Saturday 1 August 2020

More Kettering Leader & Guardian

Continuing my previous articles on what I found from the Kettering Leader & Guardian before lockdown I'm sharing some more of, what I think, are great Bellamy interpretations of the text provide by "Riston/Ristone" in his gardening column

This time all 20 come from the first six months of 1948, a time when the words "Dig for Victory" were still fresh on the minds of the people who stayed at home during the Second World war


January 2 1948 p.12
Seed Germination

January 9 1948 p.12
Rotation of crops

January 16 1948 p.12
Work among the vegetables

January 30 1948 p.12
A few don'ts for amateurs

February 6 1948 p.2
Sow beans now

February 13 1948 p.12
An essential "Family"

February 27 1948 p.2
Now is the hour

March 5 1948 p.2
Fruit tree planting

March 12 1948 p.2
Starting young

March 19 1948 p.12
Good fruits to grow

April 2 1948 p.2
Best way to grow peas

April 9 1948 p.12
These veg need rich soil

April 16 1948 p.5
Make the best of your flowers

April 30 1948 p.12
Prepare celery trench now

May 7 1948 p.12
Give potatoes plenty of room

May 14 1948 p.12
Grow better strawberries

May 28 1948 p.12
Prepare celery trench now

June 4 1948 p.12
Salad secrets

June 11 1948 p.2
Still time to plant seeds

June 25 1948 p.12
Destroy that caterpillar



Monday 13 July 2020

Jim Edgar and John Allard interviews



As so little appears on the Internet about Jim Edgar, the writer of amongst other things, "Garth" which was illustrated by Bellamy I thought it was time to show you this interview and I'm hoping this is a case of John Dakin (who I've tried and failed to track down) forgiving me for publishing his material!

After this is an 'interview' with John Allard by Dakin. Both were conducted in 1980/1 and I've transcribed them below to make them searchable on Google for others to see and appreciate as the historical documents they are!





INTERVIEW WITH JIM EDGAR by John Dakin

Back in January 1979 I did some research for an article on Frank Bellamy's Garth, that I had intended to submit to an American fanzine. For one reason or another I never completed the article, so I've decided to include portions of that research in upcoming newsletters. As this newsletter is to accompany (or follow on closely after) the Jim Edgar written "Night of the knives" I thought it would be a good idea to include a short postal interview with Jim Edgar. Please bear in mind that at that time the only aspect of newspaper strips that I was interested in, was Frank Bellamy's work. The questions asked were sometimes quite naive but even so they were answered more than courteously by Mr. Edgar. Needless to say, were I conducting the interview now, it would turn out rather differently. For instance, the more I see of Martin Asbury's version of Garth, the more I like his artwork, so much so that at present I like his work equally as much as Frank Bellamy's. I've just finished reading an old Jim Edgar - Martin Asbury collaboration "Mr Rubio Calls" which I found highly entertaining in both script and artwork; it included a nice satire on the sordid side of city life. Anyway, I think that's enough of the waffle and time to begin the interview.

