Comic Book Plus Forum
Comic And Book Related => Comic Talk => Topic started by: Agent4125 on February 08, 2016, 06:40:32 PM
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Hi, I am new here. My name is Jens and I'm from Germany :-)
I need some help identifying 3 artworks that I think have been created for Fleetway in the 60s or 70s.
Maybe someone here can help?
Let me explain:
I collect a line of action figures made by Mego in 1976. The line was called "Johnny Action" in the US
and was also sold in Europe under different names ("Battle Brigade" was it's name in the UK).
I recently discovered that the artworks that were on the back of the packaging
(on some of the releases, but not on the UK release)
were in fact cover artworks from Fleetway comics from the 60s/ 70s - such as War Picture Library.
Here is one example (back of an Italian release box next to a Fleetway comic):
(http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y311/jkm5111/MM_Origin_of_Artworks/us_pilot_comic_s_zps910smehu.jpg~original)
And another example (French release box next to a Fleetway comic):
(http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y311/jkm5111/MM_Origin_of_Artworks/us_inf_comic_s_zpsbihsetqw.jpg~original)
Mego released 36 different figures in that line and I was able to identify most of the artworks from the packaging.
But there are 3 paintings that I haven't seen anywhere else so far:
(http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y311/jkm5111/MM_Origin_of_Artworks/frogman_zpsansobrli.jpg~original)
(http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y311/jkm5111/MM_Origin_of_Artworks/marine_zpsfhbasiwr.jpg~original)
(http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y311/jkm5111/MM_Origin_of_Artworks/officer_zps1qa3sczx.jpg~original)
Has anyone here seen one of those? Were they also created for some Fleetway comic or magazine?
BTW: It's possible that the original artworks are slightly different. In some cases the artworks were modified for Mego.
Thanks
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Hello Jens. Willkommen.
I posted a reply to your question when you posted this question on comicsuk.co.uk and I've had a look at the other responses there. Some of those members are as close to experts as you could want and they couldn't come up with answers. But, having given this more thought, I have a feeling that your illustrations could be from lesser known British comics which featured European art. There were many such smaller publishers publishing war comics - almost too many to list - and many of them used syndicated art from Spanish, Italian and S. American artists.
This GCD page has cover illos of a small British publisher's war comics
http://www.comics.org/series/77102/covers/
This site has lots of info. on British war pocket libraries:-
http://pocketwarcomics.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/British%20War%20Comic
Sorry, I'm not much help. I don't know a lot about war comics and I don't collect or enjoy reading them.
you can be pretty sure none of your art comes from Commando as a couple of the blokes on comicsuk are serious Commando fans.
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...Sorry, I'm not much help. ...
Any help is appreciated!
Of course my hope was that someone recognized one of the artworks.
But it also helps to get the names of publishers from the 1960s or early 1970s
that used artworks like this, or get links to galleries etc.
I assumed that these 3 artworks would be from Fleetway, because the others
that Mego used on their packaging from that toy line were.
Most are from War/ Battle Picture Library, one is from Look & Learn Magazine.
The artists of the other artworks are indeed European artists.
Graham Coton did several of them, Jordi Penalva did some.
Most of the Rest is from Italian and Spanish painters.
So I assume these 3 were also done for a European publisher, probably Fleetway.
It's of course possible that they were created exclusively for Mego,
for the toy line I mentioned. But since the others weren't,
I assume that these 3 had also originally been done for some comic or magazine.