Far from quiet on the Western Front!

"Far from quiet on the Western Front"... or ... "Stormin' Norman goes to war" - both titles suggested by my family as titles for this blog entry.

This week for me has been a rollercoaster ride. It started with a hospital visit to review some test results with my best friend (all clear, thank God), picking up one of my children from her one and a half year visit to the Far East (M25 rush hour, two major roadworks, and raining on the way to Heathrow!) but ended on such a high note!

Yesterday morning at Geoff West's BookPalace, a bunch of us unpacked some of the boxes from China containing three exciting titles. If you had told the teenage Norman that he would be signing books to which he would contribute a couple of pages (1518 words to be exact), he might have quietly thought you were mad and then dismissed the comment!

When (not, if!) you buy a copy of the excellent "Story of World War One" illustrated throughout by Frank Bellamy, you will have the choice of a signed hardback or an equally excellent paperback. Both have lovely covers but the hardback limited edition has, firstly a limited edition print inserted in the book and also Steve Holland's and my signatures. When you have a copy in your hand I can guarantee the signature is mine as I signed 175 copies of the book yesterday morning.

Open it and gaze at the Bellamy illustrations but take a moment to congratulate Stuart Williams for the design. I did wonder how one would reproduce a three page article including a double page spread in such a book. I was prepared for the blank fourth page. However Stuart has taken the cameos of the major players in the First World War (which were drawn by Bellamy and incorporated in the illustrations he did) and placed them on those empty fourth pages. The text has been completely reset and pictures cleaned up (by Steve Holland).



This resource would be brilliant in schools and gives a great general introduction for those studying World War One in Key Stage Three (Years 7 - 9) - the prime target of the original Look and Learn from which this comes.

Steve Holland, being more geared up for this sort of occasion, brought his camera along to the event and we had on hand a photographer, (well my wife!). Steve kindly sent me this picture - I insisted we hide behind the books - from left to right - Geoff West, Norman Boyd and "the famous" Steve Holland, (as I named him yesterday) after he called me "Bellamy expert"


You will have already seen the books Steve is holding (on the right) I'm proudly displaying the above title and finally Geoff is holding a very thick leather bound and very limited Complete Swift Stories volume in which you get all the adventures that Bellamy illustrated in that young people's comic. I've yet to sit down and read through the whole lot and check the contents (a natural bibliographer!) but they haven't forgotten the Swift Annual story which often gets overlooked! I very much doubt these will ever be reprinted again, so my advice is get over to Book Palace and order a copy - you will not be disappointed and you need to support such work so that the future projects can be produced.

I ought to also say the pictures I have scanned are not indicative of the quality of the above books, they are lot better but I thought it would be good to show some detail other than the spreads I have used in the past

Heros the Spartan art for sale

UPDATE
I have added the price below that was realised for this piece. I'm beginning to wonder whether I might, through all my blog and web activity, be the cause for the large sums that Bellamy art now fetches! Rightfully so too.

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Just a quick post to let you know that another poiece of rare Eagle artwork is up for auction. It's at Comic Book Postal Auctions Spring 2010 auction - Lot #160 . Before you click the link make sure you have a couple of thousand pounds to bid. See my last mention and the winning prices!

The piece's description is:
Heros The Spartan original colour artwork drawn and signed by Frank Bellamy. From The Eagle centre page spread Vol 16: No 20 (1965) Heros is saved from The Living Dead by Zathran, ex-commander of the Black Guard … Some of the blue colour faded, reds still strong. Poster paint on board. 19 x 28 ins Estimate: £1,000-1,400

Auction ended March, 2010 at £2,421

Edited on 22 March 2010

It is the 12th episode of the story "The Slave Army" and Eagle issue dated 15 May 1965. The story tells of Heros accompanying a caravan to the Libyan gold mines. Remember this is 1965 storytelling and the Internet was not to hand. Libya has no gold mines, but does have the very modern resource of oil in abundance (their neighbour to the south, Chad, has gold). Bellamy’s depiction of desert light and Berber buildings in this his last Heros comic story are wonderful, and his detailed Arab faces, and weaponry are amazing. Several classic Bellamy devices appear in this particular episode

I'll update the page once the final price is released

Frank Bellamy and Patricia McCormick bullfighter

Taken from Men Only March 1955

In his interview with Dez Skinn and Dave Gibbons Bellamy mentions he illustrated stories in Men Only, which produces a laugh, as the interviewers think of the risqué 'top-shelf' magazine which Paul Raymond bought from Leonard Matthews in 1971. But as Bellamy explained, they're thinking of the 1970s magazine, not the one he drew for in the 1950s!

