Paragon Annual 2015

Paragon Annual 2015

Published by Paragon Comics
October 2014

68 Pages – hardcover
available from Lulu.com – £12.50
Digital – £0.99

Edited by Dave Candlish

Cover Art: Dave Candlish
Colours: Jim Cameron

Genre – Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror

Regular readers will recognise the line-up of stories and creators. As with all good annuals everything inside this book is self contained so it is a perfect place for new readers to become acquainted with Paragon.

Regular issues are two or three issues a year and usually available in paper & digital versions.

This Annual is an attempt to recapture days of yore when quality annuals were the thing for Christmas. Those annuals were usually a mix of new stories and reprints with text stories added in. There werre often poasters, quizes and puzzles too – here it is just stories, comic strip and text. So all thriller, no filler.

Bulldog: Mertropolis
Script: Jason Cobley
Art: Mitzi

This is a full story broken in to several parts through the annual.

British hero Winston Bulldog has been sent to Mer-troplolis, a kingdom once known as Hong Kong, to recover a wanted war criminal. Together with his colleague, Private Bell and his friend Keiko Panda from the Nippon Naval Fleet he must recapture the criminal before the alliance between Mammals and Mer-creatures is ruined forever.

Simplified cartoon art with a wonderfully constant form and good storytelling. This is in some ways what Rupert The Bear might be if crossed with Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future.

Spencer Nero: Spencer Nero’s Secret
Text story by Greg Meldrum

The Civil Benturian defends the British Empire by wielding the mighty Janus Mask. Faced with a foe as dangerous as the Nuckalavee only Spencer Nero can prevail. Though will his best kept secret be his undoing?

A tale of derring do with the hero pitted against an enemy attacking through a virus. Tongue in cheek and delivered with phlegm.

Battle Ganesh vs Deathwheel
Script: The Emperor
Art: Dave Candlish

Ganesh and Hanuman are depicted as generic, non-Danish, brick based toys, something The Emperor can’t quite explain.

A fun caper with Ganesh helping safeguard the city from a wild Hamster in his exercise wheel, I use wild as in ‘out of control’ as I suspect it is a domesticated hamster… Or a toy, it might be a toy…

Jikan
Script – Dirk Van Dom
Pencils – Tom Newell
Inks & Letters: Jim Campbell

The time-travelling Demon-hunting Ronin finds himself in the frozen wastes of the future where a secret military base has unearthed something they would have been better leaving alone.

The Major: The De’ils jig
Script: Tom Proudfoot
Art: George Coleman
Letters: Tim West

Major Weir’d was hung for crimes of Witchcraft 350 years ago but lingers on doing the Devil’s work. Why is he interested in the harmless old man, Anton?

A reprint from AAIIEEE!!! Night Flight of Terror, a gripping plot with great artwork, a sting in the tale rather than a twist.

Jikan – Hansel & Gretel
Text story by Mark Howard

Jikan finds himself embroiled in the stuff of fokelore. The two lost children, the crone, the wood-cutter. Is everything what it seems in the enchanted forest?

Icarus Dangerous: Back
Script: Dirk van Dom
Art: Stephen Prestwood
Letters: Ken Reynolds

The son of Daedelus returns to Crete to wreak vengeance on King Minos, Queen Pasiphae and the much feared Minotaur. Something he just has to get worked out of his system.

Lil’ Ganesh and the Christmas Caper
Script: Dave Candlish
Art: Jim B Cameron

A 1950s style children’s story in one page showing the heroes save Christmas.