Near Myths was an A4 SF magazine (similar to Dez Skins’ “Warrior”) published out of the Science Fiction Bookshop in Edinburgh under the ”Galaxy Press imprint”. Although the magazine only ran for 5 issues between 1978 -1980, it has gained a bit of a cult reputation over the years (in the UK at least) as it was the first home of Bryan Talbots excellent “Adventures of Luther Arkwright” series. The magazine also featured some of Grant Morrisons earliest published work with his "Gideon Stargrave" character. In line with many British comic magazine at this time Near Myths was printed in black and white on newsprint with full colour (glossy) covers.
I can still recall the first time I saw the first issue of "Near Myths" in 1978 in a small village newsagents, from memory the initial excitment of seeing a new sci-fi comic magazine (and a Scottish one at that) was tempered by the fact that most of the strips were pretty poorly illustrated, the exception being the excellent "Adventures of Luther Arkwright" by the talented Bryan Talbot (splash page from #1 above).
Above: "Near Myths" #1 (cover from internet as my copy has lost its cover)
Above:"Near Myths" #2
Above: "Near Myths" #4 (issue 3 at header).
Above: the contents page to #4.
Above: from #4 the splash page of Grant Morrisons "Gideon Stargrave" strip which he wrote and drew as a teenager. Below from #4 a page of Bryan Talbots "Luther Arkwright" series.
Although Near Myths had national (UK) distribution and was planned as a monthly title most issues arrived late following its debut in October 1978, with the final issue (#5 cover below) appearing around 18 months later in April 1980. This along with the magazine being clearly tagged as being for “mature audiences” may have resulted in its demise although there were also some pretty serious finacial issue at play with the magazine.
The Science Fiction Bookshop at this time was run by Rob King who edited issues 1-4 of "Near Myths". Sadly Rob King and the Science Fiction Bookshop were heavily in debt with Mr King abandoning the shop, his debtors and the magazine leaving Brian Talbot to edit the final issue (cover above from Internet). Due to the long delays between issues I missed the last issue of "Near Myths" (or perhaps I lost interest) which looks to have been heading in a more commercial (for an "alternative" magazine) direction with excellent creators like Hunt Emerson and Trina Robbins contributing.
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This is a new one on me. Thanks for the introduction. Bryan Talbot's work always fascinated me when I found it, though I have precious little. The Tale of One Bad Rat is a powerful tale.
ReplyDeleteI have only read Bryan's "Luther Awkright" , "The Tale of One Bad Rat " and a few of his 2000AD strips. Everyone of these were of the highest quality .
ReplyDeleteThat's a really interesting post, Paul. I'd never seen or heard of Near Myths until reading your blog. Back in 1978 I was really on the look-out for SF books and comics, so I'm pretty sure that Near Myths never made its way down to the shores of the South Coast, or even to Dark They Were & Gold Eyed in London. I may well be wrong, of course ; I'll bring your blog to the attention of my pal Nigel Brown who has always been far more deeply into SF than me. I've always had a feeling that comics have never done SF strips very well ; there has been a lot of anthology books, but few continuing series in the mainstream publishers, although famed SF writers like Edmund Hamilton made a good living from writing stories for established superheroes.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that comics have for the most part, never really done SF right. I bought all my original copies of Near Myths on a local Spar shop but I don't recall seeing them in W.H Smith's (or John Menzies in Scotland) but they were on sale in local newsagents up here.
ReplyDeleteNot really a fan of Mr. Talbot's art, and I'm picky with Mr. Morrison's work - not that it matters as I've never seen this mag before (that I recall).
ReplyDeleteLike yourself I'm picky on Grant Morrison's work. Although I never sought out Mr Talbots work,, those books I have/had I did enjoy You didnt really miss much by not picking up Near Myths Kid
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