Former Marvel UK editor in chief Richard Starkings just sent me this unused cover for the original Dragon’s Claws #5, drawn by Geofff Senior, following discussion about Death’s Head on It Came from Darkmoor.
Richard says the cover was rejected as “too boring” and wonders just why Simon Furman was not asked to write Death’s Head II when Paul Neary took editorial control at Marvel UK back in the 1990s.
“I never understood why he wasn’t writing the relaunch,” says Richard, “having worked with him on… um, everything, I know that he would have taken on a new direction quite happily.”
As I recall, Simon did indeed pitch a revamped Death’s Head treatment to Paul, which was rejected, but I don’t know the reasons.
- 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: downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
PSYComics teases Odysseus epic, 2000AD’s Simon Harrison on board 
“Past Perfect” explores Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, new “Avengers Assemble!” quarterly 
Carol Day Showcase available now from Book Palace Books 
“Four Shorts” conjures childhood nostalgia for creator Albert Campillo Lastra