The original art for an entire war comic story, “Hans U. Rudel – Hero of the Snows“, drawn by Jaime Brocal Remohí, was recently sold on the auction site Catawiki – but which British comic was it originally published in?
Sold for €1115, on offer, according to the lot description, was the story of Hans-Ulrich Rudel (2nd July 1916 – 18th December 1982), the most decorated German German ground-attack pilot of World War Two.
The final hammer price paid, considering the quality of the artwork, seems a bit of a bargain. But perhaps the low price shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. The strip glosses over any mention of the fact that Udel was, in reality, an unrepentant Nazi, who helped fugitives escape to Latin America and the Middle East, and sheltered Josef Mengele, the former SS doctor at Auschwitz.
Despite the real world nature of its central character, the quality of Remohi’s art is not in dispute. All 64 pages were included in the lot; although the printed numbering was incorrect on the boards, giving the impression Page 32 and 33 were missing, Page 34 was numbered as “32” in pencil.
The story features British air ace Douglas Bader, who, in the 1950s, wrote the foreword to the biography of Hans-Ulrich Rudel,of World War Two. In Stuka Pilot, Rudel defended Nazi policy, criticised the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht for “failing Hitler” and prepared the ground for his subsequent Neo-Nazi activism.
History Hit notes that Bader, who later in life used his position to campaign for people with disabilities, particularly in employment settings, did not know the extent of Rudel’s views when he wrote the foreword but claimed prior knowledge would not have deterred him from contributing.
Comic archivist and artist David Roach has identified the artist as Jaime Brocal Remohí, better known for his (often adult) fantasy adventure work, the lot description noting the strip was produced via the Selecciones Ilustradas agency for the English market in the 1960s, but there was no obvious information on the pages about where and when it might have been published.
Although Jaime Brocal Remohi‘s career included work for Warren, the art format, akin to Commando stories still published today, strongly suggests “Hero of the Snow” was created for one of the many war comic “pocket libraries” of the 1960s, perhaps an as yet unidentified Air Ace Picture Library story, one of several he drew for Fleetway, or one of their other digest titles. Remohi also drew “Janus Stark” for Valiant (some stories available digitally from the Treasury of British Comics).
If the strip is an Air Ace tale it’s a lucky survivor of past publisher purges of the IPC comic art archive. Sadly, David Roach informs us, all the Air Ace art was believed incinerated in 1984.
Do you recognise the story? Do you know where it first appeared? If you know, please comment below!
• Lambiek: Jaime Brocal Remohí (11th June 1936 – 30th June 2002, Spain)
• Tebeosfera: Jaime Borcal Remohí (Spanish language profile)
• View the original Catawiki lot here | Catawiki comic-related auctions
Our thanks to David Roach, author of Aarrgghh!! It’s War, The Art of War and Masters of Spanish Comic Book Art for identifying the strip artist
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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.
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Maybe one of the micron picture libraries
That’s a possibility. Thanks