Adam Eterno: A Hero for All Time: From the Pages of Thunder

1580, London. Adam Eterno was working as an assistant to the great alchemist Erasmus Hemlock who had just achieved his life's goal – creating the 'Elixir of Life'! Adam swallowed the potion, defying his masters orders. With his last breath, Erasmus placed a curse upon Adam, wishing him immortality. Unless Adam is struck over the head with a solid gold object, he is, "doomed to wander through the labyrinths of time...!"

From the high seas of 1770 to the Western Front in 1916, follow Adam Eterno's earliest adventures, beautifully illustrated with black and white art by Solano Lopez (Janus Stark), Tom Kerr (Kelly's Eye) and Colin Page (Billy's Boots) and originally published in the pages of Thunder.

Francisco Solano López hailed from Argentina, but created many memorable and popular British comic book strips such as Kelly’s Eye (Knockout), Janus Stark (Smash!), Nipper (Score ‘n’ Roar), Pete’s Pocket Army (Buster) and Master of the Marsh (Smash!). He contributed art to Adam Eterno (Thunder) and many Picture Library stories for Fleetway (including a Battler Britton story for Thriller Picture Library). In Argentina he was known for Ernie Pike (with Hugo Pratt and José Muñoz), and most famously The Eternaut (written by Héctor Germán Oesterheld). He died in 2011.

Tom Tully is one the most prolific writers ever to grace British comics. His diverse portfolio of work was produced over four decades. Born in Glasgow, Tully entered the industry in the sixties when he began working for Fleetway. One of his earliest strips, Heros the Spartan, ran in the original Eagle and was illustrated by the great Frank Bellamy. He also wrote Mytek the Mighty (Valiant & Vulcan) and The Steel Claw (Valiant & Vulcan) in the same decade. The seventies saw Tully work on a variety of significant stories including Adam Eterno (Thunder), Johnny Red (Battle), Harlem He-roes (2000 AD), The Leopard from Lime Street (Buster) and Roy of the Rovers (Tiger), the strip he worked on longer than any other writer.

Before entering the comic industry Ted Cowan worked as a lab assistant at Shell-Mex then enlisted into the RAF as WWII broke out. Forced to re-enlist with the army after a crash, he became a dispatch rider, but another accident saw an end to his career in the services. After picking up a comic and being unimpressed by the writing inside, Cowan wrote to Stan Boddington, then editor of Champion. Boddington gave him a chance and Cowan started on Ginger Nutt – a successful strip about a young Australian boy, which ran for almost seven years. Cowan’s next strip - The Jungle Robot – appeared in the first issue of Lion. Many adventures featuring Robot Archie were to follow. While working for Lion, Cowan scripted many popular strips including Paddy Payne, Adam Eterno and of course The Spider which he co-created and wrote the first two complete stories for.

Francisco Solano López hailed from Argentina, but created many memorable and popular British comic book strips such as Kelly’s Eye (Knockout), Janus Stark (Smash!), Nipper (Score ‘n’ Roar), Pete’s Pocket Army (Buster) and Master of the Marsh (Smash!). He contributed art to Adam Eterno (Thunder) and many Picture Library stories for Fleetway (including a Battler Britton story for Thriller Picture Library). In Argentina he was known for Ernie Pike (with Hugo Pratt and José Muñoz), and most famously The Eternaut (written by Héctor Germán Oesterheld). He died in 2011.

Jack Adrian’s real name is Christopher Lowder. Over the past 50-odd years Christopher Lowder has used maybe a dozen or more pseudonyms, and had a few more foisted on him. He’s written SF, westerns, men’s adventure (for paperback carousels in the rust belt), weird tales, war fiction (WW1, WW2, Vietnam), Regency romances on the High Toby, comicbook scripts (including Dan Dare. Judge Dredd, Adam Eterno and Kids Rule, O.K.), private eye stories, horror and fantasy. He’s edited upwards of 40 mystery/weird anthologies, including a dozen or so posh ones for Oxford University Press. He’s written for the Literary Review, the Times Literary Supplement, and for nearly two decades he was a regular obituarist for the late and very much lamented Independent newspaper. Currently he is Chair of Cradley Parish Council in Herefordshire -- which should be a warning to you all.