EXTRACTS: Pirates! Illustrators Special Edition © 2020 The Book Palace (128 PAGES in Full edition)

15 cover painting by Sep Scott, the story follows the adventures of Doctor Peter Blood who, at the time of the Monmouth Rebellion, treats a wounded rebel and, as a result, is condemned to transportation to the West Indies. Escaping, he takes a ship and becomes a pirate. Drury captured all the vigour and swash‐ buckling romance of Sabatini’s story. There were three other ‘Captain Blood’ adventure strips based on the writ‐ ings of Rafael Sabatini published in Thriller Comics Library and all three were drawn by different artists. ‘The Fortunes of Captain Blood’, again scripted by Joan Whitford, was drawn in typical flamboyant style by John Millar Watt ( il‐ lustrators 26 ), who also painted the cover. Previously noted mostly for his long- running humorous strip, ‘Pop’, in The Daily Sketch and for his superbly painted covers for magazines such as The Illustrated London News , Holly Leaves and The Sphere , this was MillarWatt’s first foray into adventure strip art. He showed himself able to express a fluid sense of vigorous movement, eminently suitable for tales of action and adventure. Robert Forrest, perhaps the most prolific artist of the Thriller Comics Lib‐ rary , was responsible for the artwork on ‘The Chronicles of Captain Blood’, again scripted by the talented Joan Whitford. Like most of the artists featured in this picture library, Forrest had a highly individual style and he loved to cram frames with hordes of fighting figures. It was Forrest who drew for the Library that other classic Sabatini pirate tale, ‘The Sea Hawk’, which relates the adven‐ tures of a Cornish gentleman who, through a trick of fate, becomes a Barbary pirate. Incidentally, the classic 1940 Errol Flynn filmof the same name bears no relation to Sabatini’s novel. Sabatini’s ‘The Black Swan’ (which was also made into a film with Tyrone Power in 1942) was another picture adaptation for the Thriller Comics Library and a prime vehicle for Forrest’s talents. This tale is a rousing, rip-roaring piratical adventure featuring the ex-buccaneer, Henry Morgan, who was given the King’s commission to clear all the pirates from the seven seas. FACING PAGE AND ABOVE: More Thriller Picture Library comics adapting books by Rafael Sabatini, perhaps the most popular author of pirate novels. FACING PAGE CENTRE: Walking the Plank, interior illustration for Look and Learn by Ron Embleton. FACING PAGE BOTTOM: The Spanish Main, colour strip by Patrick Nicolle for Comet . BELOW: Captives in El Dorado strip by Cecil Doughty appeared in Lion .