BABE Of The DAY - BERNADETTE PETERS...

I notice in my stats that someone

keeps visiting this site (the finest blog

in the universe - if you inhabit an alternate

universe, obviously) in search of actress and

singer BERNADETTE PETERS, so I've

decided to oblige them by showing this

 pic of her.  Isn't that nice of me?

RUMINATIN' REPOST: JUST WALKIN' IN THE RAIN...?

Outside, it's a wet and windy day.  The rain lashes the streets with unrelenting fervour as, from my window, I observe a few bedraggled passers-by scurry for shelter or in pursuit of some purpose know only to themselves.  The sky is grey and ominous, clouds swirl overhead in regal, grim-miened majesty, contemptuously regarding us mere mortals as the lowly ants we undoubtedly are.

And that's the weather forecast for today.

However, cosily ensconced within the comfortable confines of my comics covered cubbyhole, I luxuriate in the warmth emanating from the radiator and concern myself with what pithy (no, I don't have a lisp), profound and poignant comments I can bestow upon my eager audience, who look to me to lighten and brighten their unbearable burden by bedazzling them with the wit and wisdom which so freely pours forth from my meaningful, methodical and monumental mind. 

Oh, what lucky people you are.

When I was a boy in Belmont, we had an outside 'garden cellar' (as did most houses in the street), in which we stored coal in one half and garden tools (lawnmower, spades, etc.) in the other.  (It was called a cellar even though it wasn't underground, but apparently the term is not misapplied in such circumstances.)  On rainy days I'd sit on a deckchair inside the bigger-sized half with the door slightly ajar, reading comics and listening to the rain pattering off the pavement and caressing the concrete roof under which I ever-so-snugly sheltered.

Even today, I find it a supremely calming experience to sit in a car in the rain and listen to the drops rattling on the roof in their staccato, tinny-sounding fashion.  There's a wonderfully diverse quality to rain; when one is out walking in it, it invigorates, it refreshes, and it cleanses.  Yet, when one takes the time to regard its presence in quiet contemplation from the comfort of a dry haven, it also relaxes the mind and soothes the soul.

Sadly, refuge in the garden cellar of my youth is a couple of houses ago and many years in the past.  However, I can still seek sanctuary in its shadows with one short step into the hallowed halls of memory.  As Cicero himself said: "Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things."  Failing that, of course, I can always go and sit in my nice new acrylic garden shed and listen to the rain pitter-patter all around me, the door half-open to allow me to watch it in silent awe.

******

Incidentally, the photo below was taken almost thirty years ago outside the very cellar mentioned, around twenty years after I had moved from the house.  How did I manage that, do I hear you ask?  Ah, but that's a story for another time.

MIGHTY MARVEL COLLECTED EDITION CHECKLIST - ON SALE NOW!

The ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN #47

Copyright MARVEL COMICS.  Published by PANINI

52 action-packed pages of arachnid adventure!

There’s been a major theft the likes of which we’ve never seen and for once, the Black Cat didn’t do it.  But Spider-Man might need the help of his once-foe-once-friend-once-crime-boss Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat!  Trouble is the Black Cat still wants to clean her claws with Spidey’s face!  By Nicks Spencer & Humberto Ramos!

Reprinting material from Amazing Spider-Man #9 &10.

On sale Now!

£4.50.

Dr. MESMER'S REVENGE...

Copyright REBELLION

Got this great book today, which I'm looking forward to working my way through when I can find the time to apply myself.  The cover is slightly misleading though, because the cover attributes the strip to THUNDER, and the stories within were actually first published in the combined LION & Thunder.  (The correct credit is given inside.)  However, that's a somewhat minor niggle as it contains some terrific artwork by CARLOS CRUZ, illustrating great stories written by DONNE AVENELL.  Definitely one to add to your collection if you're a fan of classic British adventure strips.  Dr. MESMER'S REVENGE - rush right out and get yours now!  (No, silly - the book, not your revenge!)  Priced £14.99.

WARM LIPS... HOT LEAD! MONTANA SURE RINGS MY BELLE - WOTTA STARR!

Copyright relevant owner

I freely confess that I've carried a torch for JANE RUSSELL for many a year, but I don't think I've ever seen her in the movie MONTANA BELLE.  Nevertheless, I ain't gonna let that stop me from ogling these posters, and I thought my fellow Crivs would like to cop a gander as well.  Ah, Jane - wotta babe you are!

BABE Of The DAY - JANE RUSSELL...

JANE RUSSELL jaunts 'round the dance

floor while auditioning for STRICTLY COME

PRANCING, but sadly she's too much of a woman

to impress any of the gaylords on the judging panel.

