“El Cirque Tragico” by Alberto Breccia

My recent acquisition. An original page from the comic titled
“El Cirque Tragico” by Alberto Breccia, signed and dated 1961. Breccia was one of the most expressive and influential comics artists of the second part of the last century.

“Mary Perkins, On Stage”

Recently, I acquired this slightly beaten-up and folded page from the comics “Mary Perkins, On Stage” by Leonard Starr from 1975. This is not his most exciting composition of the page, but his brushstrokes are exquisite. It’s amazing to see how easily he’s drawing all this. 

The comic came with a vellum cover with a color break.

 

"Miss 130" by Chiyoji Tomo

Recently acquired, this splash page from Miss 130, a series of soft-core porn manga by Chiyoji Tomo, published by Manga Cobra. I didn’t acquire this spread just because it’s quite well drawn, especially the woman’s feet, but it also has some other charming elements to it.

First is the graphical usage of the Japanese type. The large characters surrounding the scene are meaningless in Japanese and only serve to imitate the sound of people having sex. Second is the clever usage of horizontal lines to create motion/thrust in the image. Third is the strategically positioned splatters of white paint. And fourth is the presentation of hair, not just the woman’s hairstyle, but particularly the whimsical presentation of hair on the man’s body. 

Hair on a man doesn’t appear very often on comic heroes unless they are villains. One of the rare, hairy comic heroes was Rip Kirby. 

 

My Recent Acquisition, Comic Art by Enrique Breccia

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

My recent acquisition is an unusual original page of "La Soldadera" from 1996 by Enrique Breccia. 

Enrique is the son of one of the greatest comic artists, Alberto Breccia, with whom he drew his first comic. In 1968, with his father, he illustrated “Vida del Che” ("Life of Che"), a biographical Historieta of the famous revolutionary Che Guevara.

"La Soldadera" is a western-themed graphic novel by Enrique Breccia and writer Walther Slavich, first published in 1996. The story is a western that involves political intrigue and revolves around a grandpa character seeking revenge for his slaughtered family. The artwork by Enrique Breccia is described as capturing dramatic storytelling within the comic's format. 

Here you can see other Enrique Breccia's work in my collection.

 

Dylan Dog by Nicola Mari

My recent acquisition is the original comic page of Dylan Dog, book #317, titled "L'impostore" (The Imposter) from 2015, drawn by Nicola Mari.

I like Nicola's drawings because of how his ink lines smoothly dance on the page. I also like his stylization. It just seems like sometimes he's drawing too fast and forgetting little things, like drawing a thumb, or fixing the thumb of the right person in the first frame, or forgetting to draw shadows on the vest of the same person, or, using the wrong perspective on the wine label in the third frame. But even with all of that, I can forgive him because of how he draws the face of the character in the same frame. Beauty in motion.

The Front Page of "Cazador y presa" by Arturo Del Castillo

My latest acquisition is the original first page of the comic Cazador y presa by Arturo Del Castillo. I am quite pleased to get this one because I already have this comic's second, third and last pages. You can find out more about them here, here and here. 

Arturo's drawing is gentle and seemingly drawn with ease. He doesn't even bother to erase the pencil drawing, which, by the way, is very minimal.

 

Most of the time, the only corrections he had were when he changed his mind and whitened out the frames around the images. And because he used fabric dipped in ink to make textures, which was hard to control, he corrected that with white gouache.

Here you can see El Cobra, another Arturo's comic page in my collection.

 

 

 

 

Nezumi by Mamoru Uchiyama

My recent acquisition is this page of manga Nezumi (chapter 3) by Mamoru Uchiyama from 1999. I bought this page not only because it's drawn well, but also because I have never seen in comics somebody giving so much real state to the bottom of a foot. I found it very effective. 

Here, here, here, here, here, and here you can see some of my other manga acquisitions.

 

Page #2 of "Cazador y presa" by Arturo Del Castillo

My latest acquisition is the original page of the comic Cazador y presa by Arturo Del Castillo. I am quite pleased to get this one because I already have this comic's third and last pages. You can see them here and here. 

What is beautiful about Arturo's drawing is how gentle and seemingly easily drawn it is. He doesn't even bother to erase the pencil drawing, which, by the way, is very minimal. 

Most of the time, the only corrections he had, as in this case, were when he changed his mind and whitened out the frames around the images.  And because he used fabric dipped in ink to make textures, which was hard to control, he corrected that with white gouache.

You can see other Arturo Del Castillo's comic page in my collection here. 

