Out Now: The Spencer Nero Club #1: Folklore and Fire

By John Freeman on March 11, 2020

Meet Gypsum, Smallpiece, Venables and Tookey – pupils at the increasingly-odd institution known as Blackabbots School. Together, they are The Spencer Nero Club – hardcore fans of 1930s Britain’s greatest pulp hero.

Secretly guarding contraband artefacts from the nation’s greatest foes, the club members now begin their own series of uncanny adventures – and it all starts when they investigate a local village that’s disappeared in the night!

Who will become their newest member? Will their rabid headmaster catch them out of bounds? And precisely how many werewolves has Spencer Nero fought in his career? The answers will surprise you!

The Spencer Nero Club #1: Folklore and Fire offers a story described by writer Greg Meldrum as “Ripping Yarns, by way of The Twilight Zone“, this is a tale of dubious derring-do and dimensional displacement!

Spinning off from PARAGON comic’s long-running “Spencer Nero” series, this 28-page US format black-and-white volume is written by Greg Meldrum (Martillo, Gallo, The Psychedelic Journal) and features art by Scott Twells (The Adventures of Punk and Rock, Zarjaz, Dogbreath) and letters / design by Filippo (PARAGON, Dogbreath, The77)

• The Spencer Nero Club #1: Folklore and Fire is available here from The Work of Knaves in print for £3.00 + p&p – and as a digital edition here for 99p

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.