Bear Alley Books publisher Steve Holland has announced the independent comic publisher’s next collection – The Shrinker, collecting a near-forgotten first published in early issues of the British weekly comic, Buster.
Steve is hoping have copies to order next month, July 2026, so keep an eye on the Bear Alley website for updates.
“Tiny People” have been the focus of myth and legend for centuries, and that has extended into modern stories too, such as 2017’s strange film, Downsizing. The Shrinker, perhaps inspired by films such as The Incredible Shrinking Man, released in 1957 and Attack of the Puppet People (1958), published long before the debut of Irwin Allen’s Land of the Giants, is a classic weird menace tale. It was created and initially written by Commando and Dan Dare writer David Motton, featuring art by the legendary Mike Western and, later, Carlos Cruz, making its debut in Buster in the issue cover dated 8th December 1963, running until 16th January 1965.
(Tom Tully has incorrectly been cited as series writer on websites).
“The Shrinker” begins with a near miss on a dark and stormy night. An RAF transporter narrowly misses an unlit array on a craggy island and Squadron-Leader Flint and Sergeant Slake return later to ask the owner of a bleak and seemingly long-deserted castle, to put a light atop some mysterious pylons. But the inhabitant is an evil scientist, Capek, who turns a strange ray on the men, miniaturising them – and plunging them into danger!
After its run in Buster, the strip was later reprinted in Valiant (issues cover dated 2nd March 1968 – 10th January 1970 – Land of the Giants arriving on British television in December 1968, which was a happy boost, perhaps, for the strip), rejigged into a page and a half format. Steve is using the Valiant pages as source material, because they’re a better fit for the size of book he prints.
“Buster was still a tabloid until 1965, which, ironically, would have meant shrinking the pages down significantly,” he explains.
The collection will include all five stories which, in the follow up stories, would see the evil Capek jailed more than once, only to escape; or to be persuaded into helping the population of an island threatened by a volcano, which gives a British space rocket expert an idea. A rocket powerful enough to launch men towards Mars would be impossible… but what if the men and their capsule were shrunk to midget size?
“I’m pleased to say that the book will include a foreword from David and an introduction from Pete Western, Mike’s son,” Steve reveals. “Mike drew the first two stories, 120 of the strip’s 200 pages, before handing over to Carlos Cruz.
“David Motton would write four of the five ‘Shrinker’ stories, taking a short break when Western left, when the strip was continued by Roger Noel Cook.
“The Shrinker” was also syndicated abroad, published in France in the French TV guide, Télépoche as “Commando de poche” (“Pocket Commando”), in issues No. 269 (April 1971) to No. 366 (1973). The magazine also reprinted “The Avengers” stories from TV Comic.
It was also reprinted in Spain as “El Reductor“, by Editorial Dólar, in their anthology title Héroes Modernos (Series A, B and C), over Issues 37A to 46C. Spanish language comic archive sites have incorrectly credited Scott Goodall as writer.
The Shrinker: Principal Creators
David Motton, whose career spanned three decades of British comics publishing, is probably best known for his “Dan Dare” stories for Eagle, most drawn by Keith Watson. Before he went freelance as a writer, David worked for the Fleetway on the editorial staff of Sun comic, becoming its editor in its final years, after which he took over the editorship of Knockout and Film Fun – simultaneously for a while. He also scripted many stories during his staff years, notably “Captain Condor”, “Jet-Ace Logan” and “Max Bravo – The Happy Hussar”.
As well as “Dan Dare” (and at the same time), David’s many credits include early issues of Commando, “Skid Solo” for Tiger, “The Guinea Pig” for Eagle, “Burke’s Law” for early editions of TV Century 21, “The Woodentops” for Pippin, and “Space Patrol” and some “Doctor Who” stories for TV Comic.
