Frank Bellamy - Birthday Tribute

Today is Frank Bellamy's birthday - he was born on 21 May 1917 and left us far too soon. 

His influence has not waned over the years. In an interview published just yesterday Alan Moore mentions him in passing! But today I want to concentrate on how Bellamy's artwork is used by others. We've already looked at Al Williamson and Wally Wood, but today we are specifically looking at the 1994 Thunderbirds comic, drawn in this particular story by Mike White. We can see how the late Mike White 'borrowed' Bellamy images in his own quite lovely artwork. Finding which TV21s they came from has been quite an exercise, but Paul Holder was a great help, giving me most of these references. Showing Mike White's art alongside Frank Bellamy's allows us to marvel once again at how respected and loved Frank Bellamy's artwork is. Enjoy Frank's birthday with me by looking more closely at his wonderful Thunderbirds art - his most reprinted work.

The three issue story "The Virus" appeared in The New Thunderbirds 5 August 1994 -  19 August 1994 (#73-75).  I present the whole story here to show how influential Bellamy's artwork is, so I hope the copyright holders won't mind my overview for academic study, but should that not be the case, please let me know! 

The New Thunderbirds #73 p.3

The above page contains images from the following TV21s.  

• Thunderbird 3 from TV21 #181
• Thunderbird 1from TV21 #154?
• Thunderbird 5 from TV21 #52? 

TV21 #181

TV21 #154

TV21 #52

The next page in The New Thunderbirds #73 is page 4 

The New Thunderbirds #73 p.4

Here we have

• The top Thunderbird 1 from TV21 #61
• The middle Thunderbird 1 from TV21 #62
• The bottom Thunderbird 1 from TV21 #219

TV21 #61

TV21 #62

TV21 #219

The next page in The New Thunderbirds #73 is page 5

The New Thunderbirds #73 p.5

The only thing we could match here was the Thunderbird 1 which we think came from TV21 #140

TV21 #140

Here's page 6 of the story. Can you find the craft in TV21s and let me know?  

The New Thunderbirds #73 p.6

Then we move onto The New Thunderbirds #74 is page 3  

The New Thunderbirds #74 p.3

• The Hood comes from TV21 #214
• The Thunderbird 1 on the bottom left comes from TV21 #53 (the second ever episode of Thunderbirds) 

TV21 #214

TV21 #53

The next page in The New Thunderbirds #74 is page 4

The New Thunderbirds #74 p.4

•  The Thunderbird 5 comes from TV21 #137

TV21 #137

Here's page 5 of the The New Thunderbirds #74. Can you spot where these came from?

The New Thunderbirds #74 p.5

Then we come to page 6

The New Thunderbirds #74 p.6

• Thunderbird 4 comes from TV21 #211
• Thunderbird 2 (modified) from TV21 #235
• Thunderbird 2 (final panel) also comes from TV21 #235  

TV21 #211

TV21 #235

Here's page 3 of the The New Thunderbirds #75. 

The New Thunderbirds #75 p.3

• Thunderbird 5 from TV21 #194

TV21 #194

The next page in The New Thunderbirds #75 is page 4 

The New Thunderbirds #75 p.4

• Thunderbird 3 from TV21 #179
• Thunderbird 5 from TV21 #210 

TV21 #179

 

TV21 #210

The New Thunderbirds #75 is page 5

The New Thunderbirds #75 p.5

• The missile in TV21 #89 - note the explosion by White (above) and the one by Bellamy (below) - no attempt to copy the master here (However I've shown Al Williamson had a very good go!)! 

TV21 #89

Finally we have page 6 of The New Thunderbirds #75, which I'll leave you to discover for yourself!

The New Thunderbirds #75 p.6

John Freeman's excellent site DownTheTubes featured an obituary for Mike White with links to other tributes. I'm very grateful to Shaqui Le Vesconte for confirming the artwork was by Mike White, as he is not credited anywhere else for the Thunderbirds work, that I could find. 

I hope that he gets his day in the sun if Jamie Anderson, son of the late Gerry Anderson, publishes reprints of the 1990s Thunderbird original strips in his ongoing comic anthology series. So far we have seen Thunderbirds Comic Anthology Volume One (with Lee Sullivan's artwork on the cover) and Volume Two is coming out any time now and can be pre-ordered on his website. Again we see Bellamy's work still being enjoyed.

Finally, and just because Paul Holder reminded me, the image below started out as a birthday card. Back in 2011 I showed the image Bellamy drew for Dez Skinn of a western gunfighter. Here's the photo taken by Frank Bellamy as a record of his work. Scroll down this page (on Frank's influence!) to read how Bellamy knew he made a mistake in this artwork! 

"Western Gunfighter" taken from a photo of the art by Bellamy

Happy Birthday Frank. You are never forgotten!