Britishcomicart Blog

[Quickfire]

Varied stuff, some Battle and 2000AD insights (not forgetting Valiant, Commando etc.). Some good links squirrelled away there.

http://britishcomicart.blogspot.com/

I found it googling Jim Watson. The bloggeriste has a rant about how bad his artwork was before apologising a few months later.

http://britishcomicart.blogspot.com/200 ... cover.html

[Chopper]

That Hunt the Hero strip on Douglas Bader was done by an artist (Ian Kennedy I think) that also did Tiger McTagart for Wizard comics. I got the complete Tiger in a single comic. One of my favourite stories and an incredible artist. His use of shading is just awesome.

Man I loved those strips. And colouring Jim Watson's stuff has made me appreciate his work a lot more than I did. So many good artists and great writers. If Tiger McTagart can be released in a single volume I can't imagine why the rest can't.

[fuzzchile]

Nice find also wonderful to find some Jim Western pages(Sarge,HMS Nightshade-these should be books just like Charleys War is) as well as Joe Two Beans ..a wicked character (John Wagner again) plus the story that Ezquerra went onto after designing and drawing first Dredd strip El Metizo excellent find Quickfire
I don't like people slagging Jim off doubt there's a better artist for drawing hardware and grittiness (his Falklands strip is a great example of this) I remember David Lloyyd (V for Vendetta ) giving off about crosshatching in war comics in a interview ..(I imagine he's talking about Jim here lol) but I like it adds a rawness it also suggests mood ..which is helpful with my colouring his stories .Everyone has a different method of inking (i used to use one of those damned mapping pens very hard to control) so fair play to anyone who's mastered using them.

[Quickfire]

Yeah, it's a nice blog for sure, hope you find some good stuff there; and, agreed, HMS Nightshade et al to buy would be great. Not sure when it will happen though. At least we have Johnny Red Vol. 1 for 2010. Got the latest Charley's War and desperate to get the next editions ... finally catching up to somewhere I begin to remember. At least Captain Snell's head injury has finally been explained.

Jim Watson churned out so much that his quick and dirty sketching style was perhaps not only apt but also always retains a lot to recommend itself in a quirky way, a sort of non-John Cooper first sketch of history. While Campion always etched a certain way, JW's work was the lifeblood of BAF in the sense of Battle AND Action Force.

On the anniversary of D-Day in 84 he was the artist for a 3 or 5 pager to commemorate the events in BAF, still remember the Tiger taking on the Chieftain to this day. A bit like his getting pinged cover in 84 too.

[fuzzchile]

whoops I meant Mike Western earlier talking about Sarge and Nightshade (always thought Jim Masters The Sarge may of been a Western self portrait with pipe and all he did feature himself as the granddad talking to his grandson about Nightshade )He knew how to draw kit and weapons as he was there from what I know about him ..always liked his inking too up there with Tom Palmer in my mind. Yeah that's a classic cover of Quarrel getting shot (turned out to be a graze )guess she was always strong headed been the token chick back then.

[The Baron]

Yes, one of the best about Battle was the level of historical accuracy by the artists.

[Hopper]

Right!

Joe Colquhoun's work on Charley's War is a great example. Endless detail, in every scene. I was given a 1917 issued British made Lee Enfield rifle as an Xmas gift a few years ago (benefits of having a Texan father in law!), and looking at it reminds me of Charley's war - the accuracy with which it is drawn! That guy could really draw.

[fuzzchile]

What a present! Always fancied a Sten myself not to use though just to pretend I'm David Niven from time to time lol. Joes the man no doubt about that ..my dream is to colour Charleys War in its entirety .. may have a go at a few pages someday.

[The Baron]

If you plan on doing that, I'll need to rescan it!

[fuzzchile]

I've got all episodes on disc including the one or two that were missing , but I'd only do it if Pat Mills lets me .. it'll be somewhere down the line , have many other things to do first.