Classic Action Holiday Special (1990)

In early summer 1990, Fleetway released the Classic Action Holiday Special, a 52 page one-off reviving several of their old characters in brand new stories. 

It's a bit of an oddity because although the comic is obviously partly targeted at readers who would remember those heroes from Valiant, Buster, Tiger, and Lion (readers who would be adults by 1990) the stories themselves are written for children. In most instances, children a bit younger than the audience the characters were originally aimed at. The end results are stories that feel too simplistic for the nostalgic crowd whilst being perhaps too old fashioned for kids of the 1990s. 

Whatever its drawbacks, it was good to see Fleetway attempting to revive those old heroes, and interesting to see different artists tackling them where the original artists were no longer available. The special kicked off with a four page Kelly's Eye story drawn by John Cooper...

Then onto a four page full colour Robot Archie story drawn by Sandy James. Curiously, Archie was back to his original silent self (as he was in the 1950s) which was a shame as the vocal Archie of the 1960s/70s had been quite amusing. 

Next, a four page Steel Claw story. Eduardo Vano Ibarra (Vanyo) is the artist here I think. (None of the strips are credited.) By 1990, and their audience getting younger, publishers were nervous about showing certain scenes in comics in the fear of kids imitating them. In the 1960's, when Fleetway granted its readers with more sense, Louis Crandell was often shown shoving the fingers of his Steel Claw into light sockets or grabbing live wires to activate his invisibility. This presented a problem for the revival of the strip. The solution? Have Crandell suddenly struck by lightning! Stretching credibility even for this strip, but the idea being that kids couldn't imitate an act of nature.

A three page Skid Solo reprint followed, and then a new five page text story featuring Galaxus with illustrations by John Cooper...

Next, a new episode of a very old strip; Jet-Ace Logan, drawn by John Gillatt, one of the original artists of the strip back in its Tiger days...

A six page Janus Stark story followed. Not sure who the artist is.

A four page full colour Johnny Cougar strip next, by Sandy James, one of its original artists...

Finally, a new four page Captain Hurricane strip by R. Charles Roylance, who had drawn the strip in its original run...

There were also a few reprint features and a couple of Norman Mansbridge Autograph Albert funnies in the special. Overall, an interesting package despite my reservations about the scripts, and worth hunting down if you were a fan of those classic characters. 

Francisco Solano Lopez RIP

News is coming in of the passing of Francisco Solano Lopez, whom many of you will remember as the artist of such great British strips as Adam Eterno, Kelly's Eye, Janus Stark, Master of the Marsh, and many more.

Born in Argentina in 1928, Lopez began his comics career in 1953 working for publishers in his own country and started freelancing for Fleetway in 1959. His dark, atmospheric brush strokes were perfect for the new emerging boys adventure weeklies such as Valiant, Lion, and Buster. At a time when imported American comics had to work under the restrictions of the Comics Code Authority, British comics used their own judgment, allowing creepy horror scenarios in their strips, such as this example from Kelly's Eye (Valiant, 24th April 1965). The use of heavy black areas and the fear in the faces gives the strip the perfect feeling of claustrophobia and terror:


The talents of Solano Lopez could also be seen on slightly lighter and more slapstick series, such as Galaxus and Pete's Pocket Army in Buster...


Lopez was able to convincingly combine the fantastic with a gritty street-level feel to his work. One example of that is this page from The Fugitive from Planet Scror (Lion, 1970) with the artist working from a very contemporary script proving that IPC were putting some streetwise elements in their stories several years before Battle or Action debuted...


Every boy who grew up on Fleetway adventure comics of the 1960s and 1970s would be familiar with Lopez' work, whether it be from strips such as early football adventures of Nipper in Score 'n' Roar to the long-running adventures of Kelly's Eye and Adam Eterno. Although the artist found fame in adult comics (and found credits where due, unlike on his anonymous UK work) his strips formed a huge and important part of British comics. Due to the gritty edge of his style his pages still seem exciting and vibrant today. Long may he be remembered.


More information:
http://www.tcj.com/francisco-solano-lopez-1928-%E2%80%93-2011/

John Freeman has written a fascinating and well researched tribute on his Down The Tubes blog:
http://downthetubescomics.blogspot.com/2011/08/in-memoriam-francisco-solano-lopez.html