#skywald publishing

[cantsayidont]

December 1973. Skywald's short-lived black & white SCREAM magazine often suffered convoluted, overwritten scripts, but had very stylish art by an array of mostly Spanish artists. These pages from the Lady Satan strip are drawn by Ricardo Villamonte.

[barkingbonzo]

SEBASTIA BOADA

Dossier Negro no. 103, cover art

Sebastià Boada was a painter, draftsman, and sculptor born in Barcelona, in the Gracia neighborhood, in 1935. From a very young age, he showed great ability for drawing and painting. At the age of 14, he began his studies at the prestigious Escola de les Arts i Oficis Artístics de Barcelona, La Llotja. He also studied for a degree at the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de San Jorge de Barcelona and at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva (Switzerland) for a year.

His work as a comic book artist began at Editorial Bruguera in 1954, with illustrations for Pulgarcito, Can Can, and other magazines of the group, approximately until 1961. He then began to work for foreign markets through the same Bruguera and A.L.I. agency, and from there, he moved to Bardon Art with Jorge Macabich and Josep Dalmau, where he made about 50 romantic notebooks of 64 pages for Scotland and England for DC Thomson and Fleetway publishers.

Between 1971 and 1972, he made his first color covers for romances for the Netherlands, published by Editorial Kerk. He also worked in Selecciones Ilustradas by Josep Toutain, making all kinds of themes: terror, gothic, western, and detectives, among others. He also received commissions for the German publisher Bastei and for Bardon Art, with comic books and illustrations of El Santo and covers of Buffalo Bill.

He also worked for Editorial Molino. In 1979, he joined Norma Editorial with the same themes as Bastei, i.e., western, western-sexy, kung-fu, dinosaurs, detectives, and adventures. In addition, he made numerous covers for the Norwegian publisher Bladkompaniet through Norma. Other works include the notebook Fatal Beauty, which was edited by Sal Quartuccio & Bob Keenan Publishers of SQP Inc. with sketches and previously published covers. In the late nineties, his art could be seen in Coven, a title designed to collect a collection of women's illustrations focused on the theme of the witch as a sexual icon.

During the seventies, he also worked for the US market as a cover artist in different editorials. He made painted-style covers in series such as Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction for Marvel, as well as Psycho and Nightmare from Skywald Publications, under the pseudonym of Puigdomenech.

In the 1980s, he made a series of pencil drawings for the Barbie character, although there is no information about their publication, and perhaps they were inked by another author. Until 2010, he was known to be active as a painter, sculptor, and cover artist for Bastei of Germany, after more than 30 years and at the age of 75.

[mexcine]

Swipe File #5: Photo-Reference or Swipe?  Why Can’t It Be Both?  The Strange Case of the Image of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932 version)

            Not all artists use models – if you’re drawing a comic book story, this would be ridiculously time-consuming, expensive, and (due to ‘comic book physics’) not necessarily useful.  However, for paintings and such, a life model could be important and – when one’s not available – reference to photographs is a time-honoured practice.  If you’re painting a magazine cover about a real person (which would include actors in their roles), access to images of that person would seem to be crucial research and not cheating, especially if the artist adds creative value to the new work.

As the very name implies, a “swipe” has a more ambiguous moral valuation.  For instance, if an editor tells an artist to paint a cover featuring the “Frankenstein monster,” and clearly wants it to be the internationally recognisable, classic Universal design (although it’s not intended to represent a specific actor or film), anyone could come up with a version of that, without resorting to reference images.  But even if the artist does look at various film photos, it only becomes a “swipe” if he or she deliberately copies a particular image.

Today’s Swipe File features both photo-reference and swipe examples.  In 1932, Fredric March starred in Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde, wearing heavy, bestial makeup in the Hyde role.  Artist Basil Gogos painted a portrait of March-as-Hyde that was published on the cover of “Famous Monsters of Filmland” 62 (February 1970).   Gogos didn’t merely copy a photograph from the film and add colour, he created a new work of art – but he didn’t significantly alter the way the character looks, or the particular pose from the photo, so this is (to some degree) a “swipe.”

