Overkill - covers gallery, part 2

I've long been curious about Marvel UK's Overkill title - how long did it run for? Cover artists? Contents? All that sort of stuff. As ever, the only way to satisfy my curiosity was to start with a covers gallery. 

Part 1 (issues 1-7) was here

Part 2 is below

Overkill, Marvel UK, issue #8, 31st July 1992, 55p, cover art by Paul Johnson

Overkill, Marvel UK, issue #9, 14th August 1992, 55p, cover art by Gary Frank

Overkill, Marvel UK, issue #10, 28th August 1992, 55p, cover art by Mark Harrison

Overkill, Marvel UK, issue #11, 11th September 1992, 55p, cover art by Steve Sampson

Overkill, Marvel UK, issue #12, 25th September 1992, 60p, cover art by Carl Critchlow

Overkill, Marvel UK, issue #13, 9th October 1992, 60p, cover art by Steve Sampson

Overkill, Marvel UK, issue #14, 23rd October 1992, 60p, cover art by Steve Sampson

Arthur Ferrier - Korero press Kickstarter campaign

Just a quick shout-out for this upcoming Kickstarter campaign from Korero press dedicated to the pin-up art of Arthur Ferrier.

Let's see what Korero press have to say about their upcoming campaign...

We are back with an exciting new project: a treasure trove of tantalising pin-up art from a master of the genre.

Welcome to the campaign for Arthur Ferrier’s classic cartoon collection Pin-up Parade, a 3-volume set that highlights the work of one of Britain’s most prolific and cherished pin-up illustrators.

Arthur Ferrier's work defined the heyday of British pin-up cartoons for nigh-on four decades. In clean, elegant ink line he rendered the fashionable female form with consummate virtuosity and style. Through comic strips, cartoons and advertising art, few illustrators were as celebrated or prolific.
 

Ferrier's women, often in a state of casual undress, were always catching the attention of dashing suitors – and the odd wolf. A big hit with the troops during World War II, Ferrier’s cheeky illustrations and quick-fire comic strips raised not only morale but a few eyebrows. After the end of hostilities, Ferrier continued to chart mid-century fads and fashions right up to the dawn of the Summer of Love.

This three-volume set includes cartoons plucked from the pages of Blighty magazine, news clippings, posters, magazine covers, rare original art, and an introduction by Rian Hughes.  
As an added bonus, we have included several articles by Ferrier himself that offer valuable insights into his working methods. These articles remain just as relevant for budding and professional pin-up artists and illustrators today as when they were first written.
 

Sign up to be notified the moment the campaign goes live. Get exclusive updates, launch details, and early access to special offers delivered straight to your inbox.

Mike Noble - Fireball XL5

I've started (thanks to friend of the blog Bill Storie) showcasing just some of the art of Mike Noble. I've grouped together the images into a number of 'themes'...

Captain Scarlet was here

Look and Learn was here

Look-in was here

Explorer 12 was here

Explorer 12 - Polar mission was here

prints was here

Wide World magazine was here

and now we have a selection of Fireball XL5 images...

Lawless 2024 - the photos, part 5

Hard to believe it's another 7 months to Lawless, boo! While we're waiting for the time to pass here's part 5 of my photos from Lawless 2024. 

Part 1 (the artists) was here

Part 2 - 2000AD art was here

Part 3 - more 2000AD art was here

Part 4 - vintage British comic art was here

and now some more vintage British comic art...all from the collection of David Roach

top - Ian Kennedy artwork

bottom - Joe Colquhoun artwork

top - Romero artwork

bottom - Solano Lopez artwork

UPDATED: Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes Gang!

I looked at a London Editions Bugs Bunny comic the other day (here) and in my researches I came across these two issues of a different Bugs Bunny comic. 

A monthly title that lasted at least 39 issues and published by Fleetway Editions. Perhaps that first Bugs Bunny comic I looked at would eventually morph into this comic - who knows? Time will tell.

Now updated with covers for issue 34 & 36

Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes Gang!, Fleetway editions, issue 34, £1.05, February 1995

Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes Gang!, Fleetway editions, issue 35, £1.05, March 1995

cover image not to hand - can you help?

Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes Gang!, Fleetway editions, issue 36, £1.05, April 1995

Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes Gang!, Fleetway editions, issue 37, ??, May 1995
cover image not to hand - can you help?

Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes Gang!, Fleetway editions, issue 38, 99p, June 1995

Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes Gang!, Fleetway editions, issue 39, 99p, July 1995

The art of British war comics - York

Just a quick shout-out for the "Into battle! The art of British war comics" which is currently on (until the 17th Of November 2024) in York at the York army museum (here). 

