Even Evil Has Standards: The monstrous Worst Man is the foulest criminal on Elekton but he does have one specific standard - he's a firm believer in a fair fight (he even kills a henchman who tried to shoot Trigo in their match) and when he's dying due to a snakebite accident after his scrap with Trigo was interrupted, he's a Graceful Loser and concedes that Trigo is the winner. I think you’ll agree Chris’s designs look utterly stunning. We’re assuming this was entirely separate to the abandoned Richard Fleischer movie project we’ve previously featured here.

Although the strip has seen only limited English-language release it remains one of the most popular comic series in Holland and Germany, with over two million albums sold. Ancient Grome: The Trigan Empire has the togas, spathas, triremes and other mishmash of ancient Rome and Greece. The writing style was very purple. Probably not since Robert E. Howard wrote that Conan the Barbarian was destined to "Tread the Jewelled thrones of the world beneath his sandalled feet" has there been more overblown verbiage in a piece of popular entertainment. Certainly, not many characters in modern comics "slake their ravening thirst" at waterholes or "feel the icy fingers of terror course down their spines"; but maybe the world of comics, and the English language, are the poorer for it.Immune to Bullets: Some wildlife on Elekton are immune to the bullets from the high-tech guns of that world.

Even as a young reader, you knew this was a special strip, with a special artist. When Lawrence was replaced, for six issues, by the superb Miguel Quesada, something was missing. The Quesada strip is included in this volume, left out of the earlier Dutch reprint, and excellent it is too, but not quite as good as Lawrence’s work – or as well reproduced, I fear. Never Say "Die": Actually, they never say "kill", always "eliminate" or "destroy" or occasionally "dispatch". They generally say "perish" rather then "die" as well. Even while shooting guns or swinging swords at their enemies, "Perish, curse you!"The strip had begun in the first issue of Ranger, in September 1965, where it shared billing with an early, and inferior, translation of the adventures of Asterix, under the title, “ Britons Never, Never, Never Shall Be Slaves!”. Lawrence had been offered the job illustrating “The Rise and Fall of The Trigan Empire” after the publisher saw a single colour episode of his “ Karl the Viking” in the 1965 Lion Annual. The strip that he and writer Mike Butterworth went on to produce was to become one of the best remembered and most influential of its time, even if much of the influence was felt outside of the British Isles. So, in some ways a historical oddity, but in others a celebration of the work of a master artist. Not all of you will want to collect all of these reissued volumes, but you should definitely dip into them to see the beginning of the world of graphic novels, a detailed world explored and constantly reimagined. Space Romans: Despite the quite advanced technology and occasional Mad Science, a lot of the visual aesthetic and bits of the political systems bear a remarkable resemblance to Earth’s classical Graeco-Roman period.

Originally published in the anthology title Ranger from the first issue in September 1965, and Look and Learn from June 1966 until April 1982, the series told the story of an alien empire on the planet Elekton that was heavily influenced by history, particularly Roman. Created by Mike Butterworth, who died in 1986, and artist Don Lawrence, who passed away in 2004, the series’ mix of political intrigue and Lawrence’s lush painted artwork won a host of fans worldwide, and proved to be highly influential, inspiring a generation of comic book creators with its depth and beauty. Obviously Evil: The Worst Man (yup that's his name) is a brutal Diabolical Mastermind who waged a highly effective terrorist campaign against the Trigan Empire and if Beauty Equals Goodness, this guy looks like a Frazetta Man got boinked by a werewolf and then gave birth to a butt-baby. Evil Twin: Triplet, in this case. Twice. Trigo was one of a set of triplets, one of whom, Klud, was a stinker (his daughter Thara was also evil). Trigo later sired triplets, of whom one, Argo, came under the influence of an evil alien.Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": Kreeds (rhymes with 'steeds') = horses, Nobras (rhymes with 'cobras') = poisonous snakes, The Sacred Yalt = a sabre-toothed tiger, Robbis = marmot, Morrol = rat, Norva = orca, Zanna = piranha, Gorphin = dolphin, Ranta = tarantula. Freeman, John (28 September 2018). "British Comic Heroes under one roof! Rebellion snaps up TI Media's classic comics catalogue". downthetubes.net . Retrieved 11 September 2022. Overall, the story quality could be cheesier and mouldier than a well-matured Stilton, but there was still something great about it. It has the same kind of place in the hearts of its fans that the old Batman (1966) show with Adam West has.