EXTRACTS: The Art of Commando (illustrators special) © 2019 The Book Palace (144 PAGES in Full edition)

38 Text continued from page 31 full-time illustrator, I had no wish to sacrifice a comfortable lifestyle, to take my chances on what little ability I had then in the coveted field of illustration. The big break came for me from the massive publishing house of DC Thomson in Dundee, Scotland—a company established for 120 years, producing 50 different magazines a month, a chain of national newspapers, hardback books etc. I began providing art for 64-page, pocket libraries as well as colour covers, themed around romance, adventure and, finally, the World War 2 combat series Commando , for which I designed the logo and enjoyed a virtual monopoly on the cover art. For ten years, until I emigrated to the USA in late 1967, and for a few months after, I produced tens of thousands of line and wash drawings and Barr's art blossomed through the early years of Commando , he was proficient in all aspects of combat-orientated subject matter, be it weaponry, aviation, nautical across a wide variety of theatres of war. He was a master of all skills required of a Commando cover artist and the early '60s revealed an artist at the peak of his powers.