British Girls' Comics: Diana Annual 1975 and 1974 - Fabulous Four by Enrique Badia Romero

With every little bit I learn about the Spanish artists who worked for British and American comics in the 1960s and 70s, the more I realize that I don't know. These artists were/are simultaneously often very expert and accomplished in terms of the work they produced, but remain relatively poorly known, except for one or two. Enrique Badia Romero is one of the better known, but understanding even his work is complicated by the fact that he had a brother who was also a comic artist with a very similar style. Out Of This World has previously featured examples of Romero's work on British girls' annuals, and here's a couple more. First is the Fabulous Four story from the 1975 Diana Annual. When I try to define what it is that makes it Romero, I gravitate to the bushy eyelashes, the wisps of out-of-control hair, the liberally-applied eye shadow, and the pouting lips. But as those of you who like the work of Spanish artists will know, Romero isn't the only one whose women are rendered in this fashion. We're sometimes down to very subtle differences in the 'Spanish' or 'Catalan' style. And with these artists often not signing their work, the problem can get complex. So I have to say that I think, I'm pretty sure, this is Enrique Badia Romero, but I can't be 100% sure unless David Roach agrees! One thing is for sure, 'Spanish' artists deserve wider recognition for the work they did in Britain and the USA.

Now here's the 1974 Diana Annual Fabulous Four story. Was it the first? I don't know. The art looks similar to the 1975 story, but different at the same time. Does it represent an earlier phase in the evolution of the same artist? Is it more restrained, deliberately, because the artist was attempting to test the water? The characters certainly look younger. Is it by Romero's brother? Different inker? What do you think?

I don't have any more Diana annuals, so I think that's the last we'll be looking at the Fabulous Four here on Out Of This World. But watch out for more work by Spanish artists in upcoming posts.

British Girls' Comics: Diana Annual 1976 - Fabulous Four by Enrique Badia Romero

This 1976 Fabulous Four story has an interesting story line that pits young males and females against each other. Each group is convinced that the other is going to be awful in some way, the boys believing that the girls are actually cats and the girls believing the boys are dogs. The evil, older scientist cooked up this little scenario. So it's kind of allegorical in a way, mirroring the way young girls might think that boys are nasty, but at a certain point they change their outlook, and vice-versa with boys' opinions of girls. When they actually start interacting with each other, they find that what they previously thought is erroneous, and they kind of like being together. Of course, this is my interpretation. On the face of it the story is actually about the evil scientist's plot to get rid of the Fabulous Four, who present an obstacle to his plans for galactic domination. Anyway, here it is, with Romero's ladies and their very bushy eyelashes and wild hair - maybe one way of identifying his artwork actually.

British Girls' Comics: Diana Annual 1977 - Fabulous Four by Enrique Badia Romero

Last year Out Of This World featured examples of stories and sequential art to be found in the excellent but now extinct British girls' comic, Diana. One of the stories featured in that post was "For Love of Leni", drawn by Enrique Badia Romero, better known for his work on the Modesty Blaise newspaper strip:

That Romero's celebrated style turns up in Diana is interesting in and of itself. I only have a few Diana annuals, none of the weekly comics, but in those annuals there is a regular feature called 'The Fabulous Four', a girls' sci-fi futuristic adventure story. Artistically it is probably the best piece in a book that is generally full of high quality art. Below is the Fabulous Four story from the 1977 Diana Annual - enjoy!

I think we lost a lot when romance comics and these girls' comics went by the wayside. What is interesting also, to me, is that there were comics (and such high quality comics at that), produced for girls in the UK. We'd still have them today if there was a market, but they're gone, presumably because girls stopped buying comics. We've talked about this before, but perhaps somehow the publishers lost their audience by being unable to go with them wherever it was that they went, in terms of what they were looking for in entertainment.