Tuesday, October 03, 2006

"Blog" Attains Optimum Classiness with Addition of British-Born Novelist

Wesley Stace's novel MISFORTUNE has been lauded hither and yon with such hosannahs that our poor two cents (or shillings - ha ha! that's what they call money in England!) is hardly necessary. Our use of the word "hosannahs," with all its classiness, should be a good indication of what we're talking about. The book is indescribable anyway - people say "Dickensian" a lot, but that's not it... despite the fact that Stace shares with Dickens the ability to craft a teeming, living story filled with characters about whom one frets with real fear and feeling. Plus it's funny! Though I had considered dropping the whole "writers and their comic books" angle of this "blog," Mr. Stace's response to that line of "blogging" deserves quoting in full. And here it is, marking part 10 of our ambitious series: "My favourite comic character - and what's the betting I'm the only one who can lay claim to him, at least in America - was Billy of 'Billy's Boots'. This comic strip was in 'Scorcher & Score' (an amalgamation of two football comics), which then became 'Tiger and Scorcher' (which I hated, because some of the comic strips were about sports OTHER THAN SOCCER!) and then finally found a home in the revamped 'Roy of the Rovers' (an offshoot that was more successful.) Tediously, Billy didn't change into anything, but he did have a superpower, in that he had found magical boots, that (as far as I can remember at this distance) had belonged to someone famous, or at least someone very good - these boots were always being stolen or getting lost or getting him in trouble or bringing him victory. It had a very quaint 50s feel, and for all I know that's when it actually dated from. I never liked US comics - Marvel, DC etc - though I did like the ads in the back - and there's a lengthy tribute to these ads in my next novel!"