Garth (UK comic strip, 1940s-1997) in Horror Comics and Fantasy Art Forum

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Garth (UK comic strip, 1940s-1997)

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Helrunar	Garth (UK comic strip, 1940s-1997)	Lead	[-]
May 30 12 7:55 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Is anyone here a fan of the UK fantasy/horror/adventure strip, Garth? I discovered it when I bought a copy of the Daily Mirror just for shits and giggles last Summer in Ireland, and recently started following the stories through the Mirror's online archive of strips (a mixed bag: some strips are missing, others repeat, etc.--great color though). The current story, People of the Abyss, a reprint from the early 1970s, goes from an undersea lost Atlantis menaced by sea monsters story to a Russian espionage story in the space of a few installments. Interesting way of mixing it up: http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/cartoons/garth/ The main drawback to me is that Garth looks like Charles Atlas on steroids, or a blond whiteskinned version of the Incredible Hulk--almost. I think there's backstory to explain the guy's superhuman strength, but if you're coming in in the middle, you wouldn't be blamed for thinking the guy is a terminal steroids addict. A surprise about the current stories is that female nudity was obviously allowed in UK papers in the Seventies, including nude breasts and buttocks. There were two Titan collections in the 1980s and nothing since... surprised there hasn't been more attention? H.
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ByronOrlok		#1	[-]
May 31 12 9:00 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've got those two Titan collections around here somewhere. Afraid I never read much of the actual stories, but I sure did like the art by Frank Bellamy.
professor liebstrum		#2	[-]
Jun 6 12 4:06 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Frank Bellamy is one of the Giants of comic art in my opinion, he could draw anything and took such trouble to make sure his work would look good. I've got the two Titan collections and a few others. The Garth strip started back in the 40's I think and one of the Titan books has a list of the stories with art and writing credits. Martin Asbury who took over when Bellamy died, did a pretty good job on the strip too and he didn't stint on the nudity either. Bellamy also did quite a bit of work for TV21 [THUNDERBIRDS] and the legendary Eagle comic including Dan Dare, a brilliant strip biography of Churchill and a very nice "white hunter" series called Frasier of Africa. The one series I really hope they reprint one day is Heros the Spartan, I've only seen a few pages and they look beautiful Another Titan series that never took off were the two volumes of Jeff Hawke strips. Another beautifully drawn science fiction strip from British newspapers, and the scripts are wonderful too. Russ Last Edited By: professor liebstrum Jun 7 12 1:42 PM. Edited 1 times.
Helrunar		#3	[-]
Jun 6 12 11:57 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hey Russ, thanks for writing about Jeff Hawke. There's an announcement about the first volume, I believe, on the back of the 2nd Titan Garth book which just arrived in the post this evening. Hope I am able to lay hands upon volume I of Garth without having to shell out a small fortune. Ironically, the Daily Mirror just reprinted "The Cloud of Balthus" title story but several installments were missing from the reprint--not sure why. What they reprinted is still up on their site. Gorgeous color and it is a shame it is incomplete. I am quite intrigued by Heros the Spartan. Sounds very cool. H.
professor liebstrum		#4	[-]
Jun 7 12 2:31 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Helrunar, Amazon UK has used copies of the Garth volume 1 book, if you are interested. The Mirror have done a nice job with the colourisation, I agree. After I posted, I found out there was supposed to be a Heros book last year, I'm not sure if it ever came out. A few years ago I was at a book mart looking for old British comics and came across a desk with Jeff Hawke stuff. We had a chat and I mentioned that I was having trouble finding the second Titan book. One of the guys on the table told me he'd seen a copy on another stall, went off and found it. I thanked him and went back to the vendor to pay for it. As we were leaving, Claire asked me if I was going to get it autographed. Who by? I asked. Claire pointed out that the guy I'd been chatting to was Syd Jordan, creator of Jeff Hawke. I was too embarrassed to go back. Russ Last Edited By: professor liebstrum Jun 7 12 5:58 PM. Edited 1 times.
Helrunar		#5	[-]
Jun 10 12 12:56 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks for that amazing story, Russ. That's very cool. There's a page on Amazon UK for a Heros the Spartan book but it seems to be a placeholder. It claims the book will be out at the end of this month, however. I guess time will tell. I found a couple of blogs that had Heros scans but I had difficulty getting the scans to enlarge so I could actually read and enjoy looking at the art. I will definitely have to check out Jeff Hawke! Weirdly, the Mirror just bounced to a much later, non-Bellamy story in its Garth series ... Best, H.
Kosmo13		#6	[-]
Jun 13 12 6:25 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I remember seeing Garth for a few weeks in a daily newspaper in the 1970's. I think I was in the Bahamas at the time. I thought it was very entertaining and wished at the time it was available in more newspapers. I eventually forgot about Garth, but I'm pleased by your reminder. Maybe I'll find some time to look up the old strips on-line.
Helrunar		#7	[-]
