David Roach

David Roach joined the art Droids at 2000 AD in late 1986 after studying Fine Art and Philosophy at art college, going on to draw Nemesis the Warlock and Judge Anderson for five years. In the ’90s he was one of many artists enticed over to America where he drew Star Wars and Aliens for Dark Horse, Star Trek for Wildstorm, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs for Topps and numerous strips for DC Comics including a lengthy association with Batman which he both drew and inked. Much of the late ’90s was spent drawing Dungeons and Dragons illustrations for Wizards of the Coast, but he returned to British comics in 1999 with work for Panini’s Doctor Who Magazine where he still draws or inks the comic strip, and is the company’s Principal Graphic Novel cover artist. The new millennium also saw a return to 2000 AD where he drew Judge Dredd, Synnamon and in 2016 returned to Judge Anderson in Prog 2000. Away from comics, Roach has created artwork for records, advertising, storyboards and countless commissions. He also lectures in art and enjoys an alternate existence as a fine artist working with life-models to create large scale drawings of the nude.

In a parallel career Roach has also written extensively about art, comics and pop culture and has contributed to various titles including Escape, Comic Book Artist and Illustrators magazine. He has written or co-written numerous art books including the Warren Companion (with Jon B Cooke for TwoMorrows, 2001), The Fleetway Companion (with Steve Holland for the Book Palace, 2007), The Art of War (Carlton, 2008), Life Style Illustrations of the ’50s and ’60s (two volumes for Fiell books compiled by Rian Hughes, 2010, 2013) and several books for Dynamite including The Art of Vampirella (2013), The Art of José González (2015) and Masters of Spanish Comic Art (2017). Future books will include The Art of Luis García Mozos and Drawings Volume 1; a collection of his favourite life-drawings. He lives in Cardiff with two daughters and far too many comics.



Shirley Bellwood

Shirley Bellwood began working on comics in the 1950s, with her first work believed to be on C Arthur Pearson’s Glamour Library. She would go on to draw story pages for titles such as Mirabelle, Romeo, Roxy and Valentine. Unusually, her name sometimes appeared on this early work, indicating the esteem in which she was held. From the 1970s onwards she drew for the new wave of girls comics such as Sally, Jinty and – of course – Misty. She created the character of Misty and drew her throughout the comic’s run.

Outside of comics, Shirley was a highly respected portrait painter who took commissions from MPs, lords and celebrities. She provided illustrations for a large number of children’s books, as well as several books for the Folio Society. She trained at Leeds College of Art and held major exhibitions with the Royal Portrait Society. Shirley’s portraits contain a real sense of character and she was particularly skilled at painting children and animals, which she pursued further when she moved out of London in later life.

Shirley died on 1 February 2016 in hospital in Worcester, aged 84.



Ferdinando Tacconi

Ferdinando Tacconi was an Italian comics artist. In addition to a distinguished career in Italian comics, he drew many strips and covers for the British comics market, beginning in the mid-1950s. In addition to drawing Jeff Morgan, he contributed to Eagle, Buster, Air Ace Picture Library, Battle Picture Library, Thriller Picture Library and War Picture Library. He died in 2006.



Joan Riley

Joan Riley contributed to the early wave of romance comics in the 1950s, drawing for Love Story Library and Valentine.



Roberto Gonzalez Casarrubio

Roberto Gonzalez Casarrubio is a Spanish comics artist. He specialised in romance comics for the British market, contributing art to Valentine, Marilyn, Roxy, Marty, Mirabelle, Boyfriend, School Girls and Star Love. Outside of the UK, his work can be found in Sissi and legendary Belgian comic Spirou. In recent years his art has focused on painting and sculpture.



Pat Tourrett

Pat Tourrett was a British comics artist and freelance illustrator. She drew comics for Mirabelle, Girl and Boyfriend and co-created the model Tiffany Jones with Jenny Butterworth. Tiffany Jones’ adventures ran in the Daily Sketch and Daily Mail from 1964 to 1977, and was adapted into a 1973 film. She died in 2018.



Gerry Haylock

Gerry Haylock is a British comics artist most famous for his work on the Doctor Who comic adaptations for TV Action and TV Comic. In addition to his work on boys comics such as Eagle, he contributed numerous stories for Girl and covers for Schoolgirls’ Picture Library.