Recently I was looking through Picture Post magazines from the 1950s, looking for information and art on my other passion, Raymond Sheppard, and came across some photos of a bullfighter (27 September 1952).
Nothing unusual there, but it was a woman bullfighter that was being highlighted. Her name was Patricia McCormick. I remembered one of the Men Only illustrations was of Ms McCormick.

The accompanying caption in Picture Post reads:
"Perhaps 22 year old American girl Pat McCormick was teethed on Papa Hemingway; perhaps she just resented male monopoly of a dangerous trade. Whatever the reason she abandoned brush and palette for cape and sword - the art of painting for the art of killing. Now, in Mexico, in bright sanded ring instead of college campus, she practices technique and dreams of the bulls to die. The reward? Dust in honey-blonde hair, blood on the blade, a black bull dead at her feet - and the crowd's roar."

Cover of Men Only March 1955

In the March 1955 issue of Men Only, McCormick wrote the article "Alone she fights the bull……." which included some of her drawings but also Bellamy's. On pages 85 and 89 we see the two black and white illustrations of McCormick as Matadora fighting a bull and McCormick being thrown by the bull. Both, you will notice are signed 'Bellamy' in a cursive style - whereas his later signature became more flat and linear, matching, in my opinion his more graphical style .

Men Only p.85

Men Only p.89

The article by Patricia McCormick has not only Bellamy's accompanying drawings but also photographs of McCormick. None of Bellamy's drawings are based on the photos, but one wonders if he had reference material beyond shots of bullfighters. Here he shows a woman, is it based on Pat McCormick photos? To be honest it doesn't matter as the original publication fitted inside a pocket and was printed on cheap paper.

If you'd like to read more, Michael Gage kindly sent me an article in PDF form from True Woman's Adventures (May 1956, Volume 1 Issue 1) which was published by 148 Publishing Corp, at 147, East 50th Street, New York 22


Serendipity plays a large underrated part in research for this sort of information - note Michael's scans and the Picture Post, but to finish this article I suddenly thought to Google McCormick's name and lo and behold she has a website, where you can see some of her own art as well as a video of her glory days! It works best in Internet Explorer, something I wouldn't usually highlight as I'm a Firefox fan). This lady really did buck the male stereotypes thrust on her in the earlier less enlightened age! Unfortunately the contact link doesn't work but if anyone out there knows Pat I'd love to let her know of this blog entry

And finally I ought to return to Frank Bellamy and say he did a great job too!

Frank Bellamy's reprinted stories - UPDATE

In my post of the 14 August 2009 I was looking forward to Titan's reprint book. I felt that with some misleading information on the Net I ought to write a little bit for anybody that relies on this blog for news of Bellamy's reprinted material.

Rather than perpetuate any more errors, I wrote to the authority in these matters John Freeman.

"I think the confusion may have arisen because the original plan was to run Courage and Bellamy's David in the same volume. I argued Jesus and Mark would complement each other better and offer the possibility of a second volume with another well known strip, David, alongside Eagle's story of Paul. There's no planned publication date for this second volume. As you may already know from reading my blog an animated film based on the imagery of Road of Courage is in development."

