Oh Me Oh My -Ears Burning Again!

 

 Is something going on I don't know about??

A fourth time there has been a discussion ( I only found out later) about why I -me- am not recognised more for my work.  

As for "Why not?"

I am in the UK.

Now, stop talking about me.

BUY MY BOOKS!!! I'll be happy with that.

In case you are not British and don't get the post title here is a full AI explanation (so not sure whether AI was talking about me?)

"Ears burning" means someone is talking about you (often behind your back, causing embarrassment), but it's also an old superstition (right ear for good, left for bad) or even a real physical sensation from increased blood flow due to emotions (anger, blushing), temperature, infection, or rare conditions like Red Ear Syndrome

The Looking Glass -and "off the top of my head" Project That Might Have Been

 

Gil Page the then Managing Editor at Fleetway had been with the company (when it was Amalgamated Press) since leaving school and he always spoke about how “We have all o0f these great characters but never use them!” which to me was a sign reading “Go for it!” I told him that I had an idea and told me to “hang on a m inute” as he went out of the office to return with a middle aged, well suited man (who I was told later was “on the board”).

 

The five minutes Gil had been gone gave me time to jumble together a story featuring a basic cast (my mind was drawing blanks). “Go ahead. What’;s the idea?” And so I sat there with both men watching me as I had to outline the whole idea pointing out how other characters could be pulled in. As I concluded I was waiting for the “No, I don’t think so” but instead the middle aged man nodded to Gil and said “You know Dennis at IPC see what he says”

 

It seems that “Dennis” had simply replied “Do what you want we have no interest in juvenile features” (bloody cheek).  I was told this on my next visit to Fleetway’s office by which time I had sketched out some pages and a rough script. I was told that the strip would need to be black and white as full colour was too expensive and that there were “restrictions”.

 

An artist was the main problem.

 

At first Gil  suggested Vanyo and showed me some of his art pages and although I was familiar with “his” work Gil pointed out that Vanyo was in fact the professional name of two comics artist  brothers -Vicente Vaño Ibarra (1947–2006) and Eduardo Vaño Ibarra (b. 1944). I had not known that but two artists meant the strip was at least guaranteed to get drawn.

 

That was what I thought until I next talked to Gil who told me that he could not go into detail but “Vanyo” was out of the running.

 

Alberto Giolitti was another suggested by Gil from his address packed book (which helped me contact a number of old timers for interviews). I told him that I was unfamiliar with the name but he insisted that I had seen a lot of his work and even talked to him about it. Giolitti was better known by the name "Heinzl" and was a prolific comics illustrator who worked extensively for IPC in the 1980s.

 

Old familiar story by that time was that Heinzl had taken on another project but for some reason (not divulged) I was told that he was unhappy with Fleetway.

 

Mike Western retired and had no interest what-so-ever in returning to comics and in a phone chat he told me that he had done his work and was now retired.

 

John Cooper was interested after hge discovered it was not for an American publisher.  However, he later withdrew after eye sight problems.

 

At one point Gil Page told me that he had found one of "the old lads" who would be pewrfect and he was willing to give it a go.

 

Art Wetherell was interested and that would have been great to work with him again.

 

Not long after that Gil told me that Egmont had bought the company and any planned new work was to be halted immediately -they did the same thing when they purchased Bastei in Germany whioch stopped D Gruppe being published.

 

 For the “Old Boy” I had roughly drawn all 111 pages ass he was not familiar with many characters and he said that the layouts etc made it easier to start work. IPC approved the project even though they made it very clear, via their chairperson, that “IPC has not been involved in children’s comics in over 30 years” so after 5 years of pushing the idea and getting it off the ground….it all fell apart.

Remember that these were the "roughs" and are presented here in no particular order.

All art (c)2025 T Hooper

Working For Black Tower -a Reality Check

 

Sadly, Independent comics do not sell and so the writing, drawing, editing and lettering as well as making print ready files and then the publishing I do unpaid. It is not great and certainly more sold in the 1980s-2000 than they do today.  

