INTRODUCTION
 |
| Eagle 26 November1960 |
One of the hardest things about researching Frank Bellamy is that he died too early (in 1976) before comics fandom really took off. However, if not for Dez Skinn and Dave Gibbons we would not have the wealth we have. It was long assumed this was his only interview but in fact as a scan of the index will show he appeared on TV a few times, had articles written by people such as David Driver and Tony Smith, both of whom worked with him, and many more people have cited him as an influence. Below are any mentions of Bellamy that you might think worth knowing about - but where to stop, is the big question.
***UPDATE***
The Art of Frank Bellamy - Illustrators Special #11 - has now been published by Book Palace
KEY
Use the index to navigate to Bellamy's original works; these
here are merely about him, or have reproductions of his works
Uppercase entries were published during Bellamy's lifetime
2000AD Sci-Fi [1978]
- Pages 48-49 "Frank Bellamy and the Dan Dare strip" by Alan Vince - 2 pages in colour, photo and article
- 22 comic artists: an exhibition - Manchester Polytechnic Library. Text by David Huxley. A4 Booklet 26p. ill: 30cm
- pp 10 has Garth:Cloud of Balthus (E262 / E275) and Ghost Town (G154) single panels
- p.17 has Radio Times 30 August -5 September 1975 image of Tom Baker as Doctor Who
- Other Bellamy is mentioned - presumably displayed too as this appears to be a catalogue of the exhibition
- Index entry on p. 26, 265
- Tribute to Bellamy. One page reprinting Commando Gibbs January 1952 'Bellamy's first strip'; 1 page "Frank Bellamy: a farewell"- By Clifford Makins editor of Eagle and Swift and Dennis Hooper editor [sic] of TV21 and TV Comic. Photo from Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph by Chris Mallin; One illustration by Keith Luck in Bellamy style of Garth leading horse and boy to Bellamy's grave
- pp.4-8 "Frank, Don, Dan and the Tracys" by Richard Farrell. Nice article on the 2 main artists in TV21/Countdown, Frank Bellamy and Don Harley. (Other issues still available here)
The Art of Frank Bellamy (Illustrators Special #11) (July 2021)
- 144 pages including many unseen Bellamy images generally not found elsewhere, including an introduction by Oliver Frey. Soft Cover; Full Colour illustrations, Size: 9" x 11" (216mm x 280mm), ISBN: 9781913548087
- Written by Norman Boyd - the longest Bellamy biography to date! Am I being too modest?
The Art of Radio Times: the first sixty years compiled by David Driver. London: BBC, 1981, 252 pages
- p.250 short biography (by Driver, Bellamy's Art Editor during his Doctor Who years)
- pp.232-236 various Radio Times reprints in B&W, and colour
- 2 examples of Bellamy's work:
- #50: Garth J81
- #147 The Radio Times Skarasen illustration (often called Loch Ness monster)
- Categories in the Annual included: Advertising, Editorial, Institutional, Book, and others. The Editorial jury was made up of Frank Bellamy, Peter Brookes, Mike Dempsey, Ken Ellis and Michael Leonard and the exhibition for this Annual took place on 11 Oct - 30 Oct 1976 at Thumb Gallery, D'Arblay Street
- pp.42-43, "Frank Bellamy 1917-1976" [author unknown] - No new information beyond the Skinn/Gibbons interview
- p. 8, "The Frank Bellamy Alphabet" by Andrew Coffey - Only the letters "A-F" are covered.
- pp. 21-28, "The influence of Eagle", by Mike Daines -14 illustrations, 2 colour
- David Driver interview
- Taken from: ARTbibliographies [online] Accessed April 2007:
- Discusses the career of David Driver, the head of design and assistant editor of The Times, with particular reference to the influence of the comic Eagle on his career. The author cites Driver's comments on the educational value of the comic, explains that it inspired his interest in typography and illustration, and outlines his career. He discusses Driver's work designing covers for The Sunday Times, with reference to the work of the Eagle artists Frank Hampson and Frank Bellamy, and comments on Hampson' s work with assistants including Don Harley and Keith Watson. He concludes by stressing the importance of the influence of Eagle's illustrations on the work of contemporary artists
- Taken from: DAAI: Design and Applied Arts Index [online] Accessed April 2007:
- An interview with David Driver, head of design and assistant editor of 'The Times'. He discusses his career as a designer and the influence of the boy's comic 'Eagle' (1950-1970) on him and his contemporaries. Of particular influence was the layout and typography of the comic, and the illustrations by Frank Hampson and Frank Bellamy, several examples of which are reproduced in the article.
