Original art on eBay: Antony Falloway Adventurer

***UPDATES****December 2021- see below
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In 1989 (13 years after Frank Bellamy's death) an exhibition was held in London, called Unseen Frank Bellamy Basement Gallery Exhibition. Piece #35 was simply described as "Anthony [sic] Falloway" with its size beside it of 42 x 29 cm . Fortunately this is shown in part in the accompanying article by Alan Woolcombe who I wrote to, along with others who were involved in the exhibition, but found no further clues. I always suspected it was drawn around the late 1940s/early 1950s and because I could find no reference was leaning towards it being a newspaper strip as the style, although like Monty Carstairs, a strip drawn for Mickey Mouse Weekly (to see an example see my blog entry) is slightly different.

Imagine my excitement when Chris Power said "I suppose you've seen this" - words that are often answered by a 'yes' but in this case my eBay alerts have let me down and I couldn't believe my eyes.

On ebay seller susita66 has for sale (with a reserve) two strips mounted with signatures confirming this is a strip, but for which paper or magazine? We still don't know, but the title of the piece in Bellamy's writing is "Antony Falloway * Adventurer", the similarity to Monty Carstairs is very close. The fact that both strip appears to me to be on one board also makes me infer that it was never submitted and so might be a try-out. At this period Bellamy was working for Blamire's Studio in Kettering or in London for his first city-based assignments with Norfolk Studio. It's likely he was spreading his net a bit wider, as witnessed by how he quickly moved into freelance work and got an agent. So perhaps this is a submission to a daily newspaper, but we may never know. Thankfully it was included in the exhibition and therefore was not completely unknown.

I have written to the seller asking for further photos, and will update if I receive an answer but in the meantime here are the four photos she has used to accompany her auction on eBay.

 

UPDATE:  £393 (11 bids) (October  2012)  

Since writing the above and having a clue given to me by Mike Stacey and Hans Kiesl  (thanks so much guys), I have the following to add

Daily Express 24 October 1955 (First episode)

 "Antony Falloway" began in the Daily Express on 24 October 1955 (appearing, as can be seen, above "Jeff Hawke"). Notice, compared to Bellamy's version the misspelling (Anthony) and the sub-title which appears to have been removed "Adventurer" in the published version.  Bellamy's story revolves around a biography of General Starva called "The Dictator had a wife". The published story is centred around a visit to East Germany for our adventurer. 

Daily Express 1 November 1955 (#8)

Daily Express 2 November 1955 (#9)

I'm grateful to Paul Hudson who got in touch for the strip below - watch out for his  brilliant book on The A-Z of British Newspaper Strips in 2022

Episode 78

Here are two more taken from the original art and there a few people who would love to know who the artist is on this strip, if you have any clue.

 

Episode 60

Episode 84

And Hans Kiesl kindly sent me a run including the last strip - which mysteriously ends mid-story on 27 January 1956!

Daily Express 27 January 1956

Original Art: Garth on eBay - The Orb of Trimandias

F98 The Orb of Trimiandias

Tweedacademy has added a Garth original to his three large colour artworks that are currently up for grabs.The opening bid is 99p and the auction ends 19 August 2012.

This comes from the story The Orb of Trimandias (which has been reprinted in the following: The Daily Mirror Book of Garth, London: IPC Limited, 1975,  Garth Book One: The cloud of Balthus London: Titan Books, 1984  and in the fan publication Menomonee Falls Gazette #67 (26 March 1973) - #83 (16 July 1973) but was originally seen in the Daily Mirror (28 January 1972 - 22 May 1972 - F24-F121)and was written by Jim Edgar.

The story has Garth appearing as Lord Richard Carthewan in the time of the Borgias and having his portrait drawn by Leonardo da Vinci! Leonardo also shows Lord Carthewan a portrait of a beautiful woman which of course is Garth's old time travelling companion Astra.

Tweedacademy's description:

Now here is an outstanding example of the black and white strip work that Frank Bellamy did for the Daily Mirror on 'Garth', a great action piece from 1975 (strip number F98). This from a story called 'The Orb of Trimandias' where Garth gets to meet Leonardo da Vinci and the Borgias in 17th century Florence. A nice very touch here, the fact that the central panel is wordless and is a wonderful example of Garth in all his historical glory. As you can see he's having a little trouble with the locals, time for a bit of swashbuckling eh!