For people starting out, however, it is a great way to get experience in putting a comic strip together to show what you can do. It also means that if you ever approach a mainstream paying publisher you can accurately state how many pages per week/month you can produce to a good standard. Publishers want to know that if they give you a 20 pager to draw that you CAN do it and to a publishable standard.

It is rare in comics to draw your own characters so working on scripts that do not involve them shows you can do the work. One piece of advice: NEVER make changes to the script or change characters names. I've had some really good newcomer artists do that with me and it creates a lot of tension and very few recommendations. 

I wrote a four issue series in the 1990s and the publisher liked them so the artist was new but had all four scripts. After a month I received a package and the art looked great. I phoned the artist and said I hoped he had found time to at least work on our project? I was told that the pages I got WAS our project. Character names had changed and rather than contemporary scenes it was very Judge Dredd -the artist thought he had improved on the script! It made no sense turning it into a sci fi story as that would mean re-writing parts 2-4 AND the fact that the name of one of the characters was to turn out to be a significant clue... was gone. Apparently he tried similar when given a script by 2000 AD -his career ended. And before anyone asks: the publisher who was interested told me "No. This is not the story or series we approved" so that went out the window.

If you thought "I'll give it a go" what benefits are there in drawing for Black Tower other than gaining experience?  Firstly, the art (not the characters) is yours. You can sell it to make some money or just to add to your portfolio. 

Do not think that changing a couple names and a strip title that you can sell the story/characters to a publisher. I had three artists try that and since the internet came in you can be found out quickly. I got a call from an editor one day who asked who a certain artist was so I told him and "So you thought making some changes and having him submit the work instead of you might work?"  I had no idea what he was talking about but within 30 minutes an email arrived with the altered pages -my credit removed.  The editor thought he was being taken for a fool and told me "His name is not blocked in future -how do I know he won't take one of our projects and do this?"  

The artist? "Oh, I thought you were out of comics" which was a bloody outright lie and did he think that meant he could steal any potential earnings from me? Another one who vanished.  But that situation has arisen a couple times. You need to be honest and play it straight.

If you draw something that gets published by me you get 5 copies of the title the strip is in. Pass around your family. Sell to make some money or, again, keep it as part of your portfolio.

One thing, however; if you are not having fun drawing a comic or comic strip then stop. You have to enjoy the challenge of what a script gives you whether it is sci fi, horror, detective or super hero (I once watched a very talented new artist destroy his potential career. At one of the old UK Comic Art Conventions in the 1980s he approached a DC editor who happened to be talking to a Marvel editor. They were both impressed but one said "DC and Marvel want more artists to draw super heroes -do you have any samples?" the artist replied and my thought immediately was "oh ****".  "No, I'm not interested in drawing super heroes. I would never do things and go Marvel. I'm looking for sci fi or horror" The Marvel man just turned away while the DC editor closed the portfolio and said "You may need to change your mind if you want to work in comics".  The artwork was fantastic but never saw the fella again.

Oh, and "Yeah I'd a couple days behind cus I went on a pisser with my mates over the weekend and then Monday was hung over" is not something any editor or publisher needs to hear because going on drunken binges when you have a deadline t6hat you are already late for...

If interested send me scans of 5 pages of your comic work and we can take it from there. Or if absolutely not interested because "My work is shit hot and I'm heading for Marvel!" (genuiine quote) then ...well... don't email me!

hoopert1957@gmail.com

Welcome to real life in comics! 

Origins: Ultra Man, Ultra Woman, Polaris and A White Out

 Back in the late 1960s when Kotar and Sabuta were still young, a strange event took place in a Bristol department store.   These days a "White Out" in comics is nothing rare but back then a "white out" usually meant a fog t6hat was lit up by street lights and in which you could see nothing. Sounded like a fun term to me back then.

The dream I had involved a department store and people going about their business. Cathy, Steven and  Paul Lloyd were three such people -brothers and sister. Without warning everything went white -probably only for a split second but everyone in the department store seemed unaffected. The trio were stumped. All three also noticed that their hair had turned white and looking around saw the odd shopper and staff member had similar.

