Frank Bellamy and Boy's World Annual 1966

Paul Green and I were corresponding recently and he asked if I'd like some scans of Bellamy's work for Boy's World Annual 1966. I had the annual and hadn't got round to scanning it, so with much gratitude here are the scans Paul sent.

Boy's World Annual 1966 pages 4-5

The uncredited story that Bellamy illustrates is the tale (and I can't find any evidence of an "Operation Horseshoe" beyond a later dated ethnic cleansing in the Balkans) about a raid to destroy 20 invasion barges in the harbour of Portard, between Calais and Dunkirk. The thrust of the story is about the battle between two commanding officers Lieutenant-Colonel March and Major Hart and their disagreements in how to handle the men and also whether to retreat or attack during the battle. It's a simple tale but made more exciting in my opinion by Bellamy's vivid red drawings. The perspective of the charge on the gun placement, the brooding clouds hanging over the landing craft are brilliant.

Boy's World Annual 1966 page 6
"The landing craft were already nearing the coast."

Boy's World Annual 1966 page 7
"Hart had his revolver in his hand."

The story appears in Boy's World Annual 1966 and like a lot of publications that use a single colour throughout, this might explain why this unusual piece was created in such a vivid way. Having said that there are several full colour articles and stories and black and white pages too. But I suspect that if I were to work out how these pages came off the press before being cut I'd be right!

The cover showing a Saturn V launch

Whilst looking at this I checked Steve Holland's excellent index of Boy's World and he hasn't got a credit for the author either.

Paul also scanned the images by themselves so I'm sharing those too - many thanks Paul

ADDITION
I thanked PAUL GREEN for his kindness and he corrected my stupidity  he is PAUL not Peter! Sorry Paul.

He also kindly added this:

Regarding the colouring, having worked as an artist on many annuals for World Distributors there were pages that were "duotone" due to budget constraints. We applied them with photopaque on acetate film overlaying the illustrations. Clearly Bellamy has applied his colour with inks as there is some tone within the red. Duotone always produces a flat colour. So I'd say this was a purposeful effect by Bellamy. Much like his Fraser of Africa strip where sepia tone was applied to indicate Africa. Red here signifies the blood of war.

ADDITION (11 April 2018)
David Jackson asked to see the final page so here it is with a bonus...Ron Embleton!

Original Art: Garth on eBay - The Bubble Man (J258)

J258 episode of  "Garth: The Bubble Man" Drawn by Frank Bellamy

I noticed that there's a Garth original on eBay. This one sold 6 years ago for £170 and the market has certainly not 'cooled' for original Garths.

The seller describes this piece very briefly:

Original newspaper artwork. This is panel J258 from "The Bubble Man" published on 01 NOV75 published in the UK's Daily Mirror newspaper in 1977.

It's a lovely example of the later Bellamy Garth and the fascinating aliens he concocted! In addition to this Garth the seller also has a Steve Dowling 'Garth' and a Martin Asbury 'Garth'

This auction is due to end  on Wednesday 22 March 2018 and the bidding starts at £200. Do note, the seller lives in Luxembourg but he mentions the manner of postage in his description - and he has some lovely Tony Weare, Leonard Starr, and Arthur Ferrier to sell.

The Bubble Man story has been reprinted in the following places: 

• Garth: The Bubble Man All Devon Comic Collectors Club Daily Strips: Collectors Club Editions No.28 [No date]
• Garth: The Bubble Man Spaceship Away Issue 19, October 2009, to Issue 23 March 2011 Coloured by John Ridgway
• Daily Mirror Wednesday 9 November 2011 to Friday 30 December 2011 - Two tier reprint coloured by Martin Baines

Here's an example of Ridgway's coloured version of the first compilation of 6 strips

Used with permission

AUCTION SUMMARY
WHERE?: eBay
SELLER: staylor133
LOT #: 123014810386
STARTING BID:£200
ENDING PRICE: £255
NO. OF BIDS:4

END DATE: 22 March 2018