Q: Could you explain the way in which Garth travels through time, as in the past it has happened in different ways?
JE: Garth's transference backward and forward in time is triggered by a psycho time-switch. It could be atmosphere as in the "Jack the Ripper" story or some force emanating from another period in time. This facility is part of his make-up.
Q: Could you give me a run-down of your past career?
JE: I've worked on the Evening News feature "Matt Marriott" which closed down last year after a run of 22 years, and also "Wes Slade", a western strip in the Sunday Express. Over the past 25 years I have worked over the field of strip cartoons ranging from "Buck Ryan", "Carol Day" and Gun Law", plus numerous assignments on weekly journals. Additionally, various radio plays, short stories and comedy scripts.
Q: Did Frank Bellamy have any say in the scripting or plotting of Garth?
JE: Frank Bellamy had little or no say in the scripting or storyline of Garth. However, some of the stories emerged from discussions between myself and Frank. He certainly was fond of the western aspect and accordingly several westerns were written. Frank usually worked tightly to the scripts which were always written by me.
Q: Did Frank Bellamy do all his own visual research?
JE: I imagine Frank did his own research on Garth. He had a fine library of such material. Sometimes when I planned a story I found for him a source for pictorial reference.
Q: John Allard said he thought that Frank Bellamy had a model for the recurring dark-haired woman in Garth, is this true?
JE: There is no record of any specific model for the dark-haired woman in the Garth stories, she is usually made a brunette because Astra, the goddess-type, who frequently appears in Garth stories at a climactic period, is blonde.
Q: One of my favourite Garth episodes is "Sundance". It was different from the traditional western as it favoured the Indian. What influenced you in writing that story?
JE: Any writer who has studied the western scene from around 1855 to 1890 cannot fail to have an instinctive sympathy for the American Indian. They were virtually wiped out by the sheer pressure of immigration. Whatever atrocities they committed were triggered off by despair and the hopelessness of pushing back the invasion of their tribal lands.
Q: Why has Garth's character (and that of the few supporting characters) never been developed very far during his 35 years? Is it retaining the status quo?
JE: Of course Garth has developed considerably over his incumbency. If you had read the earlier stories of 20 to 50 years ago you would find a vast difference. There is no status quo in the cartoon strip field. Over the years it is inevitable that the hero and his supports must adapt to changing conditions.
Q: Could you give me any other information concerning yourself and your work on the Garth strip?
JE: I have been associated with the Garth strip for around twelve years. The previous writer, Peter O'Donnell wrote it for 15 years prior to that. We worked in the same office block, so that I was as familiar with Garth as perhaps he was, and he wrote a lot of fine Garth stories.
Q: Can you give me any other information on Frank Bellamy's work on Garth?
JE: Frank lived in the village of Geddington. He was the ultra-perfectionist, the only artist I ever met who worried over getting the right shade of black. Garth was the first national strip he ever handled, and I think it was Frank's first true bid for recognition as an artist. I think his chief failing was that he never quite learned to relax on the job. This is a failing of other fine artists I have worked with. Maybe it is endemic to the profession.


Newspaper Strip Society Newsletter #2 (July 1980)
Details of Jim Edgar are thin and there's debate about his place of death.Read more here and if you can add more please let me know



IN CONVERSATION WITH JOHN ALLARD
© Anthony Jones, 2014

The interview with Jim Edgar that appeared in the 2nd newsletter was part of some research I did for a never completed article on Frank Bellamy. At the same time John Allard was good enough to allow me to spend a day in the Mirror offices, and this article is a result of that interview. A few days after our meeting I had the idea of publishing a complete Frank Bellamy story, and wrote to John asking if it was possible. When I phoned him shortly afterwards he said that the art proofs were waiting there on his desk.
Getting involved in publishing meant that I had little time for anything else so the article/ interview was put to one side, but before it gets lost completely I've decided it's about time I set out the information John gave me. As mentioned before, at the time I was only interested in Garth for Frank Bellamy's artwork so the questions I asked had a bias in that direction.
In 1943 Steve Dowling devised a mysterious strongman and took the strips he'd drawn into the editor, who being a lover of fast moving action, immediately tore up half of them. The strip was then accepted and Garth made his debut in the Mirror on Saturday July 24th 1943 • At that time the paper was only 3 pages and cost one penny. At first Dowling both wrote and drew the strip, but later staff writer Don Freeman (who was also writing "Jane") took over the scripting. Right from the beginning of the strip John Allard was taken on as assistant artist. He was then 15 and as an apprentice he drew the backgrounds.
Each day Steve Dowling would commute from the West Country. He lived so far away from the Daily Mirror offices that he was only able to stay for around two hours before travelling home again, He would draw on [the] train and also at home while watching TV,  and in fact his dexterity became something of [a] standing joke with friends in the office: it is said that he would draw three of four strips while taking is coat off in the morning.
John Allard by no means takes Garth deadly seriously. He will chuckle over the way Garth seems to have no attachments or visible means of support, he sees humour in the relationship with Lumiere and the way in which his eternal lover Astra always forgives him after he's been to bed with yet another female.
When Peter O'Donnell followed Don Freeman in writing the strip he immediately wrote the blonde Dawn and the dark haired Karen out of the story line. They were replaced by the fair haired Goddess Astra.
When Steve Dowling retired in 1953 (his last story being "The Glendig Miracle") John Allard was promoted to artist and the strip continued in the long established Dowling style. John's first story as artist was "The Time Lock", and the stories were now being written by Jim Edgar who had been recommended by Peter O'Donnell when, he left the strip.
In March 1971 Mirror editor Mike Malloy [sic] introduced the first of two major alterations to the strips page, "Fosdyke Saga" began. Then in July John Allard was told at very short notice that he would revert back to assistant artist on the strip. After just two weeks of illustrating "Sundance", John stepped down and Frank Bellamy began in mid-story.
Under the terms of the agreement John Allard continued to do much of the background artwork and he even drew the occasional complete panel (the last panel of "Sundance" for example). This situation continued up until the end of "Ghost Town". Beginning with his eighth story Frank Bellamy drew the strip,entirely on his own. The title strip of "Mask of Atacama" is the first Garth strip to bear the famous Bellamy signature.
With sex and violence becoming commonplace in the media, to coincide with the change in artists it was decided at editorial level to make several changes. Now Garth would kill, sometimes quite viciously, and although there had always been a certain amount of nudity in the strip, it would now become more sensual by the inclusion of bedroom scenes. As John Allard recalls with amusement the sexual element was included partly to dispel some of the unsavoury rumours,that had been circulating around the newspaper offices, about Garth's relationship with Professor Lumiere.
As well as these changes there was also the more realistic Bellamy style to turn the strip into something very different. Garth himself looked broader in the shoulder with slimmer hips and a more contemporary hairstyle; and his features were more strongly defined. All this led to a completely unexpected occurrence, the Daily Mirror offices were flooded with letters complaining about Garth's changed appearance. Charles Roger, the then head of the Mirror's strip department asked Frank Bellamy to adapt his pencils to the old style in which Garth had been drawn. Understandably Bellamy angrily refused, and there the matter was left, never being taken as far as editorial level. John says it was the only time that he ever saw Frank Bellamy lose his temper. John had had lunch with Frank a few times and found him to be nervous, quietly spoken, courteous and proud of the recognition that his work received.
After completion of 17 Garth stories Frank Bellamy died suddenly on the 5th July 1976 of a heart attack.
Fantasy Advertiser International Vol3 No50 (Nov. 1973) included a long and highly illustrated interview with Frank Bellamy. The interview concerned his pre-Garth work, and a planned sequel covering Garth unfortunately never took place.

