Today I finished reading my copy of Lion King Of Picture Story Papers by Steve Holland, who writes the Bear Alley blog which I've linked at the end of the post. The book covers everything, and so much behind-the-scenes stuff that you wouldn't know just by reading the comic! As usual, I shall start with the negative, as I prefer to get those out of the way and move on to the many positives!
The only negative I have about this book is the error from pages 41 - 44. Page 41 ends with the sentence "It was the..." and I expected this sentence to be continued over the page, but instead I was greeted with a new chapter! Page 43 featured a full-page comic strip, of which there were many throughout the book, and the sentence was concluded on page 44. However, whether this is just a printing error in my book or in all of them I don't know, but it does make reading a little confusing. But that's the negative out of the way, let's move on...
The book is one of the most wonderfully written and researched pieces I have ever read. Each page goes into great detail about even minor things (such as where Royman Browne had his fatal heart attack (in the lift at Fleetway House)). In the hands of someone less capable, the book could have proved to be a boring read, but Steve keeps every single page interesting and fresh, instead of just firing the facts at the reader!
Lion was inspired by Eagle which was launched two years earlier (which amazingly merged into the Lion later on), but unlike its inspiration which has had countless books devoted to itself and its characters, this is the time a book has been produced dedicated to the history of "The King Of Picture Story Papers"! I'm surprised no books have been published on it before, but it has been well worth the 61 year wait since it was launched, as this is a book that stands out well!
At the back of the book is a very useful index, which lists all of the staff, characters, annuals and specials that appeared over Lion's 22 year life. Undoubtedly this index will prove useful, and I will more than likely be returning to it many times!
Lion King Of Picture Story Papers is a book which needs to be read and re-read to take everything in, due to the amount of information crammed into its seemingly short 262 pages. I highly recommend this book, and it now sits proudly on my shelf in-between The Art and History Of The Dandy (By Morris Heggie, 2012) and Encyclopedia of Comic Characters (by Denis Gifford, 1987).
Overall, the book is fantastic and kept me very entertained during a long car journey! You can buy the book for £25.99 + £4.00 postage from:
http://bearalleybooks.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/lion-king-of-picture-story-papers_3.html
Bear Alley blog:
http://bearalley.blogspot.com
I finished reading Terry Bave's autobiography entitled Cartoons and Comic Strips a few days ago, and it was a smashing read! The book, which has just over 300 pages, talks about Terry's early life, breaking into comics and the inspiration for creating characters for many years.
The book is illustrated with suitable scans and cartoons both published and rejected, including Terry's first submitted cartoon and his first one published (which appeared in Picturegoer in 1954). Throughout the book are well over 100 drawings, many of which are full comic strips!
Terry goes very in depth with the creations of his characters, particulary Baby Whamster, his first break into comics, and how he quickly developed to producing half a dozen pages, if not more, every week! One thing I found very interesting is Scribbler, who turned out to be "too popular for his own good" - the strip was ended because he recieved TOO MUCH fan mail!
I was thrilled to see so much of the book dedicated to Whizzer and Chips which, as regular readers of this blog may know, is my favourite comic. Terry contibuted a good number of strips to the first issue of Whizzer and Chips and even created the 'raids', but I'm suprised to learn that he didn't even know the name of the comic until it was released! He also mentions the television advertisement for the comic, which featured an animated Ginger the cat (one of Terry's strips - Ginger's Tum). I've been looking for this ad for a long time, and have contacted many different companies and archives, but sadly with no success. Maybe somewhere someone has got it recorded, and will one day bring it to light.
At the back of the book is a complete list of all of Terry's characters and appearences in specials, annuals etc. The list, accompanied with occasional images, is a huge 44 pages long, and also notes when a strip first appeared, which comic it was in and wether Terry or Shiela created it or took it over from somebody else etc!
The book covers a lot of stuff, and I definitely recommend it for fans of his art, others looking for tips and tricks of the trade or somebody just looking for a good read. At the moment the book can only be ordered from Lulu and costs $23.75, which is equlivelant to about £15 at time of writing, and can be ordered by clicking on the link below:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-bave/cartoons-and-comic-strips/paperback/product-20625272.html
Yesterday I got my copy of Lion King of Story Papers by Steve Holland in the post, and, although I haven't read it all yet, I've flicked through and read the first chapter, and it is incredibly well researched and beautifully laid out with suitable illustrations. I'll be posting my thoughts once I've read it, but if you've already decided you want to get a copy, click on the link below!
http://bearalleybooks.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/lion-king-of-picture-story-papers_3.html
