Thursday, February 14, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day

As it's Valentine's Day and romance is in the air, I thought I'd put up some romantic stories. These are from Boyfriend, which, it just so happens, I had a stack of sitting next to my scanner recently.

But it's not just a random selection. These are stories, one apiece, by a trio of very talented comic strip artists who rarely get a mention: the Tourrets. All three are very accomplished artists, better known for their book illustrations. Indeed, only one of the sisters ever blips on the comics radar -- Pat Tourret -- as she was the illustrator of the long-running Daily Sketch strip featuring fashion model Tiffany Jones. But she, along with sisters Gwen and Shirley, produced strips for weekly comics and annuals in between other assignments.

So, on this most romantic day of the year, here's a bouquet of romance strips from those talented Tourret sisters...

Gwen Tourret...

Pat Tourret...

Shirley Tourret...

(* strips © IPC Media. For more romance stories check out the Valentine Picture Story Library collection at Amazon.co.uk.)

2 comments:

  1. A nice thought for Valentine's Day, Steve. As you say, the Tourrets were very talented, and they were certainly valued by the team headed by managing editor George Beal at Odhams Books in the 1960s.

    I had the honour of having one of my relatively few scripts for girls' comic strips illustrated by one of them, but -- shame on me! -- I've forgotten which. Gwen? Shirley? Pat? The story was called Tell It to Emma! and appeared in Girls' World Annual.

    Best, Keith

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amazing coincidence, Keith... you mention George Beal and I quote from one of his books in my very next post!

    If anyone can track down the story in Girls' World Annual I'll be pleased to give it an airing.

    ReplyDelete

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