I'd like to thank John Allard for the help he has given me over the past two years.
Since typing out the last page I've found out that Harry North who is drawing "James Bond" has since
1976 actually been an artist on MAD. The writer is again Jim Lawrence who I mentioned earlier.
Fantasy Empire a magazine devoted to all aspects of British fantasy is due out in February.


Newspaper Strip Society Newsletter #4 (Feb 1981)

John Allard passed away in November 2018

So no photo of Jim Edgar! The paucity of information on him particularly reflects the British lack of interest in its own newspaper strip creators. If anyone can add anything I, for one, would be really grateful

~Norman

Wednesday 1 July 2020

ORIGINAL ART: Garth on ebay - The Beautiful People (K6)

Garth: The Beautiful People (K6)

This strip has appeared for auction or Buy It Now on eBay. It's a nice example of Frank Bellamy's work on Garth, presented by robinb.76  The seller states:
Frank Bellamy Genuine Garth strip from the Spanish Lady [sic] series, 18cm x 54cm approx, genuine one off artwork and much sought after, being sold by a family member (so can confirm genuine. Will deliver very well packaged by recorded delivery.
It actually appears in "The Beautiful People" the story about Garth's 'cool' friend Marc Serrano who needs Garth's protection on the island of Ikonos in the Aegean.  here are other images the seller has uploaded.








Here's the other strips that appear before and after this one for your delight!

Garth: The Beautiful people (K5-K9)

AUCTION SUMMARY

GARTH: THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
WHERE?: eBay
STARTING BID: £260
Buy It Now: £375
ENDING PRICE: [Sold to a private buyer for £350]
END DATE: Monday 6 July 2020

Wednesday 17 June 2020

Frank Bellamy and Garth in the Daily Record (December, 1971-1973)

Back before Christmas I discovered a mystery - as far I was concerned: a Garth strip was offered that I'd never seen before. It soon came to light that it was from the Daily Record (in Scotland). So before lockdown I had the opportunity to review the Daily Record - God bless the British Library! - and am now writing this up with images to make a bit more sense.

SUMMARY

"G305.5" from Daily Record
  • This Garth strip featured characters from "The Wreckers" story which ran in the Daily Mirror 26 October 1973 - 18 February 1974 (G255-H41)
  • The seller noted the strip was numbered "DR.CH.73" and the printers' instructions in pencil written on front state "Daily Record 26-12-73"
  • With a bit of research I discovered that Scotland and England published different papers on different days over the Christmas/New Year period, so I knew we might have extra Garth strips by Bellamy that I'd not seen in England before.
THE HUNT
As Bellamy started on the Garth strip in July 1971 and died in July 1976 I thought there might be at least one strip for each Christmas / New Year holiday period. Once I found that the Daily Record published on Christmas Day and Boxing Day (where the English counterpart did not) I wanted to see how this looked in the paper.