Enrico Bagnoli

Enrico Bagnoli was an Italian comics artist, illustrator and editor with an international career that spanned many genres, from crime horror and action to romance and biographies. His work was published in France, Germany, the US and the UK. He died in 2012.



Antonio Toldo

Antonio Toldo is an Italian comics artist. His work is most commonly associated with the Italian publisher Casa Editrice Universo, for whom he contributed many strips up until the 1980s. In addition to this he also worked on some British comics, including Mirabelle.



Carlos Prunés

Carlos Prunés Álvarez was a Spanish comics artist. Renowned for his war and romance comics, he was a regular contributor to Valentine, drawing over 100 stories. His work was featured across Fleetway’s womens’ and girls’ titles from the late 1950s until the mid-1960s appearing in romance comics Roxy, Marilyn and Serenade. He also contributed to the girls comics Tammy, June and School Friend as well as drawing comics for DC Thomson’s Mandy and Diana. Outside of the UK, he was the first Spanish artist to appear in Warren’s Creepy in 1960. He died in 2017.



Joan Martin May

Joan Martin May is a British comics artist and illustrator. In addition to her work providing illustrations for various books and magazines, such as Good Housekeeping, she also drew Kidnapped for Mickey Mouse Weekly in 1948, and Made for Each Other for Mirabelle.



Josep Maria Miralles

Josep Maria Miralles is a Spanish artist who specialised in drawing romance comics for the British market in the 1950s and early 1960s. His work was featured in Valentine, Marilyn and Roxy before he began to focus predominantly on provided painted illustrations for various international publishers in the mid 1960s.



Guido Buzzelli

Guido Buzzelli was an Italian comic book artist. He had a highly successful career in French and Italian comics in the 1970s, and his work was published, amongst other publications, in Charlie Hebdo. For the UK comics market he drew Angéliquefor the Daily Mirror and his art was featured in Valentine. He was awarded the 1973 Yellow Kid Award for best illustrator and the Crayon d’Or in 1979. He died in 1992.



María Barrera

María Barrera is a Catalan artist and one of the prominent female artists of 1950s Spanish girls’ comics. Her work appeared in Sisi, Jana and Pulgarcito in Spain and was also found abroad in comics such as the Dutch girls’ comic Tina. In the UK, her work featured in several Fleetway comics, such as Marilyn, Tammy and Misty.



Mike Hubbard

Mike Hubbard was born in Dublin, Ireland, but moved to London after the First World War. His career began providing internal and cover illustrations for Amalgamated Press’ story papers, before moving to comics work after the Second World War. Most famously he assisted Norman Pett on the Daily Mirror erotic strip Jane before becoming the lead artist in 1948 until the strip’s end in 1959. He also drew adventure comics for Knockout and made significant contributions to Fleetway’s girls titles, drawing Jane Bond: Secret Agentfor Tina and Princess Tina, as well as providing strips for Valentine, Princess and Schoolgirls’ Picture Library. He died in 1976.

Angel Badia Camps

Ángel Badia Camps was a Spanish comics artist, painter and illustrator most famous for his stunning, definitive covers and stories for Serenade, which he produced between 1962 and 1963. His comic art also appeared in Valentine. In addition to his comics work he painted covers for the Scandinavian releases of James Bond in the 1970s and 1980s. He died in 2019.



Ray Sorigue Segarra

Ray Sorigue Segarra was one of many artists who contributed to Valentine in the 1960s.



Victor De La Fuente

Víctor De La Fuente was a Spanish comic book artist. Although famous for his work on war, western and fantasy comics, he also contributed to girls’ comics, drawing the serial A New Kind of Lovin’ for Valentine. He died in 2010.



Daniel Billion

Daniel Billion was one of the artists who contributed to Marilyn in the 1960s.



Vincente Roso

Vincente Roso was a Spanish comic book artist. He is most famous for creating the Spanish comics character Florita, who would become the eponymous heroine of her own girls comic in 1949. He worked on Florita for six years, leaving in 1956. He also drew comics for the UK women’s market, including work for Marilyn. In later life his work increasingly focused on painting and illustration. He died in 1996.



Jordi Longaron

Jorge “Jordi” Longarón was a Spanish comic book artist. Renowned for his romance comics as well as his war and western comics, his most important contribution to comics was the creation of the US newspaper strip Friday Foster with Jim Lawrence. It was one of the first U.S. newspaper strips to...