Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Discuss comic art, the artists and writers both current and from the past.

Moderators: Al, AndyB

User avatar
Seth
Posts: 6
Joined: 23 Oct 2017, 18:04

Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Post by Seth »

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have an accurate account of the reasons why so many Spanish artists were brought into the IPC/Fleetway family of comics? Was it just a case of lowering the costs of production (through cheaper labour) combined with the increasing demand for artwork for the new titles they regularly released?

Also does anyone have an accurate list (as accurate as can be) of the European artists working on these titles- what strips they worked upon, their date and the publications in which they saw print? I appreciate this is a big ask, but assumed someone here would be able to provide some of the answers to these questions.

Any help in this regard would be greatly appreciated.

Best,

Seth

User avatar
philcom55
Posts: 5170
Joined: 14 Jun 2006, 11:56

Re: Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Post by philcom55 »

Hi Seth. :) David Roach is the expert in this field. If you haven't already got it I can't recommend his 'Masters of Spanish Comic Book Art' highly enough - nor the special issue of Illustrators magazine that was produced as a kind of unofficial companion title.
Attachments
51CoZUyucTL._SX359_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

User avatar
stevezodiac
Posts: 4957
Joined: 23 May 2006, 20:43
Location: space city

Re: Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Post by stevezodiac »

A similar thing happened in America when DC mystery titles started using south American artists like the Redondo brothers, Ruben Yandoc, Alfredo Alcala, Alex Nino, E R Cruz etc.

davidandrewsimpson
Posts: 297
Joined: 03 Jun 2008, 16:57

Re: Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Post by davidandrewsimpson »

Steve

A slight correction: the artists you named came from the Philippines, not South America.

The Wikipedia entry on Filipino comics us at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_comics

User avatar
colcool007
Mr Valeera
Posts: 3872
Joined: 03 Mar 2006, 18:06
Location: Lost in time, lost in space
Contact:

Re: Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Post by colcool007 »

Hi Seth, glad you took up one of my recommendations. :D

For details of the artists, you can do worse than pick up any of the comic reference books that David Roach or Steve Holland have worked on. Personally, I find the War Libraries Index and the Thriller Libraries Index to be absolute godsends when I am working on any article about the Picture Libraries as I am not as well versed in Battle, War or Air Ace as I am with Commando.
I started to say something sensible but my parents took over my brain!

User avatar
philcom55
Posts: 5170
Joined: 14 Jun 2006, 11:56

Re: Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Post by philcom55 »

Apparently Josep Toutain, whose Selecciones Ilustradas agency supplied British publishers and Jim Warren with many of their Spanish artists, offered their services to DC as well in the early 1970s but Carmine Infantino chose to go with the Filippino artists (who were probably even cheaper) instead.

comixminx
Posts: 505
Joined: 09 Jul 2015, 16:41
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Post by comixminx »

One quick point to make (thanks to David Roach for the info) is that the Spanish artists weren't actually doing it on the cheap, though that was the impression that British creators got at points. The Spanish artists were brought in to fill demand because the number of pages that had to be drawn every week was phenomenal and increasing all the time.
jintycomic.wordpress.com/ Excellent and weird stories from the past - with amazing art to boot.

User avatar
philcom55
Posts: 5170
Joined: 14 Jun 2006, 11:56

Re: Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Post by philcom55 »

Here are a couple of splash pages from the Fleetway Super Library by the amazing Argentinian artist Leandro Sesarego - in my opinion the only other person who managed to equal Reg Bunn's version of the Spider.
Attachments
18157831_1462765143744716_801378217172317466_n.jpg

User avatar
colcool007
Mr Valeera
Posts: 3872
Joined: 03 Mar 2006, 18:06
Location: Lost in time, lost in space
Contact:

Re: Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Post by colcool007 »

comixminx wrote:One quick point to make (thanks to David Roach for the info) is that the Spanish artists weren't actually doing it on the cheap, though that was the impression that British creators got at points. The Spanish artists were brought in to fill demand because the number of pages that had to be drawn every week was phenomenal and increasing all the time.
I would agree with that as the reasons for using non-UK artists were rarely down to the fact that foreign artists were cheaper as their agents would have been more than aware of what the going rate was per page and the agents would have made sure that they charged as much as they could get away with!

But if any of the pros know for sure then I will happily defer to their knowledge. Sounds like a question for an editor or three! :lol:
I started to say something sensible but my parents took over my brain!

User avatar
philcom55
Posts: 5170
Joined: 14 Jun 2006, 11:56

Re: Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Post by philcom55 »

Of course international exchange rates make a big difference. Since the Pound's post-Brexit devaluation for instance I'd imagine it has become increasingly attractive for British artists to work for American publishers.

Phoenix
Guru
Posts: 5360
Joined: 27 Mar 2008, 21:15

Re: Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Post by Phoenix »

philcom55 wrote:post-Brexit
I can't bring myself to believe that the maybot, as the Guardian aptly calls her, is still hell-bent on removing us from what has become our natural home. I don't believe it is too late to step back from the brink. I would certainly support those who are suggesting we have another referendum because I'm sure that the British people are only now beginning to realise where that previous vote landed us. I feel European, and I have done since my first trip abroad as a member of a school party to Blanes on the Costa Brava. Since then I have lived for over two years in Spain, I've made friends in Portugal, I've sung professionally in Holland and Germany, and I even had my honeymoon in Paris. Come on, Treeza, resign and let somebody more able step up to the plate, and I'm not referring to bumbling Boris even though he does seem more intelligent than you.

User avatar
stevezodiac
Posts: 4957
Joined: 23 May 2006, 20:43
Location: space city

Re: Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Post by stevezodiac »

On his LBC radio show Nigel Farage calls her Theresa the appeaser.

Phoenix
Guru
Posts: 5360
Joined: 27 Mar 2008, 21:15

Re: Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Post by Phoenix »

stevezodiac wrote:Theresa the appeaser.
There were a lot of appeasers prior to WW2. My father wasn't one of them.

User avatar
Seth
Posts: 6
Joined: 23 Oct 2017, 18:04

Re: Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Post by Seth »

Thanks everyone that's been really helpful. Does David Roach's book explore the motivations as to why Spanish artists choose to work in the UK?

User avatar
philcom55
Posts: 5170
Joined: 14 Jun 2006, 11:56

Re: Spanish artists working in the IPC/Fleetway stable.

Post by philcom55 »

Seth wrote:Does David Roach's book explore the motivations as to why Spanish artists choose to work in the UK?
There's a lot about the attractions of working for British publishers in David's book. Here's one example:

"One of the advantages of working for France or the UK was the enormous difference in the page rate, which was often as much as three times that of Spain. However, even after drawing his first strips for Britain, Sole (Puyal) noticed no pay increase, because, as he later learned, after C.E. and A.L.I. had taken their percentage of the fee, he was left with only 30%. Not surprisingly, he soon moved over to S.I."

Presumably the fact that French page rates were roughly commensurate to those in the UK explains why Britain didn't attract many artists from France alongside the flood from Italy, Spain and South America - though a number of French strips like Asterix, Lieutenant Blueberry and Tintin were translated in British titles.

Post Reply