I then found I needn't worry about Boxing Day in Scotland AFTER 1973 because:
  • 1973 - 2 January was created an additional bank holiday in Scotland by the 1971 Act. However, the provision did not come into effect until 1973.
  • 1974 - New Year's Day became an additional bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and Boxing Day became an additional bank holiday in Scotland. ~ Taken from the archived Government page
I then went through every published Daily Record in December 1971, 1972 and 1973 and noted when it was published and which Garths appeared


1971
Dates of Garth in Daily Record & Daily Mirror 1971

The notes above show the DAY on which the paper was published, its DATE, together with the NUMBERING for "Garth" and "Angus Og" (as that appeared together with "Garth" on the same page in the paper). Lastly the "Garth" notation in the Daily Mirror.

NOTES
It appears that when an Angus Og story finished its numbering changed (as opposed to "Garth" which changed the letter prefix every calendar year, i.e. 1971 = E, 1972 = F, etc.).
Interestingly my first discovery  was that everything matched until the Christmas Day issue of the Daily Record. There is an additional strip that didn't appear in the Daily Mirror and it fits between E300 and E301, so I'm calling it "E300.5" - apologies for the poor photo

Garth E300

Garth "E300.5"


Garth E301

I'm going to take a guess and say this is an additional strip drawn by John Allard himself as his lettering looks the same and the art looks like his too. The Perishers strip  was labelled "DR.25.12.71" so I'm guessing this didn't appear in England either - oh and by the way, the weekend Perishers strip tended to be coloured! - and as I'm a fan, here that 'missing' one


Perishers Daily Record DR.25.12.71


1972

Dates of Garth in Daily Record & Daily Mirror 1972
1972 got even more scary for me. I'm glad I captured all of December while there! Everything was fine until we get to the Daily Record dated 16 December 1972 where panels get repeated and skipped. I've labelled each panel A, B, and C and compared the Record to the Mirror's numbering

Daily Record 15 - 19 December 1972

F299 A + B panels were not published in Scotland

Garth F299
Why this occurred at this point, I have no idea. Every day was published (no strikes) and we are not yet at 25th December yet.

Garth F303
Talking of which, F303 is the end of the "People of the Abyss" story in England but in Scotland there is another episode rounding it off.

For the first time I present "F303.5"

Garth "F303.5"

1973

Dates of Garth in Daily Record & Daily Mirror 1973

The Christmas day edition of the Daily Record was not published and a note in the Christmas Eve edition says "We'll be back Wednesday" which is Boxing Day 26 December 1973 and here is where this hunt started with Rhona Flin offering this Garth for sale last year.

Garth "G305.5" or "DR CH 73"

CONCLUSION
So the Daily Record had some different Garth strips from the Daily Mirror, the paper that hired Frank Bellamy. It appears in these three Decembers that Bellamy produced 2 episodes and Allard one. Unfortunately both John and Frank are no longer with us to ask about this. John Allard will certainly have known about this different publishing schedule as he produced one episode in the time period I examined, during the Bellamy run - which stands out a mile due to the difference in style.

THE FUTURE
Looking at the history and outline of Public Holidays in Scotland, I feel it will be a long time before I look at the rest of the Garth publishing in the Daily Record but I'm happy to give others credit if they share the information!
 
[UPDATE DECEMBER 2020: A website for Angus Og now exists: www.AngusOg.scot]


Thursday 4 June 2020

Masters of British Comic Art - Review

Cover by Brian Bolland

This is a long indulgent piece from me - a love letter of sorts to David Roach or more specifically his work in mapping artists and comic history.  Let me say before I start, as soon as you create something there are people who will criticise and that's fine as long as it's done constructively. So hopefully I'll be one of those, as I love this book!
 
I bought this book because I loved the way David Roach shares his passion for illustrative art in magazines, fine art and comics on social media. I'd read his previous book done in a similar vein: "Masters of Spanish Comic Book Art". The first part is text of the history of comic art with loads of facts, dates, and personalities. The second part is an alphabetical showcase, or gallery of top quality reproductions of artists' works - most from original art. This book is similar but he does break it up slightly by having a 21st century section later in the book with a similar introduction and art.

