Latest Catawiki auction now open for bids

The latest Catawiki auction is now open for bidding (with the auction closing, as ever, on Thursday evening) and I've picked out my British comic art highlights...

This is an Edward Kearon Robot Archie page from the 1967 Lion story Archie and the mystery of the giant bats

This is a Thunderbirds page from Thunderbirds Extra 2 - Catawiki have credited it to "Thunderbirds studio". I thought it might be by MIke Noble but Norman Boyd (who's more of a TV21 & Mike Noble expert than me) has suggested it's not Noble but is in fact by Eric Eden. 

This is from a Modesty Blaise strip ("The ballonatic", 1982) by Neville Colvin

This is a Modesty Blaise strip by Romero 

This is an Axa strip by Romero 

Lawless 2022 - images (3)

I've already posted (here) and (here) at some images from the 2022 Lawless comic convention - here

Top image - 2 x Trigan Empire pages - on the left by Don Lawrence, on the right by Oliver Frey.

The Terry and son art is by John Stokes (top) and Ron Embleton (bottom)

A Don Harley The mark of the Mysterons page

Top art is a Dan Dare piece by Keith Watson, then it's 2 Eagle annual Dan Dare pages by Eric Eden and then Keith Watson drawing Captain Condor 

Oh boy, we then have 2 Frank Bellamy Thunderbirds double-page spreads. Finally, a Don Harley Thunderbirds double-page spread.

UPDATED: Boys and girls Exhibitions

Following on from a recent post on Down the Tubes yesterday (here) I thought I should fish out my collection of programmes related to the exhibition - and a few other exhibitions too...

Update...I've now included a leaflet from the 1962 exhibition all about 'Supercar' - contains a comic strip by Eric Eden (who worked on the original Dan Dare strip amongst other things).

Hulton's boys and girls exhibition 1956

Hulton's boys and girls exhibition 1957

cover art is by Rickards

rear cover

and a Kodak leaflet produced especially for the exhibition

Hulton's boys and girls exhibition 1958

Hulton's boys and girls exhibition 1959

The boys and girls exhibition 1960 - sponsored by Eagle, Girl, Swift, Robin

The boys and girls exhibition 1961 - sponsored by Eagle, Girl, Swift, Robin

Here's an image swiped from ebay showing the '61 brochure complete with blue badge - check out the '57 brochure image above with red badge. I've got both badges but up until now haven;t been able to link them to a particular exhibition year.

Boys' and girls' exhibition adventure 1962

Daily Mail boys' and girls' exhibition 1963 (28th December 1962-12 January 1963)

Daily Mail boys' and girls' exhibition 1964 (28th December 1963-11th January 1964)

Daily Mail schoolboys & girls exhibition 1965 (28th December 1964-January 9th, 1965)

image from here 

Exhibition 1966
cover not to hand

Exhibition 1967
cover not to hand

Daily Mail boys' and girls' exhibition 1968

The update I have is that I have recently come across this piece of ephemera relating to the (1958) exhibition...a recent £3 bargain on ebay

and now this recent eBay find...a fantastic leaflet complete with (an Eric Eden drawn) comic strip...

Southport college - the Eagle remembered

In 2000, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the launch of the original Eagle, members of the Eagle Society (more details here) met in Southport (Eagle's spiritual home). One of the highlights of the weekend was a trip to Southport college where Frank Hampson had studied art.

Society members below, outside the college

There was also the opportunity to view some display boards that the college had erected in recognition of their successful alumni...

The last I'd heard the display boards were no longer on, well, display (but I'd love to stand corrected!) so I present them here just as a record of them.

This is the extract from the college record books and shows the entry to Frank Hampson. 

So, he failed his NDD [National Diploma in Design] Illustration at King George V Grammar school [I'm guessing a bit here] and then off to Hulton Press at the inception of Eagle and then the brief note that he'd been recognised as the 'best comic designer of the world'. That's some progress!