UPDATE:  £233.01 (23 bids) (August  2012): 

Original Art: Three classics pieces on eBay

I was shocked when I spotted these three pieces coming onto the open market. If these pieces were by mainstream artists they would be handled by exclusive and big name auctioneers, such as Bonhams, or Christies

I have actually seen the Thunderbirds episode from TV21 #125 up close and I tell you you will be stunned by what becomes visible when you see well preserved original art. The colour is richer and the fine lines show up. the seller says " It exhibits all the hallmarks of his classic style, explosions, movement and breaking the fourth wall." And even a crude comparison between the original and the scan shows how different Bellamy's artwork is in the original. 
 

TV21 #125 original art

TV21 #125 Click to enlarge

 Starting bid £4250

Then we also have the very first episode of Thunderbirds drawn by Frank Bellamy from TV21 #52. This is the double page spread (in the comic there was also a single black and white wash). the seller states

"A great spread which also has the original 'Thunderbirds' logo, this was done on a separate sheet and pasted on. Did Bellamy do this? It is actually executed in gouache which would have been unusual? Discuss. Sadly at some point this piece must have been out on display and unprotected and has inevitably faded a bit, but it still has enough going for it considering its iconic status as the very first spread. Fading aside it certainly has some lovely composition and an intro of some TB craft, main characters and the workings of Tracey island. I feel he was just holding back here... little did they realise the explosive nature of spreads to come"

Original art from TV21 #52

I suspect the lettering will have been done by an office artists as it will have been used again and again, and gouache was unusual but not unknown in FB's work. I agree that FB was 'holding back' This was his first attempt at these puppet characters portrayals and he hated doing them. But his professionalism shines through.

Starting bid £3500

And lastly if two originals like this are not enough, the best of the lot is included here An original Heros the Spartan spread. The seller states:

Here is a beautiful double page spread from the pages of Eagle. Over 40 years old but the colour on this is amazing. Such atmosphere. It has the iconic wolf image often cited by fellow comic book professionals (in fact I'm sure Estaban Moroto for one was thinking of this when doing some of his wolves in his great barbarian strips) It firmly exhibits the mastery of style and composition he showed in all his future work, but this character in particular. We believe some of his finest work was on the Heros.. arguably :)

Original art from the Eagle comic of Heros the Spartan

This episode (number 12 from the "Eagle of the Fifth" story by Tom Tully) comes from Eagle 25 May 1963 (Volume 16:11) and below is a scan for your comparison. I have compared both close up and found this was the piece that convinced me that Bellamy's originals were never reproduced anything like as accurately as we could do them now.

Eagle 25 May 1963 Vol 16:11 Click to enlarge

Starting bid £5250

So let me plead again...if you do have originals of Heros PLEASE get in touch so I can let Peter Richardson and Geoff West know so they can include original art as much as possible in the upcoming Heros reprint - read all about it following these links. You will be given a copy of the reprint on publication (and knowing Geoff he might get me to ruin it by signing the foreword that I wrote!)

Original Art: Garth on eBay - The Wolfman of Ausensee

Just a quick note to highlight the sale on eBay of a fantastic piece of Bellamy original art.  It's episode F180 of the Wolfman of Ausensee and looks to be in fantastic condition

I have avoided using the complete picture from eBay as it's not too clear, but here's a view of the details:

Bellamy's trademark drawing of getting the characters to literally leap out of the page and what examples in one strip!

The strip looks like this - a scan from a reprint - so not a copy of the seller's original. BUT be aware the seller says very clearly he will not post abroad (outside the UK, in other words!)

© Daily Mirror

 And for those who can't afford even the starting bid of £260 (post free) this is what happens next in the Garth story!

© Daily Mirror

Update price to follow

Original Art: Garth on eBay - Freak out to Fear

H218 Freak out to fear

The latest piece of art by Frank Bellamy to be made available for sale on eBay shows Garth throwing two thugs around which wakes the host and hostess. This comes from the story "Freak out to fear" which starts with one of my favourite panels of a boutique in swinging London named "The Scene" on King's Road! I would love to know whether the word "dangerous" in the last panel is cut in the board and replaced, as did so often happen with John Allard's lettering. He would also be quite clumsy in my opinion with 'white-out' or Tipp-ex as we called it when I was a boy and that would be the only time you'd see any on Bellamy artwork.