- One paragraph mentions Bellamy and there are 4 pages of his work: "The Happy Warrior" (1 November 1957) and (11 April 1958); "David the Shepherd King" (29 November 1958); "The Travels of Marco Polo" (18 April 1959)
- Pages 100-115 "Frank Bellamy" by Norman Wright & David Ashcroft (The great comic artists No.5) - Includes Checklist & Price Guide - NOTE: Despite the misprint in the magazine, this should be Ashford not Ashcroft)
- Under the separate Artists section he states sparingly: "Frank Bellamy: Daily Mirror Book of Garth, Eagle, Sunday Extra, Swift, TV Century 21"
- Denis Gifford 'Swift (1954)' -
- Swift (1954)
Comic created by the Reverend Marcus Morris to bridge the gap between very young readers of Robin and older readers of Eagle. The first issue was published on 20 March 1954, and the comic ran for 477 weekly editions. Printed with pages in full colour photogravure, its pages were enlarged from 9 April 1960, when publication was taken over by Longacre/Odhams. Early heroes included cover star Tarna the Jungle Boy (a junior Tarzan), Koko the Bush Baby and Sir Boldasbrass by John Ryan. Later came Michael Bentine and The Bumblies from BBC television, and adventure strips by the great Frank Bellamy, including Robin Hood. Swift Annual was published every Christmas from 1955 to 1963.
- #3 (Winter 1990) pp.6-10 "TV Century 21: an insider's retrospective" - Interview with Milton Finesilver, where Finesilver mentions delivering scripts to Morden so Bellamy did not miss deadlines
- #10 (Autumn 1992) pp.22-23 "Frank Bellamy" by Richard Farrell
- p. 42, of "Alias Barry Windsor-Smith: Interview with Storyteller & Conan Artist: BWS". Conducted by Jon B. Cooke - Available online
- CBA: Any favorite British cartoonists, such as Frank Bellamy?
Barry: I was quite awestruck by Bellamy, his "Heros the Spartan" was simply magnificent. I was never particularly influenced by him, however. Britain had a clutch of exceptionally gifted comics artists during the '50s and '60s but the subject matter of the strips often disinterested me. I liked "Dan Dare" and Heros, I think that's all. I named the lead male character in my "Young Gods "series Heros in homage to Bellamy.
- Brief entry on p. 61
- Half page with Garth illustration
- Erroneously says: "his work was mainly in newspaper strips, so we will not include a listing"
- pp.35-38 "The Happy Warrior" by Norman Wright - 4 pages in full colour with 'stripography'
- Announcement on the Frank Bellamy Appreciation Society - see article
- pp.14-15 "Frank Bellamy 1917-1976" - Extended tribute and photo - see article
- pp.25, 28 - 2 pages in which Andrew Skilleter reviews Bellamy's visit to Comicon71 - [Mentioned in Comicon '78 that Frank Bellamy produced the gunfighter for 1972 Comicon] - see article
- p.11, "In memory Frank Bellamy 1917-1976" - This A5 sized, 44 pages, has a simple clean page as a tribute - see article
- Index entry p. 50, 53 -Incidental references
- #67 / Warrior 1996 Spring Special - Cover reproducing Eureka illustration in sepia on flip side of Comics International #67
- #123 (August 2000) - Full page advert by Paul Holder regarding his planned book on Bellamy
- #124 (September 2000) -Advert by Paul Holder with Disc magazine illustration and prize draw
- pp. 13-14 "Frank Bellamy Dan Dare Artist Exhibited at South London Gallery" by Brad! Brooks -containing erroneous biographical facts
- "The Saga of Garth, a thematic survey" by Philip Harbottle.
- "The men behind the man of mystery" by Steve Holland - Article features Garth stripography and a number of Garth strips by Bellamy. Includes the Frank Bellamy's 'Garth' character sheet - see article
- Index entry p. 224
Comicscene #0 (August 2018)
- pp. 8-9 "The Many Faces of Dan Dare" by Richard Sheaf - a short paragraph states "Bellamy’s Dare is older, more grizzled and definitely has a furrowed brow at all times. The contrast with Don Harley’s youthful, botox-using Dare (often on the very next page) could not be greater"
- pp.20-21 "The Happy Warrior" by Luke Williams. An excellent overview of Bellamy's Eagle strip plus the reprints.
Crikey!, Issue 1, 2007
- pp. 24-28 "My Comic Hero - Frank Bellamy" by Glenn B. Fleming -A personal view of Bellamy's influence on Glenn's childhood reading -Reprinted in Crikey Collected Volume 1 (2019)
- p.10: David the Shepherd King colour
- p.11: Happy Warrior colour
- pp.54-55: Thunderbirds colour
- p.11 "Space Craft" - short piece explains who Bellamy is as he illustrates the Moon Landing:
- Readers of today's Mirrorscope who feel they have seen the drawings for the 'Footsteps On The Moon' feature somewhere else a long time ago are in good company. They gave the artist the same I've been here before feeling.
Frank Bellamy first blasted of into Space ten years ago when he did a stint, of drawing for that excellent comic strip Dan Dare, which was created by Frank Hampson. Bellamy did only about a year on Colonel Dare's staff but has been in orbit With various science-fiction strips almost ever since.
The Mirrorscope drawings are the first Bellamy has done from fact (as opposed to imagination). He is rather pleased to find that over the years he has guessed so close to the scientists. " In fact." he says. " I found myself tempted to put in speech balloons for Mirrorscope."
- p.11 "The Victor" -Article telling readers Frank Bellamy won the American Academy of Comic Book Arts "Foreign Artist" award
- "FRANK BELLAMY, who draws the Daily Mirror's Garth strip, has been given the Foreign Comics Award of the American Academy of Comic Books Arts.
