cover artist

[Kashgar]

Phil beat me to it so it hardly needs confirmation but MW is John Millar Watt and the the second illustration is definitely Ronald Simmons. I'll check out the covers of the Knockout annuals and see if there is a Mike Western/Rollisons link. In my minds eye I have an image of a Western cover (1958/1959) that was basically a montage of various characters featured in the annual

[Digifiend]

1958.

[Kashgar]

And thanks to Digi there it is and Mike Western is the artist. The 1957 edition which has wraparound cover illlustration is also by Mike Western and features the Rollinson family. With regard to 'The Space Family Rollinson' this strip began in Knockout No772(12/12/53) and ran until No1013(26/7/58) with all of the weekly strips up to No 964 being the work of artist Graham Coton. For the last story in the series however 'The Jovian Menace' Nos 991-1013 the artist was Ian Kennedy which brings us back nicely to where this particular starnd came in with that 1975 Hotspur Book cover query.

[philcom55]

...And since the Comics UK gallery doesn't show the back cover here's the full, wraparound effect of that 1957 Knockout Annual, as well as Mike's signed back cover for the 1959 Annual illustrating his own 'Johnnie Wingco' strip.





- Phil Rushton

[dreamticket]

Phil beat me to it so it hardly needs confirmation but MW is John Millar Watt and the the second illustration is definitely Ronald Simmons. I'll check out the covers of the Knockout annuals and see if there is a Mike Western/Rollisons link. In my minds eye I have an image of a Western cover (1958/1959) that was basically a montage of various characters featured in the annual

Many thanks, gentlemen. Got to confess I've never heard of John Millar Watt.

[dreamticket]

And thanks to Digi there it is and Mike Western is the artist. The 1957 edition which has wraparound cover illlustration is also by Mike Western and features the Rollinson family. With regard to 'The Space Family Rollinson' this strip began in Knockout No772(12/12/53) and ran until No1013(26/7/58) with all of the weekly strips up to No 964 being the work of artist Graham Coton. For the last story in the series however 'The Jovian Menace' Nos 991-1013 the artist was Ian Kennedy which brings us back nicely to where this particular starnd came in with that 1975 Hotspur Book cover query.

I've actually got the 1957 annual. It's the only Knockout publication I have so all of the above was very interesting.

So Space Family Rollinson pre-dates the Gold Key Space Family Robinson comic (1962) by almost 10 years, and the t.v. show Lost In Space by even more. Could it have formed the germ of an idea for whoever came up with S.F.R.? I thought the flow of ideas was supposed to be eastwards across the Atlantic (comic-book-wise)!

[philcom55]

On the subject of the 1964 Lion Annual can anybody confirm that the inside covers were actually drawn by Dan Dare's Frank Hampson? The style is certainly similar but I'd have never made the connection if Alistair Crompton hadn't reproduced them in his recent book Frank Hampson: Tomorrow Revisited - unfortunately he doesn't seem to give any background details in the text.

- Phil Rushton

[Kashgar]

Similar is the word I would use too, Phil. They look Hampsonish (Mountain Rescue more than Oil Ablaze) but there is something lacking in both that makes absolute confirmation difficult.

[Richard S.]

As someone who has been collecting Hampson's work for about 25 years now I'd say that they are def. by him - if you're looking at them thinking that they no longer reach the peak of the artwork he was producing for Eagle in its heyday then I'd agree. In the mid '60s Hampson was only being published sporadically so the quality has suffered to some extent. But, honestly, when I look at them they scream Hampson at me.

[dreamticket]

On the subject of the 1964 Lion Annual can anybody confirm that the inside covers were actually drawn by Dan Dare's Frank Hampson? The style is certainly similar but I'd have never made the connection if Alistair Crompton hadn't reproduced them in his recent book Frank Hampson: Tomorrow Revisited - unfortunately he doesn't seem to give any background details in the text.

- Phil Rushton

I hope you guys haven't put your Lion annuals away just yet. Could we spot all the artists involved?

Mike Western on Archie, as has been noted. Also as illustrator on the Arctic Treason text story. Did he also do the colour plate fronting the Archie story?
Donnison on the first story. I think he also provided the illo for text story Victory for the Blues.
Karl the Viking - I know Don Lawrence was associated with Karl the Viking, but I'm not familiar with his B&W style. Is this him? Seems too chunky.
I'd guess Ron Turner (or possibly Ian Kennedy) on the Capt. Condor strip. Turner as illustrator on Planet of Mind Stealers.
Arturo del Castillo on the Village of the Doomed strip?
Ian Kennedy as illustrator on the RAF Life savers text piece, and maybe also on the piece about Guns?
No ideas about Paddy Payne or Bruce Kent.
Fantastic expressive faces on the Rory MacDuff strip. If the annual was from 1974 and not '64, I'd guess Gil Kane. Annoyingly familiar, but again I have no idea.
The single page illo The Oil Drilling Barge is monogrammed C., but I've no idea who that represents. Possibly the same Connolly who worked on some of the 1950s Boardman books? Presumably he did the rest of All About Oil text piece.
Someone called Cornwell did the illos for the Find Yourself a Fortune.
This leaves several nicely illustrated "Did You Know" style pieces and a few other text pieces, plus the already mentioned colour work inside the covers. Any suggestions?

Is it safe to assume the artists on most of the B&W pieces would have inked their own work?

Hope my art spotting is improving, though it certainly helped that several of the above stories were signed.

[jehanbosch]

On the subject of Space Family Rollinson:
I am a die-hard fan of Space Family ROBINSON since the late 1960's.
The American comic books are simply a science fiction version of Swiss Family Robinson.
There is an interesting adaptation of the very same SFRobinson in the Thunderbird/Lady Penelope mags.
And a completely different & unrelated SFRobinson appeared in "Cheeky".
I am at lunch break at work now but will give you an update with relevant data when at home again.

[Phoenix]

I am at lunch break at work now but will give you an update with relevant data when at home again.

The inhabitants of whatever country jehanbosch inhabits must be amazed that their industrial output is as healthy as it is when their workers can take eleven-hour lunch breaks.

[jehanbosch]

Really! I was simply detained by pressing other matters.
Like a sick baby ....
Space Family Robinson, the Gold Key version, was serialised in "Lady Penelope" and its Annual 1966-1969. Most of the material appeared in the Dutch "TV 2000" mag as well, in translation. The responsible artist was the BRITISH John M. Burns.
The other, independent & unrelated Space Family Robinson appeared in "Cheeky" 1977-1978. I have it on DVD. There were three British artists involved, the first being John Richardson.
At least three German Space Family Robinsons exist but only one is clearly the American SFRobinson -comic book version- as drawn by the American Dan Spiegle. The second one, "Familie ROBINSON sucht neuen Sternen" looks to me like the Knockout SFROLLINSON (!) but I really can not be sure because the scan is far too small and too indistinct. The third one is a flying saucer type comic with only two children and obviously British from the 1950s. And I have not the slightest idea what it is.
Best, J.

[Phoenix]

The inhabitants of whatever country jehanbosch inhabits must be amazed that their industrial output is as healthy as it is when their workers can take eleven-hour lunch breaks.

Really! I was simply detained by pressing other matters.
Like a sick baby ....

Some members tend to use smilies, jehan, such as , , or when they feel that their light-hearted comments might be misinterpreted, and therefore taken seriously. As a general rule I don't, preferring instead to assume that the reader is alert enough to pick up the nuances.

[jehanbosch]

Crisis situations like mine leave little room for nuances.
I am sorry but I am not in the slightest interested in your games.
Be so kind to end this "conversation".