Being a great detective on your behalf I asked the seller whose first name is Bob about how he came by the piece. I spent an enjoyable 45 minutes on the phone with a great guy. He told me some amazing stories  - his life as a Police Officer/Detective that touch on murder plots with Bob Monkhouse and a crowd of 500 as witnesses; his helping Paul Neary with his early artwork around the time of Heroes Unlimited and the Hunter strip in Warren magazines and many other things.

But regarding Frank, he told me about how he rescued a man from a car that was in a head on collision and kept in contact with him for many years and the obviously grateful survivor asked if there was anything he'd like as a present. Bob remembering his childhood rides by bike with his dad  to the local newsagents to pick up the Eagle, thought of Bellamy's Churchill strip and how Frank was at that time illustrating Garth in the Daily Mirror. He asked for Frank Bellamy's signature! The man, whose name is forgotten, managed one better and got hold of a copy of the original art - yes, you've guessed it, the above! Bob, at a later date, spent a delightful day with the charming Nancy, who by that time was widowed and Bob was shown her favourite etchings done by Frank of her as the 'life study'!

Many thanks to Bob for sharing such interesting anecdotes

The opening bid for this art is £200 and the auction ends 28 April having previously been unsold at the same price. I always wonder if a low start price helps get to the price a seller wants and will watch this again with interest and let you know what it goes for.



UPDATE: The seller told me. he had tried three times at the same price on ebay and eventually sold it "near to the asking price", (June 2012)


I have scanned below a clearer copy of the strip for you to see more detail - click to enlarge!

Enlarge to view © Daily Mirror

Original Art: Garth on eBay - Bubble Man & Angels of Hell's Gap & The Doomsmen

Just like a London bus, you wait for  a while and then several come along at once.

I have updated the recent sales including a phenomenal amount for a Garth original. Are we seeing rising interest?

The three pieces on sale this week on eBay are care of the seller "muddyfunster2001" (also known as Chris Martin of Burgess Hill) and they look to be in very good condition. Chris let me know how he bought them:

"Rather boringly I picked them up at a local antique market from a dealer who didn't really know what he was selling. I used to read Garth (and numerous other Bellamy illustrated strips) as a schoolboy in the '70s and immediately took a fancy to them so I bought them on impulse" They are:

• The Doomsmen #J139   UPDATE: £227 - 11 bids - April 2012
• The Bubble Man # J239 UPDATE: £170 - 10 bids - April 2012
• Angels of Hell's Gap #J56 UPDATE: £180 - 15 bids - April 2012

They all start with £99 starting bid and are already attracting interest.

The Doomsmen #J139

Every time I see a woman sitting/standing like this, drawn by the master I am reminded of the lovely Nancy Bellamy, Frank's wife. She was a great model and very proud of her figure even into her 80s!

The Bubble man J239

He also knew how to make aliens look very alien. Is it a frog, a butterfly, a hybrid between the two?

Angels #J56

I won't bother repeating myself! Enjoy!

I will update this entry when the auction finishes in the same way I have for the recent ones

Original Art: Garth on eBay - Bubble Man & Manhunt

J197 The Bubble Man

'Tweedacademy' is selling a copy of one of the Bubble Man strips as well as one from the last Garth story Bellamy illustrated Manhunt 

Again they look beautifully preserved as the piece that has just finished on eBay, fetching a nice £168 does too.

The seller says of the Manhunt strip:

This is from 'The Bubble Man' (J197) published in The Daily Mirror newspaper in 1975 and being re-run currently in said paper. Here we have a vibrant action piece with Garth about to be kidnapped by the eponymous Bubble Man's henchbugs. 'Space Bugs!' cries our hero. I'd be a tad more salty if I were in his position! Bellamy again makes a virtue of the outlandishness of the creatures and their scale shows that even Garth would be hard pressed to take on two at a time, even with crow bar (they don't fight fair anyway). He'll get the better of them before the story is done I'll wager :)

Good example of Bellamy techniques in one panel!

