2007-09-01 At last an index and appraisal of some of the greatest UK comics to ever see print!

Overlooked by comics historians for decades, the pocket sized war comics that were an unsanctioned intruder in many a schoolboy's satchel are now given a long overdue examination by comics historians Steve Holland and David Roach. As long term afficionados of UK comics as well as being industry insiders both Holland and Roach are able to shed light on comics which although familiar to many readers have been swathed in mystery as regards their means of creation. The stories that they bring to light via interviews with the editors, writers and artists who made these comics so successful are as engaging as the comics themselves.

Clad in a handsome red flexi-cover bedecked with reproductions of some of the most resonant and evocative covers to appear on UK comics this book is indeed a pleasure to behold and the interiors more than live up to the promise of the presentation. The inside pages are nicely laid out with two columns of text and four colums for the index allowing for a lot of information to be carried without becoming in any way cluttered and making for a very pleasurable reading/ browsing experience. All the war themed pocket libraries that Fleetway produced are re-presented here in terms of an exhaustive index spanning the entire runs of such titles as War, Air Ace and Battle Picture Library. In the case of War Picture Library, which with it's debut issues hitting the newstands in October 1958 was the first and longest running title, the first 100 covers are re-presented in full colour, Battle and Air Ace covers for the first 50 respective issues are again presented in colour along with colour reproductions shot from the recently unearthed original artwork for many of the earliest covers. In addition there are superb black and white reproductions of many other covers and the interior pages which presented artwork by future doyens of the international comics scene such as Hugo Pratt, Ian Kennedy and Gino D'Antonio.

The work that Roach and Holland have devoted to researching and identifying the largely Hispanic, Italian and South American artists whose virtuosity made these comics so captivating is nothing short of breathtaking. In an industry where creative anonymity was ruthlessly enforced with the whiting out of artist's signatures and absolutley nothing by way of any identification procedure being accorded the creators, the task of sorting who wrote, drew or painted whichever issue would seem at times nigh on impossible. Whereas it might be easy after a while to I.D. diferent artists, writers are another matter altogether, but in all cases and for much of the bulk of this impressive tome, the writers, artists and the painters who created these magnificent comics are all listed with suprisingly few gaps.

The net effect of pouring over this engrossing tome is to awaken insurmountable cravings to start reading these fabulous comics all over again. Hitherto almost impossible to locate, many of the earliest issues are now being republished in compendium sized collections devoted initially to War and Battle Picture Libraries, this index is an ideal and indispensable accompaniment to such a venture