Bear Alley Books, run by comic archivist Steve Holland, has just launched its Air Ace Picture Library Companion, the first volume in a revised and expanded series covering the Fleetway war libraries, and a further Mytek the Mighty collection, completing the stories featured in the weekly comic, Valiant.
The new edition of the Air Ace Picture Library Companion features updated and corrected issue lists co-compiled by David Roach, along with all-new introductions, extensive biographies of many of the major artists and a creators index which includes shorter biographical sketches of artists and writers not covered in the Biographies section.
The book is contains over 500 illustrations, many of them taken from original artwork which has rarely been seen outside of private collections.
Amongst the artists included are cover artists Ian Kennedy, Graham Coton, Alan Willow, Nino Caroselli and Pino Dell’Orco; other artists covered include F. Solano Lopez, George Stokes, Aldo Di Gennaro, Fernando Fernandez, Juan Zanotto, Victor Hugo Arias, Juan Abellan, Marcello Ralli, Luis Martinez Mira, Leopoldo Ortiz and Leopoldo Sanchez.
Also available now is Mytek the Mighty Volume 4, offering the final adventures of Professor Boyce, Dirk Mason and Mytek from the pages of Valiant.
Mytek is still suffering the aftereffects of Gogra’s missiles when a new menace emerges: thanks to a serum thrown carelessly away, microscopic creatures are growing into gigantic monsters! Soon after, Gogra once again goes on the rampage, this time accompanied by a giant robot-rhino!
Vanishing sea vessels lead Professor Boyce, Mytek’s creator, and Dirk Mason to investigate a mass of weed, only to find that it is controlled by their old enemy, Gogra.
Boyce, Mason and Mytek are sent to an uninhabited Pacific island after swarms of giant insects reach America’s coast. A nuclear device may be to blame… but will they make it safe before chromo-rays from the device create more giant creatures.
Then, Mytek is launched into space to rescue two lost astronauts who have crash-landed on the planet Umbra. The planet is bathed in a strong light, and almost as soon as Mytek lands, something bizarre happens… his shadow comes to life and creeps away, slipping into a cleft too narrow for the giant ape to follow…
• The Air Ace Picture Library Companion will be available through the Bear Alley eBay store soon. Orders can also be made via Paypal (steve [at] bearalley.co.uk), price £26.00 including p&p. Please make sure you include your address when paying by Paypal. Please ask for overseas prices.
• Mytek the Mighty Volume 4 will be available through the Bear Alley eBay store soon. Orders can also be made via Paypal (steve [at] bearalley.co.uk), price £26.00 including p&p. Please make sure you include your address when paying by Paypal. Please ask for overseas prices.
PLEASE NOTE Due to recent postal changes, American and other overseas orders should be made through Paypal in UK sterling; just e-mail Steve via tge address above, and he can offer postage much cheaper than Ebay’s Global Shipping
• Air Ace Picture Library Companion | Published: 14 November 2025 | Format: A4, 121 colour pages, paperback with matte cover | Catalogue Details Here
• Mytek the Mighty Volume 4 | Published: 14 November 2025 | Format: A4, 199 b/w pages, paperback with matte cover | Catalogue Details Here
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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.
Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Collections, British Comics - Current British Publishers, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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