UPDATE: £181 with 17 bids (March 2012) 

Tweedacademy obviously read too many Stan's Soapbox columns in the sixties Marvel Comics - where hyperbole was always under done! But looking at the close up of the last panel, it does show those famous 'Bellamy swirls', and his lovely lettering in the balloon - where usually Jim Allard lettered the other speech balloons.

K247 Manhunt

The second piece is from Manhunt. This is the last story that Bellamy illustrated and  the seller says:

I believe this is one of the last strips Bellamy did (strip number K247) before his untimely death, from the story 'Manhunt' published in The Daily Mirror newspaper in 1976. This particular work is, in essence, a complete panel with all the narrative complete in the transition from the aircraft in cloudscape through to the amazing work on the eyes as our protagonist (plus, of course, charming companion) dissolve to another dimension in mid flight. Remarkable stuff. A true 'Bellamy' effect and very poignant in retrospect as we know what was to come.

This is indeed a beautiful example of Bellamy's Garth work. Tweedacademy is right in saying it was "one of the last" but in fact Bellamy's last signed strip is K254 (25 Oct 1976), however the credit above the strip as printed in the paper is Martin Asbury who stepped wonderfully into Bellamy's shoes. The crude copy below is taken from the Mirror's online database, but it shows the credit above the strip.
UPDATE: £315 with 39 bids (March 2012) - a phenomenal amount for a Garth!
 

Bellamy's last Garth strip # K254

And lastly a clearer idea of how the art changed from Bellamy to Asbury can be seen in this only reprint of Manhunt, taken from Mike Higgs' compilation Mirror Classic Cartoon Collection, London: Hawk 1998. Visit Martin's site to see his work since Garth as well as the opportunity to buy original art including, yes you guessed it, Garth strips

The last 2 Garth strips by Frank Bellamy & the first 3 by Martin Asbury

Original Art: Garth on eBay - The Doomsmen

J191 - The Doomsmen

UPDATE: £168 with 14 bids (24 Mar, 2012) 

'Tweedacademy' is selling another Garth original and it looks to be beautifully preserved with a lovely portrait of Garth's looking surprised. It comes from the story - yet to be reprinted in the Daily Mirror -  "The Doomsmen", where Garth tackles humanoid looking robots. It looks to be in excellent condition with the usual beautifully clear line work. The seller says:

A wonderful example of a character study of our time travelling hero Garth, from the story entitled 'The Doomsmen' published in The Daily Mirror newspaper in 1975. This strip (J191) is actually the last episode of the story, before we moved onto the magnificent 'The Bubble Man' (being reprinted in The Daily Mirror as we speak). It shows Garth, much to the amusement of ourselves and Professor Lumière (did David Suchet read Garth I wonder?) being taken aback by the forward nature of the young lady. I'm reminded of Bellamy's remark in the highly enlightening interview in Fantasy Advertiser International, that 'sometimes as an artist you find yourself captured looking for an expression in the mirror'. The last panel of this strip 'is' Bellamy to my mind. What do you think?

I'd agree - I can just see Bellamy, who we know, like most artists, used a mirror to get just the right expression, acting the part he drew.

The opening bid is 1p and the auction ends 24 March 2012and I'll update this page with the sale price

Below is a scan of the last three parts of the story with a beautiful Bellamy explosion, for your enjoyment.

© Daily Mirror

Original art for sale - Thunderbirds - at Comic Book Auctions

Lot #156

The latest piece of art to come up for sale by Frank Bellamy is from TV21 number 232 and comes from the story which begins in space with a faulty rocket which plummets towards San Francisco, but is finally diverted by Thunderbird 3. It heads towards into the uninhabited Manafu Atoll where it crashed and then we see the atoll blow up due to an active volcano.TB1 patrols the area and discovers the chain reaction is affecting another island where natives are living. To stop the chain reaction - which might still affect San Francisco, Brains has a plan.

