Illustrators #25 (Spring 2019)

The silver anniversary issue of Illustrators has a certain glamour about it, with a silver cover featuring the artwork of Milo Manara and Greg Hildebrandt (front and back). In fact, glamour is the theme of this issue, with articles about Manara, Hidebrandt, Art Frahm and Margaret Brundage... so glamour in many different forms rather than of one note and one style.

Milo Manara is one of Italy's masters of erotic art. I've always thought his work is explicit without being gratuitous, the sexuality an integral part of the storylines he illustrates. Manara's first regular comic strip work was drawing a masked secret agent/vigilante for 22 episodes of the comic pocket book Genius in 1969. His switch to erotic comics came in 1971 when he began illustrating the series Jolanda de Almaviva, about a female pirate.

He came to wider public attention through the pages of Metal Hurlant and (A Suivre), although his true forte was discovered in 1983 when he began contributing 'Il gioco' to Playmen (an Italian Playboy-style magazine). Translated as Click (1985), it tells the story of a beautiful but frigid woman who is sexually awakened when a remote-controlled device is surgically implanted in her. It became a global hit and follow-ups like 'Il prfumo dell'invisibile' (Butterscotch) and 'Candid camera' (Hidden Camera) cemented Manara's reputation as one of the world's finest erotic artists.

Since then he has worked on many other comic strips, illustrations, film posters... even for Marvel Comics.

Greg Hildebrandt has also worked for Marvel Comics – and their rivals DC – although they (Greg and his twin brother Tim) are better known for their work on Star Wars and many illustrations related to Tolkein's novels  The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Since 1999, Greg has turned his talents to pin-up art and has since produced over 100 paintings, often with a noir aesthetic, which he publishes under the banner of American Beauties.

Art Frohm was one of the pin-up artists of the golden age of pin-up calendars. Having trained at Chicago's famous Art School, he set up his own studio in 1935. He became famous for his humorous trade mark:  the fragility of knicker elastic. Time and time again, his pin-up beauties have become entangled in their own fallen undies just as a breeze / an animal / a door causes their skirt or dress to billows up, revealing well toned thighs but nothing more. Darn that pants elastic.

Frohm also worked in advertising, creating a number of iconic images, including Coca Cola, Coppertone, and the character depicted on Quaker Oats packaging.

Margaret Brundage, famous for her pulp covers for Weird Tales, was also from Chicago and famous for her drawings of nude or near nude females. She studied at McKinley High School, a contemporary of Walt Disney, and later worked at the Dill Pickle Club during the Prohibition Era, where she met Myron Brundage, whose interests were radical politics, alcohol and women, not necessarily in that order. They married in 1927 and divorced in 1939, during which time Margaret had to be the breadwinner.

She painted covers and produced illustrations for Weird Tales, Golden Fleece and Oriental Stories, but her work fell out of favour following the death of editor Farnsworth Wright in 1940 and due to post-war 'decency' drives that meant Brundage's semi-nudes were no longer allowed. The remainder of her life until her death in 1976 was spent in relative poverty.

For more information on Illustrators and back issues, visit the Book Palace website, where you can also find details of their online editions, and news of upcoming issues. Issue 26 will have features on John Millar Watt, Petar Meseldžija, Philip Mendoza and Arthur Barbosa.