredible green in Sioux Falls, SD during a storm.

I did not have anything to do with this. I did not set this up to promote The Green Skies. I am good but this is a tad above what I can do.

No, this is not just an opportunity to push The Green Skies books.... but..

lùisa - Call Me The Witch (Official Music Video)

2026-05-13T03:09:55.854-07:00

I Swear A Couple of My Shelves Just Creaked Very Loudly

2026-05-11T05:50:39.927-07:00

Over the last 10 years (I have really narrowed the time period down) I have had a 100% success rate in having my application for a table at a UK comic/Small Press event turned down. Seriously.

Here is the funny part:the organisers would "appreciate" my publicising their event. Am I going to? No.

It's rather like the people who want me to push their publications but they "just don't have the time" to read or publicise my publications.

I will tell you who will get a table at each of the events; the same boring bunch of retired comic "personalities in their own lunchtime" and friends or friends of friends.

I really would like to get to a European (German?) event in 2027 because 2026 is going by too fast.