Eric Parker - life drawings (part 8 of 10)

I've recently begun a lengthy series of blog posts all about renowned illustrator Eric Parker (check out his Wikipedia entry here) who had a 50 year (!) career as a comic illustrator.

I've looked at Roughs (part 1) here
Roughs (part 2) here
Roughs (part 3) here
Roughs (part 4) here
Female heads (part 1) here
Female heads (part 2) here
Female heads (part 3) here
Female heads (part 4) here
Pubs (part 1) here
Pubs (part 2) here

Overseas (part 1) here

Overseas (part 2) here

Overseas (part 3) here

Overseas (part 4) here

Overseas (part 5) here

Overseas (part 6) here

Overseas (part 7) here

Overseas (part 8) here

Overseas (part 9) here

Overseas (part 10) here

UK scenes (part 1) here

UK scenes (part 2) here

UK scenes (part 3) here

UK scenes (part 4) here

Character studies & groups, drafts (part 1) here

Character studies & groups, drafts (part 2) here

Character studies & groups, drafts (part 3) here

Character studies & groups, drafts (part 4) here

Character studies & groups, drafts (part 5) here

Character studies & groups, drafts (part 6) here

Life drawings (part 1) here

Life drawings (part 2) here

Life drawings (part 3) here

Life drawings (part 4) here

Life drawings (part 5) here

Life drawings (part 6) XXXX

Life drawings (part 7) here

And now we turn our attention to some of his life drawings...

this image (below) is included because it's on the reverse of the above image

UPDATED: Popeye the sailor - Marvel UK

Michael Carroll's timeline of Marvel UK comics (here) has an array of interestingly short-lived comics on that I thought I should create cover galleries for them. Sometimes this is easier said than done but let's look at the 8 issue Popeye comic from 1989.

Updated with the cover to issue #4 - thanks to friend of the blog Richard Gilham. That now completes the covers gallery, whoop!

Popeye the sailor, issue #1, February 1989, 45p

Popeye the sailor, issue #2, March 1989, 45p

Popeye the sailor, issue #3, April 1989, 45p

Popeye the sailor, issue #4, May 1989, 45p

Popeye the sailor, issue #5, June 1989, 45p

Popeye the sailor, issue #6, July 1989, 45p

Popeye the sailor, issue #7, August 1989, 45p

Popeye the sailor, issue #8, September 1989, 45p

There was also, it turns out, a Winter Special too - 32 pages in length

and here's the other (earlier?) holiday special that I've discovered (from 1988)

Updated: Nostalgia & Comics

My post the other day about the adverts for Dark they were and golden eyed (here) made me think about comics advertising for other shops...and then boom! this pops up on eBay. 

It's for sale here and is Trevor Goring's original artwork for  Birmingham's Nostalgia & Comics shop. I'd love to see other adverts for the shop.

Update: friend of the blog Sam Farnworth has provided this image by artist Simon Parkes. Thanks! Plus I've found a Hunt Emerson advert.

this advert is taken from Alter Image #4 (November 1987)

UPDATED: Giles esoterica

I've not covered cartoonist Carl Giles very much on the blog so far but I thought this item that I spotted on ebay a while ago would be a good place to start. 

I don't propose to list out all the 'classic' Giles annuals, instead I'll be concentrating on the more obscure items of Giles ephemera / memorabilia that are out there to collect. 

I spotted this Giles family tea towel on ebay recently and just knew I had to update this post! Anything else out there for the truly dedicated Giles collector? Do let me know!

First up then, one for all Felixstowe based Giles fans...

Giles was President of Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club from 1984 to 1995, and regularly provided the cartoon on the menu of the Annual Laying-Up Supper. He also provided cartoons to promote the Felixstowe Carnival.

Carl Giles, chatting to Felixstowe ferryman Charlie Brinkley, a photo from the book, Felixstowe Village Life

Havoc, Marvel UK (1991)

Michael Carroll's timeline of Marvel UK comics (here) has an array of interestingly short-lived comics on that I thought I should create cover galleries for them. Sometimes this is easier said than done, but let's start a covers gallery for the short-lived Havoc comic from 1991...

