In the Spotlight: Ron Embleton

By John Freeman on 2 October 2011 • ( 1 )

One of our most popular and talented artists, Ron Embleton – whose work is getting major promotion this month over at the Book Palace web site’s Illustration Art Gallery – began drawing as a young boy, at 12 winning a national poster competition.

At 17, he earned himself a place in a commercial studio but soon left to work freelance, drawing comic strips for many of the small publishers who sprang up shortly after the war.

He was soon drawing for the major publishers. His most fondly remembered strips include ‘Strongbow the Mighty’ in Mickey Mouse Weekly, ‘Wulf the Briton’ in Express Weekly, ‘Wrath of the Gods’ in Boys’ World, ‘Tales of the Trigan Empire’ and ‘Johnny Frog’ in Eagle and ‘Stingray’ in TV Century 21.

Embleton also provided the illustrations for the title credits for the Captain Scarlet TV series, and dozens of paintings for prints and newspaper strips, including ‘Snow White’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘Wicked Wanda’ and ‘The Magic Apples’.

A meticulous artist, his illustrations appeared in Look and Learn for many years, amongst them the historical series Roger’s Rangers.

– Check out the gallery of his work on sale at the Illustration Gallery

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.