Today's edition of the Daily Mirror begins reprinting Sundance, the last Garth story to feature the artwork of John Allard and which will soon lead to Frank Bellamy's first work on the strip.
Sundance originally appeared in the Daily Mirror in 1971 and has been reprinted in a few places since but has been coloured by Martin Baines for this latest appearance. John Allard originally started out on the strip as an assistant to Garth's creator Steve Dowling, but took over the art duties completely in 1968 until a suitable replacement could be found. (Source: the excellent Frank Bellamy Checklist Blog which you can visit here).
Frank Bellamy debuted on Garth with episode 13 of Sundance. Two of the original strips are being reprinted each day, which means that Frank Bellamy's first Garth strips will appear next Tuesday (November 13th). For now though, enjoy John Allard's version.
Personally I always preferred the Steve Dowling and John Allard versions of Garth as those atmospheric strips were the ones I read as a boy. I'm hoping that the Mirror will delve into its archives and reprint some of the 1960s strips at some stage so that more people can appreciate that era of the character. Probably a slim hope, as Bellamy's version has always been a fan favourite, but you never know.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/cartoons/