Within days Paul noticed that he had developed strange powers and began testing them out. When he sat down to tell his siblings he was shocked to find they also had special powers and eventually (being a tad slow) realised that everything had started after the white out and their hair changing to white.

Paul (later to become Ultra Man) heard about thefts that seemed to have been committed by a person with special powers AND white hair. Initially he suspected Steven even though he could not believe it. As is usual in such stories each of the Lloyds had thought the same thing but realising they were on a wild goose chase realised that if the thief had special powers and white hair then he must have been in the department store during the white out

Initially wearing masks, Paul became Ultra Man, Cathy Ultra Woman and Steve Polaris. Their adventures would follow them tracking down anyone from the department store who had white hair and finding the various customers affected. None of them suspecting that a crook had been tracking them down when he realised the same thing.

Eventually the trio became more public and Polaris joined the Special Globe Guard; during the Return of the Gods storyline he seemingly gave his life stopping an alien invasion craft.Ultra Man and Ultra Woman were both active during that story as well as The Green Skies.

Gimme A Break!

 

Something that annoys me even though it's what I expect.

Another comment on one of my blogs was going on about how new artists do not get a chance to see their strip work in print and how most small press publishing is all ego promoting.

Since the 1980s if someone sent me sample art and asked if I had a script they could draw to contribute to one of my publications to see their work in print and if they are enthusiastic and at a reasonable level I usually do work with them. They get a couple copies of the book their work is on and I get to fill a book.

I have made that same offer since 1995 on so many sites and not one taker. However, over and over again there are the complaints "No one will give me a chance".

On a number of occasions I have responded with "Send a few sample pages over" and...."How much do I get per page?" I even had one artist who was not that good say he would never work for free as in a year he'd be working for Marvel or DC. Never heard from again.

Dave Gibbons, Ian Gibson, Brian Bolland and many other creators started drawing strips in the small press to get experience and practice.

The internet created a generation of whiners.

Comics Work Does Not Mean You Have Guaranteed Financial Security

 

 I was asked why, if I have been in comics so long, I am not better off financially. The answer is easy; comics is far from the warm and friendly place people believe it is. Even artists I got work in comics for -Fleetway (2000 AD, Revolver etc) and even with DC- were very quick to back stab.

One well known artist I worked with and thought that I could trust actually stole a comic project and sold it to a publisher -and the publisher KNEW it was my creation. Once the internet came in I found out and got paid but such a small amount that the arguing was not worth it.

The same publisher -against the signed contract we had- went ahead and sold foreign rights to two series that were eventually published in Spanish and French -which is how I found out. The publisher claimed (because nothing was on paper) that he had literally given the work away. Again, the money I got would not have paid a week's rent.

I found out that a signed contract means nothing in comics. I did a lot of work for independent comics in the US including international promotion.One company I promoted heavily in Europe and one day a friend in Germany said that it was a shame I could not attend a convention with the company. I had no idea what he was talking about until he explained the company had been following up on all my efforts and attended a couple conventions at which even the organisers asked where I was. The company's response when I asked what was going on?  "Our company. None of your business" so I explained that in that case if they paid me for all the work I had done as promised I'd step back. The company's response was that I had no written contract so it was all "voluntary".

I put a couple projects together for Bastei Verlag in Germany but then silence. A little after that the same happened with Fleetway. The late Gil Page, Managing Editor of Fleetway told me what had happened in both cases: Egmont had purchased both companies and immediately ordered all projects in the works to be cancelled. Editors were told that they were not allowed to contact creators to let them know what was going on.

I was in touch with two Indian comic publishers and they wanted an Indian super hero comic and a one off at that of 48 pages to test the market.  In both cases I kept each up to date but then one told me (after I completed the project) "Oh we've lost interest" -end of story. The other project completed the company wanted me to do a colour version so that their colourist knew what was what. 52 pages went off (b&w and the colour copy) and after a month I contacted the publisher and.... "We don't want the project. That editor has left" and that was the big  "get lost".