Jun 17 12 11:15 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks, Kosmo. It is worth checking the Garth pages on the Daily Mirror site. It's too bad that there are missing installments in the People of the Abyss story which just wound up a couple of weeks ago. The current, new story purports to tell what really happened on board the mysterious Mary Celeste in the early 1870s. This one seems to have been printed originally in the late 1970s or early 1980s. H.
Servant of Legendre		#8	[-]
Jun 22 12 7:51 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I don't remember Garth or Jeff Hawke, but I vividly remember Syd Jordan's work from the Lance McLane strip that appeared here in Scotland's DAILY RECORD when I was a kid. I had a child-crush on Fortuna the android. http://www.alandavis-comicart.com/ASydJordan.html
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skull island escapee		#9	[-]
Jun 23 12 1:33 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Garth is firmly etched into my memory from the very early 1970s period-----the Frank Bellamy version especially, which as Helrunar attests to, featured fairly xx-plicit female nudity in an almost matter-of-fact manner, but this was but one of the most intruiging aspects of the strip, which commanded my full attenttion, aged 9 or so. The strip that struck me the most depicted large alien 'eggs' that hatched fullly formed, beautiful young women. It wasn't all just the 'forbidden nudity' that attracted my 'underage' self, however: Bellamy depicted a real sense of alien otherwordly, quite remarkable for a small-scale interior newspaper strip. I used to get 'lost' in the sumptuous fantasy frames that showcased ultra-futuristic hardware and desolate planets. I'd love to revisit this material today, and if available, I just hope the admittedly sexist elements are not tampered with and watered down. 'the horror..............THE HORROR!' Cartoon-strip blog here [updated regularly]: http://zoomertoonsrabsmith.blogspot.com/ Last Edited By: skull island escapee Jun 23 12 1:35 PM. Edited 1 times.
Helrunar		#10	[-]
Jun 27 12 7:19 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Skull Island escapee, the nudity and sexism haven't been at all watered down in the current Daily Mirror reprints, and the coloring of the strips has been accomplished with brilliant flair. You do have to be patient with the fact that sometimes days go by before they update the webpage for the strip. The link is in my initial post on this thread. cheers, H.
Lawrence Fechtenberger		#11	[-]
Jun 27 12 8:59 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I became acquainted with this strip when it ran in THE MENOMONEE FALLS GAZETTE (anyone remember that?) back in the early 1970s. Unfortunately, the episodes I saw all seemed to involve Garth busting gangs of drug dealers--banal stuff that failed to catch my fancy. Probably I should give it another try.
professor liebstrum		#12	[-]
Jun 29 12 5:25 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	After Rupert Murdoch bought the British newspaper, The Sun, he turned it into a competitor for the Daily Mirror. The Sun used to have a science fiction strip called SCARTH. Catchy, original,hey?? One strip, I can still remember after 40 years involved involved the heroine being chased by a T Rex and losing her clothes from panel to panel. It was v erotic for a ten year old. A lot like Monty P's Scott of the Sahara sketch. I dont think Garth featured nudity until Frank became the artist. He drew great women, and they weren't the obvious good girl art either, he drew a lot of women from different races for example and didn't exaggerate. They were v sexy. The Mirror had run another strip, "Jane", during WWII, which featured the adventures of a scantilly clad and not always that, lady. It was supposed to increase the morale of our troops. I think it was revived later and even turned into a v short lived TV series. There used to be a guy who wrote to the Mirror every now and then suggesting they made a Garth film with Dave Prowse and Jane one with Stacey Dorning. I think he just wanted to see Stacey Dorning in her underwear... ahem. I remember the THE MENOMONEE FALLS GAZETTE from the Comics Reader in the 80's. A great way to see classic newspaper comic strip art. Russ Last Edited By: professor liebstrum Jun 29 12 5:53 PM. Edited 2 times.
skull island escapee		#13	[-]
Jul 4 12 3:16 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I have a Daily Mirror reprint book featuring a full Garth story from the 1940s: it's interesting in a sort of Buck Rogers' way [which seems to have been it's main inspiration---both the strip and the serial-----]: it's fair to say that the Bellamy version especially was a total reworking of the Garth character and concept, in every way imaginable. The older version looks stodgy and quaint, unlike the early 70s update, which still resonates after a longer gap than between the 40s and early 70s. 'the horror..............THE HORROR!' Cartoon-strip blog here [updated regularly]: http://zoomertoonsrabsmith.blogspot.com/
professor liebstrum		#14	[-]
Jul 18 12 1:57 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've got a couple of the pre Bellamy Garth's as well. The art is cruder, certainly, but one of the stories, Night of the Long Knives based around Jack the Ripper is interesting and readable. It's no FROM HELL but it's as good as A Study in Terror Russ
Helrunar		#15	[-]
Aug 1 12 8:15 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	For anyone interested, the classic Frank Bellamy Garth yarn, "The Women of Galba," has just started running on the Daily Mirror site (link above). This one features lots of gorgeous dames--don't recall about nudity but it's probably in there. Keep reading! H.
Helrunar		#16	[-]
Aug 22 12 11:10 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	"Women of Galba" is proving to be a lot of fun. It's clearly sort of a re-write of the original "Flash Gordon" storyline of 1934, but with some extra kinks and crenellations. G.
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Garth (UK comic strip, 1940s-1997)

Garth (UK comic strip, 1940s-1997)