Italian Masters of Comic War Art
I’ve just been looking through a collection of Commando and War Picture Library covers collected in a book called ‘Aarrgghh! It’s War!’ and was surprised to see how many of the jackets were painted by Italians in the 1960s and 1970s. It seems there was a studio in Milan run by two brothers, Ronaldo and Pierro D’Ami, and among those working for them were Pino Dell’Orco and Giorgio de Gaspari, two of the finest war comic book artists you’re ever likely to come across.
Not only did they provide incredible artwork, they’re also historically spot on. I’ve been through the whole book and I couldn’t find a single mistake in terms of equipment, uniforms, detail on aircraft etc.
I wonder what happend to all that original artwork. Where is it now? What happened to those artists? If anyone knows, I’d love to hear from you…
Suggest that you have a look at this site:
http://www.bookpalace.com/acatalog/index.html
I bought some 1960 War Picture Library comics (originals) from them – I’m now on their mailing list and they do sell original artwork – they may be able to source something for you.
Regards
Robin Mun-Gavin
Durban, South Africa
That’s a great tip – cheers!
I have amassed about 1500 covers including some great ones by English artists as well as Italians, Spanish, and Swede’s.