Title: Comics Revue
Issue Number: 365 – 366 (October – November 2016)
Complete Stories: Flash Gordon, Rick O’Shay, Sir Bagby and Krazy Kat
Continued Comics Series: Modesty Blaise, The Phantom (Daily Strip & Sunday Strip), Flash Gordon, Steve Roper, Rick O’Shay, Tarzan, Alley OOP, Steve Canyon, Buz Sawyer and Gasoline Alley
Publisher: Manuscript Press
Cover Artist: Danny Frolich (Back Cover – Warren Tuffs)
Editor: Rick Norwood
Book Size: 20 CM x 27 CM
Pages: 130 Pages (18 Pages in Multi colour)
Published: Bi Monthly (6 Issues every year)
Paper Stock: Newsprint
Binding: Saddle Stitched
Price: $19.95 US
Annual Subscription: $59 in the United States and $89 elsewhere
The Magazine: Published by Manuscript Press and edited by Rick Norwood, Comics Revue is a small press comic book specializing in the reprints of the golden oldies of the strip comics such as The Phantom, Modesty Blaise, Flash Gordon, Steve Roper etc. It was published as a monthly magazine some time back but is is now available bi-monthly.
The Review: Comics Revue is, simply, one of the best Comic Magazines.
Imagine a book which gives all of your most lovable comic strips in one place? Wouldn’t that be nice? Well, Comics Revue offers just that.
While there are certain series like the The Phantom Dailies, which are now reprinted by Hermes Press and Modesty Blaise is reprinted by Titan Books, certain series like Casey Ruggles (Warren Tuffs), Rick O’Shay (Stan Lynde) and Steve Roper (Allen Saunders) are nowhere to be found in the radar of the current publishers. In this particular context, Comics Revue must not only be appreciated, but also celebrated for its continued love of the best of the comic strip reprinting.
A healthy potion of complete comic strips, combined with the continued stories, make up the better part of the title, edited by the redoubtable mathematician, writer and editor Rick Norwood, offering all that you need to for a wonderful trip down memory lane. Indeed, the beauty of Comics Revue is that it not only kindles a bout of nostalgia in the reader; it also helps re-ignite those wonderful memories associated with the first reading of all those comic strips published in it.
This latest issue of combines two month’s issues as a single book, and is numbered as combining the two issues (365 and 366). Comics Revue not only holds the record for being the longest-running independent comic book, it still captures the imagination by printing (rather reprinting) some of the best ever comic series.
The current issue has the following complete stories:
• Flash Gordon & the Vikings (by Harry Harrison)
• Rick O’ Shay – The Feud (by Stan Lynde)
• Sir Bagby (by R & D Hackney)
• Krazy Kat (George Herriman)
Apart from that, the following are the continued strips:
• The Phantom – The Governor’s Family Part 1 (Lee Falk & Wilson McCoy)
• Steve Roper – Candid Camera Part 4 (Allen Saunders & William Overgard)
• Modesty Blaise – Frazer’s Story Part 1 (Peter O’Donnell & Peter Romero)
• Flash Gordon – Venus Mystery Part 1 (Mac Raboy & Harry Harrison)
• Tarzan – Jungle Revolution Part 1 (Russ Manning)
• Buz Sawyer – Bandits –Final part. (Roy Crane)
• Rick O’ Shay – The Beginning Part 6 (Stan Lynde)
• The Phantom – The Ape Idol of Duguru Part 3 (Lee Falk & Wilson McCoy)
• Tarzan – Baboon Boy Part 2 (John Celarado & Dick Van Buren)
• Gasoline Alley – The Train Part 1 (Dick Moores)
• Alley Oop – Amazons Part 3 (V T Hamlin)
• Cassey Ruggles Part 2 (Warren Tuffs)
The team behind Comics Revue are Rick Norwood, who attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and completed his PhD in Mathematics. He has contributed to the field of Algebraic Topology by writing many papers about it and also has a book on How to Think to his credit, available on Kindle.
Rick made a mark in comics during his days with MIT, when he was one of the four writer-editors of the early underground comics, God Comics. Later on he developed his comics’ interest and that resulted in the founding of Manuscript Press, which specialized on printing unpublished science fiction novels. Since 1984, Comics Revue has been enthralling the ComiRades all over the world with its wonderful concoction of stories.
Rick is ably assisted by renowned ComiRades such as the legendary Ivan Pedersen and Allen Lane, who throw in their weight as Associate Editors of Comics Revue. The covers of the magazine are among the most cherished and collected by comics’ collectors, many featuring work by artists such as Al Williamson, Jack Kirby, Roy Crane, Hal Foster and Milton Caniff, to name but a few.
Every alternative week, we hear a story about the closure of a comic’s magazine by some of the top publishers. In this context, Rick Norwood’s work and his continued love towards reprinting the best of the golden oldies must be celebrated by supporting him.
Verdict: If you Love retro Comics series, it’s a Must Buy, 5 Bullets (5/6).
• Comics Revue is available to order from all good comic shops, or you can order it through this Forbidden Planet link and help support downthetubes
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