Back in May 1985, IPC launched what would prove to be the short-lived Eagle Picture Library – the final digest sized Picture Library comic title to be launched in the UK in newsagents.
DC Thomson’s Commando is the only surviving title in the same format available on general release today, although independent publishers have utilised the format in recent years – Sentinel just one example.
Lasting just fourteen issues, published between May 1985 to Nov 1985, it was a reprint title, with stories reformatted from weekly strips from titles such as Lion, Tiger and Valiant into digest format.
Two issues were published each month, on the first Monday of the month, featuring reprints of British adventure comic stories first published in the 1960s and 1970s.
It looks like most covers were simply re-workings of panels from the strips featured inside, but given that Barrie Tomlinson was in charge of the Eagle titles, and his friendship with artist John Gillatt, you have to wonder if he commissioned covers from him for the strips he had previously drawn.
The story choices were often good, but there was no theme to them and much of the material, by 1985, would have looked quite dated to younger readers. Perhaps it might have more success with stronger characters each issue, rather than choosing stories from the huge IPC archive with no standout lead?
The way the old strips were represented to fit the digest format was not without criticism, either, and clearly didn’t appeal enough to reach gain a long term committed audience.
Here’s a quick guide to the title. ebay is a good place to start a search if you’re curious…
Eagle Picture Library: Issue by Issue
Eagle Picture Library No. 1: “Talisman of Doom”
Cover: Joe Colquhoun
Art: Joe Colquhoun
Published: May 1985
Featuring: Saber, King of the Jungle in “Talisman of Doom”
Story Notes: A reprint story first published in Tiger, in the issues cover dated 8th July 1967 to 7th October 1967. Featuring a Tarzan wannabe who was able to command pretty much any form of wildlife by whistling at it. No, seriously.
Joe Colquhoun, best known as the artist on Battle’s “Charley’s War”, was the original Saber artist of the series, but Denis McLoughlin also drew many of his stories for Tiger, an artist also known for his work on Commando and The Crunch.
Eagle Picture Library No. 2: “Murder in Space”
Cover: Brian Lewis
Writer: Information welcome
Artist: Brian Lewis
Published: May 1985
Featuring: Jet-Ace Logan in “Murder in Space”
Story Notes: First published in Tiger, in the issues cover dated 30 September 1961 to 30th December 1961. Investigating the disappearance of several spacecraft, the crew of the Z-4 are kidnapped by the same force – a living brain looking for a suitable heir. They manage to escape and destroy the brain and its robots, but only Commander Cobb, Jet-Ace Logan, Plumduff Charteris and Morgan survive.
Eagle Picture Library No. 3: The Black Archer
Cover: John Gillatt
Writer: Information welcome
Artist: John Gillatt
Published: June 1985
Featuring: The Black Archer
Story Notes: First published in Tiger, in the issues cover dated 15th April 1967 to 20th May 1967. The ending of the final installment was changed from the original version in this reprint.
Clem Macey, by day a Delago City TV Reporter, is the Black Archer. “The Black Archer” was reprinted internationally, including in the former Yugoslavia.
Eagle Picture Library No. 4: The Rebels of Rome
Cover: Information welcome
Writer: William Patterson
Artist: Information welcome
Published: June 1985
Featuring: Olac in “The Rebels of Rome”
Story Notes: First published in Tiger, in the issues cover dated 21 August 1965 to 13th November 1965.
Eagle Picture Library No. 5: Terror of the Deep”
Cover: Information welcome
Writer: Information welcome
Artist: Information Welcome
Published: July 1985
Featuring: “Terror of the Deep”, a reprint of “Scarback: Legend of the Deep”, from Tiger
Story Notes: Years before Jaws and Action’s better known “Hookjaw”, Scarback, a deadly tiger shark, made his debut in Tiger in 1962, trying his hardest to eat his arch-enemy, Louis Bernard.
As comics archivist Phil Rushton notes here on the ComicsUK forum, Louis Bernard was the ultimate “action fisherman” who made his debut in Tiger with the issue cover dated 17th November 1962 when he first encountered his fishy nemesis, Scarback, named after his distinctively misshapen fin. Sam Fair drew many of the strips.
Running in Tiger until 1967, Bernard bested many a deadly fish or cetacean, but his main quarry was always the wily Scarback, who featured in three separate battles of will before he was finally captured.
Eagle Picture Library No. 6: “The Black Archer versus The Weatherman”
Cover: John Gillatt
Writer: Information welcome
Artist: John Gillatt
Published: July 1985
Featuring: “The Black Archer versus The Weatherman”
Story Notes: First published in Tiger, in the issues cover dated 27th May 1967 to 15th July 1967
Eagle Picture Library No. 7
Cover: John Gillatt
Writer: Information welcome
Artist: John Gillatt
Published: August 1985
Featuring: “Public Enemy No. 1”
Story Notes: Reprint of “The Great Thespius” from Tiger. Irving Thespius, actor and illusionist, turned to crime to put himself back in the public eye – and with spectacular success…
The Thespius stories were another British comic export into Europe, reprinted, for example, in Spain as “El Gran Thespius”, by Ediciones Vértice, S. A., with cover art by Rafael López Espí.
Eagle Picture Library No. 8: “Schoolboy Comnandos”
Cover: Information welcome
Writer: Information welcome
Artist: Information welcome
Published: August 1985
Featuring: “Schoolboy Comnandos”
Story Notes: Reprint source unknown. Information Welcome.
A mysterious raid on a police headquarters seems to have been carried out by schoolboys!
Eagle Picture Library No. 9: “The Red Knights of Morda”
Cover: Don Lawrence
Writer: Information welcome
Artist: Don Lawrence
Published: September 1985
Featuring: “The Red Knights of Morda”
Story Notes: A reprint of a Maroc the Mighty story from Lion (issues 671 – 682), drawn by Don Lawrence, best known for his work on “The Trigan Empire” and the European strip, Storm
Eagle Picture Library No. 10: “Company of Thieves”
Cover: John Gillatt
Writer: Information welcome
Artist: John Gillatt
Published: September 1985
Featuring: “Company of Thieves”
Story Notes: Another reprint of “The Great Thespius’ from Tiger.
Eagle Picture Library No. 11: “The Assassins”
Cover: Information welcome
Writer: Information welcome
Artist: Information welcome
Published: October 1985
Featuring: “The Assassins”
Story Notes: Another Olac the Gladiator reprint
Eagle Picture Library No. 12: “Janus Stark”
Cover: Information welcome
Writer: Information welcome
Artist: Information welcome
Published: October 1985
Featuring: Janus Stark
Story Notes: Two stories starring the Victorian escapologist, Janus Stark, “Cry Vengeance” and “The Body Snatchers”
Eagle Picture Library No. 13: “Hunter’s Moon”
Cover: Information welcome
Writer: Information welcome
Artist: Information welcome
Published: November 1985
Featuring: “Hunter’s Moon”
Story Notes: Reprint source unknown. Information Welcome
Eagle Picture Library No. 14: “The Metal Monsters”
Cover: Information welcome
Writer: Information welcome
Artist: Information welcome
Published: November 1985
Featuring: “The Metal Monsters”
Story Notes: Reprint source unknown. Information Welcome
Web Links
• Grand Comic Database: Eagle Picture Library
• International Superheroes: The Great Thespius
• Wikipedia: A List of Tiger Stories
- 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, Comics, Features, Flashback Corner
Leave a Reply