Karl and other Vikings, Photogravure Comics, and Skraelings

[GuyLawley]

Mike, I know my questions tend to be backward-looking, but at least there are a few new scans to look at this time…

I’ve uploaded scans of some Don Lawrence colour art from two annuals. Both the stories are credited to you in the Welleman/Van Bavel book Don Lawrence Collected.

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As always, the smaller screen image can be clicked on again to get a more full-screen, legible image.

(A search of the MWM site on “Don Lawrence� will turn up several previous discussions of this phase of your work and there is no need to go over old ground.)

I was led back to this area by two things; re-reading The Skrayling Tree, and some recent mentions by you of the beautiful gravure pages produced for English comics in the 50s and 60s.

Two points to raise anew:

Firstly, all sources including you appear to agree that the 8-page strip Ghost of the Tideless Sea in Lion Annual 1965 (it would have been written and drawn in 1964 at the latest) is a true Moorcock-Lawrence collaboration.

The second story, The Sea Raiders, a “non-fiction� piece about the Vikings, is less certain. I have uploaded the first and last pages only. The mention of “Skraelings� on the last page is not necessarily a clue to authorship, of course!

I wonder if the pages bring back any memories of authoring the piece?

If not, I might perhaps leave the Tideless Sea pages up (and could add the other 6) and remove the Sea Raiders (?)

Parenthetically, it is notable that Lawrence’s colour style is not fully formed in the Karl strip, and much more mature a year or so later in The Sea Raiders, which resembles his Trigan Empire work much more. Also, the Karl strip is printed on non-coated stock, while The Sea Raiders is on coated or glossy paper which looks (and scans) so much better.

[Michael Moorcock]

Lost my first response to this. I said that Don's colour was always good but not always well served by the reproduction methods he got. Gravure was always best for his subtly graded water colour. I remember the originals of Tideless Sea. They were stunning. Both are mine. For some reason I was the history writer at Fleetway. Most of those jobs were mine.

[GuyLawley]

Excellent. Thanks very much, Mike. Authenticating strips like this seems worthwhile, especially when so many of the attributions people have made over the years have been wrong.

I’ll happily upload some more pages.

As people can see, glossy paper or no glossy paper, these Don Lawrence pages are superb.

[Marca]

Nice scans Guy. And yes, getting Mike's confirmation of authorship of particular strips is very worthwhile. I don't have any of these old annuals myself, I must try and pick some up off ebay at reasonable prices. That Skraeling reference from forty years ago is interesting.

[GuyLawley]

The Valiant 1966 Annual should be easy to pick up at a bargain price (though if word gradually spreads that this is a genuine Moorcock strip... hmmm...)

The Lion 1965 Annual is not so easy to find, in my experience. Not sure why. Possibly it has a good reputation amongst both MM and Don Lawrence fans. I've bought it twice (one as a gift for someone else) and both times paid over آ£10.00. Still a reasonable price but it took a while to find that second copy. You might be luckier; hope so!

I haven't got any others myself. Might start looking now!

[Michael Moorcock]

I think by then that Valiant was probably doing better than Lion.
Dave Gregory was the editor of both (and Tiger and Striker) and would commission me without my always knowing what the piece was going to be for. I'd completely forgotten about Valiant, for instance, until it came up here.