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The Origin of the Lion Rock WWII artworks

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  • Agent4125
    Museum Super Collector
    • Aug 23, 2007
    • 182

    #46
    And there is more

    One of the mysteries of this line for me are the four figures that hadn't been released in the GESTERN WAR'S line.
    And they weren't in the French or Italian lines either. I wish I knew why they were not available in every country?
    Well, let's take a look at the artworks.

    British Tank Commander

    We have already seen the Johnny Action catalog, comic cover and original artwork for this one.

    US Fighting Seabee

    Thanks to Vinny, I recently got a picture of the Johnny Action catalog for this one,
    the first opportunity for me to finally see what the artwork looked like!
    So I searched the artbooks again for a similar comic cover and I think I found it:



    The original artwork is by Jordi Penalva for a series called "Front Line" (#8 from April 1967).

    US Marauder

    A few weeks ago there was an auction for a Johnny Action US Marauder that included the booklet and box.
    I hadn't seen that one before, either! The artwork can also be found in the book "The Art of War".



    The artist again was Jordi Penalva for another comic in the Front Line series (#10, May 1967).

    US Paratrooper

    This one - for now - remains a mystery
    Last edited by Agent4125; Jul 14, '17, 9:43 AM.

    Comment

    • Carmelkettle
      Museum Patron
      • May 26, 2015
      • 101

      #47
      As I remember, there was quite a lot of action/adventure/military art in the 1960's - 70's for magazine and book covers. I wonder if there were agents or clearing houses that specialized in this type art for any commercial use? That could explain the slightly different changes - the artist would modify an existing piece of art for a companies 'exclusive' use.

      Comment

      • kresge1
        Museum_Bozo
        • Jun 20, 2001
        • 5134

        #48
        I found the British torpedo boat captain
        They superimposed a captain into a different comic book cover for this one
        Very creative

        Looking for Remco Phantom. Mego mailer boxed figures

        Comment

        • Agent4125
          Museum Super Collector
          • Aug 23, 2007
          • 182

          #49
          Yes, that's an interesting one. Saw it this weekend, too.
          Here is the captain:

          Last edited by Agent4125; Jul 14, '17, 9:44 AM.

          Comment

          • kresge1
            Museum_Bozo
            • Jun 20, 2001
            • 5134

            #50
            Jens
            Great job finding that
            Looking for Remco Phantom. Mego mailer boxed figures

            Comment

            • kresge1
              Museum_Bozo
              • Jun 20, 2001
              • 5134

              #51
              Since the USA paratrooper art work has yet to be found . Here are my nominees
              Last edited by kresge1; Jun 29, '15, 12:27 PM.
              Looking for Remco Phantom. Mego mailer boxed figures

              Comment

              • kresge1
                Museum_Bozo
                • Jun 20, 2001
                • 5134

                #52
                Looking for Remco Phantom. Mego mailer boxed figures

                Comment

                • kresge1
                  Museum_Bozo
                  • Jun 20, 2001
                  • 5134

                  #53
                  Looking for Remco Phantom. Mego mailer boxed figures

                  Comment

                  • Agent4125
                    Museum Super Collector
                    • Aug 23, 2007
                    • 182

                    #54
                    Originally posted by kresge1
                    Sine the USA paratrooper art work has yet to be found . Here are my nominees ...
                    Great idea!
                    I love the second one (from War #225).
                    It's also in the artbooks. The artist was Alessandro Biffignandi, the guy who painted the British Tank Commander.

                    I wonder how long we have to wait until eventually the booklet or box for the US Paratrooper pops up somewhere.
                    It must be out there...

                    Comment

                    • kresge1
                      Museum_Bozo
                      • Jun 20, 2001
                      • 5134

                      #55
                      Who knows, the USA paratrooper was the hardest one to find for me and then i don't have the boxed version with the art
                      Looking for Remco Phantom. Mego mailer boxed figures

                      Comment

                      • kresge1
                        Museum_Bozo
                        • Jun 20, 2001
                        • 5134

                        #56
                        Did you find the art for the Russian officer, Chinese infantry, Italian partisan, USA Marine
                        Looking for Remco Phantom. Mego mailer boxed figures

                        Comment

                        • Agent4125
                          Museum Super Collector
                          • Aug 23, 2007
                          • 182

                          #57
                          Originally posted by Carmelkettle
                          As I remember, there was quite a lot of action/adventure/military art in the 1960's - 70's for magazine and book covers. I wonder if there were agents or clearing houses that specialized in this type art for any commercial use? That could explain the slightly different changes - the artist would modify an existing piece of art for a companies 'exclusive' use.
                          As far as I know, the artworks were done specifically for the Fleetway comic books.
                          The two artbooks ("Aarrgghh!! It's War" and "The Art of War") include articles about the history of those comic series
                          such as "War Picture Library" and about the cover artists.
                          The articles mention that in the early 60s the majority of work was done by a group of Italian artists
                          from a studio in Milan, and that a person from the studio would come to London from time to time to discuss
                          the upcoming comic books and what the contents of the cover should be.

                          The author of the artbooks also mentions that there is a warehouse where the original artworks are kept.
                          Most of them still exist!
                          He says that the originals are "far more impressive than their initial tiny reproductions had suggested".

                          Comment

                          • Agent4125
                            Museum Super Collector
                            • Aug 23, 2007
                            • 182

                            #58
                            Originally posted by kresge1
                            Did you find the art for the Russian officer, Chinese infantry, Italian partisan, USA Marine
                            The Chinese Infantry is based on the cover for War #470 ("Roar of Defiance"):



                            I don't know where they got the picture of that soldier that was added, though.

                            I haven't found the others that you mentioned. Here is the complete list of artworks that I haven't seen so far:
                            - US Tail Gunner
                            - US Frogman
                            - US Marine
                            - Italian Partisan
                            - Russian Officer

                            I am surprised that I didn't find the Italian Partisan cover anywhere. I know it is by Oliver Frey
                            and he created several covers for the Fleetway comics. Some are presented in the artbooks.
                            Last edited by Agent4125; Jul 14, '17, 9:41 AM.

                            Comment

                            • kresge1
                              Museum_Bozo
                              • Jun 20, 2001
                              • 5134

                              #59
                              Some original art on eBay recently
                              Looking for Remco Phantom. Mego mailer boxed figures

                              Comment

                              • kresge1
                                Museum_Bozo
                                • Jun 20, 2001
                                • 5134

                                #60
                                Looking for Remco Phantom. Mego mailer boxed figures

                                Comment

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