|
(Frank Alfred Bellamy 1917 - 1976) |
(Text and all pictures courtesy of Graeme Walker)
Although filmed in colour, the initial 1960's broadcasts of Gerry
Anderson's TV series in the UK were to viewers with black & white TV
sets. This was rectified within the pages of TV21 comic, where British
youngsters could see representations of their favourite Supermarionation
series in full colour, painted by some of England's finest artists.
Undeniably, the most famous of these artists was Frank Bellamy, who was
born in 1917 in Kettering, Northamptonshire. Bellamy began his
professional career immediately upon leaving school at the age of 16, when
he acquired a job at a local Kettering Graphic Studio. His main focus
there was to produce posters and display boards for the region's cinemas.
After serving in the British Army during wartime, he resumed his
tenure at the Kettering Studio until he was employed by Norfolk Studios of
Fleet Street in 1948. From here his work was given national exposure and
caught the attention of International Artists agency, who offered to
represent him, providing regular, high profile commissions. His entry into
comic strip illustration seemed fated, as his innovative advertising
pieces for Gibb's Dentifrice Toothpaste, done in black & white comic
strip panel format, were a perfect fit for the nation's comic
industry which was hungry for new talent.
By 1953, Bellamy had turned freelance and (working from his home), began
work for 'Mickey Mouse Weekly' on such strips as 'Monty Carstairs' and
'The Living Desert'. 1954 saw him move to 'Swift', where he refined his
talents on 'Robin Hood', 'Swiss Family Robinson' and 'The Knights of
the Round Table'.
Bellamy's most prestigious move occurred in '57, when he joined the ranks
of 'Eagle' and produced the life story of Sir Winston Churchill, 'The
Happy Warrior' for them. This strip-panel interpretation of the (then)
living legend's life story can be attributed to establishing Bellamy's
name as an artist of note. His thorough research of actual military
ephemera and the beginnings of his attempts to improve the dynamic
composition of the page layouts are clearly in evidence throughout the
story.
Bellamy continued freelancing for Eagle into the mid 1960's with such
notable strips as 'The Shepherd King', 'The Travels of Marco Polo', and a
brief, unhappy association with 'Dan Dare'. His love and fascination
of Africa can be seen in 'Fraser of Africa' and the success of his
Churchill life-story was repeated with 'Montgomery of Almein', the
biography of Field Marshall Montgomery, while an original Bellamy concept,
'Heros the Spartan' is a revered favourite which allowed him
virtually unlimited creative freedom.
Bellamy was approached by the editors of TV21 long before the premier
issue hit the newsstands to draw the adaptation of Stingray. (Anderson had
told his editors to 'poach' England's best artists for what would be a
unique, top quality entry into the comic market). However, Bellamy
honourably decided to see his commitments to Eagle Comic through 'till his
contract's end. Subsequently, his first artwork for TV21 came with the
inclusion of Thunderbirds, (issue 52 printed in April of '66). He
exclusively painted all the colour artwork for T'Birds, with the exception
of issues 93 to 98, during which he took a much needed vacation. He
is most fondly remembered for his stylized, graphic approach to the
subject matter and his innovative use of 'breaking the panel frame' with
the central character or vehicle bursting out of the confines of the panel
outline.
The delivery deadlines for each major series strip were highly demanding,
and in the case of those occupying 3 full colour pages per issue -
sometimes the assigned artist fell behind. Other artists who were on
schedule would be asked to pitch in to keep a constant supply of artwork
on hand and alleviate any production delays. In this situation,
Bellamy was asked to supply opening story pages only for Captain Scarlet
for 5 different issues, all of which appear on the front cover.
Unfortunately, due to the space required for the comic Masthead, Spectrum
logo & Corgi advertising ad, his work appears a little cramped and
doesn't represent him at his best. There doesn't even appear to be room
for his full, trademark signature which consistently adorned his interior
Thunderbirds artwork - only a hurried 'FB' or none at all. Still, it is
undeniably Bellamy's colourful interpretation that still
shines through, with issue 186's image of cloudbase hurtling towards
imminent disaster being a fine example of his talent.
By late 1969, TV21's popularity was declining rapidly and Bellamy had
decided to exit the comic book industry completely. His last Anderson
related strip, (an uninspired black & white Thunderbirds story),
appears in issue 4 of the new merger between TV21 and Joe 90 comics. The
artist moved on to provide illustrations for such notable publications as
'The Sunday Times Magazine' and 'Radio Times' until finally settling in to
a strip-format series called 'Garth' for the 'Daily Mirror' newspaper in
1971. Bellamy was still drawing 'Garth' until he passed away in 1976 from
a sudden heart attack.
The comic world had lost one of its brightest and talented visionaries,
who can most certainly be attributed to elevating the comic strip from its
pedestrian, square panel format to conceptual high art. In his creative
hands, the comic strip was no longer kids stuff, but thought provoking
artwork worthy of being displayed in an art gallery.
COMIC STRIP SAMPLES
To view a sample of Frank Bellamy's drawings, just click on the following miniatures. Those are just some samples I have put to demonstrate the extend of Bellamy's art. If you have other such samples and want to share them with people - I am actually looking for arts from Mike Noble - feel free to communicate with me. Be aware, though, that I WON'T PUBLISH entire comic strips... It would not be fair for writers, artists, publishers, merchants, etc. This is just an information page.
|
|
You can send your comments to:
| Copyright © of all trademarked material ('Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons', and all other series titles, all their characters, vehicles, crafts, etc., Supermarionation, Century 21, CITV, and als) owned by ITV Global Entertainment/Entertainment Group Limited, a division of ITV plc. Information found on this fan site are taken from copyrighted © material (books magazines, DVDs, TV medias, comics etc.) property of their rightful owners, official organisations and/or artists depending of ownership rights (ITC/Polygram/Carlton/Anderson Ltd/GAP plc and others). This site is meant as a fan site, with respect and tribute to the work of the artists involved. No profit is made from the use of those copyrighted materials. |