Widely regarded as one of the best artists to ever grace the British comic industry, Mike Western (4th February 1925 – 13th May 2008) began his career on Knockout, having already spent time working for GB Animation. During the 1950s he shared art chores with Eric Bradbury on the popular western strip, “Lucky Logan”. In 1960 he moved onto TV Express where he drew “No Hiding Place” and “Biggles”. Buster and Valiant followed, where Mike found himself drawing long-running strips such as “The Wild Wonders”.
In the 1970s he was very prolific, illustrating Buster‘s “Leopard from Lime Street” and several key strips for Battle, including “Darkie’s Mob”, “The Sarge” and “HMS Nightshade”. Mike made an impact on the iconic Roy of the Rovers, illustrating the newspaper strip which ran in the Daily Star during the 1990s.
Carlos Cruz González, usually known simply as Carlos Cruz (1st June 1930 – 27th March 2018) was a Spanish comics artist, who worked in Buenos Aires as a cover illustrator and cartoonist, before moving to Málaga in the 1960s, where he began working for British firm Fleetway Publications on their British comics. His work appeared in Eagle, Lion, Tiger, Buster, Smash! and others. His most significant work in British comics was his three-year stint on the series Dan Dare for the relaunched Eagle, from 1985 to 1988. Between 1988 and 2003, he worked on The Phantom in Sweden.
The Shrinker Stories
(Dates featured are issue cover dates)
“The Shrinker” (8th December 1962 – 29th June 1963)
The best of the RAF take on an evil scientist with an incredible invention! Every episode ends on a crazier cliffhanger – sometimes, literally…
“Return of The Shrinker” (24th August 1963 – 21st March 1964 – final issue date via Irmantas Povlaika)
Believed dead, Capek returns, again employing his powerful to shrink humans and animals to midgets – and Flint and Slake are his first targets! Buts as the pair head to London to warn the Prime Minister, Capek turns his ray on an entire village, and demands two million pounds in ransom – or he will use his ray on other targets!
“The Shrinker’s Revenge” (2nd May – 29th August 1964)
Capek may have been put behind bars, but he swore to return and claim his revenge. And return he certainly did. Gang boss Madago devised and executed a daring plan to free Capek, hoping to form an alliance, and thus become the richest men in the World. But he underestimated the evil scientist, who uses the crime syndicate’s resources to perfect his new shrinking machine and then turned it against the gang boss. With Madago out of the way, Capek is now the biggest crime boss alive, fully equipped to unleash his plot against the world…
“The Voyage of The Shrinker” (5th September 1964 – 17th October 1964)
Despite being under lock and Key, Capek still proves a dangerous man, now using his reducing power through a simple ring on his finger – as long as he can keep hold of it, that is…
“The Shrinker in Space” (24th October 1964 – 16th January 1965)
The Shrinker’s reduction ray is used to send a team of astronauts to Mars – but its inhabitants prove very dangerous to the miniaturised crew!
Head downthetubes for…
• downthetubes: Mike Western Remembered
• downthetubes: Creator Tributes to Mike Western
• Tebosfera: Carlos Cruz González
• Carlos Cruz & The Phantom: A tribute by Ulf Granberg
After the passing of longtime Egmont Phantom artist Carlos Cruz in 2018, Chronicle Chamber reached out to one of the colleagues who knew him best: Team Fantomen editor Ulf Granberg. Ulf has kindly contributed a tribute to one of the very highly talented artists in the Egmont team
• La Burbuja de Alejandro: La verdad sobre «The Shrinker» / Quién dibujó «El reductor»
“The Shrinker” and Buster and Valiant comic © Rebellion Publishing
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as 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.
Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Collections, British Comics - Current British Publishers, Comic Previews, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
Related Articles
-
PSYComics launches Kickstarter for “Odysseus – In Defiance of the Gods” collection
-
Hibernia Comics announces “Glory Knight: Time Travel Courier” collection
-
Doctor Who Adventures comic strip collections on the way from Panini
-
Red Dagger returns, thanks to Hibernia Comics, launching with new King Cobra collection
Leave a Reply