Spanish publishers Ibero Mundial de ediciones began publishing “Dossier Negro” in 1968.  124 issues were printed through 1979 before another company took over the title. This magazine featured black-and-white horror comic stories, some originals, and some reprints from U.S. magazines like “Eerie,” and various Skywald titles such as “Scream” and “Nightmare.”  The May 1975 issue (#72) reprinted the Gogos portrait of Mr. Hyde on its cover, presumably with permission from the U.S. publisher (they’d been re-using Warren magazine covers from “Eerie,” “Creepy,” and “Famous Monsters of Filmland” for a number of years). However, “Dossier Negro” was not a “monster movie magazine,” it was a horror-comic magazine, so the image is not “Fredric March as Mr. Hyde,” it’s just “a monster guy.”  Is it a still a swipe if it was legally reprinted (albeit slightly altered)?  Your opinion may vary.

The other two examples shown here also photo-reference Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde (1932).  The publisher was Australian-based Gredown, which issued over 300 such publications – the majority one-shots – in the 1970s and 1980s.  The contents were again reprints from U.S. comics and magazines, with some other international stories as well.  According to https://ausreprints.net/article/21 most of the Gredown covers were “originals” (i.e., not reprints from the source comics/magazines from which the interior stories were taken) produced by Spanish art agencies or local Australian artists.

Both artists on these covers closely copy the character and pose of Mr. Hyde from film stills, but both do embellish the artwork, adding other details.  However, the point is that neither of these images are intended to represent a specific movie character/scene, but are generic “horror” images, and thus there’s no inherent reason for the character to look like Mr. Hyde (unless the publisher somehow thought Australian readers would have been influenced to purchase the magazine by seeing a character from a 1932 movie).  These are therefore photo-referenced “swipes.” 

[rj-drive-in]

Fiction Pulp Fiction Department:

For several years in the early-to-mid 70s, Mental Comics Group attempted to leverage its bullpen of first-string comics talent to make inroads into the world of black-and-white Horror magazines, a market dominated by publishers like Warren and Skywald. The cleverly titled Werewolf Monthly was one such attempt, which sadly lasted only a dozen issue. The contents included more adult versions of their four-color characters Wolfgirl by Moonlight and Dire Werewolf, pre-code reprints from the catalogue of their predecessor, Karry Komics, and even the occasional prose fiction. As was typical of this publisher, editorial instability undermined their efforts and they never got a foothold in the market. If you'd like to get your hands on some back issues of this magazine, you'll have to work pretty hard, because it was never published in this sector of the Myriadverse.

© 2023 Rick Hutchins

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Creature from the Black Lagoon - art by Bill Everett (1971)

[thefugitivesaint]

Sebastia Boada, ''Nightmare'', #19, June 1974 Source

[ladythatsmyskull]

The Creature from the Black Lagoon by Bill Everett. Published in Nightmare #2 (February 1971, Skywald).

[pulpsandcomics2]

“Nightmare” #1   December 1970 (Skywald Publishing)

[typodescript]

[ID an excerpt from Scream Issue #1 published by Skywald Publications:

“...the art of SCREAMING is lost...

... the horrors of the 1973 are not archaic horrors... they are everyday horrors, such as war and poverty... not the horrors of the mind that were yesterday’s everyday horrors...

... yesterday we were frightened by a footstep in the dark, the banging of a shuttered window, the wetness and the atmosphere of the local cemetery. But no more... now we seems to know that a banging window is only the wind, that the atmosphere in a graveyard is our imagination, that the sound of a footstep behind us is merely a mugger sneaking up... what horror is there about a mugger? Yesterday... that footstep meant that something dead and buried prematurely had risen from his crypt... and a banging shutter meant the presence of a vengeful ghost in your bedroom...” end ID]

[gabtohealpolarlegend]

Hey, all...this issue has a comic book rendition of The Tell-Tale Heart. You need an account (free) to download, but you don't need one to read it on the website. These are all public domain comics, by-the-way, so no worries.

[cantsayidont]

December 1970. This little nightmare from Skywald's NIGHTMARE #1 isn't credited, and the art has been attributed to various people, including Jack Katz, Chic Stone, and Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.

[thebristolboard]

Classic painted cover by Gray Morrow from Psycho #1, published by Skywald Publications, January 1971.