Never mind, at least us macho, manly-men appreciate

her feminine charms.  (Hey, where's my handbag

 with my lipstick and eye-shadow got to?)

RIP-ROARIN' REPOST (AGAIN): NOT JUST A LETTERER...

'Homage' to cover of IRON MAN #150.  Hand drawn, no tracing or graph
paper or projectors involved.  Characters copyright MARVEL COMICS

Yeah, I know some of you will have seen this before, but I'm stuck for something to write about so it's either this or nothing.  (Hey, whaddya mean nothing would've been preferable?!)

******

It's not generally known, but although I was primarily a lettering artist throughout my 15 year career in comics, my original ambition was to be an adventure comic strip artist.  I started lettering simply to get my size 9s in the door, but when I saw I could earn more as a letterer than as an artist (on account of being faster at the former than the latter), I stuck mainly with the lettering.

However, I did a bit of drawing as well, adding to panels when re-sizing IPC comic libraries, and doing occasional spot illos when the opportunity presented itself.  I also worked as a restoration artist on some MARVEL MASTERWORKS volumes, re-inking and even re-creating JACK KIRBY art, which was a huge thrill for me.

However, my frank and forthright views on this blog on the current state of the British comics 'industry' (hah!) has brought me in for criticism from some quarters, with a few disgruntled individuals dismissing me as "only a letterer" and a "Kirby tracer".  Thing is, I got my first paying gig as a cartoonist when I was still at school, and have produced artwork for publication (for which I was paid) since even before (during and after) I started freelancing for IPC/FLEETWAY, MARVEL COMICS (and others).

So here are a few examples of pencil and ink artwork ranging from my teenage years right up to adulthood.  Quite a few are professional pieces I was paid for, some were freebies for people I know, and the remainder were done simply for my own amusement.  I've shown them all before on the blog at various times, but it can't hurt to remind people I'm certainly more than "only a letterer".  Funny how some people who work in comics mistakenly imagine it's the only legitimate outlet for an artist's work, eh?

******

Huh!  Not even one appreciative comment so far.  I knew I should've take off the 'Do Not Feed The Ego' sign hanging around my neck before I posted this.  (Now I know what YOGI BEAR feels like.)

Pencil caricature (using my pseudonym) done as a gift for someone

"As you dislike a certain cartoonist's version of DESPERATE DAN, then why not do it
yourself?" someone dared. So I did!  Characters copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

B&W copy of colour ad for local restaurant.  Fee was £100, but decided not to sell in the end

2000 A.D. pin-up.  I was paid for it, but don't know if it was ever
published.  Characters copyright REBELLION PUBLISHING

Pencil sample which led to ltg work from IPC.  Characters copyright MARVEL COMICS

Set of four cartoon illustrations (sans captions) for Equestrian event programme

Cartoon illustration for local business

Acrylic ink caricature of a friend's son

Pencil caricature done as a gift for someone

Parody of AMAZING FANTASY #15 splash page

Cartoon strip for local business

 

Proposed strip (at the request of BOB PAYNTER) for OINK! while at the preparation
stage.  Never got any feedback, but a similar character appeared a few months later

WILLIAM HARTNELL 'DOCTOR' and TARDIS drawn in 1983, background completed in 2013

Acrylic ink portrait done as a gift for someone.
Yeah, you can see my heart wasn't really in it

Drawing done as a gift for someone.  Copyright KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, Inc

Newspaper ad drawn as a teenager for local business

Photocopy of pencil drawing done for my own amusement around 1981

Instruction leaflet done for local business's delivery drivers

Newspaper ad for Glasgow hairdressers

Acrylic ink caricature done as a gift for someone

Logo for The ILLUSTRATED COMIC JOURNAL

Drawing done as a gift for someone

Pair of flyers for local business

Proposed logo for Glasgow con.  Don't know if it was used or not

Cartoons (sans captions) for two camping posters done in my late teens/early 20s

Logo for local business

Acrylic ink caricature done as a gift for someone

Quick caricature done as a gift for someone

Fun & Activity booklet produced for local business

Acrylic ink caricature done as a gift for someone

Unfinished pencil caricature

Comic strip drawn for The BOOTS NEWS when I was 17.  Coloured decades later

Pencil drawing done as a teenager

Unpublished strip for local paper.  Others were published though

Cartoon strip drawn for my own amusement

Character copyright DC COMICS

And finally - a couple of pages of JK artwork I inked.  The FF one appeared in an issue
of The JACK KIRBY Collector.  Characters copyright MARVEL COMICS