Marvel UK Memories: artist Jeff Aclin delights fans with his 1970s superhero art

By John Freeman on January 22, 2020

Former DC and Marvel comic artist Jeff Aclin has been delighting Marvel UK fans recently, presenting many of the splash pages and covers he drew for the company for their 1970s superhero and other comics.

Captain America Splash Page by Jeff Aclin – for Marvel UK

Amazing Spider-Man art by Jeff Aclin for Marvel UK, inked by Dan Adkins

Planet of the Apes #93 cover by Jeff Aclin, inked by Duffy Vohland

A photocopy of an apparently unused Dracula Live cover for Marvel UK by Jeff Aclin, in the style of Gene Colan

The British Marvel comics were printed weekly and broke up the US stories into multiple parts. When an episode of a longer story began without a splash page, a new one was created, to give the reader a recap and credit to the original artists and writers.

Artist Jeff Aclin, known for his ability to mimic the art styles of other artists, was regularly asked to do this work between 1976 and 1979. Jeff echoed the art styles of Don Heck, John Buscema and Sal Buscema, among others, given photocopies for reference.

An original page from Daredevil and Black Widow #103, which was adapted for presentation in The Mighty World of Marvel #304 by Jeff Aclin

Jeff Aclin’s splash page, inked by Mike Eposito, for The Mighty World of Marvel #304, adapting the story from Daredevil and Black Widow #103 for its UK reprint. Currently on sale on eBay

While the on page credits note only the original creators on the strips reprinted, Jeff was one of several artists who created these new and now collectable pages, as well as creating covers for some titles, too, echoing the style of the main story featured inside.

• You can find Jeff Aclin on Facebook here and he is a regular contributor to Facebook Marvel UK-related forums on the platform | Instagram

• Jeff Aclin art on ComicArtFans

• Jeff Aclin art for sale on Romitaman

All art copyright Marvel

About the Author
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John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “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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Categories: Art and Illustration, British Comics, Comic Art, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Other Worlds