He was the only Briton to be nominated (he lives at Malden, Surrey [sic]), and came ahead of all other, as seen from America, foreigners.
The award covers his work over the years, including the Dan Dare strip for the boys' magazine Eagle. It also gave a nod to one cartoon he drew in the Eagle series, Heros the Spartan. The Academy displayed it at an exhibition in New York. It shows a massive battle scene with a cast of 200"
- p.7 Artist Dies - a short notice
- FRANK BELLAMY, who drew Garth for the last five years, died suddenly at his home yesterday. He was 59 and leaves a widow and one son.
- p.5 Funeral held yesterday
- "A FUNERAL service was held yesterday at Kettering, Northants, for cartoonist Frank Bellamy. who used to draw the Mirror's Garth strip. He died on Monday, aged fifty-nine."
- p.11 Bellamy exhibition to follow on weekend
- "Vintage Garth
An exhibition of work by the late Frank Bellamy. who used to draw the Mirror's Garth cartoons, opens this weekend in his home town of Kettering, Northants." - Thanks to Shaqui for retrieving this
- p.22. "Mindbogglers" by John Allard and George Thaw reproduced George Custer in a single panel by Bellamy saying: "This superb impression of Custer's last stand was drawn by Frank Bellamy for the Garth strip cartoon"
- p.49 Brief biographies of Dan Dare artists, including Bellamy
- Brief biography and art
- "The life and work of Frank Bellamy" by Paul Holder. 4 pages of biography and examples of work
- Page 15 News item mentioning Bellamy's award of the Foreign Comics' Award 'two years running' [sic], published by SIAD
- p.125 Example of "Fraser of Africa" - reduced B&W part-page reproduction from the Fraser of Africa: Lost Safari second instalment (Vol.11 No.33)
p.99 Short biography of Bellamy, no examples of his workDictionary of British Comic Book Artists Alan Clark, London: The British Library, 1998
- p.16 - Robin Hood & Maid Marian masthead and short biography of Bellamy
- Entry p. 56
- p.94, Fig. 137 "A Frank Bellamy drawing for Radio Times to commemorate Hammer Film's success in winning the Queens Award to Industry in May 1968" - The original appeared in Radio Times 17 June -23 June 1972 - see article
- No. 112 (May 1986 ) pp.17-19 The Life and Works of Frank Bellamy - 2 B&W pages and one colour with extracts from Timeview by David Bellamy plus a one page advert for Timeview
- No. 161 (June 1990 ) pp.8-10 "Those Radio Times" by Brian J Robb -The Sea Devil illustration from Radio Times (16 December 1972 - 29 December 1972); 2 panels "What is It?" from Colony in Space (B&W line) showing Doctor and Jo with missile and shadow figure with question mark motif from Radio Times (10 April 1971 - 16 April 1971)
- pp.46-49 "Space and Times" by David Miller -Shows some of the range of artwork by Frank Bellamy on Doctor Who in the Radio Times
- pp. 38-39: Colony in Space
- pp. 78-79: The Daemons
- pp. 136-137: Day of the Daleks
- Interview with Bellamy- One third page with 2 photos of Frank Bellamy, and a key to one photo (containing African objects) - see image at top of page plus article
- "Eagle is 15" article - double page spread of photos and reproductions of strips, including mention of Bellamy's Churchill strip and Heros with photo reproduction from 1960
Page 24 has the Radio Times photo of BellamyEagler magazine #2, Winter 1983,
- pp. 12-15, "Strip Illustrators techniques and attitudes" by Alan Vince
- p. 15 tells the story of Bellamy's tenure with Don Harley and Keith Watson on Dan Dare. Features a panel from Commando Gibbs and uses the much used Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph photo.
