Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Rip Kirby

There was a time when I used to read all the comic books that I could lay my hands on. Rip Kirby was one of the books that impressed me, mainly for its perfect line work and of course the interesting stories. 




After WW-II, Alex Raymond returned to making cartoon strips and created ex-marine Rip Kirby as a private detective. I think the wonderful line work was the skill of John Prentice.

The comic strip used to come in pocket book size (A5 size)


His butler, Desmond, was an important character in all the books and managed to give a twist to the stories.



I was so impressed by the drawings, that I tried to draw Kirby from a comic book. I did it by putting in grid lines with pencil and did the final drawing with black felt pen. I drew this in the early seventies, so this is about five decades old. 


I have placed a pen there to give you an idea of the actual size. The enlargement is to the scale of 1:5 
When this turned out well, I tried my hand at one more character from the same comic book. 


Now that I have all the time in the world, I think I should try some more enlargements. Maybe Lord Greystoke's son (Tarzan) 

19 comments:

joeh said...

Not bad, in fact dang good!

Jim and Sandie said...

Wow. I definitely think you should keep drawing.

Liz A. said...

Very impressive.

Anonymous said...

Wow.... I didn't know there was an artist in you - Mercy George

Anonymous said...

Impressed with the artwork - Anand Rao

Jax said...

You're a talented artist! I haven't heard of this character, but your drawing matched the original.

Anonymous said...

Joe, maybe you should start sketching again - Nandini Ramchandra

Anonymous said...

Thanks Joe for bringing back old memories. I think we used to read Rip Kirby in the Free Press Bulletin along with Modesty Blaze.
Your drawings are cool. Now is as good a time as any to pursue your hobby... keep it up - Wilfred Matos

DEZMOND said...

I still call that type of glasses Rip Kirby glasses :))

Anonymous said...

Oh great Joe, you have a steady hand. - Vilas Bhalerao

Perla Sanchez said...

I used to read comics when I was younger too. This series looks really cool :)

Perla Lifestyle Blog

Theresa Mahoney said...

You've certainly have an artistic gene in your body!

Anonymous said...

Nice sketches Joe, you can try now also - Pravin Dhande

Pat Hatt said...

Sure are talented indeed.

Anonymous said...

So true. I remember him. We used to read any comic book that came our way, favourite was Phantom, Tarzan and Mandrake. Then Kirby Flash Gordon etc. Later it was Mad, Tintin, Asterix..... the good old days.
Your drawing is impressive. You should give your talent a go now..... seriously. - Daisy Thomas.

Baiba said...

Those look really good!
I wish I could draw... the only thing I can draw is a raccoon :D

Vallypee said...

Well done you! Your versions look excellent. Your attention to the detail is great!

Anonymous said...

Good job. You should keep doing, make a collection - Liza Tom

Elderberry-Rob said...

I hadn't visited your blog for a while, Haddock and had a catch up - your artwork/cartooning is really good - think you should get some published if you have the opportunity.