CRIVENS! COMICS & STUFF!: May 2011

Friday, 27 May 2011

THE ULTIMATE BEANO SUMMER SPECIAL #1 - NOW ON SALE!

Images copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

Exclusive to WH SMITH and on sale now is this colour-packed celebration of 60 years of DENNIS The MENACE, priced at £4.99. Comprised of 68 pages (including cardboard covers) and containing some of the best Dennis strips from BEANO Summer Specials down through the years, it also includes famous characters like LITTLE PLUM, The BASH STREET KIDS, BIFFO The BEAR and quite a few others. With artwork by DAVEY LAW, DUDLEY D. WATKINS, ROBERT NIXON and the usual stable of artists. All in all, a nice little collectors' edition which is sure to appeal to everyone, from innocent little kids full of the joys of life, to overweight slapheads who have never had a girlfriend.

PRESENTING: KID ROBSON'S ARTWORK OMNIBUS - PART ONE...

Pencil drawing of Iron Man #150 cover

I received an email recently asking why I didn't feature any of my own art on my blog. Obviously someone hasn't been paying attention, but to save anyone who's interested from having to wade through the archives, here's the first part of an 'omnibus' selection of a few pieces. Some of it is over 30 years old (and pre-dates my professional career), so please be gentle. Click on picture, then click on result for enlarged viewing.

For Part Two, click here.

ARTWORK OMNIBUS - PART TWO...

Unused fanzine cover. For Part Three, click here.

ARTWORK OMNIBUS - PART THREE...

Pencil drawing, drawn as a teenager. For Part Four, click here.

ARTWORK OMNIBUS - PART FOUR...

Parody of Amazing Fantasy #15 splash page. For Part Five, click here.

ARTWORK OMNIBUS - PART FIVE...

'Unofficial' Desperate Dan strip. To see black & white copy, click here.

For Part Six, click here.

ARTWORK OMNIBUS - PART SIX...

"Yawn! Wonder what kind of day it's going to be, Fred?"

Camping cartoon for poster, drawn as a teenager.

ARTWORK OMNIBUS - PART SEVEN...

Photograph of colour caricature.

ARTWORK OMNIBUS - PART EIGHT...

Black & white copy of unused colour advertisement.

ARTWORK OMNIBUS - PART NINE...

Fanzine masthead.

ARTWORK OMNIBUS - PART TEN...

Unpublished pin-up.

ARTWORK OMNIBUS - PART ELEVEN...

Pen & acrylic ink caricature.

ARTWORK OMNIBUS - PART TWELVE...

Unfinished caricature at pencil stage.

ARTWORK OMNIBUS - PART THIRTEEN...

Comic strip proposal.

Sunday, 1 May 2011

EVOLUTION OF A COMIC...

First there's the 'ashcan' edition, just to
secure the copyright...

Cover of the ashcan edition of Action Comics

Then the real cover of the actual first issue is
drawn, before a copy is sent for colouring...

The original cover artwork for Action
Comics #1 by Joe Shuster

Then the actual issue is published...

The published result - for only 10 cents

Then it goes on sale...

Where's the Tardis when you need it? (Action Comics #1
at bottom-middle of photograph.)

Result? History in the making.

About the artist:

From 1985 to 2000 A.D. (little joke there), I contributed to a variety of high profile comics and magazines for various companies.

For IPC/FLEETWAY/EGMONT, I freelanced as a lettering and logo artist on various weekly comics and monthly magazines, and also as a resize comic artist and spot illustrator on pocket books, summer specials and annuals.

For MARVEL U.K., BLACK LIBRARY, REDAN and USBORNE BOOKS, I again freelanced as a lettering artist, also working as a restoration artist for MARVEL U.S., restoring and re-creating certain pages of JACK KIRBY art for their MARVEL MASTERWORKS editions.

I also lettered the MARVELMAN sample pages submitted to MARVEL U.S. when they were considering acquiring the character, which - as we all now know - they DID.

Supplied comic strips, cartoons and illustrated advertisements for local business campaigns and newspaper publication on a professional basis since the age of 16. Did my first paid art job for publication at 14 or 15 for Lanarkshire Education Board.

Have also made TV appearances as a collector of memorabilia.

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Just some of the titles I worked on are:

2000 A.D. * JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE * DICEMAN * SONIC The COMIC * JUDGE DREDD, LAWMAN Of The FUTURE * CRISIS * REVOLVER * EAGLE * TIGER * BATTLE ACTION-FORCE * BUSTER * WHIZZER & CHIPS * WHOOPEE * NIPPER * SCHOOL FUN * ACE VENTURA, PET DETECTIVE * The REAL GHOSTBUSTERS * DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE * COUNT DUCKULA * RUGRATS * The TRANSFORMERS * DEATH'S HEAD * THUNDERCATS * GALAXY RANGERS * DRAGON'S CLAWS * SINDY * MARVEL MASTERWORKS * The TROLLS * LOADED * INFERNO * WARHAMMER * ROSE BLACK.

Copyright Notice:

Images remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are used here only for the purpose of review, promotion, and nostalgia.

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In the case of images culled from my own collection where copyright of an item isn't mine, I impose no copying restrictions on fellow bloggers.

(Although, if you don't allow copying on your own site, then you really shouldn't be copying from others, should you?)

And while you can credit this blog if you like, it's not mandatory. Who has time to make notes of every casually visited site during an idle browse of the Internet?

In the case of anyone copying images of my own artwork and calligraphy, I affirm my right to be identified as the creator, and any such copying should not be for the purpose of monetary or material gain. (Unless it's mine.)

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Please also note that this blog is not sponsored by, affiliated with, or connected to, any organisation, business, or group, and is wholly independent.