John then kindly provided the following blurb, as it's called in the trade

The Road of Courage Written by Marcus Morris; drawn by Frank Hampson Ran in Eagle from volume 11, issue 12 to volume 12, issue 14 [19/03/60 – 08/04/61] (56 episodes)

• The Road of Courage starts with Herod ordering a census. Joseph appears in episode 3, Mary in episode 4 and Jesus is born in episode 5. It features every major incident in the biblical life of Jesus: the flight from Egypt, Jesus’ early life, the battles against the occupying Romans, Jesus’ fights against the Pharisees, Palm Sunday, throwing the money lenders out of the temple, the Last Supper, Judas betraying Jesus, the confrontation in the garden of Gethsemane, the trial of Jesus, setting Barabbas free, Jesus carrying the cross and rising from the dead.
• The Road of Courage has only been published in a collection once before (in 1981, by Dragon’s Dream) as The Road of Courage – The Story of Jesus of Nazareth. It was also published in Dutch and French. This collection is long out of print and commands a considerable premium on ebay etc. when copies are for sale.

Mark, The Youngest Disciple Subtitled “The story of John Mark writer of the 2nd gospel” Ran in Eagle from volume 5, issue 46 to volume 6, issue 26 [12/11/54 – 01/07/55] = 34 episodes [there were 53 issues in volume 5] Written by Chad Varah, who died in 2007 (follow the link for Steve Holland's excellent article) and drawn by Giorgio Bellavitis (who died very recently)

• The timeframe over which Mark, The Youngest Disciple is told is different from every other normal back page Eagle “True Life” story. Normally, they covered a lifetime but in the case of Mark, the tale spans just over seven weeks, from Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter) until Whit Monday (seven weeks after Easter). Even then, most of the action takes place on just a few days.
• The story is based around Mark rushing around Jerusalem getting into scrapes as he follows Jesus through this momentous time in Jesus’s life, opening with the Last Supper before moving quickly to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. It features the trial of Jesus, setting Barabbas free, Jesus carrying the cross, his rising from the dead, the founding of the Christian church and the first baptisms, ending with Peter agreeing to let Mark work with him as a missionary.
• Throughout, Jesus is featured but his face is never seen

Shepherd Lad of Bethlehem Written by Chad Varah, drawn by Norman Williams Ran in Eagle from volume 2, issue 37 to volume 2, issue 38 [21/12/51-28/12/51] – 2 episodes

• A seasonal tale set in Bethlehem and never before re-published.

Thanks for the information John. I have the first reprint of Road to Courage (by Dragon's Dream) and it's great to see pure Hampson, so it's well worth buying for that alone

So what does this mean to us Bellamy fans? Wait patiently and pray sales on Titans reprints encourage the reprinting of the next volume and then we might see David reprinted

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Meanwhile Geoff West of Book Palace has reminded me that the shipment of his two reprints are due in the third week of February and this gives me an excuse to outline what they are about.

The Story of World War One (Hard cover Signed Limited Edition)

• Artist: Frank Bellamy
• Author: Michael Butterworth, Frank Bellamy, edited by Steve Holland (and that Norman Boyd too!)
• Publisher: Book Palace Books
• Publication Date: February 2010 First Edition.
• Pages: 112 pages
• Size: 9" x 12" (220mm x 297mm)
• Format: Hard Cover
• Illustrations: Part Colour
• ISBN: 9781907081033
• Territory: World
• Synopsis: For the first time ever, Michael Butterworth's epic series of articles recounting the history of the First World War collected from the pages of Look and Learn, where it was fully illustrated each week by the incomparable Frank Bellamy. From the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand through the desperate battles fought at Gallipoli, Verdun, the Somme and Passchendaele. The story is told in a series of beautifully illustrated episodes that are suitable for children. This book is a testament to the the greatness of this famous British strip and the artists who drew it. 110 works of original art beautifully reproduced.

LIMITED TO 200 Copies with a unique numbered print of a double page spread of original art.

