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Illya in Oils by Ron Embleton |
A one off oil painting by much-admired TV Century 21 and Wulf the Briton comics artist Ron Embleton of David McCallum as Man from U.N.C.L.E.‘s Illya Kuryakin is currently being offered on eBay.
The Complete Gerry Anderson Comics history site, sourcing information from a 1966 issue of Retail Newsagent, notes the art was specially commissioned for a competition for TV Century 21‘s sister comic Lady Penelope, and was won by 10-year-old Lynda Barlow of Woolton, Liverpool (below).
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Competition winner Lynda Barlow |
The competition, which ran in Issue 7 of the best-selling comic in March 1966, challenged readers to match the mood of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. star with six photographs of him from the smash hit spy show.
Ron Embleton, who died in 1988, was not the regular artist on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. strip in the comic and is perhaps better known for strips such as Stingray (for TV Century 21) and Wicked Wanda (for Penthouse). His much-admired strip work also featured in titles such as Express Weekly, Princess, Boy’s World and Look and Learn.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. strip was drawn by Juan González Alacreu, an artist now better known for his fine art, who Bear Alley notes also worked on The Avengers for the girls comic Diana and many war library titles.
The Lady Penelope comic itself was a hugely successful title, less reliant on stories set in the future with lead character Lady Penelope more of an “action person” than she had been in her TV Century 21 strips, according to editor Gillian Allan, to make the stories more geared to her, and more interesting. “She was the heroine of the magazine, after all.”
Other strips in the comic during its run included The Monkees, Daktari, Marina, Girl from the Sea and Bewitched.
The competition was part of ongoing promotions by publisher City Magazines to promote the comic, along with the publisher’s other titles, and serves to illustrates how much effort was put into ensuring continued high sales. That hard work paid off: even in 1968, two years after the title launch, records show the comic was selling 315,662 copies a week.
• The auction closes on 22nd November 2010.
• View the item on eBay (£250 reserve)
• The story Lady Penelope comic on the Complete Gerry Anderson Comic History
• Lady Penelope comic: Wikipedia Entry
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. art by Juan González Alacreu on Peter Rice’s Art Gallery
• Art by Juan González Alacreu
- About the Author
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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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