Peter Foster - Commando: The Pirate Killers

For over a decade from the late 1970's Australian cartoonist Peter Foster worked for British publisher DC Thomson, initially in England and from 1980 back in Australia. Peter would receive a script via mail and send completed black and white art back to the publisher. Peter produced over a dozen Commando digest libraries during this period and a similar amount of Football libraries. Miraculously no artwork (I've estimated 5000+ pages!) was lost in transit and only one script failed to turn up.

After a period of working via this method Peter started keeping photocopies of his art before dispatching it in the mail as a safeguard in case it went missing and as a record of his work for himself. The pages below are from an issue of Commando set in Vietnam, script titled The Pirate Killers, I'm not sure if the final published issue kept that title. Mechanically produced lettering was added to the art before publication.

All images copyright DC Thomson 2016.

New Zealand Cartoonists Art Dump #1

I'm trying to post something everyday but I don't have much time so here is a lazy post of covers from Wellington Publisher Feature Productions, active in New Zealand during the 1940's - 1950's. Feature Productions were easily the most prolific of New Zealand's many golden age publishers with one of the worlds lengthiest runs of Mandrake the Magician comics with 222 issues. Quite possibly the world's longest run of Brick Bradford comics as well lasting 108 issues, and The Phantom on monthly, biweekly and weekly schedules at times producing a respectful 556 issues.

To the best of my knowledge this Publisher's lineup was entirely made up of American newspaper strips licensed from King Features Syndicate. I'm not sure if English strip Garth was also licensed through King, but several issues of his adventures were published in the late 1940's.

The rarest FP comics are The Cisco Kid series, collector Geoff Harrison had heard they existed for years but not seen any of the actual comics until this year when we tracked down the first several issues.

I personally own issues #1 - #18 of Big Ben Bolt, possibly the only collection of these to exist anywhere, this of course means nothing to anyone but I just wanted to show off.

Covers here are all from The Adventures of Brick Bradford. Drawn by an unknown New Zealand artist, typically reproducing a panel or element of art from the internal stories. Brick Bradford covers were very odd in that many of them don't feature characters, just focusing on landmarks or modes of transport. Covers that do feature characters often show them depicted from behind. Very odd choices by this unknown artist. Regardless they are all amazing and coloured with the right colours.

This post did not end up as lazy as I intended it to be.

* Special thanks to Allan Kemp for additional info.

Australian Cartoonists Art Dump #4

Above: Paul Wheelhan's The Panther #3

Below: Twilight Ranger, art by Keith Chatto, story by Michael Noonan

Across two series Silver Flash and his Frog-men and Captain Silver Flash artist/writer Virgil Reilly produced upwards of 1200 pages of comic art. Where did all that art go and where can I get four 300 page collections of it?

Australian reprint of US newspaper strip Tim Tyler's Luck published by Invincible Comics. Tim Tyler's Luck ran ran from August 13, 1928, until August 1996 and employed several artists including Alex Raymond and Burne Hogarth.

Bask in the glory of this comic by Terry Murphy, I like how he uses ink washes in the introductory splash panels, not just filling in line work but also creating textures with solid brush strokes of ink.

British reprints of Australian Biggles Comics

Biggles comics created in Australia initially by John Dixon and subsequently by Albert De Vine were reprinted in England by Stratos Publications Ltd during the 1950's. These reprints of the quintessentially English character of Biggles were packaged into 68 page collections with John Dixon's original Australian creations Tim Valour and The Crimson Comet filling up the pages alongside another of Albert De Vine's Australian comics works Gimlet who was also created by Biggles creator W. E Johns.

Australian Cartoonists Art Dump #3

Above: Maurice Bramley cover for In Battle Action No. 72

Below: Peter Chapman's Sir Falcon.

Below: John Dixon's Crimson Comic. When I was about eight years I bought a Crimson Comet comic from a carboot in a muddy paddock at a flea market in provincial New Zealand. Unbelievably one hundred and fifteen years later I still have that comic.

Every day I wake up and wonder is this the day Nat Karmichael announces he'll be publishing the complete Tim Valour by John Dixon? A phone book collection of these tight adventure stories would be a gift to mankind...

These King Size Comic anthologies have stunning covers by an unknown artist. They chiefly contain American reprints but invariably would have an Australian comic like Stan and Reg Pitt's Silver Starr. A smarter person than me like Kevin Patrick or Daniel Best could have written about these in a smarter way.

The Adventures of Flash Cain No. 3 collects comics from Cavalcade magazine by Phil Belbin, cover by Devil Doone mainstay artist Hart Amos.

Even when guesting in other heroes comics the Phantom Ranger could oddly be relied upon to find a Mexican to punch in the face.

Kent Blake of the Secret Service #18? There seventeen issues before this one? Nat, while you're assembling that Tim Valour phone book can I please also get an inch thick collection of Monty Wedd's Kent Blake comics?