The Story of World War One (Signed Limited Edition)

• Artist: Frank Bellamy
• Author: Michael Butterworth, Frank Bellamy, edited by Steve Holland
• Publisher: Book Palace Books
• Publication Date: February 2010 First Edition.
• Pages: 112 pages
• Size: 9" x 12" (220mm x 297mm)
• Format: Soft Cover
• Illustrations: Part Colour
• ISBN: 9781907081002
• Territory: World

LIMITED TO 1250 numbered copies

Frank Bellamy's Complete Swift Stories Deluxe Edition (Limited Edition)

• Due February 2010.
• This book brings together every strip and illustration produced by Frank Bellamy for the classic British children's comic Swift, Frank Bellamy's Swift contains the complete adventures “Robin Hood”, “King Arthur and His Knights” and “Swiss Family Robinson”, plus his contributions to other strips (“The Fleet Family”, “Paul English”) and the Swift Annual.
• As a bonus, the book is issued with a Limited edition Robin Hood print.
• 380 pages. Hard Cover Part Colour 9" x 12" (220mm x 297mm)
• (ISBN-13: 9781907081026)

Deluxe Slipcased Limited Edition of 200 copies. With bonus Limited edition Robin Hood print.

Myths debunked

I was reminded of the above piece as I watched, for the first time, the film "The Battle of Britain" over the last week. Over the years there have been many artists who have imitated Bellamy and some of his techniques and I'm sure he would be very flattered. But those who know his work don't generally argue over the provenance of original art. (There have been a few). The reason for this is that with his regular commissions in comics taking most of his time (and therefore easily accounted for) and also his clear style it's rare something comes up to argue over, and Nancy his widow, is still with us too to corroborate some works. There are two pieces 

I'd like to bring to your attention. The first is above. This comes from the excellent Look and Learn website (search for LL0036-013-99) but also from an enquirer to my website asking where this piece by Bellamy was published. I had to inform him that this wasn't by Bellamy. 

I have also seen a piece from the strip "Montgomery of Alamein" from the Eagle called "the Battle of Britain" and sold as a print, but this seems to have now disappeared so maybe this was another mistake that someone buried before the lawyers moved in! 

On enquiry Steve Holland said he knew this was Neville Dear (I totally agree) and that this link gives the right attribution, which it does The second piece which was forwarded to me by, I think Shaqui, is the following game

Taken from Look-in Annual 1971

The figure in the centre of a Masai is 'borrowed' from TV21 issue 59, p12 (the Thunderbird strip "Mission to Africa") 

The elephants come from the same story (issue #60, p.10)- here's the original The rhino comes from - again the same story - #63, page 11 - here's the original again for you to compare Where do the gorilla and lion come from? I can't find them so I'm guessing either copied from photos of the time, or 'borrowed' from elsewhere. If you can trace a Bellamy antecedent, let me know. Now why was this hotch-potch of images used, when Bellamy could have been approached to create something in 1971? Especially as, at that time, Alan Fennell, his old friend, was the Editor of the Look-In comic (before Colin Shelbourne took over from his position of Art Editor)? Well, at that time Bellamy did contribute one piece, - more of which at a later date. But I suspect he was trying at this point to break away from comics (despite creating Garth for the Daily Mirror every day) and therefore was reluctant to 'go backwards' But why did the creator of the game above rip-off another publisher's material? Another mystery that may never be solved

Original art sold

Just a quick note about a recent sale of a Garth strip by Frank Bellamy, number J70. This sold on eBay last month for $250 - which in Pounds Sterling today equates to £154, a nice sum for a well loved story.

This is an episode from The Angels of Hell Gap, which ran in the Daily Mirror from 15 January 1975 to 02 May 1975 (Numbers J12-J101). You just might be able to see the date pencilled in (presumably by the editor) of '26-3-1975'

The thing we all loved reading at that time was the opening episode, as Bellamy always did the equivalent of a comic's splash panel.

Here's the first episode of The Angels of Hell Gap

Fans of Frank Bellamy: Les Edwards

BE WARNED:
I am about to steal hours of your time!

I've been reading comics, comic strips and graphic novels for approximately 50 years. But the name Les Edwards was new to me until a few years ago. If you look at his amazing artwork, (www.lesedwards.com) you may be saying "who is this guy?" or if younger than me, "what kind of an idiot are you, Norman? How could you not know Les?".