- [#1] (1987) pp. 3, 14. "ET [Evening Telegraph] tribute to a man enjoyed by millions" by Tony Smith -Facsimile reprint of an article from Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph 3 September 1987 which marked the beginning of month long exhibition of Bellamy's work -This was also subsequently reprinted by the Eagle Times
- Vol 3:4 (Winter 1990) pp. 33-37 "Frank Hampson and Modesty Blaise" by Steve Holland -3 scans of Bellamy's tryouts for the newspaper strip Modesty Blaise for Evening Standard
- Vol 6: 2 (Summer 1993) pp. 2-7 "Frank Bellamy: an illustrated guide" by Terry Doyle [Part1] -Checklist on Pages 4-7 (J. David Jackson and Steve Holland) -Wraparound Cover
- Vol 6: 3 (Autumn 1993) pp.8-13 "Frank Bellamy "Career notes"" by Terry Doyle & Steve Holland [Part 2]
- Vol 6: 4 (Winter 1993) pp.20-24 "Frank Bellamy: Illustrated guide - The Swift Strips" by Terry Doyle [Part 3]
- Vol 7: 1 (Spring 1994) pp.5-9 "Frank Bellamy: Illustrated guide - The Swift Strips Part 2" by Terry Doyle [Part 4]
- Vol 7: 2 (Summer 1994) [print error on cover 7:3] pp. 40-45 "Frank Bellamy: Illustrated guide - The Happy Warrior" by Terry Doyle [Part 5] [pages 43-45 are reprints extracts from the Skinn/Gibbons interview]
- Vol 7: 3 (Autumn 1994) pp.49-53 "Frank Bellamy: Illustrated guide - The Shepherd King - character studies" by Terry Doyle [Part 6]
- Vol 7: 4 (Winter 1994) pp. 21-26 "Frank Bellamy: Illustrated guide - Dan Dare: Trip to Trouble" by Terry Doyle [Part 7]
- Vol 8: 1 (Spring 1995) pp. 39-44 "Frank Bellamy: Illustrated guide - Dan Dare (Part 2)" by Terry Doyle [Part 8]
- Vol 8: 2 (Summer 1995) pp.38-43 "Frank Bellamy: Illustrated guide - Dan Dare (Part 3) by Terry Doyle [Part 9]
- Vol 8:3 (Autumn 1995) pp.29-32 "Fraser of Africa - Frank Bellamy Part 10" by Jon Johnson and Nancy Bellamy
- Vol 9:2 (Summer 1996) pp.8-14 "Montgomery of Alamein" by Will Rudling (Frank Bellamy Part 11)
- Vol 10:3 (Autumn 1997) pp.16-21 "Heros" by Roger Coombes (Frank Bellamy Part 12)
- Vol 10:4 (Winter 1997) pp.8-13 "Heros" by Roger Coombes (Frank Bellamy Part 13)
- Vol 11: 1 (Spring 1998) pp.37-39 "Frank Bellamy Part 14 - The Ghost World" by Roger Coombes
- Vol 11: 2 (Summer 1998) pp.14-16 "Frank Bellamy Part 15 - Thunderbirds" by Jon Johnson with Nancy Bellamy
- Vol 11: 3 (Autumn 1998) pp.29-34 "Frank Bellamy Part 16 - Garth - the Bellamy version" by Andrew Coffey
- Vol 14: 1 (Spring 2001) p.46 "From the diary of Larry Lime Aged 61¼" by Roger Perry mentions Bellamy drew Fraser as 'portraitures of his own image'
- Vol. 14: 2 (Summer 2001) p.12-13 "From the diary of Larry Lime Aged 61¼" by Roger Perry mentions Bellamy and reproduces an unseen image of Bellamy at his desk (with Fraser portrait and African continent) - shown at the end of this article
- Vol. 15: 2 (Summer 2002) p.53 "Eagle Exhibition's tribute to Frank Bellamy" by David Britton 1 page review of the Bellamy day on 16th March 2002
- Vol. 24: 2 (Summer 2011) pp23-27 "Frank Bellamy's Pictorial Journalism" by Alan Vince. Vince examines, the Daily Mirror, Radio Times and Sunday Times work. He includes a rumour of Bellamy designing a tiger illustration for "Esso for Extra".
- Vol. 27: 3 (Autumn 2014)
- Cover: Bellamy, at his drawing board, smiles at the camera (Fraser of Africa map in background)
- pp. 2-9 "Frank Bellamy - trademarks and techniques" by Alan Vince. An article on Bellamy's art method ranging through his whole work with many colour illustrations
- pp. 21-23 "Frank Bellamy at home". Three pages of black and white photos of Bellamy at his drawing board. The first page explains Nancy Bellamy donated the photos to the Eagle Society and the two following have a Garth strip at the bottom.
- Back cover: A Fraser of Africa page with 2 panels of sepia photographs of Bellamy at the drawing board and on the floor with his Africana [Note: The photos are not taken in Kettering as stated, but Morden, Surrey] - see article
- Vol. 30: 1 (Spring 2017) Cover: shows single panel, pp. 2-7 "The Shepherd King" by Steve Winders. The first of 3 illustrated articles on David: The Shepherd King
- Vol. 30: 2 (Summer 2017) pp. 20-23 "The Shepherd King" by Steve Winders. (Part 2)
- Vol. 30: 3 (Autumn 2017) pp. 32-35 "The Shepherd King" by Steve Winders. (Part 3)
- Vol. 30: 4 (Winter 2017) pp. 44-48 "Comics Unstripped at Kettering" by Dave Busfield. An illustrated article of the exhibition held in Kettering from Saturday 9 July to Saturday 20 August 2016
- Vol. 31: 1 (Spring 2018) pp. 19-25 "H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines: From the novel to the strip that never was" by Will Grenham. Reproduces all three unpublished episodes that Bellamy drew
- Vol. 32 1 (Spring 2019) pp. 16-20 "The Travels of Marco Polo" by Steve Winders (Part 1 of 2)
- Vol. 32: 2 (Summer 2019) pp. 22 - 26 "The Travels of Marco Polo" by Steve Winders (Part 2 of 2)
- Vol.33:3 (Autumn 2020) pp. 39-42 "Montgomery of Alamein" by John Coffey
- English & Media Studies: Richard Starkings' best of British bits & bobs: Frank Bellamy is a 4 page full colour piece showing Garth, Radio Times and Eagle pieces
- Fraser, Heros and Thunderbirds entries, 72 word articles plus an image of Fraser, Heros - despite correctly listing Heros as running from 1962-1965 (the Bellamy years) he concludes "Frank Bellamy drew the serial for just a year..." and Thunderbirds - he lists Thunderbirds starting in TV21 from 1968 and continuing to 1969. In fact it started on 15 January 1966.