Just like the equally short-lived Meltdown, launched simultaneously, Havoc was a test to see which distribution model - fortnightly or monthly - sold better in newsagents, part of the road testing ahead of the launch of the longer-running Overkill comic.

“If I recall correctly - and I edited both,” says John Freeman, “there was never any real commitment to keeping Havoc and Meltdown going long term. I was as surprised as readers the plug was pulled (although Meltdown’s lineup was odd. At 2200 pages as published, if MUK and Meltdown survived, Akira, running at eight pages a month would still have been featured until 2014!). 

“They was more a test of frequency options, and, possibly, seeing how the editorial team coped with the work. The fortnightly frequency of Havoc paved the way for Overkill.”

Havoc, Marvel UK, issue #1, 13 July 1991, 55p

Cover by Jackson "Butch" Guice, first published as the cover of Marvel Comics Deathlok Special #1, cover dated May 1991

The first image includes the free gift given away with the debut issue.

Havoc, Marvel UK, issue #2, 20 July 1991, 55p

Cover by Mark Texeira, first published as the cover of Ghost Rider #15 (July 1991)

Havoc, Marvel UK, issue #3, 27 July 1991, 55p

Cover by Lee Sullivan, first published as the cover of Robocop #1, March 1990, story by Alan Grant

Havoc, Marvel UK, issue #4, 3 August 1991, 55p

Cover by Barry Windsor-Smith, first published as the cover of Conan Saga #8 in 1987, albeit with some reworking. 

Havoc, Marvel UK, issue #5, 10 August 1991, 55p

The cover appears to be an adaptation of interior art from Ghost Rider #1 (1990) by Javier Saltares and Mark Texira. 

Havoc, Marvel UK, issue #6, 17 August 1991, 55p

This may again be an interior page from the 1990 Deathlok series, repurposed as a cover. Can anyone help?

What appears to be extended cover art features here on Dangerous Universe - but this may be a recreation

Havoc, Marvel UK, issue #7, 24 August 1991, 55p

Cover is by Joe Chiodo, first published as the cover of the Robocop 2 Movie Adaptation Magazine published by Marvel in 1990

Havoc, Marvel UK, issue #8, 31 August 1991, 55p

Cover by Bill Sienkiewicz, first published as one of the artworks featured in the Conan Event: 1984 Calendar, but also used by Marvel UK as the cover of Savage Sword of Conan #92, published in June 1982. It's possible this was from a  transparency Paul Neary may have provided

Havoc, Marvel UK, issue #9, 7 September 1991, 55p

Art by Bill Sienkiewicz, first published as the cover of Deathlok #2 (of 4) (1990 series)

UPDATED: Flintstones comic - 1994/5

I'm filing this under '90s comics I don't know enough about' - I know that issue 1 came out with a cover date of August 1994 and that issue 11 is cover dated March 1995. What I don't know is how many issues were there and when did it go fortnightly (as it must have done to get to 10 issues by February when issue #1 only came out in August)? Hopefully I'll be able to update this at some point in the future. 

This is not to be confused with the Marvel UK title 'Flintstones and friends'.

Now updated with covers for issues 12, 13, 14, 15 & 16 - so this is five issues longer than I knew about until now.

The Flintstones comic, issue #1, August 1994, 95p

The Flintstones comic, issue #2, September 1994, 95p

The Flintstones comic, issue #3, October 1994, 95p

The Flintstones comic, issue #4, 22nd October - 5th November 1995, 95p

The Flintstones comic, issue #5, 5th November - 18th November 1995, 95p

The Flintstones comic, issue #6, 19th November - 2nd December 1995, 95p

The Flintstones comic, issue #7, 3rd December - 16th December 1995, 95p

The Flintstones comic, issue #8, 17th December - 30th December 1995, 95p

The Flintstones comic, issue #9, 31st December - 13th January 1995, 95p

The Flintstones comic, issue #10, February 1995, 95p

The Flintstones comic, issue #11, March 1995, 95p

The Flintstones comic, issue #12, April 1995, 95p

The Flintstones comic, issue #13, May 1995, 95p

The Flintstones comic, issue #14, June 1995, 95p

The Flintstones comic, issue #15, July 1995, 95p

The Flintstones comic, issue #16, August 1995, 95p