EXTRACTS: The Art of Ron Embleton (illustrators special) © 2018 The Book Palace (144 PAGES in Full edition)

86 to the wheeler-dealer. To Ron’s horror he discovered that there was no credible plan for how the Embleton’s were going to finance this move, or where the money was going to come from to pay for all the work that Ron would be generating, let alone where the money was for the months of work he had already committed to the enterprise, whilst having to turn down work from his regular clients. With the embers of the burnt bridges still glowing and no work in hand, Ron started the process of building up a new client base with typical energy and verve. Having seen the success of Playboy magazine’s Little Annie Fanny fully painted comic strip, he pitched an idea to Bob Guccione at Penthouse. Guccione liked the idea and commissioned Ron to work up a monthly saucy comic strip, which would be scripted by Frederic Mullally. The resultant strip, Oh, Wicked Wanda! was an immediate hit with readers and gave Ron an opportunity to indulge his love of caricature as well as develop a whole raft of tongue in cheek political pastiches, which provided a Ron's saucily irreverent comic strip, Oh, Wicked Wanda! proved the perfect pitch for Penthouse founder Bob Guccione. Guccione's rival Hugh Hefner was running the very successful strip Little Annie Fannie and Guccione saw in Embleton's work the perfect counter to the Playboy strip. Teaming up Embleton's sumptuous artwork with Terence Mullally's scripts, Oh, Wicked Wanda! became an instant hit and raised Embleton's profile around the world. Text continued from page 81