Unfortunately, it remained nothing more than a pipe dream, even though the book was all but completed – we had access to a nice run of the comics in excellent condition and even to some of the original artwork, so we had a set of scanned and cleaned up art. I had a hankering for writing up the story of the Man in the Iron Mask – the original historical figure made famous by Alexandre Dumas – but after weeks of intense research and about 20,000 words written, I simply had to give up as I needed to work on other things. I'm not sure I could easily pick up the threads now, so it may never be complete. (I did, however, write a booklet about another man in another iron mask, which I did complete... available here for those of you curious enough to click!)
On a happier note, a more sensible-length introduction and an essay on the artist, Arturo Del Castillo, were written and we had all the elements we needed for a book. The opportunity to finally publish emerged a couple of months ago... and we grabbed the chance with both hands. You can now get hold of a copy either directly from Book Palace or via Amazon.
The artwork by Arturo Del Castillo is astonishing. The fact that we were able to reprint some of his original art boards makes this a must-have for any fan.
Arrived today, great book. Really didn't have time to read it. but did.
ReplyDeleteGreat book, an excellent job all round.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see a similar book collecting some of Castillo's westerns, maybe the Ringo strip from Film Fun, though i think that was a reprint of an Argentinian strip, so the rights might be unattainable.