– Mick, Keith, Bill, Charlie and Brian enjoy the classics too. This album recorded in the early sixties are compiled of their covers of Chuck Berry standards, amongst others. The first track listing is Bobby Troupe’s “Route 66”, hence the BSA motorcycle themed Rorschach-like cover.
– my Uncle Dave found this ‘toon strip and sent it over to be included in today’s blog post. The red & black striped jersey; unruly black hair; and the viscous dog Gnasher of protagonist Dennis have been the mainstay of the Beano comic for 70 years. This panel has The Menace’s Ma fettling the barrels of a ‘70 Bonnie with a kitchen whisk.
– Continuing the weeks theme unearths this classic.
– another fabulous LP sleeve with a whole bunch of period hits from the greats of seventies rock. The starburst and blur effect is pure glitz dressed in bell bottoms and a shaggy sheepskin line vest. Top of the Pops? Let’s Rock!
– get the turntable spinnin’ and unsleeve the LP’s for some ‘non-stop hit-party’. They have had at least another three in the series, so it must have fared well in the German top 40. I notice the fraulein in pink is handing the BSA’s leather trench coat clad operator a flute of sweet white. No wonder the exhaust is spluttering in smoke and sparks…
– one of the great characters created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra back in 1978 when the Starlord comic was first published. After merging with 2000ad half a year later the bounty hunter story was rolled into that weekly and went on to become one of the classic strips. Here’s protagonist Johnny Alpha and his partner Wulf Sternhammer riding a zero-grav scooter across the wastes of some far flung planet on the search for Willie Blanco. The Gronk sits pillion.
– black ‘n’ white doodle of the lump of a vee twin engine that powers The Vincent. Engineering prowess.
– very nicely executed watercolor portrait of his RTW steed Jupiter.
– another inked drawing by yours truly from the early days of 2000ad. This is the final five of one of the Harlem Hellcats bikers as he tears up the arena wall. I’ve always liked this piece of comic illustration. Original Massimo Belardinelli frame of Regal Eegles introduction a few profs prior is below.
– I love the intricate linework of Massimo Belardinelli; the creator of the raw vision for this early 2000ad story of the jet pack flying and chopper riding team The Harlem Hellcats. The imagination contained in the visuals are a sublime foundation to my own drawing style; though mine are a pale comparison to the Maestro’s work.
– Mega City One towers over a diminutive Empire State Building as Judge Dredd is launched into the pages of 2000ad. Although Dredd’s look was created by Carlos Ezquerra; the first episode was penned by Mike MacMahon. These few original pages originally published in 1977 went up for auction recently fetching £90k.
– beautiful small painting of an 800 Triumph Triple. The multicolor appearance is somewhat jester-like.
Forty Two years ago the first big storyline for Joe Dredd saw him head into the nuclear devastation from Mega City’s One to Two to deliver a vaccine for a viral infection 2T(fru)T ~ tutti-fruiti. Riding Mk2 Lawmasters ; biker Spikes Harvey Rotten and JD were accompanied with the real life Land Raider (a toy in the Matchbox Adventure 2000 range). The cover of the Prog publishing the initial episode is a classic. Here’s my doodle of that artwork by Mick MacMahon.
– as promised here’s a new sketch of one of Matt Triumphs. This is the Bonnie which I’ve had for 10 years bought from a West Chicago biker gang as a ‘project’. Well she looks quite picturesque now.
– a canvas, a rug, a plate, or a towel. BSA Rocket Goldstar in line with a swish of sunny yellow and turquoise screenprinted ‘Hand of God’.
