Double Duo - covers gallery, part 1

A recent e-mail from CCS books (find them here and subscribe to their newsletter to be notified about all sorts of interesting comics thing for sale) reminded me of the existence of Double Duo comic. I've owned a few of these in the past, they seem pretty collectible (£20 - £30 each) so happy hunting!

Double Duo, issue 1, 10p

Double Duo, issue 2, 10p

Double Duo, issue 3, 10p

Double Duo, issue 4, 10p

Double Duo, issue 5, 10p

Double Duo, issue 6, 10p

Steve Dillon exhibition (Stevenage) - part 6

Some images from the recent Steve Dillon exhibition that was held in Stevenage...

Part 1 was here

Part 2 was here

Part 3 was here

Part 4 was here

Part 5 was here

Laughter for home & front

I've long been a fan of the work of illustrator Denis McLoughlin (his wikipedia entry is here and his obituary (from The Guardian) is here). Over the course of long career he produced work for a variety of comics (publishers) but all careers have to start somewhere. With that I mind here are some of Denis's earliest (gag) cartoons. These images come from page 29 of David Ashford's "The art of Denis McLoughlin" and shows these three images...

The text (on page 28 referring to these slim booklets) says "...A number of joke books...were done for Kangaroo (cover and about fifty joke drawings for the sum of eighteen pounds)".

Published in 1945 these early examples of the work of Denis McLoughlin must be rare these days. I'd certainly never seen them until recently when I took the opportunity to acquire a copy of Laughter for home & front.

Slightly smaller than A5 size (and with the work credited to David McLoughlin) the booklet is 32 pages long and contains 41 gag cartoons. All the cartoons are signed " d mcloughlin".

Here are some examples...

Good luck tracking these booklets down!

UPDATED: (Carl) Giles calendars

If you're interested in comic calendars then you can check out my previous posts on the subject...

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

8). Viz calendars are here

9). Metal Hurlant here

10). Moebius calendar are here

11). Asterix calendars are here

12). Tintin calendars are here

13). Blacksad calendars are here

And now it's the turn of (Carl) Giles and some calendars that were produced. If you know of any more that were produced do just let me know, thanks! 

Now updated (see below) with calendars for 1995 & 1996

Giles calendar, 1995

Giles calendar, 1996

Giles calendar, 1999

Giles calendar, 2000

Giles calendar, 2001

Giles calendar, 2002

Giles calendar, 2003

Giles calendar, 2004

Giles calendar, 2005

Eric Parker - miscellaneous work, part 3 (of 23)

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

Life drawings (part 8) here

Life drawings (part 9) here

Life drawings (part 10) here

Gentlemen is here

Horses (part 1) is here

And now we turn our attention to a final (albeit large selection of his work). Next up is his work on "horses". These are a variety of sizes - from the very small to the quite large.

Whizzer and Chips jigsaw letter

Here's a lovely Whizzer and Chips piece of merchandise that ace ebayer Phil-comics (here) that was up for sale recently (sale price of £20.99)

It was described thus,,,

This is a really rare item as it was given away as a prize for having a letter or joke published in Whizzer and Chips sometimes, we believe, in the early 1980s.

The jigsaw measures approx 7.5 x 5 inches and is made of thick cardboard (usual jigsaw type board used). There's a triangular shaped slip to the right side which sits folded round it loosely. The idea was to write a letter or note on the jigsaw, break it up and post it in the envelope to somebody who "will have as much fun putting the jigsaw together as they will reading the message on it". 

All other mentions of Whizzer and Chips on the blog can be found here 

Dan Dare mask

I'm always happy to feature unusual bits of Eagle merchandise on the blog. 

There were...

Dan Dare roller skates here

Dan Dare hairbrush here

Dan Dare tie clip here

Eagle stationery here

Eagle club notebook here

With the compliments of the Eagle club here

Eagle / Girl table tennis medals here

Eagle club cycle pennant here

Dan Dare gyro jeep here

Dan Dare space shooting here

Dan Dare rocket ball here

Dan Dare beach ball here

Dan Dare bagatelle here

Eagle report to members (1951) here

Dan Dare field glasses here

Dan Dare interplanetary dominoes here

Dan Dare space-ship construction game here

Dan Dare draughts here

Dan Dare transfers (1) here

Dan Dare transfers (2) here

Riders of the Range painting book here

Dan Dare models here

Silver Eagler here

Space-cup here

Dan Dare stationery here

Eagle cricket bat here

Dan Dare secret ink here

and now it's the turn of this slightly creepy Dan Dare mask that was up for sale recently (the hammer price was £260 - but that's before fees - and that included other items as well). It's not in great condition and is a rare piece. 

Heroes! The British invasion of American comics - part 7

Recently (ish!) finished at the Cartoon Museum (here) was their exhibition 'Heroes! The British invasion of American comics'. 

For anyone who couldn't make it here's part 7 of my look at what you missed...

Part 1 was here

Part 2 was here

Part 3 was here

Part 4 was here

Part 5 was here

Part 6 was here