The latest Phil-Comics auction of British comic art and comics on eBay, running until Monday 13th to Tuesday 14th July 2026, includes a copy of a sample “Issue Zero” of Terra Nova, an attempt to bring an EAGLE-style to the newsstand back in 1983.
Back in 2019, Jeremy Briggs included the project from Eco Publishing, based in Kent, as part of a series of articles for downthetubes outlining the dummy comics that were created through the years as potential ‘modern’ versions of the original Eagle comic from the 1950s and 1960s, none of which ever made it to newsagents’ shelves.
Conceived and edited by Gerald O’Donnell, who had previously worked as a writer for DC Thomson, the 32-page “Zero Edition” was an an independent publication and did not have the financial security that a major publisher could provide.
The auction lot includes a copy of a letter soliciting material for consideration, the title aimed at nine to 14-year-olds, detailing average page rates.
As Jeremy notes, contributors to “Issue Zero” included writer Derek Lord and artist Keith Page, who provided the lead strip, “Ocean Interpol”; Eric MacKenzie drew a short black and white humour strip “Long John Cyborg: Pirate Of The Future!”, while Geoff Harold was the artist on two-pages black and white strip, “Private Investigator Ronald Square”, which began as a typical PI story and ended with the appearance of monsters; and “Warriors Of The Rainbow”, with art by Garth’s Martin Asbury, set in the American Old West, with a group of Apache children pitted against the might of the US Army.
Editor O’Donnell wrote a three page strip, “Hub Ub”, a somewhat tongue-in-cheek space opera about a sleeper ship run by robots, illustrated by and Michael Jupp, now best known as an illustrator of humorous jigsaws, and Geoff Senior provided art on “Lavender Valley”, a three-page black and white modern day story of revenge set in inner city housing estates. Several feature spreads were also included.
Like Lost Eagle and Lightning before it, nothing came of Terra Nova but some five years later, its cover strip, “Ocean Interpol”, would rise from the depths yet again.
• Check out the current full Phil-Comics catalogue here on eBay
The listings end on Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th July 2026, from 4.00pm UK time
REPLACING EAGLE – READ THE SERIES
• Introduction – How do you write about Comics That Were Never Published? • Lost Eagle and Lightning • Terra Nova • The first Eureka • Eureka Revived
- 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: Auctions, British Comics, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Other Worlds
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