- Entry on p. 104
- Index entry p. 16, 32, 130
Eye, 2018, Vol 97:25 "Magazine Special Part Two"
- pp. 22-45 Reputations: David Driver - by Martin Colyer. An interview which covers Driver's career including reproductions of 2 Radio Times pieces and a photo of Driver and Bellamy
- 18 page interview with Bellamy conducted by Dez Skinn and Dave Gibbons on 12 May 1973. B&W photos, artwork and interview. Cover in sepia, montage of various illustrations arranged around a portrait of Bellamy drawn by Keith Robson. A variant interview was published in Warrior magazine no 22
- pp.22-26 "Frank Bellamy und die Englische Tradition" by Helmut W. Pesch. Lengthy overview of his comics work focussing on the Eagle.
- Advert for the Alfred East Gallery exhibition of Saturday 5th September 1987 to Saturday 3rd October 1987. Single fold A4 double sided leaflet containing Bellamy biography by Kettering Leisure Services and a list of Garth strips on show for sale
- 8 page introduction by Norman Wright, "Frank Bellamy and Fraser of Africa." including various art and a photo.
- 64 pages Reprints of Fraser in the Eagle
- One page introduction to Garth by Nick Landau, plus a Garth story index (with incorrect numbers and dates for "The Spanish Lady" - see Garth: Reprints
- 4 page demonstration of how a Jim Edgar script becomes the strip, plus a Garth story index (with incorrect numbers and dates for "The Spanish Lady" - see Garth: Reprints
- A5 B&W with pink insert produced by the All Devon Comic Collectors Club. Various examples of art plus complete listing of all Garth strips
- p.196 "Frank Bellamy - comic strip genius" by Sam Denham
- Issue 1 (June 1992) - single A3 double sided page printed in b/w
- Issue 2 (August 1992) - 2 A3 double sided pages printed in b/w stapled in the top left hand corner
- Issue 3 (February 1993) - 19 page A4 booklet with colour covers -
- "The Gopherville Argus Special Edition No.1 featuring Garth" on inside cover (page2) - 60 sides A4.
- Garth previously unseen character sheet p.16
- pp.32-45 "Hombre in suede skin: Frank Bellamy's Western comics" by Jim O'Brien. - An overview of Bellamy's Wild West comics and comic strips.
- Bellamy is mentioned on the following pages p. 563, 564, 566, 567, 583, 584, 1098, 1098-1108, 1115, 1310 - See detail on the International page
- Index entry p.115, 133, 135 - p.115 has a long rambling list of genre in UK strips and it states: "exotic adventure (Frank Bellamy's Frazer [sic])" - A single image of Fraser appears
- pp.39-44 "Frank Bellamy" by Marc André - See detail on the International page
- pp.10 mentions Gibbons love of Bellamy's 'Heros the Spartan'
- pp. 148-149 Gibbons describes Bellamy's 'Fraser of Africa' and the technique used; a description of CS10 art board and some of Bellamy's other work. The mentioned 'Fraser' episode is included and on the following page the full-page portrait of Churchill
- Contains examples of Garth as UK newspaper strip; Garth (Wolfman) - as example of figure in perspective; and mentions Bellamy's stippling technique
- p159 colour reprint from Boys World- Ghost World "A weird primitive alien but…"
Illustrators Sourcebook, edited by Nick & Tessa Souter, London: Quarto Publishing, 1990
- p.229 Three Dan Dare pieces - 2 panels plus full page in colour with short biography
- FRANK BELL AMY | 1917-1976)
Bom in Kettering, UK. Bellamy was one of the first Englishmen working in comic books to achieve international recognition as an illustrator, in the early 1950s he drew advertising campaigns for The Daily Telegraph, World’s Press Agency and Ad Weekly as well as illustrations for Home Notes, Boy’s Own Paper. Men Only and covers for Lilliput [sic]. His first comic strip was an advertisement for a toothpaste company and was called Commando Gibbs v Dragon Decay. In 1957 he joined the Eagle comic and illustrated the life of Winston Churchill in a strip called The Happy Warrior. It was the first time that the biography of a living individual had been drawn in this style and it was serialized on the back page. In 1960 he was asked to redesign Dan Dare for the front page and in 1962 he created Heros The Spartan, which won him the Academy of Comic Book Arts award in America as Best Foreign Comic-Book Artist. He was an immaculate draughtsman whose work had an almost photographic realism. He inked directly onto the art board and coloured in with gouache [sic] and waterproof inks, creating artwork that was as perfect as the printed page. In the latter part of his life he gave up comics but continued to draw a black and white newspaper strip called Garth until his death in 1976.
ILLUSTRATORS: the magazine of the Association of Illustrators Vol. 1 no 8 (November / December 1975)
- Pages 4 & 5 Feature on Bellamy by David Driver with 5 illustrations
- p.6 Column by Denis Gifford on Bellamy art Gifford claims that BOC used the Swade strip (from Ally Sloper) in their magazine. I have looked through many issues of the BOC newsletter but no success! I would love to know what he meant!
