Slingsby Bros, Ink! has announced the upcoming publication of David Wright’s Jo, another nearly-forgotten Carol Day precursor strip, and a companion to their Judy book released earlier this year.
As with Judy, as far as the American independent publisher are aware, this is the first printing of Jo since its original publication.
Jo is a typical adventure strip for the time and very similar in its premise to Judy – a young, beautiful girl is thrust into danger with her partner, and their adventures take them to exotic locales in a series of loosely plotted melodramas.
“Jo is somewhat distinguished from Judy in the quality of the art,” the publisher notes. “While the early episodes of Judy are a warmup for Wright, in Jo he has fully gotten his footing and the art shines from the first day.
“Our source material is tearsheets, and they are not the ideal source for reprinting strips. However, original art and proofs are unavailable (as far as we know they are not extant). We have adjusted contrast, lightness and black levels to provide as consistent and enjoyable experience as possible.
“If you are familiar with our book, David Wright’s Judy, you will notice that the reproduction is whiter and brighter than in Judy, mainly due to the difference in source material.”
Like Judy, Slingsby Bros, Ink! believe Jo is a minor gem by one of the greatest strip artists to practice the art and well worth fans’ attention in spite of the limitations of our source. They have collected the complete run of Jo for this book and hope you will agree.
The Limited Edition Jo is at the printer now, and Slingsby Bros, Ink! expect it to be in stock in the next few weeks. As with Judy, the Book Palace will fulfil out-of-US orders and Slingsby Bros, Ink! will have copies in their ebay store for US collectors.
• Book Palace is now taking advance orders for Jo here
The list price of Jo is £38/ $50. Retailers, please contact Geoff West at the Book Palace (info@bookpalace.com) for wholesale pricing
Features complete run of the strip, comprising episodes 1-87 | Source material: tearsheets | Format: casebound | Size: 11.8 x 11.8 inches | Full colour (strips in black and white) | Printed endpapers | 112 pages | ISBN: 9781913548933
If you want to be notified when David Wright’s Jo is available, with links for purchasing, be sure you’re signed up for the Slingsby Bros, Ink! mailing list 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 - Newspaper Strips, Comic Previews, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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