EXTRACTS: illustrators issue 3 © 2013 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

84 G. M. Smith Publishing company’s warehouse, hemmed in behind suburban semi-detached houses in Gorringe Park Avenue, Mitcham. All this, being young and keen, I could cope with. But the biggest problem was the editorial budget: Micron paid its freelancers half Fleetway’s rates, not on completion of the work but allegedly “on publication”, and even this occasionally turned out to be “on threat of lawsuit”. Welcome to the world of backstreet publishing! Nonetheless, I was able to attract scripts from many of the Fleetway writers including David Bingley, G. W. Brunt, Ken Bulmer, Mary Feldwick, T. C. H. Jacobs, Vic Hanson, and even a few from ex- colleagues working on the editorial staff of the Fleetway war libraries! They included Terry Magee and Peter Stewart, a best Fleetway friend who became the editor of Shoot , and who was later the PR man for West Ham United. I also wrote several scripts myself, of course. With the increasing use of Spanish artists, through agencies like Selecciones Ilustradas, I felt that Micron’s standards in that area were improved too. Micron would also use art from top-flight people not particularly known for comic strip work. For example, John S. Smith, whose reputation for maritime subjects is very high, did both the cover painting and the interior art for Those in Peril . This was the script I later re-wrote as the opening text story for an Eagle annual. It was also reprinted over and over in the Hamlyn anthology Thrilling Stories for Boys . In fact, it was chosen for the cover illustration on that book. And who edited the anthology? None other than Leonard Matthews, editorial TOP: Romance interior spread from Love Is Forever . ABOVE: Marcarini cover for Romantic Adventure Library 73, Dive Into Danger . Macarini was Micron’s busiest cover artist.