Illustrators Special # 11 Art of Frank Bellamy
- See Art of Frank Bellamy above
- Bellamy's 127 word entry, self-penned
- The British Library catalogue shows that this was not published till 1976 despite Bellamy paying for his entry in November 1974 (£10 - note: price of book!). Ironically, when published, he had moved back to Kettering, so his address was wrong!
- BELLAMY, Frank (Alfred), b. 21 May 1917. Artist-Illustrator. Appts: Staff Artist, Advt. Studio, 1399-1940, 46-53; Free-lance Illustrator, 1953-. Grp. exhibs: Soc. of Graphic Artists; Royal Inst. Gall., London; Birmingham City Art Gall.; ICA Mall Galls.; London: Cartoon Mus,. Rapallo, Italy. Publs: Adventure Strips in Full Colour in Eagle, TV21, etc. wkly.; Full Colour Strips, Illustrations, Covers, in Radio Times, Sunday Times Mag.; Daily Strip, Garth, in Daily Mirror. Contrib. to: Eagl; Boy's Own Paper; Everybody's; Lilliput; TV 21; Look & Learn; Boys World; Sunday Times Mag., etc. Awards: Acad.of Comic Book Arts, NYC, Nomination 1970; Winner, Best Foreign Comics Award, 1971. Mbrships: FSIAD; FRSA; Cartoonists Club of GB; Soc. Graphic Arts; Acad. Comic Book Arts, NYC; Arts Theatre Club, London. Address: 26 Hatherleigh Close, Morden, Surrey, UK.
- p.3 "R.A. praises local artist" Photo of Bellamy and short piece - see article
- One page biography by Alan Moore (illustrated by Kevin O'Neill)
- Photo of Bellamy in response to reader's request on letter page - shown illustrating issue 460 (7 November 1960)
- pp.72-73 biography (note: columns are printed inverted!)
- pp.74-98 Frank Bellamy reprint B&W "Garth: Der Apfel des Trimandias"[Garth: The Orb of Trimandias]
- Pages 123-125 on Frank Bellamy and Dan Dare strip
- pp.49-50 (within "Chapter 5: The Golden Age") Bellamy and his Eagle work. These two original artworks appear in this chapter - "Heros" Eagle Vol.15:31; "Thunderbirds" TV21 #68, p2
- pp.84-85 (within "Chapter 8: Newspaper Strips") shows Garth G156
- p. 87 talks about Bellamy on the Garth strip
- pp. 146-152 (within the "Artists Gallery") - "Dan Dare: Project Nimbus", Eagle Vol. 11:21; "Fraser of Africa" Eagle Vol. 12:21; "Only the brave" Eagle Vol. 13:38; "Ghost World" Boy's World Vol.1:46; "Heros" Eagle Vol. 14:15; "Thunderbirds" TV21 #232, p2
- Cover by Bellamy of Dan Dare
- pp. 32-41, includes biography and 2 pages of "Happy Warrior", 4 pages "Dan Dare" and 1 "Heros" double page spread
- Section in the Bibliography outlining major strips pp.126-128
- Contains 2 Garth strips - 1 by Bellamy - "Garth: The Manhunt"
- #2 (July 1980) -part page interview with Jim Edgar (by John Dakin)
- #4 (Feb 1981) -'In conversation with John Allard' - see both interviews here
- 1 October 1957 p.1 "Kettering artist's big task" - Front cover column describing Bellamy taking on the Eagle "Happy Warrior" strip and also mentions Bellamy to judge Wellingborough Chamber of Trade Painting Competition
- 5 July 1976 p.1 "Garth artist dies" Small photo
- 6 July 1976 p.? "Death of a famous illustrator: The man who made dreams come true" by Tony Smith -Large photo of Bellamy in canvas chair
- 4 July 1977 ??
- 1 March 1978 p.? "Bob to open show of his hero's art", by Tony Smith - photo of Frank Bellamy and of Bob in the header with caption "Bob Monkhouse to open Frank Bellamy exhibition running till 25 March" -Mini resumé and interview with Bob Monkhouse
- 7 March 1978 p.? [Title unknown] by Tony Smith -Smith's report on the actual opening of the Garth exhibition in Kettering by Bob Monkhouse with two pictures - one of Monkhouse with Nancy Bellamy looking at some Garth strips and the other of Monkhouse signing autographs for fans
- [Date unknown 1979] p.? "Bellamy - a consummate craftsman" by Tony Smith -feature on Doc Garrick's book Masters of Comic Book Art including a chapter on Bellamy
- 19 April 1980 p.? "The Eagle - still a high flier" by Tony Smith -This was a special feature on a London convention to mark the 30th anniversary of the Eagle. "The magic of Frank lives on" by Tony Smith -This included a piece about the popularity of Bellamy's artwork, the sale of two Bellamy front-page Dan Dare originals for £75 each, and interviews with Marcus Morris and Frank Hampson about their memories of Bellamy.
