Rebellion has announced a collection of “The Haunting of Jilly Johnson”, a masterclass in 1970 supernatural gothic comic storytelling, drawn with immense style by Rafael Busóm Clúa.
Rebellion previously published The Best of Sugar Jones, written by Pat Mills, drawn by Rafael, to critical acclaim, in 2020, another great title from their Treasury of British Comics line.
Rafael Busóm Clúa (who usually signed his work as Busom Cluá, also known as Rafael Busom) made his debut in comics in Spain in the 1960s, with strips for Azucena, published by Toray and for the anthology title, Sissi, published by Bruguera.
During the 1970s and 1980s his work featured in a variety of British comics, many commissioned through Selecciones Ilustradas, including Picture Romance, Jinty, Pink and Oh, Boy!. His best known work, some strips collected as The Best of Sugar Jones by Rebellion in 2020, is Sugar Jones for Pink, written by Pat Mills. Some of the strips Clua drew were reprinted in Spain in the collections Babette, Salomé and Torbellino, but not “Sugar Jones”. Tebeosfera notes they also featured in some French magazines, including Corail, German (Vanessa) and Holland (Anita Super Boek).
Due for release 7th May and available for preorder now,“The Haunting of Jilly Jones” first appeared in Pink, a weekly magazine/comic for teenage girls published by IPC from 1973 to 1980, lasting for 377 issues before merging into Mates. Alongside various features on pop, fashion and so forth it ran comic serials – usually with a romantic theme – and the regular gag strip “Kisses”.
Contributors to the title also included Purita Campos, with her creator-owned strip “Patty’s World”.
From the very first night in her new flat, Jilly Johnson is haunted by nightmares and calls out the name of a man who Jilly does not know. Spooked by a fortune teller, and by what she sees as the flat itself sending her messages, she becomes determined to find out more about the previous tenants, and the accident that led to the death of one of them.
The collection also includes “The Island of Stones”, also published in Pink, in which two English tourists on holiday on a Greek island meet a modern master sculptor, known for his stone statues of the human form, and discover the secret of his success – the head of Medusa.
This story acts as a showcase for Rafael Busóm Clúa, who initially caught the reader’s eye with his incredibly stylish work on Sugar Jones, and is perfect for fans of both 1970s fashion and frights alike!
Sugar Jones is seen by the world as a charming twenty-something host of her own late-night variety show, beloved by viewers up and down the nation. Only her overworked and underappreciated assistant, Susie Ford, knows her secret that Sugar is really a selfish, sour schemer who’ll do anything to look good on television!
While the wannabe star’s own ambition and vanity frequently work against her, Susie continues to do her best to protect Sugar.
Originally published in the pages of Pink, a magazine/comic hybrid which ran from 1973 through to 1980, this collection selects the very best Sugar Jones strips written by Pat Mills and drawn with incredible style by Rafael Busóm Clúa.
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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, Comic Previews, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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