 

'Modesty Blaise' #1178 by Jim Holdaway

My recent acquisition—the original art used for an episode of 'The Black Pearl', the 10th Modesty Blaise adventure, drawn by Jim Holdaway, and appeared in the 'London Evening Standard' in February 1967.

You can see more of my 'Modesty Blaise' comics in my collection here.

 

"Lobster Johnson" by Tonci Zonjic

My recent acquisition is this comic page of Lobster Johnson - Caput Mortuum by Croatian comic book artis Tonci Zonjic.

 

"La Religieuse" by Georges Pichard

My recent acquisition—an original page from the comic La Religieuse by Georges Pichard from 1995.

“La Religieuse“, Denis Diderot's 17th century novel was seized by the courts. The film adaptation by Jacques Rivette in 1966 was banned from distribution. But the most scandalous version of La Religieuse is this comic book by Georges Pichard which focuses particularly on the sadistic perversions in convents.

The blurry censorship is mine.

"Texas Kid, My Bro" by Igor Kordej

Another gift from my friend Igor Kordej.

A few days ago, Igor gifted me this beautifully drawn and intense comic Texas Kid, My Bro, published by the Croatian publisher Fibra.

Igor is one of my longest-known friends. We've known each other since 1972 and have shared many personal and work-related adventures.

 

 

"Marshall Bass" by Igor Korday

Not all comics in my collection are acquisitions. Some are gifts from my friends, like this recent present from Igor Kordey. 

This beautifully drawn page is from the soon-to-be-published second volume of the comic Marshall Bass. The comic, drawn by Igor Kordey and written by Darko Macan, is based on the life of Bass Reeves.

Bass was a runaway slave, gunfighter, farmer, scout, tracker, railroad agent, and deputy U.S. Marshal. He spoke the languages of several Native American tribes including Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole and Creek. He was one of the first African-American Deputy U.S. Marshals west of the Mississippi River, mostly working in the deadly Indian Territory. The region was saturated with horse thieves, cattle rustlers, gunslingers, bandits, bootleggers, swindlers, and murderers. Reeves made up to 4,000 arrests in his lifetime, killing twenty men in the line of duty.

 

 

 

 

Maumee by Milton Caniff

I recently acquired this very unusual daily comic Steve Canyon by Milton Caniff from 1968.

Milton Caniff remained loyal to his alma mater, Ohio State, often referencing it in his Steve Canyon strips as "Maumee University." In this humorous large panel, Thud Shelley, a Steve Canyon recurring character, takes center stage at the stadium after a bizarre chain of events leads to an unexpected outcome.

I was only surprised because it seemed nobody from Maumee University tried to bid for this comic. Bad for them, good for me. 

This is not my first Milton Caniff comic. You can see more here, here, and here.

 

 

"Mary Perkins, On Stage" by Leonard Starr

My recent acquisition is this daily comic Mary Perkins, On Stage by Leonard Starr from 1979.

Leonard Starr (1925 – 2015) was an American cartoonist, comic book artist, and advertising artist, best known for creating the newspaper comic strip, On Stage and reviving Little Orphan Annie.

In 1957, Starr created the comic strip On Stage, later titled Mary Perkins, On Stage for the Chicago-Tribune-New York News Syndicate. Characterized by a mix of soap opera, adventure and humor, the strip featured tight, realistic graphics and, from the beginning, strong layouts, design and storytelling. He continued producing Mary Perkins, On Stage until 1979. Starr would later cite the work of Alex Raymond and

Milton Caniff as influences on the strip's artwork.

"Garth" by Frank Bellamy

My recent acquisition, two originals of the comic Garth by Frank Bellamy. Two continuing episodes of the story were published in the Daily Mirror newspaper on June 11th and 12th, 1975.

"Cazador y presa" by Arturo Del Castillo

My latest acquisition—an original page from the comic Cazador y presa by Arturo Del Castillo. It's the last page of this comic.  

I already have two pages from his comic El Cobra in my collection. You can see the pages here and here.

 

"Up Anchor!" comic by Kreigh Collins

My recent acquisition is this quite large page of Up Anchor! comic by Kreigh Collins from 1970.

Kreigh Taylor Collins (1908 – 1974), born in Davenport, Iowa, was an American cartoonistbest known for the comic strip Kevin the Bold. In 1968, Collins began working on the comic strip Up Anchor!, a story in modern setting about sailing, loosely based on his own experiences of sailing. Up Anchor! was published as a Sunday comic strip until 1972.  

Here you can read and see more comics by Kreigh Collins.  

 This is not my first page of Kreigh Collins's comics. I already have a page of his comic Kevin the Bold, which you can see here. 

The last image shows how the comic looks in print.