[smashpages]

Zdarsky, Carroll and more take home 2019 Shuster Awards

The winners of the 15th annual Joe Shuster Awards were announced this weekend, which included Chip Zdarsky, Emily Carroll, Karl Kerschl and more.

Established in 2004, The Joe Shuster Awards are Canada’s national award recognizing outstanding achievement in the creation of comic books, graphic novels and webcomics. Named in honor of Superman co-creator Joe Shuster, the awards recognize the best of the Canadian comics world; nominees must be either Canadian citizens or permanent residents in Canada. The winners were chosen by a jury.

Congratulations to this year’s winners, whose names are in bold below:

ARTIST

Dylan Burnett – Cosmic Ghost Rider (Marvel Comics), Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers 2018 Annual (BOOM! Studios), Reactor (Vault Comics)

Emily Carroll – Speak: The Graphic Novel (Farrar, Straus And Giroux)

Marc Delafontaine – Les Nombrils 08: Ex, Drague Et Rock’n’roll! (Dupuis)

Mike Feehan – Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles (Dc Comics)

Karl Kershl – Isola (Image Comics)

Sacha Lefebvre – U-merlin (éditions Michel Quintin)

Yanick Paquette – Action Comics, Wonder Woman Earth One Book Two (DC Comics)

Denis Rodier – Arale (Dargaud)

WRITER

Maryse Dubuc, Marc Delafontaine – Les Nombrils 08 Ex, Drague Et Rock’n’roll! (Dupuis)

Meredith Finch – Xena: Warrior Princess (Dynamite Entertainment), Rose (Image Comics)

Jean-francois Laliberte – U-merlin (éditions Michel Quintin)

Jeff Lemire – Black Hammer: Age Of Doom, Black Hammer: Cthu-Louise, Doctor Star & The Kingdom Of Lost Tomorrows, Quantum Age (Dark Horse), The Terrifics (DC Comics), Descender, Gideon Falls, Hit-Girl (Image Comics), The Sentry (Marvel Comics), Bloodshot: Salvation (Valiant)

Tristan Roulot – Arale (Dargaud)

Chip Zdarsky – Marvel 2-In-One, Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man (Marvel Comics), The Wicked + The Divine: The Funnies (Image Comics)

Jim Zub – Dungeons & Dragons: Evil At Baldur’s Gate (IDW), Wayward (Image Comics), Avengers, The Champions, Hunt For Wolverine: Mystery In Madripoor, Infinity Countdown: Champions (Marvel Comics), Rick & Morty Vs. Dungeons & Dragons (Oni Press)

CARTOONIST

Ho Che Anderson – Godhead (Fantagraphics)

Emily Carroll – Beneath The Dead Oak Tree (Shortbox)

Svetlana Chmakova – Crush (Yen Press)

Johnnie Christmas – Firebug (Image Comics)

Francis Desharnais – Le Petite Russie (éditions Pow Pow)

Michel Falardeau – L’esprit Du Camp T.2 (Studio Lounak)

Faith Erin Hicks – The Divided Earth: Nameless City Vol. 3 (First Second)

Jeff Lemire – Royal City (Image Comics)

Mikael – Giant T.2 (Dargaud)

Gene Day Award FOR SELF-PUBLISHED COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS

Beaver Damn 2 – A. Shay Hahn

Christie Pits – Jamie Michaels, Doug Fedrau

Happily Ever After – Ricky Lima, Nicolas Londeix, Andrew Thomas

Hockey Apocalypse Season 4: Cult Of Hockey – Jeff Martin

Les Animaux Se Revoltant (Ringo Starr Aussi) – Val-bleu

The Complete Squid-gee Octology – Keenan Poloncsak

GENE DAY AWARD FOR INDEPENDENT PRESS ANTHOLOGY COLLECTIONS 

Cauldron 1 (Shane Heron)

Gothic Tales Of Haunted Love (Bedside Press)

Jewish Comics Anthology Vol. 2 (Ah Comics)

Swan Song (Cloudscape Comics Collective)

Toronto Comics: Osgoode As Gold (To Comix Press)

Wayward Sisters (To Comix Press)

The Dragon Award (Comics for Kids)

Peter and Ernesto: A Tale of Two Sloths – Graham Annable (First Second)

Crafty Cat and the Great Butterfly Battle – Charise Mericle Harper (First Second)

