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| Above: Norman Clifford, Melbourne 1959 |
Norman Clifford was one of many talented and enterprising Australian artists who created opportunities for themselves in a competitive comic book market in the 1950s by creating stories which resonated with local audiences, and stood out among the American and British comics which crowded newsagents’ shelves at the time. His passion for aircraft and aviation history inspired him to create a string of successful air combat-themed comics that capitalised on the Royal Australian Air Force’s then-current involvement in Korean War (1950-53), and the postwar fascination with breakthroughs in aviation technology.
The following is Norman’s own recollections of this exciting early phase in his decades-long career as a cartoonist and commercial artist. It is reprinted here by arrangement with his daughter, Vicki Sach (editor and journalist at OneHorse Media). Unless otherwise indicated, all images are taken from the official Facebook page for Norman Clifford Aviation Artist (Special thanks to Jeff Batista for originally sharing the following material via the Facebook page for Old Australian Pre-Decimal Comics up to 1966).
– Kevin Patrick
Born in Footscray in
1927, Norman Clifford attended Tottenham State School. He completed one year of
a three-year art course at RMIT before deciding to quit.
He worked at the
Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) at Fisherman’s Bend for three years,
assembling Boomerang and Mustang airplanes.
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| Above: Norman Clifford (third from right) on the CAC “Boomerang” assembly, circa late 1940s |
He applied to train as
a pilot with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), but the CAC wouldn’t
release him (and he also failed the arithmetic part of assessment!)
He grew up devouring
comics and developing his talent as a self-taught artist, focusing mostly on
airplanes, finally illustrating a full-length comic which he pitched to
Southdown Press. He drew the artwork…making the story up as he went…with his
new bride, Shirley doing all the speech lettering.
The comics were a huge
success, their relevant war topic and military aviation theme capturing
public’s imagination, with their sales eclipsing the popular Disney and Marvel
comics of the time.
Norman Clifford
recalls …
When I was 24 years
old and with no qualifications, line drawings were about all I could do, but at
that stage they still lacked light and shade. I knew nothing about printing and
very little about design.
I started work with
John Warlow, who ran a photographic studio in Collins Street. His staple was weddings,
but he did everything from portraits to industrial photography. It was there I
learned all aspects of photography…developing, printing, retouching and print colouring,
done in an era before colour photos (Note: The Melbourne Argus newspaper published an interview with John Warlow about amateur photography in August 1953, which can be viewed here).
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| Above: John Warlow, 1953 |
Warlow’s studio had an
area large enough to photograph complete wedding parties or anything else
requiring specific lighting. Clients came up by lift and entered the waiting
room.
I hand coloured large
photographic prints for Trans Australian Airlines (TAA) and mine were better
than the other girls employed there because I knew the civil transport
aircraft…the white roofs, natural metal and reflected light. I changed the TAA
hand lettering to blue with a black outline, and coloured the concrete tarmac a
light shade of fawn.
John Warlow nearly had
a fit when he saw the contrast between my work to the girls, and was within an
ace of having them redone but the TAA rep loved them!
It was an interesting
place to work but my heart was still firmly fixated on comic books. I liked
reading but the comics always interested me more because they were illustrated
stories.
Could I do one?
Maybe.
——
I’d already had three
goes, but conked out when I reached the limits of my ability.
Was I up to attempting
a fourth? After all, they were only illustrated stories!
So away I went. When
it came accurately drawing characters, I knew enough about cameras and film
developing to ask friends to model the characters’ poses for me, which I then
drew into the artwork.
My room at home was a
combination of bedroom and art studio, while the family washhouse my darkroom.
My parents were very patient, but my brothers thought it resembled a dump.
I slaved away, working
at Warlows during the day, and on my art in the evenings and weekends (when I
wasn’t doing Saturday weddings).
195I was a key year
for me.
——
bedroom/studio, I created complete art for a 24-page comic book containing two
action stories: Korea, and an air racing epic titled Speed Demons.
In both stories,
airplanes featured as much as the cast. The artwork was a bit rough around the
edges, but I offered it to Southdown Press [publisher of New Idea] in North Melbourne.
There were very few
comic books that featured airplanes and those that did were done in typical
American style with the flying secondary to the action. Mine were just the
opposite… airplanes were the main focus with human characters a distant second.
I didn’t know any other way to do it!
I was surprised when
Bill Bednall from Southdown Press took it up with the only request being that
the title be changed from “The Air Strip” to “Sky Demons”.
