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[josemas]

Certainly American comics had their share of amateurish/crude artwork.  There was a point in time, in fact, where DC wouldn't even reprint some of their GA material because they were too embarrassed by the crudity of it.
Still I find a charm and energy that appeals to me at times in even some of these "lesser" works.

Best

Joe

[paw broon]

Yes, that's part of the appeal. 

[paw broon]

Mister X in the French section will please some of you - costumed hero with an atomic belt.
And Yelmo Negro in the Spanish section.  I have to admit to a bit of selfishness here as the comic is very obscure and in very poor nick.  You could spit through the paper it's so fragile and there is a lot of shine through, so this way, I shouldn't have to open it again. I know nothing about it and I've had a look in a couple of Spanish comics history books, to no avail.  It's a big landscape comic measuring 12&1/2 inches wide by 8&1/2 inches high.
I bought it some years ago in Barcelona.
If anyone can shed light on it's history.....................

[jimmm kelly]

Certainly American comics had their share of amateurish/crude artwork.  There was a point in time, in fact, where DC wouldn't even reprint some of their GA material because they were too embarrassed by the crudity of it.
Still I find a charm and energy that appeals to me at times in even some of these "lesser" works.

Best

Joe

I find it strange that many comic lovers have such high standards, refusing to look at material they consider sub-par. I guess if the only reason you're reading comics is pure entertainment value, then it makes sense to stick with what you know. But then why bother looking at any comics from a different time? These are bound to conform to aesthetic norms outside ones experience in the here and now.

But if you're going to go up that comic book Nile, to find its source, then you ought to prepare yourself to see some weird and alien sights that challenge your view of the world.

And you can't really appreciate the leaps and bounds (or the failures) made in the development of comics, without knowing the base level that they started at. If all you ever look at is the good stuff, then you can't really understand how good it is, unless you at least sample some of the bad and mediocre stuff.

I consider it something of a minor miracle that so many Golden Age comics had good art and stories, because comics were selling like hotcakes back then. There was no real incentive for the fly-by-night publishers to hire good talent and put out good comics--because they could make just as much money (maybe more) publishing bad ones.

I'm keenly interested in the history of Canadian comics, even though any real good talent usually ended up going somewhere else, where they could make more money.  A lot of Canadian comics had second rate art, but even the bad artists tended to improve over time. Whenever I find a Canadian comic where the artists and writers made major break throughs in exploring the medium, it gives me a great thrill.

[paw broon]

Nice one, jimmm. I wish I had your ability to express some of these points.
I sometimes wonder if some N.American comics fans do lack a bit of perspective.  In the U.K. we were used to our weekly anthology titles plus lots of comics which were made to look like American ones, even though, in many, there was no American involvement at all.  But here we were also exposed to N.American comics through them brought in as ballast on ships, or you could find them if you were near an American base and later when distribution to newsagents started.  So, many older fans here have seen a wider range of drawing styles, storytelling styles, formats etc.
My problem with clear thinking on this is that I tend to pursue the unusual, obscure, different and I occasionally forget that other comics fans have comfort zones and wont be interested in the stuff I track down.  But I'd hate to be in a position of relying only on modern American comics for my entertainment but, then again, if you don't have that exposure to, or interest in exploring other material, who am I to object.  Fortunately CB+ does a good job in spreading the word, educating perhaps?, and exposing fans to material which they might never discover otherwise.

[paw broon]

Thanks to all round good guy, Steve Holland at Bear Alley
http://bearalley.blogspot.co.uk/
A bit of a rarity this, a Lesley Shane newspaper strip by Oliver Passingham.  I've been a fan of Ms.(or Miss, given the era) Shane for ages but I know the stories from the digest Detective Picture Library, so this is a pleasure.  Steve mentions that he has tracked down another story which will appear on Bear Alley soonish but the quality of the originals seems to need some work to get them even to this standard.  Hope you all enjoy it.
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=31728

[paw broon]

First, to the folk who downloaded Zorro #58, there was a duplicated page 16, so I have deleted it and uploaded a corrected version.  This comic was a British title but, I think, was a reprint of a French comic.  No info. in the British guide. 
For comparison and, hopefully, enjoyment, an Italian version of Zorro.

[josemas]

Thanks. Paw.

As usual something very interesting stuff.

Best

Joe

[paw broon]

Our second issue of Crimson Comet is now available:-
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=31824
And, despite the question mark, I'm sure the art is by John Dixon.

[paw broon]

An issue of The Shadow - no, not that one.  This is the Australian version and, like the Spider, Jimmy Grey not only becomes The Shadow but also uses the identity of Limpy, petty thief.
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=31826

[paw broon]

3 more issues of Casiano Barullo.  Nice stuff indeed!

[josemas]

I do like the art on these issues of Casiano Barullo.

Thanks, Paw

Joe

[paw broon]

In the Spanish language section, more issues of El Peneca, including a Special from 1936 which contained a prose adaptation of The Merchant of Venice and a Buck Jones text strip.  What a strange mix. All from Santiago de Chile.
For those like me who collect masked men appearances, a couple of the issues contain stories completely new to me.
Also another issue of Marcos, Spanish s.f. series.

[paw broon]

3 issues of Mamita from Chile 1931.  Stories for younger readers.

[paw broon]

10 vols. of Diego Valor, A Spanish space hero title. This was a piccolo - a small landscape comic - and each of these files is a compilation of 6 piccolos.  Altogether #1 to #60 of the weekly series.
https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=2451

[paw broon]

Finally, 2 issues of Aguia Negra (Black Eagle), a Brazilian comic. Good superhero stuff and in the back of one of them is a Portuguese translation of an Australian Shadow story.  Digging around pays off again.
https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=2458

[paw broon]

The 2 parts of a Spanish comic version of the Jules Verne story, "The Mysterious Island"  This is old but I don't know how old.
https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=2459

[paw broon]

2 more issues of the popular series, Casiano Barullo and 14 of the 16 issue run of Fredy Barton El Audaz, which sits well beside the Platillos Volantes series. This is a nice looking comic.  All in the Spanish section, here:-
https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=2394
and here:-
https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=2463

[narfstar]

Another series that makes wish I knew Spanish

[paw broon]

A new (to me) Brazilian comic, Capitao Sete.
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=32456

[paw broon]

First 7 issues of yet another version of Zorro. 
https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=2468
More to follow.

[paw broon]

A small pile of more Don Z.
https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=2388

[paw broon]

As Graeme has been charging along with Greyfriars and Bunter, I wanted to add some some St. Frank's and Nelson Lee. So another 5 and a pile more to follow.
https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=780

[paw broon]

More issues of the Spanish version of El Zorro with some nice covers.

[narfstar]

I am taking baby steps to learn spanish so I can read all these neat books