Previously announced last year, the long-awaited reprint of the complete Wrath of the Gods by Ron Embleton and John M Burns and the complete Frank Bellamy’s The Ghost World in one huge volume is on its way from Book Palace Books.
For the first time ever the work of three greatest British comics artists in one unique deluxe hardcover full colour book, Wrath of the Gods & The Ghost World (Limited Edition), due for release in January 2025.
This is the first time since their first publication in Boys’ World in the 1960s that these incredible comic strips have been reprinted, the stories professionally scanned and colour adjusted to create the feel of the original artwork in this deluxe collectors volume.
Launched in January 1963, Boys’ World, published by Longacre Press ran for 89 issues before merging with the Eagle. Despite its relatively short run over two “volumes”, the title has had a lasting impact, offering a line up that included a variety of adventure and humour strips, including “Brett Millions“, “Ghost World“, “The Iron Man“, a story centred not on the Marvel superhero, but an international crime-busting robot whose mechanical nature was concealed by an amazing suit of plastic skin, “Wrath of the Gods“, and the earliest comic strip parody of Doctor Who, “Dr What and His Time Clock“.
“Wrath of the Gods“, written by Willie Patterson (credited for his work in No. 14, the strip often wrongly attributed to Michael Moorcock) is regarded as one of Boys’ World’s finest strips, the first story drawn in colour by Ron Embleton, replaced by John M. Burns for the rest of its run. “The mythic adventure starred Arion, a Greek warrior,” notes Martin Crookall in an overview of the title, “who, on finding his family and friends slaughtered in his absence at the wars, cursed Zeus and the whole rotten lot and found himself appointed a kind of mortal trouble-shooter drafted in by the Gods to carry out fantastic missions.”
“Ghost World” (also known as “Brett Million and The Ghost Planet”), written by Harry Harrison, drawn by Frank Bellamy, was a sequel to another strip written by Harrison, “Angry Planet“, adapted from one of his novels, Deathworld, drawn by Frank Langford, a story about a character called Brett Million, who attends a training survival school on the planet Pyrrus. “Ghost World” was a totally new tale created for the comic, which ran on on the back page of Boys’ World from Volume One No. 46 ( cover dated 7th December 1963) to Volume Two No.17 (25th April 1964).
All the Embleton and Burns double-page spreads are printed as deluxe fold-outs in this monster full colour volume.
A glorious 124 pages including 60 double fold out pages, this Book Palace Books publication is surely one not to be missed by fans of classic British comics.
• Preorder Wrath of the Gods & The Ghost World (Limited Edition) here now.
Authors: Willie Patterson, Harry Harrison
Artists: Frank Bellamy, Ron Embleton, John M Burns
Publisher: Book Palace Books, due January 2025
Number of pages: 124
Format: Hard Cover; Full Colour illustrations
Size: 13″ x 10″ (324mm x 253mm)
ISBN: 9781913548599
- About the Author
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “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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