The Art of Diving - a new(ish) blog

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Robbie Moubert
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The Art of Diving - a new(ish) blog

Post by Robbie Moubert »

I previously had a blog called the Art of Diving on the website of the dive school where I did some teaching. That blog no longer exists but I've created a new version using Blogger. The first post features the wonderful Mike Western Valiant cover that inspired me to start the blog in the first place.

http://robertmoubert.blogspot.co.uk/

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philcom55
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Re: The Art of Diving - a new(ish) blog

Post by philcom55 »

Ah! Hans & Lotte (especially Lotte) Hass: names to conjure with for those of us of a certain age! :)

- Phil Rushton

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TwoHeadedBoy
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Re: The Art of Diving - a new(ish) blog

Post by TwoHeadedBoy »

Intriguing and exciting - added it to my index :D
http://twoheadedthingies.blogspot.co.uk/ - My comics blog, mostly lesser-known UK stuff from the 1980s and 1990s

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standby4action
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Re: The Art of Diving - a new(ish) blog

Post by standby4action »

Glad to see such a specialised blog up and running again. I remember finding stuff I thought you'd like but couldn't make contact, so now I can!
Robbie Moubert wrote:I previously had a blog called the Art of Diving on the website of the dive school where I did some teaching. That blog no longer exists but I've created a new version using Blogger. The first post features the wonderful Mike Western Valiant cover that inspired me to start the blog in the first place.

http://robertmoubert.blogspot.co.uk/

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Robbie Moubert
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Re: The Art of Diving - a new(ish) blog

Post by Robbie Moubert »

Thanks for the link to Not Pulp Covers. I regularly look at Pulp Covers but had missed their companion site.

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philcom55
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Re: The Art of Diving - a new(ish) blog

Post by philcom55 »

I doubt if you'll want to feature this Robbie (though you're welcome to do so) as it's probably the most amateurish account of man vs. shark I've ever seen, taken from an obscure British album of the 1950s called Adventure Comic Annual which I recently mentioned in connection with the strip 'I Was a Jap Slave'.

In spite of its technical shortcomings, however, I couldn't resist scanning the entire 10-page story so that it could be seen by a wider audience. The strange thing is that in some ways this crude narrative manages to achieve a raw credibility that would be almost impossible to find in a more professionally produced publication - IMHO at any rate! As somebody pointed out with the 'Jap Slave' story (currently on display in the British Library) the style actually seems to anticipate some of the underground comix that emerged from the counter-culture of the 1960s.

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...I doubt if you'd ever find an ending like that in Lion or Valiant! :shock: (and I love those weird sound effects!!!)

I'm sure there must be all sorts of hopelessly unrealistic things in this story but I'd be fascinated to hear what a 'real-life' diver thinks about it. Could the writer or artist be drawing on personal experience...or is the whole thing a complete load of old barnacles?

- Phil Rushton

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TwoHeadedBoy
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Re: The Art of Diving - a new(ish) blog

Post by TwoHeadedBoy »

That's fantastic, Phil! Is the rest of that book of a similar "quality"? Seems like something you'd find in a small-press thing nowadays as well.

Meanwhile, FTAO Robbie, here's some covers from Your Spectrum that you might like:

http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag. ... 800001.jpg
http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag. ... 900001.jpg

(It won't let me post the images here, sorry)
http://twoheadedthingies.blogspot.co.uk/ - My comics blog, mostly lesser-known UK stuff from the 1980s and 1990s

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standby4action
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Location: Essex, UK

Re: The Art of Diving - a new(ish) blog

Post by standby4action »

and here's another Robbie...with art by Alex Toth!! The whole story can be seen here:
Sea Hunt
Image

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standby4action
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Re: The Art of Diving - a new(ish) blog

Post by standby4action »

Sorry about the sizing Al. I thought I'd cracked THAT problem! Could someone be kind enough to tell me if there are parameters to use when linking to an image online --with a resize parameter. Everything I just read on the Net does not work here! I could have course host an image at the 'optimum' size for the forum - as Phil appears to have done here and I've done in the past!

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Robbie Moubert
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Re: The Art of Diving - a new(ish) blog

Post by Robbie Moubert »

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. Much appreciated.

Phil, that story is quite something! My first thought is I want to go diving there! So much amazing life in one place. Some parts capture the wonders of the underwater world very well. These days divers are encouraged to look but not touch and we certainly wouldn't go walking around like our protagonist does. I haven't dived the South Seas but I did see a couple of Angler Fish while diving off the south coast of Ireland.

The shark attack is a bit OTT, especially with the octopus, but one bit that rang true is when he's attacked at the surface. Someone on the surface is more likely to be attacked than a diver.

It's interesting that the diver appears to using on old military style oxygen rebreather. He wouldn't be able to go very deep without running the risk of oxygen toxicity and it was this very problem that inspired Jacques Cousteau to get together with Emile Gagnan and invent the modern aqualung.


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