BLACK BETH
Black Beth is a brooding sword and sorcery strip starring an avenging medieval knight, created in the early 1970s for an aborted IPC horror title. The identity of the writer has since been lost to posterity, but the original artist and co-creator was Spanish illustrator Blas Gallego (who was working on movie adaptations for Dez Skinn’s House of Hammer at the time).
The comic for which the strip had been created got canned before issue one saw print and so Black Beth ended up in a drawer for over ten years! She was eventually exhumed by the editors of IPC’s horror weekly Scream! looking for material to fill up their 1988 Holiday Special.
The comic for which the strip had been created got canned before issue one saw print and so Black Beth ended up in a drawer for over ten years! She was eventually exhumed by the editors of IPC’s horror weekly Scream! looking for material to fill up their 1988 Holiday Special.
The Scream! 1988 Holiday Special (click to enlarge)
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Original art by Blas Gallego (click to enlarge)
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Having myself bought that Holiday Special back in the day and become obsessed with Black Beth’s bewitching atmosphere, I begged Rebellion editor Keith Richardson to let me take a shot at reviving her alongside sensational Greek artist DaNi.
Click here for an interview with Rebellion about how we developed the new strip.
DaNi and I have so far created two one-shot adventure strips for Black Beth, along with a U.S.-format one-shot comic, all of which were collected in 2022 under the title Black Beth: Vengeance Be Thy Name.
Click here for an interview with Rebellion about how we developed the new strip.
DaNi and I have so far created two one-shot adventure strips for Black Beth, along with a U.S.-format one-shot comic, all of which were collected in 2022 under the title Black Beth: Vengeance Be Thy Name.
Click to enlarge
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Click to enlarge
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The Magos of Malice One-shot, with art by Dani and letters by Simon Bowland, in Scream & Misty, October 2018.
Driven by her crusade to punish the unjust, Black Beth must save a group of sacrifices from a warlock intent upon unleashing evil upon the world. But the witch Moldred has given Beth a dire warning: to undertake this mission will have terrible consequences! Will Beth heed Moldred’s advice? Or is her homicidal thirst for vengeance all that matters to her?
Driven by her crusade to punish the unjust, Black Beth must save a group of sacrifices from a warlock intent upon unleashing evil upon the world. But the witch Moldred has given Beth a dire warning: to undertake this mission will have terrible consequences! Will Beth heed Moldred’s advice? Or is her homicidal thirst for vengeance all that matters to her?
Click to enlarge
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Click to enlarge
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The Witch Tree One-shot, with art by Dani and letters by Simon Bowland, in Misty & Scream 2020 Special, September 2020.
Black Beth runs afoul of a superstitious mob who seek to hang a captive witch – alongside any who would seek to stop them.
Black Beth runs afoul of a superstitious mob who seek to hang a captive witch – alongside any who would seek to stop them.
Click to enlarge
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Click to enlarge
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Black Beth and The Devils of Al-Kadesh One-shot U.S. format comic, with art by Dani and letters by Simon Bowland, plus back-up strip Fairy Tales with art by Andrea Bulgarelli and pin-ups by David Roach and Andreas Butzbach, June 2021.
Arriving in the sweltering coastal city of Al-Kadesh, Beth and Quido are approached by a Templar of the Cleansing Dawn, who begs them to help him combat an ancient 'evil'.
Arriving in the sweltering coastal city of Al-Kadesh, Beth and Quido are approached by a Templar of the Cleansing Dawn, who begs them to help him combat an ancient 'evil'.
Softback edition (Click to enlarge)
Rebellion webshop exclusive hardback (Click to enlarge)
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Black Beth: Vengeance Be Thy Name Softbank and webshop exclusive hardback collecting The Magos of Malice, The Witch Tree, The Devils of Al-Kadesh, Fairy Tales and the original strip Black Beth by Blas Gallego, June 2022.
Available to Buy or Download from...
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