Eric Bradbury
Eric Bradbury (4 January 1921 – May 2001) was a British comic artist who primarily worked for Amalgamated Press/IPC from the late 1940s to the 1990s. He studied at Beckenham Art School from 1936, and served in the RAF as a rear gunner on bombers during the Second World War. After the war he worked for Gaumont-British Animation, alongside future comic creators Mike Western, Ron Smith, Bill Holroyd, Harry Hargreaves and Ron "Nobby" Clark. When the studio folded in 1949, Bradbury and Clarke took samples to Amalgamated Press, and were offered work at "Knock-Out", edited by  Leonard Matthews — Clarke writing, Bradbury drawing. He started out on humour strips like "Blossom" and "Our Ernie", but soon specialised in adventure strips, particularly westerns like "Lucky Logan", on which he alternated with former G-B colleague Mike Western, and "Buffalo Bill", both in "The Comet". For the same title, he drew an adaptation of the 1955 film "The King's Thief". From the 1960s on he developed a dark style similar to Francisco Solano López, and drew strips like "Mytek the Mighty", "The House of Dolmann", and "The Black Crow" for "Valiant", "Phantom Force 5", "The Leopard from Lime  Street" (inking Mike Western's pencils) and "Maxwell Hawke" for "Buster", "Von Hoffman's Invasion" for "Jet", and "Cursitor Doom" for "Smash!". In 1973 he was the artist on an abortive IPC superhero comic, "Captain Britain" (no relation to the later Marvel UK character). He joined "Battle Picture Weekly" in 1976 when "Valiant" was folded into it, taking "The Black Crow" with it. Other strips he drew for "Battle" included "Joe Two Beans", "Coward's Brand on Bradley", "Crazy Keller", "Death Squad", "The Fists of Jimmy Chang" and "Invasion 1984". He also drew "Hook Jaw" for "Action". He was described  by "2000 AD" as one of their "early, unsung heroes," drawing for them from the early issues in 1977 until 1993, including "Invasion!", "The Mean Arena" and "Rogue Trooper", as well as numerous "Tharg the Mighty" stories and "Future Shocks". He also drew "Doomlord" for the revived "Eagle" in the 1980s. Bradbury died in May 2001. Bibliography. Comics work includes: