Throw

Inktober 9

I was clearing out my garage recently and found a couple of old Warlord Book for boys (1981 & 1982). I remember that as well as the annuals, they produced small format comics that we used to devour at school (how times have changed). Reading them back they are amusing in the context of their time. Now they would be seen as glamorising war and as being a bit politically incorrect. To be fair to them, they did feature stories from the German point of view, and the German protagonists were portrayed as equally heroic to the Allies.

As an artist and comic fan I look at them now with an eye on the storyboarding and illustration. It’s all very competent stuff. The colour palette is limited and I suspect they were churned out quickly, but the story telling is effective none the less. What really amazes me is that I am unable to find a credit to the writers or artists anywhere in the two annuals I have. So here is my tribute to those artists who probably influenced a lot of my generation to pick up a pencil and start copying panels of exploding tanks and charging marines.