It's a slimmed down version of the exhibition that was originally on in Oxford but it's still worth a visit if you're in York. I'll post more photos once the exhibition closes but here are a few to be going on with...  

out the front of the museum

at the front entrance

The guest book - signed by Joe 'Charley's war' Colquhoun's daughters 

souvenir post card #1

souvenir post card #2

souvenir post card #3

the back of this postcard refused to scan properly, grrr! Anyway, it should look like the back of the other 2 postcards

Steve Dillon - Abslom Daak vintage t-shirt

A while ago I looked at Steve's contribution to 'newszine' Comic Media News International...

His contribution to issue 30 is here
His contribution to issue 38 is here
His contribution to issue 39 is here
His contribution to issue 40 is here

But to mark the 8th anniversary of his passing I'm highlighting this promotional t-shirt that friend of the blog John Freeman sold last year...

John said...
Limited edition Abslom Daak - Dalek Killer medium size t-shirt, only 100 made in 1990 to promote the launch of the 1990 Abslom Daak - Dalek Killer collection published by Marvel UK.

As editor of Doctor Who Magazine, I commissioned a limited run of t-shirts featuring art by Steve Dillon (co-creator of Abslom Daak) to mark launch of the collection. This is one of perhaps a few that have survived. There is some wear due to age, see photographs, but the design itself is good.

The art featured was originally used to promote the collection in Diamond promotional listings. The Abslom Daak logo was designed by John Tomlinson.

Check out all the other posts on the blog featuring Steve's work here

UPDATED: Beano and Dandy calendars

Following on from a previous post (here) about Oor Wullie calendars I realised that there must be other DC Thomson calendars out there so I set off to google Beano calendars - so here's my guide to collecting them...

Don't forget you can review Commando calendars here and Judge Dredd calendars here

New material (2025 calendar) is highlighted in red but the summary of where I'm up to now is that I have images for calendars for 1986-2025 apart from 2013 and a 'skinny' 2005 calendar (assuming it exists). Of course there could be more out there so if I missed anything just let me know.

Beano calendar 1986

Beano calendar 1987

Beano calendar 1988

Beano calendar 1989

Beano calendar 1990

Beano calendar 1991

Interestingly the 1992 edition has a reference that says "Number 7" in the top right cover - indicating that this is the 7th edition of the calendar...

...hmmm, and the 1993 calendar says "Number 8"...

...hmmm, and the 1994 calendar says "Number 9"...

There was also a Beano and Dandy calendar for 1994

...think the 1995 one says 'number 10' in the top right corner

Finally found an image of the 1996 calendar (number 11 in the top right corner)...

Here's the 1997 calendar - you'll see from the back cover picture that this is (helpfully) number as number 12 so there must have been a calendar for 1996 (to be number 11)

The 1998 calendar

The 1999 calendar (left) and the envelope it came in (right)

The 2000 calendar (right) and the envelope it came in (left)

Finally the 2001 calendars have been identified - yay!

Here's the 2002 calendar

Another 2002 calendar

2003 calendar

Then 2004...

No 2005 calendar (I think!) so here's the 2006 edition... 

Hmmm, so for 2004 and 2006 it seems there were 2 calendars for Beano fans...

Here's a great collection of calendars...

The top row shows (in order) 2015, 2016, 2012 and 2014.

The bottom row shows (in order) Dandy Beano 2013 and then Beano 2017, 2011 and 2010.

So that's 2010-2017 in total

Here are some better images for that 2010 calendar

...a slightly better look at the 2012 calendar

The 'skinny' 2013 calendar available from Marks & Spencer...

The 2015 calendar...

The 2016 calendar

The 2017 calendar...

...And then the Beano 2018 calendar...

...and here we are for 2019...

...and here's the Beano calendar offering for 2020...

and now here is the Beano calendar for 2021...

and now the Beano calendar for 2022...

and now the Beano calendar for 2023...

and now the Beano calendar for 2024...

and now the Beano calendar for 2025...

In 2001 Beanobooks put out (at least) 3 calendars related to other characters...

Beano books also produced a Dandy calendar for 2002...

The Minnie the Minx and Dennis the Menace calendars at the bottom of the next image are new to me...

If you're interested in comic calendars then here are the links to the other calendar themes that I've covered...

1). Beano & Dandy calendars are here
2). Commando calendars are here
3). Judge Dredd calendars are here
4). Broons calendars are above
5). Oor Wullie is here
6). Dan Dare calendar is here
7). Miscellaneous calendars are here

8). Viz calendars are here

9). Asterix calendars are here

10). Andy Capp calendars are here

11). Tintin calendars are here