The single page is for sale with an estimate of £1,500-£2,000 and the auction ends Tuesday 13 March. Comic Book Auctions' description:

Thunderbirds original artwork (1969) drawn and signed by Frank Bellamy from TV21 No 232 Alan, Virgil and Gordon take off in Thunderbird 2 as Scott nears the volcanic bomb-zone in Thunderbird 4 Bright, fresh Pelikan inks on board. 19 x 15 ins £1,500-2,000

As usual I'll update with the sold price when the auction ends

UPDATE: Winning bid incl. 10% Buyer's Premium: £1,925 (March 2012)

Meanwhile enjoy the two pages as published in TV21 Number 232

TV21 #232 Part A

TV21 #232 Part B

Original Art: Garth on eBay - The Beautiful People

J287 The Beautiful People

The latest piece of art by Frank Bellamy to be made available for sale on eBay shows Garth climbing a balcony - after leaving a party to apprehend the thugs who have gatecrashed the party. This comes from the recently reprinted story "The Beautiful People". It looks to be in excellent condition with the usual beautifully clear line work and those great Bellamy 'swirl' effects

The opening bid will be £90 and the auction ends 19 February

I have scanned below my copy of the re-coloured reprint from last year for you to see more detail when clicking!

Reprinted in the Daily Mirror 5 August 2011

UPDATE: Sold for £90.00 (February 2012) with 1 bid

Original Art: Garth on eBay - The Beast of Ultor

H93 "Beast of Ultor"

The latest piece of art by Frank Bellamy to be made available for sale on eBay is of Cayutis and his sister Cyrene who starred in the story "Beast of Ultor". I never thought I'd be doing this, but I see that this sold for £137 in May 2011!

The seller writes:

Original daily strip of GARTH by FRANK BELLAMY (pen and ink), dated 22-March-1974. It is the "The Beast of Ultor" strip H93, story that appeared in the Daily Mirror newspaper. It was also reprinted in "The Daily Mirror Book of Garth 1976" compendium (Fleetway Publications). Artwork is drawn much larger than the printed size. Size 21 x 7 inches (53 x 17,5 cm). Signed with his distinctive signature and drawn on heavyweight "CS10 Line Board". The blacks are very dense.

Page 66 of the landscape book to be exact!

Detail from H93 "Beast of Ultor"

I'll update in a few days with the price if sold

First Update: Unsold but relisted at a better starting price.

Second update: sold at £116.14 with 19 bids (December 2011)

Original art by Frank Bellamy of Robin Hood

© Look and Learn

UPDATED 04 Dec 2011- Unsold


The latest Winter catalogue from Malcolm Phillips,  Director of Comic Book Auctions Ltd is online and of interest to Bellamy fans will be the Robin Hood original.

Lot #113 is:

Robin Hood original artwork (1956) drawn and signed by Frank Bellamy for Swift 36 1956 Robin fights Guy of Gisborne Indian ink and wash. Framed and glazed, 18 x 14 ins Estimate: £850-950

(I'll add the sale price after the auction)

© Look and Learn

It's actually episode 17 (as Bellamy has written on the art) of the second series (which continued straight on from Robin Hood and his Merry Men) called Robin Hood and Maid Marian and by my calculations that means it comes from Vol 4. No. 25 (dated 22 June 1957). Unfortunately I don't have a set of these in the original, so if anyone wants to correct me, please do

Here for your pleasure are the two pages of episode 17 scanned by me from the BookPalace reprint of "Frank Bellamy's Robin Hood- the complete adventures"
where, incidentally there is a saving on all three of the beautifully produced FB books

Original Art: Garth on eBay - Freak out to fear H180

Another Garth for sale on eBay, ending 26 Oct, 2011, 21:57:03 BST

This is from the story Freak out to fear which appeared in the Daily Mirror from 6 June 1974 - 27 September 1974 (H132-H227). This story has only been reprinted in 2 obscure places: the All Devon Comic Collectors Club Daily Strips No.17  and in the American reprint title Menomonee Falls Gazette from number 218 (16 February 1976).  If you can help me identify which exact issues this story was in I'd be grateful for an email

UPDATED 27 Oct 2011- £85 (3 bids)

My own scan of H180 - click to enlarge

Original art for sale - Thunderbirds, Look-in and Garth

The title of today's blog post is a bit like the chant from the Wizard of Oz! "Thunderbirds, Look-in, and Garth, oh my!" And it certainly is a magical day for Frank Bellamy fans.

