Extracts: JET-ACE LOGAN Fleetway Picture Library Classics © 2019 Book Palace Books (272 PAGES in Full edition)

3 ™ Ron Turner has long been regarded as one of the most innovative and stylish, sf illustrators the UK has ever produced – one of a rare breed that included Frank Hampson, Frank Bellamy and Ron Embleton – artists who had made such an impact on post-war comic strip illustration. For when lesser artists spacecraft were cigar tubes with fins, Ron’s were of the most complex design, yet amazingly detailed, realistically drawn and appearing as if they could actually work. And when other artists gave us antennae-waggling Martians, Ron was introducing us to some quite bizarre, galactic beings that seemed drawn from life. It was these qualities about his work that most impressed; imaginative, yet realistic. Born in 1922, Ron’s interest in sf began with the works of HG Wells and Jules Verne, and further encouraged by the discovery of the American ‘pulp’ magazines, such as AMAZING and ASTOUNDING. Ron, who always seemed to have a pencil in his hand, was impressed enough by the covers to attempt copying them. Later, some of these sketches began to acquire Ron’s own ideas and subsequently when he left school at 14, he applied for a job and was taken on at Odhams art studios in London. While at Odhams, he took on a certain amount of freelance work for Scion, a small ‘indie’ paperback publisher of the time and during the 50s, painted some vividly, imaginative covers for their VARGO STATTEN series. Ron’s dedication ensured that he read the complete manuscript to chose the most effective scene, rather than the general trend of a ‘rockets and ray-guns’ illustration. But like Frank Hampson, Ron wanted to create and draw his own sf characters. Such was his enthusiasm that in 1953 he began producing his own comic books for George Newnes 64 page, TIT-BITS sf series, writing the stories, drawing the strips, lettering the balloons, painting the covers and adding the titles. Everything, except for the adverts on the back! In 1954, Ron acquired two further commissions for sf strip work; one, Space Ace, allowed him to write, letter and draw his own stories, providing seven pages a month for Lone Star comic. The other, Rick Random, for the 64 page Super-Detective Library . Published on an irregular basis and with the bonus of only having to provide the artwork, this series gave Ron the opportunity to express himself fully through some marvellously imaginative stories. These ‘graphic novels’, some written by established author, Harry Harrison and packed full of sf elements, were so realistically drawn that they served to establish Ron as much within the world of comics as the VARGO STATTEN covers had done in the paperback field. In the 60s, Ron’s futuristic visions were replaced by retrospective ones for the World War II exploits of characters such as John Steel and Scoop Donovan. He then disappeared from the publishing world for more lucrative work, becoming premier artist for the CRAFTMASTER paint-by-numbers kits, but he kept his hand in with fill-ins on occasional strip work. A couple of these were Jet-Ace Logan stories for Thriller Picture Library and Ron’s contribution to these was absolutely first-rate, showing his enthusiasm at tackling full-length sf strips again. The first of these in 1962, Times 5, had some great scenes and showed that the lack of sf subjects in the CRAFTMASTER series hadn’t in any way dulled Ron’s imagination. The second Jet-Ace Logan in 1963, Power from Beyond, was even better and its mention of a ‘journey to the edge of creation’, obviously struck a chord with Ron as he was tempted in a moment of fancy, to draw a likeness of himself, (complete with anachronistic glasses!), as the Professor aboard the spacecraft. These stories by David Motton were well-written pieces and Ron’s superb artwork did full justice to them. The CRAFTMASTER work was so profitable, it was doubtful if Ron would ever RON TURNER – MASTER OF SF ART