The Nameless City: The Divided Earth – Faith Erin Hicks (First Second)

Crush – Svetlana Chmakova (Yen Press)

13e Avenue – Genevieve Pettersen et Francois Vigneault (La Pasteque)

Aventurosaure tome 1 – Julien Pare-Sorel (Presses Aventure)

TM MAPLE AWARD (FOR ACHIEVEMENTS OUTSIDE THE CREATIVE)

Jennifer Haines. A leading Canadian comic retailer for over 20 years, Jenn Haines has been an active and vocal supporter of the comics industry and the role comics and comic shops have in their communities. She established the Comics in the Classroom initiative to help educators use comics and graphic novels in their classrooms to improve student literacy.

Harry Kremer Award (Retailers)

Alpha Comics (Calgary, AB)

Cape and Cowl Comics (Lower Sackville, NS)

Comic Book Addiction (Whitby, ON)

Comic Hunter (Moncton, NC)

Curious Comics (Victoria, BC)

Cyber City Comics (North York, ON)

Variant Edition (Edmonton, AB)

HARRY KREMER AWARD (Special Bonus)

Eisner Award-Winning Guelph, ON retailer The Dragon celebrated their 20th Anniversary in 2018. In 2019 they are being given an honorary Harry Kremer Award for their Contributions to the Canadian comic retail landscape and beyond.

As an awards sponsor and booster, they have self-omitted themselves previously from consideration for the Kremer Award, but unbeknownst to them, the Awards Executive felt that in light of their special anniversary year as well as the JSA’s 15th, and in lieu of Jenn being honored with the TM Maple Award and the awards being presented in Guelph that all of these factors added up to it being the right time for the Dragon to officially be included to the short list of Canada’s top comic retailers. Congratulations Jenn!

Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame

Al Hewetson (1946-2004) (active from 1970-1999)

Alan Hewetson was a Scottish-Canadian writer and editor of American horror-comics magazines, best known for his work with the 1970s publisher Skywald Publications, where he created what he termed the magazines’ “Horror-Mood” sensibility. He went on to become a publisher of city magazines in Canada.

Gerhard (1959-) (active 1984-present)

Gerhard is the professional name of a Canadian artist known for the elaborately detailed background illustrations in the comics series Cerebus the Aardvark.

Dale Keown (1962-) (active 1986-present)

Dale Keown is a Canadian comic book artist, known for his runs on The Incredible Hulk and his creator-owned book, Pitt.

Ken Lashley (1967-) (active 1988-present)

Ken Lashley is a prolific artist and editor, credited as a colorist, penciller, cover colorist, inker, finisher, cover, and variant cover artist, has worked across the comic book industry with DC (The Flash, Cyborg, Suicide Squad, Superwoman, Batwing, Superboy) and Marvel (Excalibur, X-Men, Rising Stars, Black Panther, Spider-Man).

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Blood-Hunt for the Cannibal Werewolf - art by Xavier Vilanova (1974)

[wsatterwhite]

Originally published in 1971, Skywald's The Butterfly was the first African-American superheroine in American comics. Due to an error on the part of the publisher the character has been public domain since her first appearance and this sketch represents an initial stab at doing something with the character. #butterfly #publicdomain #comicbooks #blacksuperheroes #blackheroesmatter #superhero #indiesdoitbetter #indiecomics #indyforever

[talesofnosferatu]

Chapter Ten: The Devil

Written by Alan ‘Archaic Al’ Hewetson

Illustrations by Cesar ‘Zesar’ Alvarez Canete

*originally published in “Dossier Negro #81”  by de Ibero Mundial de Ediciones   February 1976

[reprinted black and white webcomic strip design, restoration, and English translation by vVurMzflessshhh Publishing]

Nosferatu, a monster who is rarely called a man tho his body is somewhat human, it is he who calls together twelve macabre other-things and orders them to tell their life-tales.

In the final chapter of Tales of Nosferatu, the final guest The Vulture of China, Ho Chi Laoh will finally be revealed.  Following Ho Chi Laoh’s quest for power and his path of destruction, he joins the disciples of Dagon and will use his new found alliance for revenge.

Next: Chapter Ten: Pt.1

Back: Chapter Nine: Pt.5

CHAPTERS:  I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X