The Artist Leslie Branton

[Raven]

I've been reading some of the IPC football serials illustrated by Leslie Branton (who I previously knew for his stint on Look-In's Adventures of Black Beauty): Alf's Albion from Scorcher and Score and The Do-It-Yourself Team from Score.

I really like his style - his pictures look more pretty and elegant, and his heroes a little more dashingly flamboyant than you might expect in boys' all-sport papers, but his football action sequences are dynamic, and seeing such different, idiosyncratic styles side by side is part of the appeal of this era's comics.

I've read online that he was the son of children's book artist Robert Arthur Branton, and got his start in advertising studios in the 1930s.

I've seen his Space 1999 for Look-In. Apparently, he drew Royal's Rangers for Scorcher in 1970, which I don't think I've seen. And Leslie Crowther for nursery comic TV Toyland in the Sixties, which would be interesting to see.

Is anyone else an admirer or know where else his comic work can be found? Does anyone know which strips he drew for Lion and in which periods?

[philcom55]

I think he drew a number of strips for TV Action.

[Raven]

Oh, yes, I have a 1972 issue with Hawaii Five-0 drawn by him.

[Raven]

So. Ah. Well, then. Nobody's ever noticed Mr. Branton's distinctive style in Lion, or anywhere else? (I've read he was prolific in the Sixties.) Maybe he's even more undeservedly obscure than I thought. I expect I'll probably have to keep seeking his work by trial and error. Maybe it'll turn up in some other '70s IPC sports comics.

Elsewhere on the forum, Shaqui mentioned that he illustrated one Famous Five annual and several Secret Seven ones; not sure which ones, or if these would be single illustrations or comic strips, but I can imagine him doing a nice job on such projects.

[Shaqui]

Elsewhere on the forum, Shaqui mentioned that he illustrated one Famous Five annual and several Secret Seven ones; not sure which ones, or if these would be single illustrations or comic strips, but I can imagine him doing a nice job on such projects.

As I recall, these annuals would alternate chapters as illustrated text and as strips.

[Raven]

As I recall, these annuals would alternate chapters as illustrated text and as strips.

I've seen at least one Famous Five Annual which did that, though it wasn't Branton artwork, and another which had quite poor artwork, artist unknown.

I noticed on your Technodelic site that he drew Ghost Island for Penelope Annual 1972. Do you recall if that was a good set?

[Shaqui]

I noticed on your Technodelic site that he drew Ghost Island for Penelope Annual 1972. Do you recall if that was a good set?

It's fairly standard and looks like it might have been cut from a longer strip as there's a lot of frames per page. Weirdest thing is a character at the end who looks like Alec Guinness in a beret.

[Shaqui]

I seem to recall Kim Stevens and I found some early Branton strips in girls comics around 1960. His style then was somewhat different to what we are used to in later boys comics.

I have a few of the original Branton Space:1999 art pages, and one of his colour Black Beauty pages as well.

http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiec ... ece=385678

[Raven]

Thanks for the replies, Shaqui.

I'm not so keen on his Space 1999, but I really like his Black Beauty sets. The colour ones are especially nice, and it must be nice to own a page. I've also seen some of a Tomorrow People set he drew for a Look-In Summer Extra which is quite nice, and typically individualistic.

And I now have a Score with one of his Royal's Rangers sets - and I'm impressed!

[Shaqui]

Here's photos from the Famous Five Annual

[Shaqui]

As mentioned before, it's a mix of alternating chapters of illustrated text and strips, some colour, some b/w.

[Raven]

Thanks for that. Good to have one of his Famous Five annuals identified - and it can probably be assumed that the Secret Seven work might be from the same time or thereabouts (1983, that one, I think, about three years after the TV series actually finished?) - and nice to see.

His colour artwork is so squashed by those over-verbose speech balloons!

Must have been exciting for the Famous Five actors to have had their young likenesses rendered by Mike Noble, Arnaldo Putzu and Leslie Branton - not something that many can claim!

[Shaqui]

I seem to recall Roger Perry, art editor of Countdown/TV Action, was an art editor at Purnell during this time, so I would presume that he may have had something to do with Leslie Branton being commissioned?

[Raven]

That's right, from 1974. So now I'll probably be checking the Purnell annuals from that period on - Bailey's Bird, etc.!

The 1979 Secret Seven Annual looks like another with his work.