Comic online 24h: Jag

Thứ Bảy, 6 tháng 12, 2014

Colquhoun in colour!

We're probably all in agreement that the late Joe Colquhoun was one of the greatest artists of British comics. He was a master of black and white strips as evidenced from his work on strips such as Roy of the Rovers and Paddy Payne in the 1960s and Charley's War in the 1980s. In 1968 Fleetway gave Joe the opportunity to produce a strip in full colour when Football Family Robinson debuted on the covers of Jag dated 27th July 1968.

Most comics of the time were printed on cheap newsprint, where the only colour would be added by the art department as basic flats due to the limitations of the printing method. However, Jag had the luxury of web offset printing by Steel Bros. of Carlisle, which meant that artists could colour their own work with an unlimited palette to suit the superior paper and printing. For most of its short run, Jag was also a big tabloid comic, so the artwork really stood out.

Here's the second episode of Football Family Robinson, from Jag dated 3rd August 1968...

...and episode three from Jag dated 10th August 1968...

Sadly, Jag didn't last, and when IPC took control they merged it into Tiger in 1969. Joe Colquhoun continued on the artwork though, with the strip now running as a centre spread every week. This episode is from Tiger and Jag 17th May 1969...

IPC tended to shift artists around at times and by late 1969 Joe Coloquhoun had been replaced on Football Family Robinson by John Gillatt. (Colquhoun was put onto a new Tiger strip, Splash Gorton, in black and white.) However, in 1970 IPC's new humour comic Cor!! was launched, which initially featured an adventure strip in its centre pages; Kid Chameleon. The strip was illustrated by Joe Colquhoun in full colour.

I'm not entirely convinced that episode one of Kid Chameleon was coloured by Joe as it doesn't look like his technique, but anyway here are the first three episodes of the strip from Cor!! Nos.1 to 3, dated 6th, 13th, and 20th June 1970...

Truly a brilliant artist!

Thứ Năm, 17 tháng 4, 2014

This week in 1969: TIGER AND JAG

It's been a while since I featured Tiger on this blog so here's a quick look at the issue that was on sale from 19th to 25th April 1969. This was the 4th combined issue of Tiger and Jag, with IPC having taken over the Fleetway comics and trimming back the weaker selling titles. The Roy of the Rovers cover is by Yvonne Hutton, whose linework still looks fresh and modern even today. Tragically, Yvonne died in a car accident in the early 1990s.

The following Skid Solo story is drawn by John Vernon. It's a significant episode because it introduces 'Sparrow' Smith, who became a regular supporting character. (Click on all pages to see them much larger.)

The Nosey half-pager at the end of the Skid Solo story was drawn by Alf Saporito, who a year later became the regular cover artist on Gus Gorilla for Cor!!

Since its merger with Jag, Tiger had inherited that comic's web offset printing process which was a higher standard of printing, and allowed artists to paint their colour pages instead of relying on the flat colour overlays that the newsprint comics used. Just look at the quality of this full colour Football Family Robinson centrespread by Joe Colquhoun...

Tiger later became an all-sports comic, but in 1969 it still featured a variety of subjects. One such strip was Saber, King of the Jungle, illustrated by the excellent Denis McLoughlin...

Here's a few snippets of some of the other strips in Tiger and Jag that week, starting with Typhoon Tracy drawn by Graham Allen using a less cartoony style than that which he'd used on The Nervs for Smash!

Custer by David Sque...

Black Patch the Wonder Horse by Sandy James...

...and the long-running Johnny Cougar by John Gillatt.

Finally, to add to the flavour of the year 1969, here's a few of the adverts that appeared in that issue, including one of the legendary "Great News, Pals!" announcements for two comics joining forces...