Those readers who've loitered around Fústar HQ since its early days may recall an interview I conducted (way back in the cold & dark of January, 2006) with David "Son of Castlebar" McDonald. The focus of the discussion was the one-man publishing outfit that was (and still is) Hibernia and its maiden publication - a reprint of the fantabulous Doomlord story "The Deathlords of Nox".

While reprints of "classic" comics have (in the last 2 years or so) appeared more frequently on mainstream bookshop shelves, they've often been aimed squarely at the (impulse-buying) novelty or nostalgia markets. David's Doomlord volume was, in contrast, a collection by a fan, for fans. It wasn't (like so many products of the nostalgia industries) dolled up as "ironic", "so bad it's good", kitschy tat. It stated its case modestly - relying on the considerable strength of the material to shift copies off the shelves.

All of which is simply to lead into the good news that Hibernia has just released its second publication, The Thirteenth Floor, and another faultlessly-chosen collection it is.

It's hard to think of any short-lived British comic that is remembered as fondly as Scream! - a fact reflected by the fairly juicy prices collectors are willing to pay for copies on eBay. I've been involved in several auctions in an attempt to secure all 15 issues but the top bid has continually eclipsed my modest budget.

Though the comic's current cult status partly accounts for how much dough bidders are willing to shell out, the fact that it came into being in an era when British comics were being printed on (what David Sque called) "toilet paper" may also be a factor. I, for example, have (despite buying all 15 issues back in the day) only 3 or 4 Screams left in (barely) readable condition. The rest probably turned to dust and floated out the window.

Happily, the intrepid Mr. McDonald has stepped in and given us the first eleven stories from Scream's most popular and enduring strip. All this on decent quality paper too.

Written by the same duo who brought Doomlord to earth (Alan Grant & John Wagner¹), "The Thirteenth Floor" concerned itself with the misadventures of Max (that's he on the cover), the computer superintendent of "Maxwell Towers" - a new, "experimental council block".

Like many horror strips "The Thirteenth Floor" was chock-full of nasty types (debt collectors, thieves, extortionists etc) getting their comeuppances in various nasty ways. Max's mission statement was "The welfare of my tenants is my prime concern" and he followed it assiduously and psychotically. Anyone caught mistreating the tower's tenants would be taken (via the lift) to the virtually real thirteenth floor where Max proceeded to seriously fuck them over by bringing them face-to-face with their worst fears and nightmares.

Those who got off "lucky" would manage to survive the experience, emerging merely reduced to (chastened) gibbering wrecks. Others would drop dead on the spot as their hearts exploded with fright, their faces locked in a gruesome rictus of terror.

While Max obviously owed a considerable debt to everyone's favourite murderous computer HAL 9000, the genius of "The Thirteenth Floor" was to position Max as both (anti)hero and villain. While one cheers him on as he metes out some more (grossly disproportionate!) punishment to various miscreants, one also becomes aware (through Jose Ortiz's evocative artwork) of a hint of manic, depraved pleasure behind these apparently purely protective acts.

With a print run of a mere 700 copies, this luverly volume (which comes with a John Wagner introduction and an Edward Berridge essay on Scream!) could quickly become scarce. Rush an email off to David at Hiberniabook@eircom.net forthwith and he'll supply you with all the relevant payment details.

1. Operating under the pseudonym "Ian Holland". [back]