- 2 May 1980 p.18 "Bellamy - the hidden treasures" by Tony Smith -The 1st of a series of 3 articles by Tony Smith - Frank's widow Nancy loaned three previously unseen and unpublished original pieces which were reproduced exclusively (in black-and-white) #1: a Masai Warrior - [also seen in the portfolio in Fantasy Advertiser Vol. 3: 54 Jan 1975]
- 8 May 1980 p.16 "Another Bellamy masterpiece" by Tony Smith - The 2nd of a series of 3 articles by Tony Smith - #2: a prowling tiger
- 23 May 1980 p.? "Comic Book Master" by Tony Smith - The 3rd of a series of 3 articles by Tony Smith -#3: a Spanish bullfighter in action
- 26 March 1982, p.? [Title unknown] by Tony Smith - Smith reviews the book High Command, featuring reprints of the Montgomery/Churchill stories from the Eagle - tying in with the launch of the New Eagle comic.
- 3 August 1987 p.? "Funny Frank made Python laugh", by Tony Smith -Pink 'Un reprint [Saturday 11 October 1947] & Garth [K67] & Doctor Who [Radio Times (1 January 1972 - 7 January 1972) appear in this article
- 3 September 1987 p.? "ET tribute to a man enjoyed by millions", by Tony Smith - Article marking the beginning of month long exhibition of Bellamy's work. This was reprinted in Eagle Times
- 8 September 1987 p.? "A tribute to Frank's art" - Photo of Nancy Bellamy, Councillor and Mrs Gosland at the Alfred East Gallery
- 15 July 1989 p.11 "Quiet side of comic genius" - Article on the Unseen Frank Bellamy exhibition
- 17 July 1990 pp. 10-11 "Frank's fun out of Africa", by Tony Smith - Article on Bellamy's love of all things African on the occasion of the Hawk Book reprinting Fraser of Africa. The page of Fraser's portrait from Warrior 22, a portrait photo of Bellamy smiling, the portrait of Churchill from the end of the Happy Warrior series, a reprint of a Pink 'Un cartoon (18 October 1947) and a single frame of Fraser making the comparison about Bellamy and Fraser being alike.
- 4 October 1997 pp.58-59 "Saturday Pink 'Un takes the biscuit" - Double page article on the Football Telegraph with cartoons by Bellamy -60 page wraparound the normal ET celebrating 100 years!
- 27 November 1999 p.11 "Widow's joy as artist is honoured" - Large photo of Nancy outside house where blue plaque is placed
- 5 May 2000 p.? "Frank's work goes on show" -Garth exhibition
- 14 March 2002 [pp.21, 26-27] - labelled pages 6-7 of the What's On Guide supplement] "Tribute to the art of a comic genius" by Tony Smith - Double page spread of Paul Holder's contribution to the Eagle exhibition in Northampton March - June 2002
- 2 May 2002 pp.28-[29?] With Corby Pole fair only days away we look at some of the …[Unknown title] -Reprints cartoon "A Danish punishment" from Friday 23 May 1947
- p.6 "Dan Dare lands in a new battle" by Jerome Burne. Three columns on the issue of rights to original art. Bellamy is used as an example with reference to Nancy, his widow
- "Today 14 art editors and designers will meet off a studio off Piccadilly to select the 200 illustrations and designs that will make up the Association of Illustrators '77 exhibition and annual. But although the successful entrants will gain prestige, they may not get the chance to sell the originals of their work, for amazingly there is considerable legal disagreement as to who actually owns original artwork"
These are the opening lines of an article that focuses on an issue that was fought at the same time in American comics. Bellamy is highlighted as he died the previous year and Nancy his widow "now lives on a £15 a week pension" yet held few of the originals.
- Short biography and 2 colour pages:
- Plate # 13: "Lord of the Dragons Unpublished Illustration 1975".- see article
- Plate # 14: "Doctor Who Front cover of the Radio Times Sept 1975" - it was actually planned as a cover but was in fact published inside Radio Times (30 August 1975 - 5 September 75)
- Short obituary by George Barnett in column on front cover
- "Britain's No.1 strip artist
Frank Bellamy has died
Known to many in the USA as the Neal Adams of Britain, one of the world's greatest and certainly Britain's no.1 comic strip artist, Frank Bellamy, has died.
Frank's best known work includes some beautiful; Dan dare strips from Eagle, Garth from the Daily Mirror and Heros the Spartan, but the volume of diversified artwork he's responsible for is too great to list here.
He has done more than any other man to get British comic strips acclaimed the world over and has furthered the cause to get panelology recognised as an artform more than any other Briton.
His friends knew him to be a man totally dedicated to his work, taking the medium and its history very seriously. He will be sorely missed the world over."
- 2 pages colour, Doctor Who from Radio Times
- Dragon-Warrior, previously unpublished - see article
- Pages 71 and 75 are examples from Thunderbirds centrespreads from TV21 125 and 130
- Index entry (p. 88, 239)
- pp.24-27 "Frank's Who: Bellamy's influence on the art of the Doctor" by Richard Farrell -
4 x A5 pages describing the influence on other artists of Bellamy's Radio Times Doctor Who drawings.
