As Phil Rushton observed on yesterday's blog comments, the 1950's witnessed a huge surge of interest in the "Wild West", nowhere more so than in the U.K. Children's TV was full of the stuff, you could thrill to the adventures of Davy Crockett, Gun Law, Wagon Train, Rawhide and Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans. And if that wasn't enough then there was the occasional visit to the cinema with "High Noon", "The Man That Shot Liberty Valance" and John Ford's epic, "The Searchers".
And of course comics mirrored these tastes and as we have seen seeing over the last couple of days, one of the premier exemplars of the art of Wild West comic art was Ron Embleton, so with once again the aid of John Wigmans and Phil Rushton here are some more visual treats upon which to feast your eyes.
The artwork today is sourced from "Don O' The Drums" from Mickey Mouse Weekly 1957, T.V. Express 1960, and the "Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans" (original art from this book is available from the Book Palace
here)
That 'Battleground' cover is marvelous! It's remarkable how Embleton's work on 'Don o' the Drums' and then this feature seemed to anticipate the arrival of Look & Learn in 1962, which enabled him to perfect his documentary style even as he continued to produce more traditional adventure strips like 'Johnny Frog' for Eagle, 'Children of the New Forest' for Princess and 'Stingray' for TV21. Of course, in Boys' World he managed to do both at the same time by drawing the superlative 'Wrath of the Gods' for the centre pages while contributing the occasional historical scene for 'What Would You Do?' As a matter of interest, have you thought about showcasing any of his Look & Learn output Peter?
ReplyDeleteSounds like an excellent idea Phil, on an occasional basis I think that would be great.
ReplyDeleteI must admit I really agree with your observation on yesterday's blog that there was a definite "golden age" of Ron Embleton's artwork and like you I'd say from the mid fifties until the mid sixties really encapsulates the best and most vibrant of his work.
I've never seen his "Children of the New Forest" that might be fascinating to explore too.