From the the 1980s comic New Eagle comes the classic story “The Tower King”, written by Alan Hebden (one of the current writers on Commando, but whose credits also include many strips for 2000AD, including “Meltdown Man” and other comics) and the late, great José Ortiz (“The Thirteenth Floor”).
“The Tower King” tells the tale of Mick Tempest and his struggles to survive in a London plunged into medieval anarchy by the complete loss of electricity. The tale is brilliantly written by Alan Hebden, and the artwork by Ortiz is among his best.
Published by Hibernia Books under license from the Dan Dare Corporation, who own rights to many strips from both the original Eagle and the 1980s title, The Tower King is a 76-page plus black and white collection and includes an enthusiastic introduction to the story from comics artist Leigh Gallagher (Defoe).
This much admired and fondly-recalled story – which, unlike many British comic strips, is a complete tale (even if the finale does seem a bit rushed) has never been reprinted, and the first print is limited to 200 individually numbered copies. It is only available in print at this point: there’s no digital edition available yet.
• The Tower King is available only from Hibernia’s Comicsy shop at http://www.comicsy.co.uk/hibernia
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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.