It seems logical to me that we all favour and concentrate on those we get to know. Richard Bruton (no spelling mistake!) reviews new stuff on Forbidden Planet's Blog. This year he has talked about Largo Winch (amongst many others) and I'm now hooked! I will now watch out for the Belgian creators Philippe Francq and Jean Van Hamme.

I'm going to confess something here: I have never been able to read Discworld - and therefore never bought the calendars! I did read Anne McCaffrey's Pern series in the Eighties and early Nineties (thus missing Les' excellent covers in the 'Noughties'). I have never followed role-playing games. And I gave up browsing bookshop science-fiction shelves quite a while ago, and thus missed Les' fascinating covers. Anyway enough of my confessions. Les, I'm sorry to have missed your work for so long. I'm sure that a lot of people reading this will also be discovering your work for the first time! I can certainly see some Bellamy influence (compare the rockets in the above Eagle cover and Les' 'Cygnus' painting).

Les kindly offered to add to my mini-series of 'Fans of Frank Bellamy'. Over to Les:

Like most boys growing up in the 50's I was a fan of the Eagle which was streets ahead of other comics of the day in terms of quality. My main interest to begin with was Dan Dare, because it was Science Fiction and because it always had a large splash panel on the front page to grab your interest. It was also beautifully drawn by the other great Frank;- Hampson, although, if the truth be told I was too young to appreciate the artwork at first. At this time the centre pages of the Eagle were given over to the famous cut-away drawings which can still put a gleam in the eye of men of "a certain age". Whoever decided to put a double spread strip in their place deserves a medal.

I'd been aware of The Happy Warrior on the back page and Montgomery of Alamein but I considered them subordinate to the main attraction which was still the adventures of Dan and Digby and their nemesis the evil Mekon. However, when Heros the Spartan began to run in the centre pages I switched my allegiance at once. I've tried in the ensuing years to decide why I found Heros so attractive but while I have lots of "grown up" reasons I'm not sure why my twelve year old self was so hooked.

Taken from Eagle 7 Sept 1963, Vol 14 36

In my memory Heros was always very dark and richly coloured which gave it a moody and brooding atmosphere, something which I still try to replicate in my own work. In looking at panels from the strip in later years this is clearly not always the case. Indeed one of the stories, obviously inspired by Lawrence of Arabia, David Lean's magnificent film, was set in the desert and brightly lt. Still my abiding memory is of dark shadows and twisted trees, swamps and monsters and almost Neanderthal barbarians. It was a kind of proto-Sword and Sorcery, long before I'd ever heard the term.



There was plenty of action. Indeed everything in a frame of Heros seemed to be in motion, whether it was the creases in someone's clothing, an expressively gesturing hand or the sweep of a sword. Again, this rather a "grown up" appreciation and I'm sure I reacted to this strip on a much more fundamental level.



Eventually I became interested in the artist. Of course it was Frank Bellamy. I tried, without much success to imitate his style and I think there are still elements of him in what I do now. It was an influence that followed me to Art School, to the bemusement of my tutors, and I did not, nor did I want to, shake it off. I doubt very much that I would be doing what I do today without Heros.



When Bellamy moved on to do Thunderbirds for Century 21 his work became ever more accomplished. Indeed some of his renderings of non_Thunderbird hardware are absolutely stunning. But while you might argue that this is more mature work, it never quite had the resonance of Heros the Spartan for me. I look forward to the day when someone republishes the whole of Bellamy's Heros work in a large format. Maybe then I'll be able to put my finger on the element that made it so crucial to me. I'm not holding my breath, but they did it for Dan Dare and I can't be the only wanna-be legionnaire out there.

Taken from TV21 201 23 November '2068'

Thanks a lot Les. Let's hope Titan Books are listening and will publish Heros as a complete run. I hope you like the selection of Bellamy art - I was tempted to add a Hampson, but felt a Bellamy blog ought to have Bellamy and as I could see a similarity between your Cygnus and Bellamy's hardware in the Dan Dare story above... Also I could have shown the Heros 'desert' story, but felt the issue above shows that some bright colour did indeed appear in the strip despite your and my memory of it being dark! I threw in some Thunderbirds hardware and 'barbarians' too for good measure.