Levellers Press have published Commando and Dan Dare writer David Motton‘s long-awaited murder mystery novel, The Uninvited Death.
Set in and around a market town in East Anglia, a man is found stabbed to death in a hotel car park whilst a wedding reception is taking place. In a series of tales we learn how the victim had affected the lives of the guests and others at the wedding. Who had come to hate him enough to kill him?
Offering, we’re told, an intriguing, brisk-paced portrait of Fenland community through a series of penetrating character sketches, you can buy The Uninvited Death from AmazonUK here.
David Motton’s varied comics career spanned three decades of British comics publishing, but he’s probably best known for his “Dan Dare” stories for Eagle, most drawn by Keith Watson.
Before he went freelance as a writer, David, who we interviewed back in 2011, worked for the Fleetway on the editorial staff of The Sun Comic, becoming its editor in its final years, after which he took over the editorship of Knockout and Film Fun – simultaneously for a while. He also scripted many stories during his staff years, notably “Jet-Ace Logan” and “Max Bravo – The Happy Hussar”.
As well as Dan Dare (and at the same time), David’s many credits include Skid Solo for Tiger, The Guinea Pig for Eagle, Burke’s Law for early editions of TV Century 21, The Woodentops for Pippin, Space Patrol and some Doctor Who stories for TV Comic.
“I produced much other work too, both before and after,” he says. “As time went by and jobs moved on in the nature of things, I wrote many articles for Tell Me Why and Look And Learn.
“In the early 1970s the London markets for my work closed down and I then spent a good few years, until the end of my writing days, working for DC Thomso. My work spanned a wide range of their publications including among others Commando (I actually wrote the opening issues of these under a pseudonym back in the early 1960s), Wizard, Hotspur, Valiant, Mandy, Bunty, Debbie, Judy and, finally, Desperate Dan in The Dandy.”
One of the few remaining survivors of British comics “boom time”, David’s time on Dan Dare is considered controversial by some, but it’s clear he remembers working on the strip with fondness — and during our chat, revealed he was somewhat stunned by the sheer volume of inaccurate information about him and his work on the web.
• You can buy The Uninvited Death from AmazonUK here
• Read our interview with David Motton 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.
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