- p.4 "Modest strip artist" - Half page article on Edition interview for programme on 30 November 1973 (date of televised programme) and much reproduced photo (credited to Jeremy Grayson). Photo shows FB in studio holding an original Thunderbirds spread "FB: suffers agonies of diffidence bringing work to Radio Times" see article
- p.65 "Letters Page" Letter from David Driver re: death of Frank Bellamy
- p.134 reprint of (19 December 1970 - 1 January 1971) "Family Favourites: global village in action"
- p.136 reprint of portion (in B&W) of (1 January 1972 - 7 January 1972) Doctor Who - Day of the Daleks cover -Day of the Daleks cover is reproduced in colour on p. 128
- A 38 page A5 supplement to Comics Journal #28 - see above. This contains the Garth Character Sheet - Bellamy's pre-Garth examples of the character
- c.1981 Don Harley on Frank Bellamy - 1page
- c.1981 "Meeting Frank Bellamy" by Peter Jackson - 1page
- January 1988, "Frank Bellamy: a fan appreciation" by Steve Whittaker - 2pp, with bullfight illustration
- February 1988, Response to Jan 1988 article with corrections by David Jackson
- No. 17, Spring 2009, pp. 30-31 "Working on DD [Dan Dare] in the Frank Bellamy period" by Don Harley
- No. 22, Autumn 2010, pp. 9-12, 40-42 "Don Harley recollects six decades with Dan Dare" by Don Harley. In this article Harley recollects the arrival of Bellamy to the studio and how the differences in art clashed. He also specifically states he re-drew the first portrait Bellamy did of Dan Dare
- #100 (July 1989) Cover of Garth with headline "The Unseen Frank Bellamy" with 16 page insert (page numbers are separate from main sequence) of the exhibition at the Acme Press address, including Alan Woollcombe biography "Frank Bellamy: Pilot of the future" and interview with Nancy Bellamy
- #104 (November 1989) p.49, 1 page B&W advert announcing further Radio Times artwork available from the Basement Gallery showing various Radio Times artwork
- "Frank Bellamy lives" by Dennis Hooper (ex- Art Editor of TV 21) 1 page A5 text and two b/w sample art reprints
- Front cover - uses the unpublished Dan Dare and the back cover shows the complete mock up of the proposed Eagle re-launch which never happened - see details
- p.27 "Who will win our comic strip competition?" in the Sunday Times weekly review section. - B&W illustration plus brief biography (whole section is 145x75mm) Single panel shows "Captain Min headed for galactic planet Tosca when electric storms force him to dock on a worn out satellite" [Mentions, incorrectly, "he draws Thunderbirds currently"!] - see article
- pp. 18-22, "Where Eagles dared", by Byron Rogers- Three and a half colour pages on the history of the Eagle comic - one reference to Bellamy, but no relevant content. - see article
- Page 60 Erroneous credit: "Frank Bellamy, an English illustrator of the 1960s, created space pilot Dan Dare" with a non Bellamy illustration !!!!
- pp. 14-15"Frank Bellamy" by Janne Lundstrom, Swedish language - see Sweden page
- pp. 88-93"Adventure in the 21st Century" by Alistair McGown. Article chronicling the world of Thunderbirds in comics
- 55 pages. The commentary shows interesting insights into Frank Bellamy, the father
- ISBN 094848702X (Hardback) 0948487038 (Trade paperback)
- pp.34-43 "Frank Bellamy" by Paul Holder. Well illustrated biography with photos unseen elsewhere.
- pp52-69 "Frank Bellamy" by Paul Holder. This digital version has colour throughout and also additional artwork - Available online
- 16 pages: illustrated : 30cm - Copyright: Acme Press Limited - Booklet Design: Richard Barker London: Basement Gallery
- "Frank Bellamy: Pilot of the future" written by Alan Woollcombe.
- Interview with Nancy Bellamy
- Full listings (with illustrations) here
- Same dates as above but also states: "Private viewing Thursday 13th July 1989"
- pp.10-16 "The Frank Bellamy Interview" - approximate reprint of Fantasy Advertiser interview. Note: advertised on cover as "The Frank Bellamy tapes"
- Cover reproducing Eureka illustration in sepia on flip side of Comics International #67
- Radio Times cover - Day of the Daleks (1 January 1972 - 7 January 1972)
- Radio Times illustration (30 August 1975 - 5 September 1975) "Doctor Who - Terror of the Zygons" Skarasen monster (illustration often called Loch Ness monster)
- pp. 106-107 Bellamy, Frank (1917- ) by Denis Gifford
- Bellamy is also mentioned in articles on Dan Dare (p.194), and Garth (p.275)
- pp 360-361 reproduces a Heros episode
- p. 371 reproduces Dan Dare
- Gifford mentions Bellamy's run on Heros as 1962 - 1966 [sic]. In 1967 Bellamy allegedly started Thunderbirds [sic]. He claims the last page was in issue 3 of TV21 & Joe 90, it was in fact issue 4 (18/10/69)
- Entry on p. 125
- p.146 The Look and Learn illustration (from #451) appears showing the famous Kitchener poster - which Taylor claims was not an official poster
No comments:
Post a Comment