Another New Comics Reid-er

Our congratulations from all here at downthetubes go out to artist Graeme Neil Reid and his wife Catriona on the arrival of their new baby girl, Lucy Anne, born on Thursday 8 April and weighing in at 8lbs 1oz. After two potential Commando readers, the Reid family now has a potential Manga reader.

With dad a football fan, our Roy Of The Rovers cover couldn't be more appropriate and this was one result that definitely went into extra time as she kept everyone waiting by being a nerve racking 10 days overdue. However we are pleased to report that mother and daughter are both healthy and happy and now home which means that her dad might actually get to see the second episode of Doctor Who on Saturday night.

From the four babies we have reported on in the last couple of years, Zoe, Arianna, Sasha and now Lucy, it rather looks like Manga is set to take over the world.

60th anniversary of Eagle - Part 1

With the 60th anniversary of Eagle fast approaching (14th April 2010) now seemed like a good time to have a look at what that iconic front page of Eagle magazine might have ended up looking like.

Shown here are two of the dummies that Eagle's founders, Frank Hampson and Marcus Morris, put together to sell the idea of Eagle to a sceptical publishing world (Click the covers for larger images).

Both images shown space hero Dan Dare prominently (albeit in purple, so the strip doesn't quite yet have that 'RAF in Space' vibe) and have strips that would make it into the first issue of Eagle (The Great Adventurer and Rob Conway - as Secret City was renamed).

Who can say what became of Ernie and Joe of Strawberry Farm, apart from the fact that they were never seen again.

As the launch date got closer, so further issues had to be mocked up to show what the magazine would look like. The image here shows what a transformation has taken place since the initial dummy magazines were put together.

This is much closer to what the eventual second issue would look like but there were still a number of alterations to be made. Space Fleet are all still decked out in gorgeous purple rather than RAF green, the Eagle bird has yet to make it onto the front cover, the famous Eagle font has yet to be designed by Ruari McLean and the Dan Dare logo is not quite ready.

Starkings' Elephantmen stampede to silver screen

Elephantmen, the creation of former Marvel UK Managing Editor Richard Starkings and Chief Tiger of Comicraft and publishing house Active Images, has been optioned as a movie.

Comic Book Resources reports that Richard announced that his creator-owned series Elephantmen has been optioned to be “a major motion picture,” over the weekend at WonderCon, San Francisco. He added that directors and actors are currently being approached.

Originally created by Starkings as a spinoff from another of his comics, Hip Flask, Elephantmen takes place in a dystopian future in which human/animal hybrids struggle to integrate into society after being rescued from a brutal life as mindless, corporate soldiers.

Artists on the title include the brilliant Boo Cook, Moritat and Ladronn.

The series will reach issue Issue 25 later this month and the anniversary issue features 25 pages each drawn by a different artist. Among those recruited are Tim Sale, Dave Gibbons, Ian Churchill, Whilce Portacio, Paul Grist and Dougie Braithwaite.

Reflecting Richard's love of British comics, the title has featured plenty of back up articles on British comics in its pages.

Richard's latest success getting his creation optioned is well deserved, considering his lifelong dedication to comics and comic creation. He pushed Marvel UK toward experimenting with US-sized comics such as Dragon's Claws and Death's Head back in the 1980s, along with masterminding the creation of hugely successful weekly comics for the comic such as The Real Ghostbusters which helped launch the comics careers of a number of British writers and artists, including Dan Abnett, John Freeman (who?), John Carnell, Andy Lanning and many others.

Richard, who founded lettering company Comicraft in 1992, counts font design, comic book lettering, editing and writing among his many talents and was of course one of the early pioneers of computer-based comic book lettering. Active Images began in 1995 and began publishing comics - including Hip Flask - in 2002. His Balloon Tales web site is an invaluable resource for new letterers.


• Hip Flask Official web site

• Elephantmen Official Site

• Elephantmen Blog

• Active Images

• Comicraft

• ComicBookFonts.com

Eagle Times Celebrates 60 Years

The latest issue of Eagle Times (Volume 23 No 1) is now available from the Eagle Society and, naturally enough, is an issue dedicated to the impending 60th anniversary of The Eagle on 14th April.

The issue includes an examination of the career of Sergeant Bruce, whose single-episode exploits ran for nearly four years in the 1960s Eagle, firstly as 'Sergeant Bruce, C.I.D.' and then in 'Can You Catch a Crook?'; a tribute to Geoffrey Bond (1920-2009), best known as the writer of 'Luck of the Legion' and who wrote the 'Justin Tyme' strip for Eagle Times; reminiscences of some of Ron Embleton's 'discarded' artwork; and a look at the life and career of Paul Trevillion, better known for his sports illustrations and his work on 'Roy of the Rovers' for Tiger, who drew some of the 'Can You Catch a Crook?' and 'U.F.O. Agent' strips in the 1960s Eagle.

Of particular interest to downthetubes fans, will be our very own Jeremy Briggs' feature on Jim Stalwart, Dan Dare artist Bruce Cornwell's 'forgotten' Space Captain, whose exploits graced the pages of the Junior Mirror in 1954.

Also featured is a revisit to the Eagle connections with Ladybird Books, including some examples of the work of Roy Worvill (writer) and covers by the artists Robert Ayton, Frank Hampson, Frank Humphris and Martin Aitchison, including a Humphris 'Ladybird' Rough, showing the sketch which led to one of the full-page illustrations in the Ladybird book.

• Membership of the Eagle Society entitles you to copies of Eagle Times, which is published four times annually. The Subscription rate for 2010 is: UK £23, Overseas £34 (in £s Sterling, please). Apply by snail mail to: Keith Howard, 25A Station Road, Harrow, Middlesex HA1 2UA United Kingdom. Enquiries: eagle-times@hotmail.com