Self Publishing and Breaking Away From The Mainstream

I have to admit that I am slightly staggered.  Why?  Well, I checked the postings here and on Comic Bits Online pertaining to BTCG books.  They have some of the highest views -the recent one on this blog had a record number of views.

Yet, no sales resulting from all this attention.

Black Tower Comic albums (ie. books over 40 pages) and Graphic Novels (120-300+pp) are true Independents.  Black Tower does not try to con comic fans with "This is a MUST buy....and you'll NEED this great comic for the full story!" All books are self contained stories with the exception of three books: Black tower Adventure which, like Black Tower Super Heroes and Tales Of Terror, is an anthology title.

Yes, all the books are black and white. People should not confuse that with meaning just a black line with a few patches of solid black!  Ben R. Dilworth is amazing at producing shading tones as well as using solid blacks, cross-hatching and even a sketchy style that works for some strips.  Gavin Stuart Ross uses black and white and some nice toning effects. John Erasmus...I still find it totally baffling that no big European or US comic company has snapped him up.  At times I just sit looking at his work and sigh.  And Tom Elmes....his some times jarring line and technique I've admired since he earned the title "King of the Zine Nasty" in the 1980s with "The Man Who Ate Himself To Death"!  And then there is me.  The lesser artist of the inmates of the Tower.  I employ a lot of techniques not just in inking but also layouts. 

There is one good thing about publishing Independent comics -you can, as an editor and publisher- allow complete creative freedom.  No "You MUST adhere to the four sided panel" or "You can ONLY have 4-8 panels a page -a splash page is only for the credits page".  In fact, going through the Black Tower books I started realising that, having worked in pro comics, there were things going on that editors and publishers in mainstream companies would never allow.

You see, I have stood at the conventions when the portfolio viewings take place.  I know those viewings are to promote the company and give the reviewers a chance to be a "big man".  I have seen beautiful artwork torn to pieces (verbally) by these people. 

I once saw artwork that looked similar to Gil Kane's in his hey-day and the reviewer was a very slip-shod artist who most people kept wondering "who did he sleep[ with to get the job" (I once had an editor ask that question about him).  He tore into the young artist -line stroke and not using the brush properly (and totally ignoring the artist who told him "I don't use a brush"), "The perspective is off badly here" (it was NOT) and so on. I went up to the artist and told him to ignore what was said and pointed out that I'd been a comic creators agent for a few years and explained to him how to get the pages to the right people.  No. The 'big name' had told him he was crap. That was it.

I was in the office of a Marvel UK artist in the 1980s (the man "allegedly" held out of a window by someone...koff) and he looked at me and said (I'd worked in comics longer than him at that point) "You need to realise that when you draw people under those clothes are the flesh, the muscles and under that the skeleton" I said "Okay.  I think a lot of us artists studied Leonardo's (da Vinci) anatomy drawings--" he interrupted: "I don't rate him at all.  He's overblown.  He'd not get work drawing comics with me as an editor"  I just never had the heart to point out daVinci had been dead a long time.  And note rated as an artist?

Ahem

Anyway, this same editor opened up the big map drawers on his desk to demonstrate a point.  "This is just submissions I rejected this month"  I took 20 minutes to go through just one drawer and the art he had rejected was lovely.  One really caught my eye so I asked who the artist was? "Don't know. Think he was Italian or something"  So I took the page out and it was signed.  "C.Pacheco".  Years later I read in Comicology how Carlos Pacheco had submitted work to Fleetway/IPC as well as Marvel UK. He'd submitted to an idiot.

Busiest time of the day for an editor, as I found out early one, was lunch-time. Pub or local cafe and those lunches could go on for two hours.

I always say to any artist "If you cannot, after a lot of trying, get any publisher interested in your work -self-publish!" However, 99% will not. Because "I only write/draw comics" which is a nonsense. If you write and draw yourself  then you are editing. With Print-on-Demand you do not have to be a rocket scientist or even have university degrees. I do it.

So, yes, there is work involved but you get the opportunity to break away from the mainstream comic restraints and do comics your way.  Experiment.  Have fun. But never, ever think you are going to become rich.  Very few if any ever do.  But you are your own boss.

Now, go buy my books!

Kelvin Jones -Patient Zero

Come The Green Skies...Come Death

Green Skies...Not Just The Super Heroes

I'm In Hell...Where Can You Hide?

Kelvin Jones: The Curse

You Ignore Book Bargains?

 

The Hooper Interviews!  

