Loved the piece on old British super heroes in the latest Comic Heroes. I'm very lucky that there's a shop not far from where I work that sells old toys, magazines, vinyl records and comics. I managed to pick up copies of the 1971 Smash! and Pow! annuals featured in this article. So for the last few days I've been engrossed in the short lived adventures of Tri-Man, Aquavenger, Electro - Super Security Agent, Magno - Man of Magnetism, and the ESPer Commandos. I was previously completely unaware of the existence of these characters. I knew about Marvel Man, Zenith and the Marvel UK stuff, but apart from that I just didn't think that us Brits really did super heroes. Out of curiosity I checked on the net to see if I could find out who owns the publishing rights to all these characters. Well, what a typically tangled web that turns out to be. What is it about British comics characters and disputed ownership? Such a shame as these are great characters, ripe for updating or re-imagining. C'mon, who wouldn't want to see Warren Ellis writing the new adventures of Gadget Man and Gimmick Kid? Garth Ennis writing The Purple Hood? Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch Ultimising The Super Security Agency (starring Mini Man, Mr Whizz, Flame man, Electro and ...er...Iron Dog)?
