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| Copyright REBELLION |
Are you all sitting comfortably? Good, then I'll begin. Once upon a time, in a long-ago age known as the 1960s, there was a weekly comic called FANTASTIC. This particular paper periodical published a superbly drawn strip called The MISSING LINK, which wasn't much more than an INCREDIBLE HULK 'knock-off'. After four months or so, the strip metamorphosed into JOHNNY FUTURE, featuring the awesome adventures of a radioactively-mutated Link in his new guise of a sensational superhero, with cape, cowl, costume and all.
LUIS BERMEJO was the accomplished Spanish artist who drew the strip, and it's mainly because of his awesome artistry that the feature is still fondly remembered today, so many years after it finally faded into the cavernous confines of comicbook limbo.
Now, thanks to my incredibly famous generosity (he said, modestly), you Crivs can re-read JF's incredible escapades, almost a frightening fifty years later. Or, if you weren't around back then, experience them for the first time, o stupendous seeker after spectacular superhero stories.
If you're enjoying these power-packed re-presentations of Johnny's pulsating punch-ups, be sure to let me know in the comments section. Or, manifest your gratitude in the form of cheques for extremely large amounts of dosh, which you can forward to my representative on 'The Floor of '64'. Don't worry, he'll pass them on to me, minus his slice of 100 percent. Do it now!
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This is interesting, Johnny's ambulatory mode of getting from A to B must be pretty unique amongst Superheroes, they're normally clambering over the rooftops or scooting around in a xyzmobile. The streets look conveniently sparse but I suppose this is 1960 something, the pubs will be closing at 10:00. This more prosaic take on the genre kinda fits with the realism of the artwork. It would be great to see him catching a bus
ReplyDeleteHe does discover another mode of transport in an upcoming story.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting another installment of the often-overlooked Johnny Future and the economical linework of Luis Bermejo. I've noticed that a lot of the British artists from the 60s and 70s, such as John Burns, Harry Lindfield and Gerry Haylock, to name but a few, refrained from the over-rendering that some of their American counterparts were prone to. Thanks again for sharing these!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that was a partial necessity dictated by a weekly schedule and working alone, as opposed to the American way of one artist pencilling and another inking, combined with monthly publication?
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're enjoying them, Phil - more to come.
D-oh! Didn't think that one through did I? Weekly vs monthly and division of labour would certainly explain it. Although the time saved on inking must have allowed more effort to be put into colouring if you look at the work done in that area on some of the strips in Countdown, TV Action, Eagle, Century 21 and the like.
ReplyDeleteIndeed on the colouring aspect. Although my speculation may have had nothing to do with the difference in detail, which may just have been a stylistic preference. I think U.K. artists (and foreign artists who worked for the U.K. industry) were more 'illustrators' who just happened to sometimes work in comics, whereas U.S. artists were more 'actual' comicbook artists (if you know what I mean).
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