 To celebrate, at the time of publication, over 25 years of interviewing comic creators -writers, artists and publishers- this 365 pages book was produced.

Interviewees included Yishan Li, Marv Wolfman, Dave Ryan, John Cooper, Mike Western, Donna Barr, Roberta Gregory, Sonia Leong, Emma Vieceli, Pekka A. Manninen, Alan Class, Karen Rubins, Kate Glasheen, Ron Fortier, Jon Haward, Franco Francavilla, Rick Geary, Tania Del Rio, The Etherington Brothers, Olivier Cadic (Cinebook the 9th Art), Holly Golightly and MANY others.

Profusely illustrated with art and photographs!

Reduced in price until October to £16.80 -an odd price but it's what the printer and lulu.com earn -I get zilch!

http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/the-hooper-interviews/paperback/product-22078000.html


All Black Tower comic albums (that is A4 format) are in black & white.  Once you've had black and white you won't go back to colour, baby.

BTCG has specialised in presenting original material covering super heroes, crime, adventure, sci fi, horror as well as illustrated prose -not to mention ground breaking books on "world mysteries" and wildlife.  Oh, and even a huge book of interviews with comic creators and publishers.

All the books are, naturally, available for overseas licence -but we cannot translate work: that will be up to any licensed publisher.

What follows is a brief glimpse at some books but you can visit the online store to see more details and books at:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/hoopercomicsuk

You  can also find some on Amazon and other sources but they do not make me much money so, come on, buy from the online store and remember that at least these books will be collectibles! 

To contact me please check out "About" at the top of the page -thanks!

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Black Tower Comics began in 1984 as a Small Press publisher of A5 (US -Digest size) titles such as Adventure,Presents,Windows and Hanley's Garage.  Then came the news, reviews, previews and interviews publication backed up by the mart and mail order service -Zine Zone (later Zine Zone International).

In 2009, with the innovation in publishing of Print On Demand (POD), Black Tower jumped in head first!

One of the first titles to see print in the new comic album format (A4) was The Bat Triumphant! This saw the complete story, begun in Black Tower Adventure vol. 1.  William A. Ward's long lost 1940s character once again saw print as he fought a host of  enemies in an attempt to reclaim his homeland.




And while The Bat may have fought fist and nail to reclaim his homeland, another 1940s Ward creation, Krakos the Egyptian, seemed far from willing to claim a new Egyptian Empire as promised to him by the Gods.  Tackling a number of foes and even encountering the Many-Eyed One, Krakos turned his back on the gods and the final panel of Krakos -Sands Of Terror, delivered a true twist!




Of course, the flag-ship title had to return!  And so Black Tower Adventure -eventually reaching new heights when the legendary Ben Dilworth jumped on board!  Volume 2 consisted of  ten issues. Just look at these covers....



And, with something like 40 years worth of files and investigation reports could all that much delving into UFOs, lake and sea creatures and many other mysteries not result in a book or two...or three? Some Things Strange & Sinister, Some More Things Strange & Sinister as well as Pursuing The Strange and Weird: A Naturalist's Viewpoint set a precedence.

Whereas for decades those involved in "UFOlogy", "Cryptozoology" and "Forteana" declared many mysteries, that photographs were lost "to history" and so on, these three books swiped away the false claims.  Alleged lost photographs -found.  'Mysteries' solved by doing actual research work and reading the sources -something others had never done.


And, of course, mention natural history and Black Tower Books broke new ground with that in The Red Paper: Canids.




But not all the prose books covered mysteries and wildlife.


And if there is one thing "Herr Professor" loves it is discovering and presenting long lost UK Golden Age (1939-1951) comic strips and characters from publishers such as Gerald Swan, Foldes, Denis M. Reader, Cartoon Art Productions and others.

Scanned and restored as best as can be considering the poor print quality of the rationing years -especially red, orange, yellow, blue and purple ink printing!

Ace Hart The Atomic Man!  The Tornado!  TNT Tom!  Dene Vernon!  Acromaid!  Cat-Girl! Bring 'Em Back Hank! Robert Lovett:Back From The Dead and so many other action heroes and humour strip characters -William A. Ward, Jock McCaill and a host of known and unknown creators contribute -either in single volume " Black Tower Gold" albums or all six collected into the 400+ pager -The Ultimate British Golden Age Collection!





