PLEASE someone tell me how eBay searches work! I'm a librarian who believes he knows how to search for information. Damn it! I've taught the subject, but eBay, you drive me so mad, I'm giving up!
I was talking to a work colleague and used "Frank Bellamy" as an example search on eBay and what do I see? A Garth has recently sold that did not come up in any alerts that I receive daily!!
Sorry! I am fed up with eBay. Anyway in order to keep a record of what I do find....
The Daily Mirror published the Garth story "Bride of Jenghiz Khan" between 28 September 1974 - 14 January 1975 (#H228-J11) and the piece that came up for auction was strip #J1
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| Garth: "Bride of Jenghiz Khan" J1 |
An original Frank Bellamy Garth strip from a non smoking household. The front is dated in pencil "Wed-Thurs 2-1-75" which would have been the publication date. The reverse is stamped with the Daily Mirror copyright and the date 197 XII 12 16:14 It is on CS10 Line Board. The first cell has the letters "J.1" corrected as paper overlay (presumably January 1st as underneath the lettering is indistinct but ends "07" The first speech bubble has been corrected with paper overlay "MUST FIND SOME WEAPONS" The third speech bubble has been corrected with paper overlay "CRYSTAL SKY -" The overall dimensions are approximately 21 3/8ths inch by 6 7/8 inches 54.3cms x 17.3cms
SUMMARY
WHERE?: eBay
SELLER: yelmalio123
STARTING BID: £50.00
ENDING PRICE: £181.10
END DATE: 3 October 2015
No of bids: 10
No of bidders: 4
Wow - not exactly an action-packed Bellamy original, but it still fetched £180. I have a couple of Bellamy Garths, one from the same story as this, and it's nice to know they might attract a decent price if sold. Garth was not my favourite Bellamy strip (despite the nudes) but I have no intention of parting with them.
ReplyDeleteFrank's unexpected death in July, 1976, came a couple of months after my interview with him for his home town newspaper, the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph, - thereby ruining my chance of "appearing" in an episode of Garth. Frank had a habit of including family and friends in some of his strips, both for his and their amusement, usually as villains. He told me I had an interesting face (beard, glasses and long hair in those days) and said he may surprise me at some stage!
The sports car Garth drove was the same one Bellamy had and the pub where Garth drinks in The Spanish Lady is recognisable as the Star Inn at Geddington (Frank's local). But I was devastated to be robbed of the opportunity to be immortalised in a strip by my hero!
Tony Smith
Hey Norman, a couple years back you had a post about a Heros the Spartan centrespread that was for sell at Illustration Art Gallery. It was supposed to have been the very last one Bellamy worked on, but I think that wasn't including the appearance in Eagle Annual.
ReplyDeleteIt sold for around $15,000 and I asked you if that was a new record for Bellamy art.
Anyway, I wanted to show it to somebody, but for some reason I can't find that post.
Am I bonkers and misremembering, or do you happen to remember it?
Best,
John Jackson
Hey Norman, never mind. I found it. It wasn't actually a post, but I just commented and asked you a question. It was on Saturday, 26 October 2013.
ReplyDeleteThanks
John
Innit funny how you find out things about people - I always fancied being a librarian Norman! Reckon I missed my calling - maybe that's why we get on so well mate! I'm also the "go-to" guy for friends and family when it comes to finding stuff online - that's not me bragging btw but just pointing out that I'm pretty good at going off on tangents and looking beyond the obvious which I reckon you are as well judging by the amount of artist's material we have both gathered over the years haha!! I don't trust the electronic beasties to come up with the goods so every Sunday I go on ebay with a "hit-list" of artists - I did notice this sale but assumed you would have seen it to so from now I'll give you a shout if I come across owt - ok? Cheers buddy!!
ReplyDeleteBill
TONY: Always good to hear from you. I have a photo of Frank and his car so maybe I ought to do the decent thing and show people the Garth strip with his car AND The Star Inn, but what a shame you were never included in the strip! If you ever take a photo of your strips, do send them along to my email address so i can share them
ReplyDeleteJOHN- glad you found what you were looking for, and i see you were then called Michael!!
BILL/MIKE: - why do my correspondents all hide behind pen-names? Always good to get mail from you. YES please take nothing for granted. I have missed stuff in the past!
Ah yes - the pen-name...boy do I wish I'd never started that one up!! Prime example of how one arbitrary decision can bite you in the bum!!! The logic behind it was sound - to me at least - I had been working away under my own name - Bill Storie - quite happily for a number of years when I started working with CGI art (back in the days when it was fairly new) but I didn't want to get myself labelled as a "CGI-only" artist (you know what this industry can be like!) so I created an alter ego for that artwork comprising my middle name - Michael - and by birth name - Nicoll which I always preferred to my adoption name of Storie. I wish I had changed my name back when I was younger as the Storie name brought a significant detrimental change to my life, my dad having died and my mum re-marrying all before I was 10 - but later on I got married myself and then the kids came along and it just got all too complicated to change it back so I let it ride. The reason I sometimes appear on the comments under the Nicoll name is that the system (which I freely admit I'm not completely au fait with) won't accept my main Hotmail contact ID ([email protected]) and automatically substitutes it for my Google ID - this is why I sometimes have to write or send art to your own email address instead of the blog. Probably summat in my system that's skew-iff haha! Hmm - long winded explanation eh? bet you wish you'd never asked Norman!!
ReplyDeleteOh yes - I DID create a CGI version of Garth back then based on Frank's version of course - will try to find some pics for you in a wee while.
Cheers mate!
Bill
Hey Norman,
ReplyDeleteSorry. I didn't see your reply.
Michael is what I go by but it is my middle name.
I do go by John a lot on the internet since most sites ask for your first name when you sign up, but also because the Michael Jackson jokes get kind of stale after a while. :)
Best,
John Michael Jackson
Ah, the mystery is revealed! Always good to hear from you
ReplyDelete