Now I know a thing or two about UK comics of the 1960s-1970s but would by no means think myself an expert - except in Frank Bellamy's work. The history section - beginning right at the start of 1825 - has a tone that speaks of knowledge and the love of making connections, for example at the start of Chapter Two ("It's a funny old world"), David says "For the next forty years nothing happened". That's a bold statement but once one thinks about it in the context of what he writes, he's right. I'd never made the connection before!  The range of artists and comic titles included will let hardly anyone down. The beauty of the book lies in the illustrations too. Every page in colour and with Roach's catholic tastes well represented.
Full disclosure: He meant to say 'total geeks'!

The artwork is first class in many ways - the choice, the reproduction and seeing some for the first time, gorgeous. I expect a rise in interest to occur in some artists as a result of this book - surely Roach's aim achieved! I've loved Mike Hubbard's work, after 'borrowing' my sister's Princess Tina and reading "Jane Bond" and also the strip "Alona, the wild one" drawn by Leslie Otway. But some of the 40s and 50s artists were new to me and they are gorgeous. Bellamy is very well represented.

Masters of British Comic Art p.50

I've listed all the appearances in the book of Frank Bellamy's work on my Articles about Frank Bellamy page and repeat them here for convenience:
  • pp.49-50 (within "Chapter 5: The Golden Age")
    • "Heros" Eagle Vol.15:31;
    • "Thunderbirds" TV21 #68, p2
  • pp.84-85 (within "Chapter 8: Newspaper Strips")
    • "Garth" G156
  • pp. 146-152 (within the "Artists Gallery") -
    • "Dan Dare: Project Nimbus", Eagle Vol. 11:21;
    • "Fraser of Africa" Eagle Vol. 12:21;
    • "Only the brave" Eagle Vol. 13:38;
    • "Ghost World" Boy's World Vol.1:46;
    • "Heros" Eagle Vol. 14:15;
    • "Thunderbirds" TV21 #232, p2
But all is not well. I may be getting old but the spelling of Tattler, the capitals (The Mirror, rather than 'the Mirror' in the middle of a sentence), simple typos (Pip, Squeak and Wifred = Wilfred) phrases look to be translated (which I doubt) e.g. "dispersing [rather than "dispensing"] with borders entirely" and the many stray inverted commas, all annoy me personally.  I desperately want to know (p.84) what notoriety Conrad Frost went onto - I didn't see it in the text later on - as Bellamy and Frost worked together in the late 60s. There are many typos but none more aggravating to a Bellamy fan than "Frazer of Africa" - even though it's very common. But these can be overlooked in such an exhaustive work (exhausting too when held in the hands - it's so heavy!). I was very grateful for the bookmark too - a silly little thing but lovely.

Errors spotted  - Sparky started in 1965 not 1967 (p.14), I happened to buy one and the eponymous character appeared in the first issue; Hampson's work was called 'The Road of Courage' not 'to Courage', some Christians may be offended by the thought of Jesus needing to build up courage!

Garth strip
Masters of British Comic Art pp.84-85

The biggest failing, I discovered very soon into the text - no index. That would be such a research aid to future comic historians. I could find that reference to Conrad Frost so much easier. There's a piece of information on Tom Kerr which appears in the text, telling us he worked on D.C. Thomson's nursery line of comics, but where? (page 28). If Google Books indexes this, we may find it but it's still simpler to have it in the book! I wonder how many names are mentioned in this book? Also I was surprised not to see a Contents page. A little thing, but did you know this book includes a look at Underground, American and Newspaper Strips? Well that's what a Contents Page is for - there is none. These days with the Amazon "Look Inside" facility, it would seem essential to me.

I can't imagine how you would go about choosing artwork for such a book. I know from his Facebook page that David asked Facebook followers what they would include. He has final say and I'm not arguing. However, I looked for Parlett's work when he says "Reg Parlett worked for almost all the new humor comics" (an index would have helped!) but pages 18-19 only have 2 Baxendale examples. How would he have worked a small image in the text section to accompany comments on Baxendale and Reg Parlett? My mind is blown thinking of the logistics, so he can be forgiven.

Let me finish with telling you that I LOVE this book. All the moans above are trifling but highlight how the book could have been an even better book. It's certainly a lot better than some older more famous books on British comic art and we should all thank David for his brilliant work. Putting together such a lot of facts, stories, artwork and not making mistakes in some areas would be a miracle.

I might even have created errors here myself! let me know if I have!