Here is some artwork from Purita Campos

[Tonibunny]

How lovely! Ah, you must tell her that even though it's 2010 she is still acquiring new fans of her work

[RuthB]

I will! I have to phone her before she goes to get her award so I will let her know she has many fans still in UK. She's going to be delighted.
I heard there was a little incident (maybe) today in her little chat on the comic event, while she was explaining that she never got her originals back form the publishers in Uk -I only have been told and need to verify this deeper- that an intoxicated woman that was a foreigner, possibly English, said to her in very bad manner that if she never got her originals back she must not blame the British publishers but maybe think that she did not work properly!!! She was very polite in her answers and reassured her that she has nothing against English publishers or people of england in general, that the Spanish publishers in Spain were exactly the same. It seems the organization asked the woman to leave.

[Tonibunny]

How rude!!! I hope they did kick that woman out!!! Well done to Purita for remaining polite

[philcom55]

To add insult to injury IPC later disposed of their remaining archive as a job lot - as an indirect result of which I was able to look through several pages of Purita's artwork that were being offered for sale at the International Comics Convention in Birmingham yesterday! (not that I blame the dealer who, I've no doubt, acquired them in good faith)

- Phil Rushton

[RuthB]

Bruguera -who where the publishers in Spain- were even worse with the use they gave to the originals of their artists. From one of them I learn that some strips were cut into confetti every now and then, adn Paco Ortega (Pura's husband) told me one day there was a flood in the basement and they used originals to mop up the wet floors!! I think that is even worse than selling them, at least you might have the chance to buy them!

[philcom55]

Unfortunately it was only the ones that were left that got sold; others had been dumped in skips years before! In fact many pieces of priceless comic art only exist today because of observant fans who 'rescued' them before they were hauled away.

- Phil R.

[Peter Gray]

People who work there should have a heart and love art...they have no soul to throw away art..

at least give it to someone who does like it..or sell it But never rip it up..throw away...
I hate people who do that..

[philcom55]

thanks for the sotry. Is it a long story? Would you be able to scan it or is it a series?

'No More Empty Benches' is only a three-page story. Here are the other two pages:





Do you know if Purita had ever visited England herself when she started working for IPC Ruth? I would imagine she needed quite a lot of reference material for all the post boxes, double-decker buses, policemen, etc, that she was asked to draw!

- Phil R.

[RuthB]

Yes, she did very often, and besides, when she was younger she stayed there for a while (not sure where, don't believe was in London, though I have the place writen somewhere). She had a friend that was au pair with a family and she went to visit her, she got on very well with the family so she end up staying for a few more weeks. There is a picture of her with Phillip Douglas in Picadilly. I will post it later on from home, I'm at work now and don't have my files here.

[RuthB]

And thanks a million for the story!!

[philcom55]

No problem! If it's of interest here's the first page of a short story that appeared some years earlier in Princess Tina dated 29th May 1971:



- Oddly enough this one is actually set in Spain, even though the characters are British!

- Phil R.

[RuthB]

I haven't seen all these stories, she had so many... some of them were reprinted in Spain (they were very simple, usually girls meets boy, falls in love, marry/gets her heart broken by the third page. The end.

More! more! XDDDD

[philcom55]

And now...Speedwell's Lucky Mascot: the Thrilling Conclusion! (No marriage bells or broken hearts I'm afraid! )

[RuthB]

Hahahaa, for once!!

[RuthB]

Here, as I promised before, are some pictures of Pura Campos with the late Phillip Douglas...