Not a single kill fee for any of the projects.

I could go on and on but if you look at European (such as Lambiek), some American and Far East comic data bases you will find my biography. The UK -nothing. At one time I was listed on Wikipedia because of my Small Press publishing and promoting the medium as well as for my comics work. Then the entry vanished. The person who wrote both uploaded them again -removed. Apparently certain persons in British comics were behind that and although the person tried updating things again in 2024 -it was all deleted after two days.

A lot of people and companies outside the UK know me and use my knowledge (for free but I've stopped that now) but hiring me as a writer? Nah.

So now you know and let me tell you, despite millions of views over several blogs very few sales come from views.  So I sit here and wonder whatever happened to my pension plans!

Origins 3: Johnny Apollo -The Z Man

 

Not ful;ly finished yet 3.75 inch Z Man action figure made from a Spinmaster Superman

 Oh yes. Johnny Apollo is The Z Man.  Who the what?!  Well, as a callow youth, before I became the UKs greatest comics creator (there are people who will seriously quote me on that) I was watching a TV police show called Z Cars.  I joked to someone that the cops must therefore be "Z Men". A while later my youthful genius mind thought "Z Man" would be a great character name.

I had an average super hero costume and then thought "If he is the Z Man he should have a Z on his chest" and so Johnny Apollo was created.  He was a member of a socialite vigilante group which used technology and tricks of the period (1930s) to fight crime. A whole series was plotted out but then the artist decided (wait for it) that he was much better than I deserved and he was going to concentrate on getting into Marvel comics. Where is he now? Who knows -I can't even remember his name!

Anyway, officially, in print, the Z Man appeared in a late 1980s/early 1990s copy of Black Tower Adventure in part 7 of Once Upon A Time in which he, quite by accident, rescued the trapped sorcerer Sigismund Benfrigisund who had been trapped since Adventure 1 (1984) which meant fighting the three supernatural entities involved in that trapping -as detailed in the first published Kotar and Sabuta story The Deadly Dilemna of Sigismund Benfrigisund. 

Unfortunately, I sold all the copies of the comic and the finished art ended up being caught in a fire. Luckily, I have the rough pages -I stopped doing rough pages a long time ago-  so as usual no apologies for the quality.  Outline figure on page three spanning four panels is Benfrigisund.

During part II of The Green Skies Johnny is talking to a Selenite Council member and explain how he was on an Eight Just Men mission in Germany when he boarded a secret German experimental rocket. Circumstances meant that the rocket took off but it had no controls and shot into space. Cutting a long story short the rocket smashed into Pluto and Johnny was found, mangled in the wreckage and a Plutonian life form found him and they did their best to "reconstruct" him. They did too good a job and Johnny found that he had super human abilities.

Unknown to anyone, Zom of the Zodiac was behind a lot of what was happening -part of his multi millennia old plan.

As a respected figure, when the alien invasion fleet entered our solar system, the Selenite Council decided that Johnny would lead the counter invasion fleet despite his misgivings (there is a lot more involved).

And how did that turn out? Well, due to an unplanned intervention, Johnny confronted the alien flag ship...

...and the unplanned intervention results in the alien flag ship being decimated and Johnny... well, the last that was seen of him he was blown out into space at an incredible rate and, presumably, dead.

The Solar system fleet scanned space to try and locate Johnny and failed. To all intents and purposes that was the end of the Z Man.

Black Tower Character Origins 2

 

There are a lot -a LOT- of comic artists who will never show their early work. The only thing they want to show is recent, slick art. I know as I've interviewed more than a few. Me? Well, if you are going to show people there is some hope...

I have no pretensions. I was crap. I was crap because I made the mistake of trying to use Gillott nibs to draw. My hand problem meant that I put a ton of weight on pencils and on nibs...yow. But we all start somewhere and although this does not look great it is how I started and what is more unbelievable I sold a lot of copies (oh, those days).