Another great love is Centaur Comics from the United States.  Right at the very start of the American Golden Age of Comics Centaur had creators who were ahead of the others!  Before Plastic Man there was Plymo!  Before The Human Bomb there was TNT Todd!  Before Green Arrow and waaaaaaay before Hawkeye there was the mysterious red hooded archer called The Arrow!  And, to just break your comic mind world there was even a Black Panther -decades before Kirby came up with his character of the same name.

The Eye Sees All.  The Owl. The Iron Skull.  Amazing Man. The King of Darkness.  The Invisible Terror. The Blue Lady. The Shark. Mini Midget & Kitty.  Mighty Man. Super Anne.  The company may have been short-lived but it's characters -oh boy!

The two volume Centaur Heroes Collection has been compiled into one sweet 140 page comic collection!


Horror. Ghost stories.  The twist-in-the tale.  Did you think that a publisher who is a big horror comic/film fan would ignore these?

Nope.  Each year since 2010, BTCG has published a Tales Of Terror anthology album and 2014s included some fun and spooky lost Swan Comic strips.  I mean how can you go wrong -even Ben Dilworth is in these!

 

The Church Of England has it's own basher of dark forces in the Reverend Merriwether -"God's Demon0-Thumper" as the press billed him.  From an ancient Egyptian demon to a village of the damned and Varney the Vampyre, werwolves and a final confrontation with Satan himself -Merriwether pulls no punches and offers no compromise.  And in those last few seconds between life and death, Merriwether's mind recalls past cases -thanks to Ben Dilworththe Tall Man of Osaka.

Merriwether: God's Demon Thumper and Merriwether: The Test Of Satan are available as individual comic albums or in one swanky book The Collected Merriwether: God's Demon Thumper.

 

Oh, did I forget to mention Dene Vernon -British comics' first investigator of the supernatural and strange mysteries?  I did? Unbelievable since Gavin Stuart Ross drew the 1948 based Dene Vernon: The Thing Below!

 


 And did you know Ross also drew the two adventures of Victorian mystery man Chung Ling Soo? Chung Ling Soo: The Curse Of The Jade Dragon and Chung Ling Soo: The Case Of The Thames Serpent were two cracking tales of magic, adventure, murder and deception -still available as single comic albums or collected together to form The Adventures Of Chung Ling Soo!









Ben Dilworth is no slouch either!  Chung Ling Soo's police "counter-foil" isnone other than old London "Jack" (police man) Inspector Wilberforce and when Dilworth says "Here's a Wilberforce one-off: PUBLISH IT!" you do not argue!





And did you know you can be a Gold Master of Japanese Haiku?  Well, neither did I -but guess what?  Ben Dilworth is such a master and his Osaka Brutal features his Haiku in English!

 

Old saleman that he is, Dilworth just keeps on going.  He produced Aesop's Fables -a darker version of the childrens tales and then went on to write two well illustrated prose albums looking at spirits and demons -Dilworth's Japanese Yokai and Dilworth's Western Yokai.  Osaka and the Yokai books were combined with Aesop's Fables into the one volume The Collected Ben R. Dilworth -though the single volumes are also still available.

Horror comics yes but also some nice illustrated prose from Dilworth in...Dilworth's Horror & Ghost Stories but for the connoisseur those stories were collected together with the Phantom Detective comic strips into The Complete Phantom Detective!

And could anyone forget the sensational Iron Warrior Versus Big Bong:When Giants Fought? But add to that the various Iron Warrior strips from Adventure and you get The Iron Warrior Collection -When Giants Fought!  In the 1940s, William A. Ward's creation was to be the most graphically violent comic strip seen until the 1970s.  That is some legacy. It continues....with a touch of fun!



In case you are wondering, yes, obviously there are super heroes.  Mix in ancient pantheons of gods, giant robot, alien invasion, Lovecraftian dark ones and so much more that the book runs to over 320 pages then you have part 1 of Terry Hooper-Scharf's Invasion Earth Trilogy" or as it is titled Return Of The Gods: Twilight Of The Super Heroes!  And epic ending with the words: "Dr Morg has killed us all" -and if you have never read the mind altering counter actuality that is The Dr Morg Trilogy you may be saying "What? Who-?"

And part 2 of the trilogy The Cross Earths Caper ought to get you in the mood for 2015s big 31st Anniversary third part of the trilogy The Green Skies.


 

If you pass the ESTC (Epileptic Seizure Test Cover) on Dr Morg well, you are fit and healthy enough to read it and to check out all the Black Tower Comics and Books at the online store -see why we are the UKs largest publisher of  Independent Comics!