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caddymanLast week I picked up a copy of Albion: Origins off the sale shelves at Forbidden Planet. A snip at £3.99 rather than the £14.99 “recommended” price. Frankly, it’s not worth the full price, but it contains enough nostalgia to warrant acquiring at the sale price.
A lot of the characters used by Alan Moore, Leah Moore and John Reppion in their limited series, Albion, are based more or less closely on classic British comic characters of 40-50 years ago and the origins book reprints some of the original characters’ stories.
When I was a kid, my Uncle Des used to buy Valiant every week and I’d get it a week later. I loved some of the strips in it, Captain Hurricane, The Steel Claw, Kelly’s Eye and so on. Albion: Origins includes a Kelly’s Eye story and reprints of such worthies as Janus Stark, Cursitor Doom and The House of Dolmann. I’m not familiar with most of them, but I remember Kelly’s Eye - Tim Kelly, who found a gem called the “Eye of Zoltec” in South America, which made him invulnerable to harm as long as he wore it.
I thought it was great when I was a kid, but even then I recall thinking that he ought to take more care of it. The chain/string that held it around his neck was always breaking and he would suddenly be normal again just at the moment it really mattered. What I hadn’t remembered or remarked upon when I was young, was just what a numpty Tim Kelly really was. Bad enough that he didn’t take steps to safeguard the Eye, but it turns out that he had some kind of bizarre compulsion to show it to every shady and/or disreputable character he ever met and say something that was essentially:
Really, you can take show and tell rather too far. Tim Kelly was not quite the full ticket. I look forward to seeing just how dim the otherwise solid heroes of the age were, too.
I have to find reprints of Captain Hurricane; his ragin’ furies used to make me laugh out loud.
A lot of the characters used by Alan Moore, Leah Moore and John Reppion in their limited series, Albion, are based more or less closely on classic British comic characters of 40-50 years ago and the origins book reprints some of the original characters’ stories.
When I was a kid, my Uncle Des used to buy Valiant every week and I’d get it a week later. I loved some of the strips in it, Captain Hurricane, The Steel Claw, Kelly’s Eye and so on. Albion: Origins includes a Kelly’s Eye story and reprints of such worthies as Janus Stark, Cursitor Doom and The House of Dolmann. I’m not familiar with most of them, but I remember Kelly’s Eye - Tim Kelly, who found a gem called the “Eye of Zoltec” in South America, which made him invulnerable to harm as long as he wore it.
I thought it was great when I was a kid, but even then I recall thinking that he ought to take more care of it. The chain/string that held it around his neck was always breaking and he would suddenly be normal again just at the moment it really mattered. What I hadn’t remembered or remarked upon when I was young, was just what a numpty Tim Kelly really was. Bad enough that he didn’t take steps to safeguard the Eye, but it turns out that he had some kind of bizarre compulsion to show it to every shady and/or disreputable character he ever met and say something that was essentially:
”Hi, my name is Kelly. I don’t know anyone around here at all and I just happen to have this gem, which I carelessly keep on this thin chain around my neck, or occasionally in my very shallow pocket. Not only is it priceless, but it protects me from any kind of harm at all!
You look line a decent bloke, Mr No-Nose McGruder, why don’t you and your equally decent looking chum, Knuckles Biggs hand around in this seedy out of the way café for a chat?”
Really, you can take show and tell rather too far. Tim Kelly was not quite the full ticket. I look forward to seeing just how dim the otherwise solid heroes of the age were, too.
I have to find reprints of Captain Hurricane; his ragin’ furies used to make me laugh out loud.
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Date: 2011-09-29 12:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-29 12:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-29 09:02 pm (UTC)In part that makes me think of Aladdin and the genie - I wonder if there was some element of cunning over power playing a part?
Alternatively, considering the time-frame, I wonder if this was sub-text to the dissolution of the British Empire? Benevolence falling prey to pernicious greed, that will eventually over-reach itself?