ARGH! : The Ups and Downs of Life as a Comic Book Creator: I was Spider-Man's Editor

"ARGH!!" was the first word Tim Quinn uttered on arrival on this planet back in 1953.

The way things are going he believes it is likely to be the last word he utters too. He certainly manages to cram a lot in between birth and death.

As he explains, "Life is all downhill after the age of....two." While still in his crib, the world of comic books enters his life as his elder brother's copy of the 'Beano' causes a house fire leaving tiny Tim trapped in a smoke-filled room.

Even earlier than that we hear how he was born striped due to his mother's wartime diet of powdered eggs causing her to nickname him 'Tiger Tim' after her favourite comic book character.

Education under the iron fist of the Irish Christian Brothers leaves Quinn with a diploma for playing truant.

They insist on him entering either the banking or holy clerical professions.

Instead, at age sixteen, he runs away to become a clown in Blackpool Tower Circus. And so begins a life in what he describes as the world of synchronicity. "I always seemed to meet the right people at exactly the right time." One job leads to another as we follow Tim's hilarious life of ups and downs across the multiverse of circus, theatre, BBC television, comic books, newspapers, magazines, books, documentaries and music.

Celebrities abound round every corner from Beatles to Stan Lee, and the Pope to Hugh Hefner.

Fully illustrated with Tim's own personal behind-the-scenes photos and memorabilia.