I was proud of “The
Air Strip” title, which I thought was a rather clever play on words with air
landing strip/comic strip. But Bill and his sales chief wanted something more
flamboyant and outranked me. And so it was that “Sky Demons” was added to
Southdown Press library under their ‘Tip Top Comics’ banner.
Bill Bednall had been
a journalist in his younger days and wrote a spirited foreword for the No.1
Special, adding a few flourishes to jazz it up a bit. For example:
“Great pains have been
taken by the artists to ensure that technical details are as accurate as can
be…” and “…the artists are well versed in flying.”
That was a laugh,
there was only me!
My work was based more
on enthusiasm than anything else.
American comic books
were in every newspaper shop and mine looked a bit rustic by comparison.
Sky Demons came to
life on Southdown’s big flatbed printing press, and I heard nothing more about
it while it was being distributed to newsagents Australia-wide.
During this era,
television was still in the distant future and comic books were a popular form
of entertainment. Over 100 titles were distributed monthly but very few were
Australian and none exclusively featured airplanes. Hot competition from other
sources included Micky Mouse, Donald Duck, Captain Marvel, Red Ryder, Hurricane Hawk, Buck Rogers and many others. If I’d done mine with this competition in
mind I mightn’t have even started! I was completely naïve, and it shows in
every illustration.
——
After Sky Demons had
been distributed for a while, Bill called me in to Southdown Press to share
some sales details. He revealed that my one comic effort had out-sold
everything on the market, including Disney and Marvel Comics.
It was hard to
believe!
Did my singular effort
win on artistic merit?
I think there’s a few
factors to consider: The story line, action and reasonably drawn adventure
about airplanes (No. 77 Squadron, RAAF) and above all, pilots fighting in the Korean War was a topical subject.
As a beginner artist,
I’d kicked a goal.
The Australian Mustang
flying pilot hero ‘model’ in the first story was none other than my boss, John
Warlow. In real life he was a portly photographer.
The story lines were
mostly plotted on the go… in other words, I drew panels as I made up the story
(which fortunately concluded at the finish-line!) I didn’t know you were
supposed write the story, then do a storyboard to guide the layout. I didn’t
even know what a storyboard was!
I knew nothing about
the American technique for creating comics, which was to have a trio of
writers, artists and speech letterers working on the strips.
Most of my comics
waved the airplane flag against a backdrop of Europe and the Southwest Pacific…
the Allies against enemy. Just to be different, one story was on air racing,
while another was about a flying circus. Two of six comics I drew were a space
fantasy.
The first comic, Sky
Demons, smacked of inexperience but I gave it my all and the aircraft depicted
were as accurate as I could draw them. When I compare my first comic to my
last, I can see a vast difference between them, a change fired by my enthusiasm
and experience.
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| Above: Readers’ Letters, Sky Demons, no.6 |
Bill and his sales
chief thought they had struck gold… a local artist with the right touch.
I was amazed at the
success, but quickly recovered when they paid me £100 and the prospect of more
comics (and money) to come.
——
Back in my early days
with Southdown Press, Bill would occasionally mention the number of letters
rolling in applauding my strips. He’d scratch his head and mutter that it was
the first time in his experience, that readers had ever been moved to write to
the publisher about comic material. Their new ‘local artist’ reeled in
surprise… even my own family (who weren’t the least bit interested in aviation)
couldn’t figure out how I’d done it!
——
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| Above: ‘Fools Rush In’ (Excerpt) |
One boy who liked aeroplanes as much as
I did was Ian Baker, who was so impressed, he kept a particular story called
“Fools Rush In” from Sky Demons No 6.
The storyline depicted
a Japanese fighter pilot fresh from his graduation, bidding farewell to his beloved
‘kanojou’ (girlfriend) before leaving for the South-Eastern Pacific Theatre of
war to fight against American and Australian air forces. When American’s bombed
Japan and his lady friend was killed, he volunteered for duty as a kamikaze
pilot and was one of many who flew a one man powered rocket, ‘Baka’, against
advancing American aircraft carriers. He, too, was killed. Baka, the name given
the rocket, meant ‘fool’…hence “Fools Rush In” to their death.
Ian went on to become
a member of the Australian Society of Australian Artists (ASAA) and sent me an
eleven-page photocopy extract of this story. His personal comment is
embarrassing (but nice!) to read:
“In contrast to
tedious repetitiveness of comic book super-heroes, Norm’s work embodied an
intrinsic honesty in its approach”.
I wish I had known
that when I was creating my comics, because the truth is that as a relative
newcomer, I always felt I was making a fool of myself!
