Comics UK

Brian Bolland mentions on his website that he 's drawn 300 pages of the Powerman comic that was created for the Nigerian public, and then circulated in a couple more African countries. I have the four Power Comics that were published later and contain work of him and Dave Gibbons (and were named slighly differently so that there was no confusion with Marvel 's Power Man).

My question is, was that work published in the UK as well at some point ? If so when, under what name and form (standard UK magazine size or something smaller) ?

As far as I remember the comic was published in the UK as POWERBOLT (think this may have been under the Acme press comics label) I have an issue of the US/UK (Eclipse/Acme) comic entitled "PowerMan" which is nice.

A very odd comic which nevertheless featured some beautiful artwork. As you can see from this 1975 issue, although it was mainly intended for African distribution there is also a British price included on the cover, which implies that it was sold in some parts of Britain as well (not that I ever saw it at the time! ):



...Written and drawn in the UK and printed in Carlisle I'd say it's a moot point whether this counts as a Nigerian comic or a British one!

- Phil Rushton

So, does anyone know where to find any of these interesting books?

This is a case of just keep looking.

The comic was originally commissioned by the Nigerian government to improve literacy rates in Nigeria. I have seen one of the weekly issues and that was a scan. Gibbons was the main artist but Bolland helped out when Gibbons had other deadlines to meet.

One of the storylines was reprinted in the 1980s and can be found in the USA, but the postage of getting them shipped to the UK is expensive.

The comic also features relatively unknown artwork by Carlos Ezquerra as he was the main artist on Invasion of the Hornu.

colcool007 wrote: One of the storylines was reprinted in the 1980s and can be found in the USA, but the postage of getting them shipped to the UK is expensive.

It was on sale in UK comic shops too, so copies turn up on eBay.co.uk from time to time, and at marts.

I have been looking for a copy of this for years! I just want to get hold of one for an example of Carlos' art!

David McDonald wrote:I have been looking for a copy of this for years! I just want to get hold of one for an example of Carlos' art!

I know what you mean David!

I see you have mentioned a scan Colin, have you seen a complete issue?

David McDonald wrote:I see you have mentioned a scan Colin, have you seen a complete issue?

I think it was a complete issue but as always with scans, you are never sure if you have the whole thing.