Mek Memoirs #1 - Kev O'Neill

I'm always happy to feature Kev O'Neill's work here on the blog (click here for all previous mentions of the great man) and I recently spotted the below on the Gosh! comics ebay account (here)...

...yes, it's a copy of (the original) Mek Memoirs #1 by Kev. This particular copy sold for £97.51

This is an original printing (NOT the Dark and Golden facsimile Edition) of Mek Memoirs in high grade from Kevin O’Neill’s personal collection. Gosh! Comics is selling this copy on behalf of Kevin’s estate. Extremely rare, this piece of comics history has been notoriously difficult to purchase in recent years and certainly not found in this grade often, likely untouched since printing. The comic itself is the Urtext for British science fiction robot comics, predating ABC Warriors and used by Kevin to convince Pat that robots had a place in 2000AD, Pat’s hatred for Robot Archie being legendary. We will mail this boarded and bagged in a cardboard mailer, tracked! 

“See the future history of robot warfare captured on video for the very first time. Von Kruppenstein! The Crusher! The Killdozers! Take a peek at the horrible world to come in searing battle action! This acerbic end of the world comedy is an unmissable look at a war you never want to see happen! This robot conflict urtext set the stage for the comics sci-fi revolution that was just around the corner."

Art by Kevin O’Neill, story by Chris Lowder writing as Jack Adrian.

The Valiant book of mystery and magic, 1976

On my Summer holiday I finally acquired a copy of 'The Valiant book of mystery & magic, 1976'. I'd come across this on ebay before and had high hopes for the content but my efforts to acquire a copy had been thwarted as the book was often priced out of my price rage. Grrr.

Anyway, a copy finally acquired and I was delighted to see that the annual has full author / illustrator credits throughout - result! So here's what you can look for  

Cover art by Geoff Campion

The hand of Tuthoon - story by Frank Pepper; art by Fred Holmes

This evil place... - story by Angus Allan; art by John Stokes

Monster quiz by John Donnelly

The final victim - story by Pat Mills & Derek Cribbling; art by Joe Colquhoun

The Dracula dynasty - art by John Bolton

Creature from nowhere - story by Frank Pepper; art by John Burns

The red house - story by Jack Adrian; art by Joe Colquhoun

It's a weird world - art by Eric Parker [albeit uncredited]

Spellbinder - uncredited

Screaming skulls - art by Eric Bradbury [albeit uncredited]

The magic spectacles - art by Geoff Campion; story by Hal Wilton

The horrors of Turville Hall - art by Geoff Campion; story by Frank Pepper

Stranger than fiction - uncredited

The passing of Gallantyne Cox - art by Fred Holmes, story by Sydney Golt

Nightmare - art by Joe Colquhoun; story by Eddie South

The fugitive from the future - art by Geoff Campion, story by Hal Wilton

The terror in the fog - art by Eric Bradbury, story by Ted Cowan

The laughter from beyond - art by John Catchpole; story by Angus Allan

The night of the gargoyle - art by Geoff Campion; story by Jack Adrian

The man on the road - art by Joe Colquhoun; story by Jack Adrian

Of thee she'll sing - art by Geoff Campion; story by JR Montague 

The strange old house by the churchyard - art by Eric Bradbury; story by Anug Allan

Venture Books imprint - MIlls & Boon

Inspired by my earlier posting about Mills & Boon imprint Venture Books I've hurriedly trawled the net to see what other images can be found...

The horrific trail across England in search of a small glass phial containing blood - blood that had once flowed through the veins of the Lord of the Vampires.

A monstrous, dog-like creature is the evil doctor's creation in this new Frankenstein tale set against the bleak background of Cornwall's Bodmin moor. 

Violence and bloodshed were no strangers to McCool, which made him the sort of unorthodox agent the giant oil company needed to protect their rig from sabotage. 

Two of the books have proved too hard to track down and this is the best image I can get...

The plot for Adam is as follows

Death was a low price to pay for the capture of Adam when compared to the havoc and horror which followed the primitive monster's escape from his electrified cage.

The plot for Tiger Trap is as follows

The blood of humans and big cats mingle over of death as Jake Hiller tracks man-eating tigers in a desperate bid to save the species from extinction.

It comes from here and credits the Adam book as really being by (comics writer) Fred Baker; the Blood of Dracula book by (comics writer) Chris Lowder (a.k.a. Jack Adrian); the Frankenstein book as really by Peter Beresford Ellis; and Rig 59 as being written by Peter Christopher Watts. 

There's also reprints of at least 4 of these books in Italian - sorry for the poor image quality, they're taken from this interesting sounding website

2000ad con - my photos - part 3

The 'Kicking it old school' panel

On the penal itself...John Higgins, John Freeman, Ian Kennedy and Jesus Redondo

Jesus Redondo leaving

Ian Kennedy & Jack Adrian (Chris Lowder)

Ian again