Here's the very pretty lady who changed my life with her support and encouragement, among other things. ;)
Mona Ryberg was editor of a couple of Williams Forlags publications in Stockholm. She gave me work in her love story comics, which allowed me to develop as an artist. Especially in the smaller format of the Star pocket library books. There is something fun about having to draw 60 plus pages, but rarely needing to put more than three or four images on the page. I had worked on a similar format when I was doing the first Horror stories, which was the first work I could get, starting out in the industry. Fleetway had decided that my girls were too skinny for Mirabelle and Jinty etc.... even if they were actually publishing my work while I was collaborating with Blas Gallego, a fun Spanish artist that my agent introduced me to. But, thanks to Mona, I was able to 'explore' the format better on my return to it. And the stories were better too. ;) After all, if you've visited the 'Link' page, you'll notice that I was intent on drawing pretty ladies from the get go, So love stories suited me fine. Especially as I was following in the footsteps of greats like Esteban Maroto. Yes. He did his share of girl's stories too. ;)
I thought up something rather clever to put here. But, thankfully, I've forgotten what it was! ;)
My first memories of writing and drawing stories was back when I was seven years old. I'd cover page after page with tiny little cowboys racing around on their horses. Very tiny figures, otherwise I may have learned to draw horses better than I do! I am left gasping in awe at the horses depicted in the work of Victor De La Fuente or Castillo. Those guys know their ponies! ;)
I guess it's a little strange then, that the closest I've ever got to working on a cowboy story was doing a Kung Fu annual back in the early 70's ( for those who remember the David Carradine TV series.) I think he's more famous now for the Kill Bill movies! ;)
But, dipping back into my personal history, I never realised that anyone could make a living drawing comics. It never crossed my rather simple mind! So I set out to be a painter instead. It wasn't till my final year at Birmingham art college that I encountered comics, thanks to sharing a flat, as students often do, with a dedicated comics buff. He was doing 'library studies'. And I guess comics are almost ideal for that as they are so lighweight compared to books! Even if they don't stand on the shelves too well??
So, I was introduced to the work of John Romita on Spiderman. I never liked Spidey too much. But John made Mary Jane look divine! And then I found Jack Kirby's Thor! Wow! He was drawing some totally psychedelic space backdrops and I suddenly wanted a piece of that.
But as I was doing a 'fine arts' course, there was no one to give me any guidance. They had already told me that I was 'guaranteed' an honours degree from my work in my first year there. So I guess they were just letting me do my own thing. I was left floundering as far as making a living after college. And it took me some years to find my way into comics, through my contact with Steve Parkhouse. So, a big 'thank you' to Steve!