Today in Comics History, November 21, 1783: Balloonists regret pimping their ride with oil paint

from "Heroes of the Clouds" in Eagle v.1 #2 (Hulton UK, 21 April 1950), pencils and inks by Kenneth McDonagh

A Month of... Board Games! Day 25: Pretty fly for a white guy

British comics weeklies have frequently been editor-in-chiefed by an increasingly bizarre and out-of-this-world assortment of strange and unusual beings who have certain benefits (over, say, Paul Levitz or Carmine Infantino), not only by their distinctive personalities but by their being complete fiction (like, say, Stan Lee or Jim Shooter). We saw that Agent 21 runs the vast TV Century 21 empire, just as today Daniel Craig is the true mastermind behind Marie Claire and British Vogue. Or consider Tharg, the long-suffering (as in, he'll make you suffer for a long time) editor or 2000 AD, which recently celebrated its 2000th issue by allowing Tharg to eat both a celebration cake made of polystyrene cups and Halo Jones.


Panel from "Vector 13: Case 10: Case Closed?" in 2000 AD Prog 1302 (4 March 1997), script by David Bishop, pencils and inks by Simon Davis
Like the chiller hosts of DC books of yore like House of Secrets, Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion, and Alfred Pennyworth's Stories of Ruined Roasts, the Legion of Fictional Brit Comics Editors frequently starred in their own stories or series. Max the Computer, a super-advanced artificial intelligence that runs Maxwell Tower and used its hidden floor to enact Spectre-like retribution upon scum, nogoodniks, and just-all-out British-style bastards. Created by "Ian Holland" (the powerhouse scripting team of Alan Grant and John Wagner) and artist by José Ortiz, Max's "The Thirteenth Floor" series premiered in the wonderfully-named British comics weekly Scream! and later moved to the long-running Eagle series when the two comics merged.


Panels from "The Thirteenth Floor" in Eagle #128 (Magazines Ltd., 1 September 1984), script by Ian Holland (Alan Grant/John Wagner), pencils and inks by José Ortiz
Here's a board game from an Eagle Annual introduced by Max that features not only a justifiable hideous retribution but also a slightly more intricate and strategy-based turn system than the usual Candyland/Parcheesi clones I've been showing you throughout this series. Can you escape...The Spider & Fly Game?!? (A: No. No, you cannot.)

"The Spider & Fly Game" from Eagle Annual 1987 (IPC Magazines Ltd., 1986); creators unknown
(Click picture to world-wide-web-size)


Being turned into a fly and eaten by a bloodthirsty spider...well, that is absolutely more chilling that any old dumb Penance Stare.

A Month of... Board Games! Day 3: A Doom with a View

Doomlord!

Panels from "Doomlord" in Eagle #1 (IPC Magazines Ltd., 27 March 1982), script by Alan Grant, photography by Gary Compton

DOOMLORD!

Panels from "Doomlord III" in Eagle #50 (5 March 1983, an issue yours little stuffed truly actually picked up at the newsstand in London when he was first there), script by Alan Grant and John Wagner (as T.B. Grover), photography by Gary Compton

DOOMLORD, fan of Bob Dylan!

Panels from "Doomlord" in Eagle #100 (18 February 1984), script by Alan Grant and John Wagner (as T.B. Grover), pencils and inks by Heinzl
And now...

DOOMLORD THE GAME!

"Destroy Doomlord!" from Eagle Annual 1983 (IPC, 1983)
(Click picture to Double-Doomsday-size)

Quite possibly the greatest opening panels of any comic story, ever

DOOMLORD! Cosmic warrior of one thousand deaths...


Panels from "Doomlord" in Eagle Annual 1986 [#28] (1986), creators uncredited
...is too busy to help the police in their enquiries.


So, everyone: Doomlord!


Doomlord, won't you?

Here in my comics I feel safest of all

For sanity's sake, I'm staying away from social media until San Diego Comic-Con is over (because long story, no time to tell it here), so in the meantime, please enjoy, from the pages of Britain's Eagle Annual, synth pop sensation Gary Numan!


"Personalities with a Plus!" from Eagle Annual 1983 [#25] (1983)


Mister Gary Numan also appears in comics in Joseph Michael Linser's Crypt of Dawn #4, which, due to the fact that I have taste, I do not own.


Cover of Crypt of Dawn #4 (June 1998), painted art by Joseph Michael Linsner
But I found it on the internet for you anyway.


Gary Numan pin-up from Crypt of Dawn #4 (June 1998), painted art by Greg Williams
And Dawn appeared on the cover of Gary Numan's 1997 album...um, Dawn!


(The UK version of the album is titled Sacrifice and has an entirely different cover, for British people of discerning taste.)



Still, I'll give Gary Numan's Dawn this: As a comic book tie-in CD, it's no Songs of the Witchblade.

Freddie Mercury will save every one of us

I'm off social media until San Diego Comic-Con is over, so in the meantime, please enjoy, from the pages of Britain's Eagle Annual, rock sensation Freddie Mercury!


"Personalities with a Plus!" from Eagle Annual 1983 [#25] (1983)



Tomorrow: Gary Numan! And s'more surprises.