As I've mentioned on my blog before, Mike Noble was my favourite adventure strip artist, from when I first saw his Fireball XL5 strip in the pages of TV Century 21 back in 1965. His crisp, dynamic style turned each story into an exciting, explosive experience, making his adaptations of TV shows more thrilling than the programmes themselves. I was pleased, and privileged, that I had a chance to meet him at a comic con in Bristol several years ago and tell him how much his work meant to me.
I was also pleased that Mike attended the event, to know how much his work was highly regarded. Not a lot of UK artists of his generation ever had that opportunity.
Mike Noble had a long and distinguished career in comics. Strips such as The Lone Ranger for TV Comic, Fireball XL5, Zero X, and Captain Scarlet for TV21, and Timeslip, Follyfoot, Robin of Sherwood and others for Look-In were just a few of his accomplishments. Even until recent times, he was still doing the occasional drawing, working with fellow artist Lee Sullivan (another lifelong fan of Mike's work) on limited edition prints.
You can read a more detailed memoriam of Mike Noble's work over on John Freeman's Down the Tubes blog:
https://downthetubes.net/?p=102470
I'll always be grateful for being fortunate enough to grow up reading Mike Noble's strips that helped made childhood so enjoyable. My sincere condolences to his family and friends on their loss.
The best way to remember Mike is through his artwork, which will always be with us. Here's a selection of his fantastic strips from the 1960s and 1970s. All images have been scanned from the physical comics in my collection and are copyright their respective publishers.
Too many from my youth are leaving us. Nice tribute to a major talent. I do have a question. Where did that Famous Five strip appear?
ReplyDeleteThat's from Look-In in 1978.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
ReplyDeleteMike Noble artwork was amazing. I also met him at that Bristol con....lovely guy.
ReplyDeleteWhat made that con extra special, for me anyway, was that Mike did a panel with Cheryl Burfield and Spencer Banks, stars of Timeslip, one of my favourite shows as a child. (and Mike of course drew the strip for Look-In.) It was great to meet all three of them. I'm very pleased Mike was there to see how much people loved his work.
ReplyDeleteI love Mike's work and have a fair selection of his work in comics. But why can't we buy a collected works book of Mike's, or Frank Bellamy, or Ron Turner etc...it's terrible these artists works aren't available to buy.
ReplyDeletePartly down to rights issues, but also because publishers don't think there's a big enough market to make it worthwhile unfortunately.
ReplyDelete