Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Sinking of the... whatever

I originally posted this back in December of 2007 citing the various illustrations of examples of how Fleetway Publications recycled artwork. I've just stumbled upon another example, so I thought I'd repost... see whether you agree with me. Update: David Roach has pointed out that I've got this the wrong way round. The original Look and Learn illustration was inspired by a picture by Fortunino Matania (drawn, I believe, for The Sphere) at the time of the sinking of the Lusitania. It was this Matania illustration that was reprinted in the Battle Picture Weekly Summer Special for 1975. The Matania picture now has pride of place at the head of this column.

The 13 April 1963 issue of Look and Learn (no. 65) featured an article on the sinking of the Lusitania, as can be seen in the extract above.

The main illustration, by Peter Jackson, was then recoloured and used as a cover for issue no. 566 (18 November 1972). Note the new figures at the bottom of the picture filling the space left by the removal of the caption.

And in the Look and Learn archive we have a third version of the same artwork -- an original board -- in which the name Lusitania has been replaced with that of the Titanic on the lifeboat.

I'm not sure where the latter appeared, probably another issue of Look and Learn in the late 1970s.

And here, finally, is the Matania illustration as it appeared in Battle Picture Weekly Summer Special 1975.

The cover to issue 65 of Look and Learn was also reused in issue 566 as a feature illustration.

So a black & white illustration was coloured up and a colour illustration was printed in black & white.

1 comment:

  1. funny, i always thought the Titanic sunk at night

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