Friday 18 February 2011

Garth reappears in the Daily Mirror

UPDATE: The Angels of Hell's Gap reprinted in colour!

© Daily Mirror

Above is the scan I did of the newly reprinted first episode of "The Angels of Hell's Gap" from the Daily Mirror dated today - Monday 21 February 2011. It's been coloured by Martin Baines - which of course was impossible back in 1975, as we only got coloured newsprint in 1986 in the UK. The original story ran from 15 January 1975 to 2 May (Episodes J12-J101).

Also notice the classic reprints of The Perishers by Collins and Dodd. When cutting and collecting the daily Garths from the Daily Mirror in the 70s, I regularly read the Perishers and it's interesting to see how it hasn't dated

Well done Daily Mirror - we're now looking forward to you announcing a complete reprint of Bellamy's Garth strips in hardback - Norman dreaming again!






© Daily Mirror
There's an announcement on the Daily Mirror's website that they are publishing Garth again. He will re-appear in the Monday 21st February 2011 edition apparently. Former Mirror cartoon editor Ken Layson says:

Garth was the brainchild of cartoonist Steve Dowling, who based him loosely on Superman. But the hero really shot to prominence under the ground-breaking artwork of the late Frank Bellamy, who had sketched Dan Dare before turning to Garth in the early 70s.

Ken says: “When Bellamy took over, the character of Garth took off. His artwork was dynamic with strong shadows and beautifully sculpted figures.”

Frank, who died in 1976, also put the strip into the comic strip. Ken explains: “There was quite a bit of nudity in the 70s Garth. Frank’s wife was the model for most of those half-naked ladies.”
In 2008 they produced new adventures of Garth for the first time since 1997 (Martin Asbury was both writer and artist in 1997 having taken over from Bellamy)  - read more about that on John Freeman's site


However they go on to say: Now the hero’s old adventures are set to enthral both nostalgic fans and a new generation of readers. Start queueing at your local newsagents as this reads like reprints to me!

Link: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/02/18/comic-hero-garth-returns-to-the-daily-mirror-115875-22930756/

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