Forty years ago, when I was a much younger and much more impressionable, I fell under the spell of the magical art of
George Barr.
Within a couple of years, I also got a chance to see the wonderfully camp, Flesh Gordon, probably at the Nova Con of 1977 but I cannot be certain!
There were four artists, in the Fantasy and SF fanzines of the time, that I really took to and George was one of them. The others were Alicia Austin, Stephen Fabian and the amazing Tim Kirk.
In the years since 1977, I have been fortunate enough to meet George Barr and by an illustration from him, when he attended the Winnipeg WorldCon, in 1994.
I also met Alicia Austin, at the Boston WorldCon, in 1980.
Stephen Fabian... well he was just a casual e-mail acquaintance and we only wrote to each other once. But I did manage to tell him, how much his artwork had meant to me.
The central theme, of my addiction to the art of the fantastic and the cartooning of comic books, has always been the almost sensual effect that those works have had upon me.
I LOVE them and they have have always been there for me, like the best of friends, ready to help me cope with the everyday problems and disappointments, that the world drops on us all... from time to time.
Although his work was introduced to me, in a slightly different way but still, through the association I had with Dave Holmes and
The Andromeda Bookshop,
Vaughn Bode and his smart assed, foul mouthed character,
CHEECH WIZARD
were an integral part of the mix too.
Last but most assuredly, not least, was the stunning artwork of the amazing Richard Corben and his wonderful underground comic book, Fantagor.
There are many, many more artists, that have left an impression on me and I will write about them all, given enough time and motivation.