The latest Comic Book Auctions Limited catalogue is out and bidding closes on Tuesday 6 September at 8pm UK time.

I have copied the details below as it turns out this blog is one way some buyers keep a track of sales! Or so I was told by a gentleman recently! I'll update this entry with the sale prices as soon as they are known UPDATED 10 Sept 2011 - see below 

TV21 #133

Lot # 187 is described as

Thunderbirds original double page artwork drawn and signed by Frank Bellamy for TV Century 21 No 133 Aug 5 1967. Bright Pelikan inks on board. 19 x 27 inches £2,000-2,500

UPDATED 10 Sept 2011 Winning bid incl. 10% Buyer's Premium: £3,025 

TV21 #206

Lot # 188 is described as

Thunderbirds original artwork (1968) by Frank Bellamy from TV 21 No 206 Dec 28 1968. Bright Pelikan inks on board. 18 x 15 inches
£800-1,000

UPDATED 10 Sept 2011 Winning bid incl. 10% Buyer's Premium: £550 

Lot # 221 is described as

Southerner original double page artwork painted and signed by Frank Bellamy for Look-in #23 June 12 1971 with original magazine.
On the night of Friday October 3 1970 the 42,000 ton Liberian oil tanker, Pacific Glory was transformed into a blazing inferno after a collision with another tanker off the Isle of Wight. Southern Television's film news were the first TV units to reach the scene as Southerner, the world's first outside broadcast vessel sped to the area. The newsmen and technicians later carried off six major news film awards. The true story of the Pacific Glory Disaster was dramatised and painted by Frank Bellamy for the centre pages of Look-in eight months later
Pelikan inks on board, some fading to the blues. 24 x 18 inches (Removable laser colour copy text boxes added to complete the story) £550-650

 UPDATED 10 Sept 2011 Winning bid : U/S (Unsold?)

Lot # 223 is described as

Garth original artwork (1971) by Frank Bellamy for The Daily Mirror 14 July 1971. Entitled Sundance, this was Bellamy's third board
Indian ink on board. 21 x 7 inches
£180-220

UPDATED 10 Sept 2011 Winning bid incl. 10% Buyer's Premium: £203


Now what do I think of all this? Well funnily enough I am excited by this episode of Garth (don't forget it's being reprinted in the Daily Mirror right now!). This is the 15th episode of the story 'Sundance' (Jim Allard preceded Bellamy's fondly remembered run). It's only Bellamy's 3rd episode of the story.  What's interesting, and you can't really see it here, is that Bellamy did not use zip-a-tone, or letraset/letratone but it does appear here on the fallen soldier's trousers. And worse there is white-out / Tippex! FB was proud of never having used the stuff, so who did it? The answer: John Allard, who was kept on to do various things on the strip.

Below is a photo I took when I had access to the owner's original artwork. Hopefully you can see this interesting fact. It certainly doesn't mar the original delicate linework of Bellamy.

E164 - Note the zip-a-tone - click to enlarge

I suspect the estimate on this particular board is low.

And secondly the very rare Look-In piece. The description mentions faded blues, but I think even with that fact this should fetch a good price as it's the only piece that Bellamy did for his former editor on TV21 (Alan Fennell) in this comic. Having the work on Garth as well as many other individual commissions, Bellamy didn't have time, even if he wanted to go back to weekly comic strips! Having the "Removable laser colour copy text boxes" makes this a very interesting piece. One wonders why the text was not on the original board, but if you look at the scan below you'll see that it's not hand lettering but type

Look-in 12 June 1971

That leaves just the Thunderbirds to comment on.....They look brilliant and the colours vibrant.

One curiosity - I notice that the colour in the comic shows a pink sky in places - but a natural blue in the original. Anyone know anything about this? I have discovered other adjustments (certainly not improvements!) to Bellamy's artwork in the Thunderbirds strips. I expect he wouldn't have seen the published art - David, his son, was born 8 December 1944 so was a bit old for TV21 at that time (that's rich from the guy who still owns a complete set!) and I have no knowledge that he received a gratis copy

Here are the two compared:

Anyway, I still owe money on my house so I'll leave you all to bid!