In Doyle 's collection
Description
Back in the 1960s, in my home town of Liverpool, England . . . I used to scour all the local newsagents for the latest American comic-books. Although I had a preference for the Marvel titles, I was quite open to try anything that looked interesting (regardless of publisher).
One weekend, during a systematic search of the neighborhood, I came across the # 24 issue of a title I'd not seen before . . . SPACE FAMILY ROBINSON, LOST IN SPACE. The dramatic (painted) cover depicted a daring rescue bid to save a sacrificial victim from an imminent fiery death, atop of the hands of a gigantic statue in the ancient mythical land of Atlantis. On the strength of the cover painting alone (see additional image), I bought the comic-book and was duly hooked on the adventures of the Robinsons (which have no bearing on the TV series of the same name).
The interior art, by Dan Spiegle, was deceptively simple. His story-telling, in comparison to the superhero stuff of the time, didn't go in for the heightened sense of drama most of us had become accustomed to. Spiegle's story art was a gentle, refreshing change of pace . . . allowing the strength of the writing not to be overshadowed by flashy macho-posturing characters.
A month or two after buying LOST IN SPACE # 24, I bought the follow-up issue of this two-part adventure. The cover image to SPACE FAMILY ROBINSON, LOST IN SPACE # 25 was, to the 10 year old boy I was at the time, even more spectacular!. For over four decades I've been enamoured of George Wilson's stunning # 25 cover painting - and it has remained high on my 'Wants' list of nostalgic favourites.
In recent years, when I decided to scale-down my collection to a core group of cherished favourites, I'd abandoned all hope of ever finding my LOST IN SPACE cover grail. Out of the blue, I received an e-mail from the (then) owner - expressing an interest in releasing the cover to me in trade, which as you can see happened!
One weekend, during a systematic search of the neighborhood, I came across the # 24 issue of a title I'd not seen before . . . SPACE FAMILY ROBINSON, LOST IN SPACE. The dramatic (painted) cover depicted a daring rescue bid to save a sacrificial victim from an imminent fiery death, atop of the hands of a gigantic statue in the ancient mythical land of Atlantis. On the strength of the cover painting alone (see additional image), I bought the comic-book and was duly hooked on the adventures of the Robinsons (which have no bearing on the TV series of the same name).
The interior art, by Dan Spiegle, was deceptively simple. His story-telling, in comparison to the superhero stuff of the time, didn't go in for the heightened sense of drama most of us had become accustomed to. Spiegle's story art was a gentle, refreshing change of pace . . . allowing the strength of the writing not to be overshadowed by flashy macho-posturing characters.
A month or two after buying LOST IN SPACE # 24, I bought the follow-up issue of this two-part adventure. The cover image to SPACE FAMILY ROBINSON, LOST IN SPACE # 25 was, to the 10 year old boy I was at the time, even more spectacular!. For over four decades I've been enamoured of George Wilson's stunning # 25 cover painting - and it has remained high on my 'Wants' list of nostalgic favourites.
In recent years, when I decided to scale-down my collection to a core group of cherished favourites, I'd abandoned all hope of ever finding my LOST IN SPACE cover grail. Out of the blue, I received an e-mail from the (then) owner - expressing an interest in releasing the cover to me in trade, which as you can see happened!
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About George Wilson
Although not a comic book illustrator himself, American illustrator George Wilson has been influential in the presentation of many non-superhero comic books as a prolific cover illustrator. He most notably painted hundreds of covers for the Dell Comics and Gold Key brands of Western Publishing from the 1950s through the 1970s. Educated at both the Richmond Art School and the Pratt Institute, Wilson worked as a commercial illustrator for ad agencies and for publishing houses like Dell Publications, Bombay Boomerang, Jove, Avon and Harlequin Books from the 1940s through the 1990s. His main inspirations were the classic episodes of Alex Raymond's 'Flash Gordon' and the line work of illustrator Noel Sickles. He made illustrations for romance and wild west paperbacks, including book series like 'The Hardy Boys'. He served in Normandy during World War II.
He began his production as a cover painter for Dell Comics in 1955. His main output was for titles about Stone Age/jungle heroes like 'Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan' (23 covers), 'Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes' (64 covers), 'Turok, Son of Stone' (53 covers) and 'Edgar Rice Burroughs Korak, Son of Tarzan' (34 covers). Among his many other credits are adventure, sci-fi and mystery comic books.
Text (c) Lambiek