 Black Tower Presents 1, 1983 saw the first appearance of Elizabeth Flare, aka Mayfly.  It was a cold night. A blizzard was blowing and a woman, almost dead, was found outside an old hospice by Sister Bernadette (who popped up as the hard core butt kicking nun in The Green Skies) . The sisters tried to save the woman's wife when she was found to be pregnant but failed -however, the baby survived. When the sisters buried the woman in the grounds they got to the doorway and looked back -a flare of light appeared above the grave. The sisters called the baby Elizabeth and added "Flare" as they viewed the grave flare as being some form of guidance.

As Elizabeth grew up so the nuns witnessed her ability to float and then fly. Following a discussion Dr Wulf, a geneticist of world renown and now living in isolation, was contacted. Wulf was interested in people with special abilities or born different in some way; he believed that these were an evolutionary stage mankind had reached and labelled them Homo mutatis mutantis (man with the necessary change).

And so Elizabeth ended up at Wulf's orphanage where he prepared the youngsters for their place in the world.  

Above: unfinished/unused rough for a Crime Busters UK story circa 1994.

Whereas a lot of the special kids stayed with Wulf due to their outward appearance Elizabeth left when she reached 20 years of age and found a new life in Cardiff, Wales where she became a room mate of Jill Claren.

Phil Horton drew a page of the second part of the story where Mayfly met The Cougar (see below).

Mayfly has popped up regularly since the 1980s and there is more to come!

Stats, Views -What Am I Doing Right...or Wrong?

 I was just looking at the stats (I am trying to work out the various devices used to check CBO) and then I noticed that the stats for today (up to 1600hrs) were interesting.

If I looked at the stats at 1900 or even 2100 hrs the countries will change order and new ones appear. I've found that on Comic Bits Online.  

Singapore

533

United States

490

Germany

370

China

360

Hong Kong

203

United Kingdom

139

Brazil

78

India

73

Mexico

67

Netherlands

53

Argentina

41

Vietnam

39

Bangladesh

28

Türkiye

28

Saudi Arabia

25

Philippines

23

France

21

Venezuela

18

Malaysia

17

Other

398

There are questions.

One is why are so many people checking out this blog -I am certainly not complaining but it is odd that this blog and the Black Tower Face Book page get such high views yet very few sales.

The other question of whether I should try a couple foreign language versions of Black Tower comics falls at the first hurdle. My German is not great enough to translate a whole comic -and which one??- and any other languages...well, I do not want to do what another person did and happily sit back after using Google Translate to make a French version of his comic. By pure coincidence a French friend of his girlfriend had seen the translated pages and told her to tell him NOT to publish. She asked why and it was pointed out that some of the French made no sense and that two ;lines were very rude (through bad translation).

I have tried Hong Kong, Singapore, India and other countries in the past where there are  comic publishers who would translate and publish in their own language -no interest.

I'll tell you, kids, comics will not make you rich or even mean you know you'll be able to pay that next bill!

A Quick Look Inside Comic Fun

 

I Accept It. I Screwed Up On The Covers!

 

To everyone who has had copies  of these books the one thing they comment on is how refreshing it is to see books that have contents of super heroes, giant robots, gods, alien invasion, etc.,etc to see them with covers that are more artistic and well designed rather than the usual battle/fight scenes.

But did I wrongly assume that comic readers would appreciate covers like this? Should I have gone with the standard fight/battle scene cover and would that have attracted more sales?

I have lettering to do and some research papers to sort out but, in 2026, I am seriously contemplating redoing the covers to be more standard comics like. The whole project started in 1987 and there are hundreds of pages so I do not want to see the work ignored (I almost died three times during the course of producing these four books!).

I am not keen on drawing covers but I am in this of my own free will (I swear it -I am!) and having chosen publishing I need to suck it up and do my job. I have the idea for the Return cover but I will mull over ideas for Green Skies 1-3. 

Pity as I thought the covers were eye-catching but I did make the mistake of thinking people interested in comics would be interested in novel cover designs. My bad.