——
One morning the Warlow
Studio staff were on a tea break in the colourist room when in walked a young
girl recently employed as a wedding print colourist. He introduced her to
everyone including me… and I was smitten. She was nearly 18 years old and dressed
for summer in a sleeveless pale blue dress, nicely styled hair, pretty
sun-tanned face, arms and shoulders.
Her name was Shirley,
and we were married 12 months later.
Early on in our
marriage, I was working from an ancient holiday house at the foot of Arthurs
Seat in Dromana. To get to Southdown Press and with my wares under my arm, I
had to either catch a bus to Frankston, then the train to Melbourne, or thumb a
ride.
I converted one room
into my ‘studio’, installed all my books and drawing equipment and set about
creating comics.
Covers were in colour
but inside pages were black and white. Strangely enough, working exclusively in
black outline shading made for steady and controlled rendering of the story
illustration later, but one thing I discovered…I was a dud at speech lettering!
It was the Achilles heel of my comic career.
Shirley got sick of me
complaining about it and volunteered to have a go. Shock and surprise, her
rendering of the words was unbelievably good from the outset… neat and clean…
she reckoned it was easy! She wasn’t an artist (although could have been) her
lettering was very nearly typeset standard. She was a natural.
——
While all my this was
going on, Southdown Press informed me they had rights to post-war Buck Rogers material, minus covers and Bill Bednall gave me the job of doing about five
colour Buck Rogers covers. I’d been reading Buck Rogers since I was a kid, so I
was thrilled to be doing it for the money AND the privilege!
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| Above: Cover art by Norman Clifford |
However, pressure was
mounting and the incessant application to continually produce artwork for my
storylines was starting to tell, but they represented my bread and butter so
there wasn’t much I could do but hang in there.
Then the worst
happened… TELEVISION!
TV entered the scene [in 1956] and almost overnight the bottom dropped out of Australian and American comic
sales. Southdown Press needed to keep the presses rolling and Bill Bednall
didn’t want to give up without a fight. He decided to scrap further issues of
Sky Demons and asked me to do my comics under individual titles, so I dreamt up
various comics; Daredevil Comics, Wonder Wings, Billy Battle, Thrilling Space Adventures, and… with a last roll of the dice… the Christmas Comic, featuring a
coloured cover depicting the Russian space dog ‘Sputnik’ circling the world.
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| Above: Christmas Comic, 1958 |
Comic prices dropped
to sixpence and finally the last few issue covers were reduced from full colour
to two-colour to save money. But with moving pictures now in many lounge rooms,
television won out. All the new Southdown titles were scrapped and sadly, so
was I, leaving me wondering where my next quid was coming from.
——
One of the friends I
asked to model for me was my best mate, Mike Dunbar.
To my delight, he’d
joined the air force and was in 3rd Course (1950-53) at the RAAF College, Point
Cook. I was envious of [him], but had to be content with drawing the flying
machine rather than actually flying them. Mike thought it was a great joke and
quite an achievement to make the grade turning out comics.
After the success of
Sky Demons No. 1 and anticipating further comics, I [sought] assistance from
Cadet Mike. Some of his 3rd Course Cadet friends would visit me in uniform at
the Warlow Studio on their Saturday off and we’d visit a coffee shop,
exhibition, or anything else worth looking at around Melbourne on a Saturday.
I already had a Type C
leather flying helmet from a disposal store, but asked Mike another RAAF
College Cadet, Ron Green, 4th Course, if they could possibly scrounge a loan of
a flight overall and flying boots and bring them on a Saturday visit as I
wanted to know what gear a pilot wore. They obliged and I photographed them in
costume on the roof of Howey Place Arcade in Collins Street.
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| Above: Mike Dunbar (left) posing in RAAF flight gear |
I’d kept in touch with
Mike right up to the time he graduated, gained his wings and after a tour with 77
Squadron, RAAF, in Korea, he was posted abroad for a three-year stint in
Germany with the Royal Air Force, then back to RAAF Base East Sale for duties
as instructor in the early-sixties.
We were great friends,
and I asked him to be godfather to my son, also named Michael.
I’d been with the agency
for four years when in 1962, Flight Lieutenant Michael Dunbar was killed in a
terrible accent that wiped out four Vampire T33 two-seat trainers at the RAAF
base in East Sale.
They were rehearsing as part of the “Red Sales” aerobatic
team when they crashed, killing all four pilots and two crew members. It was a
terrible shock, and I was unable to go to work the next day.
Notes from Vicki Sach:
(Daughter of Norm Clifford)
After his career as a comic artist
ground to a halt and with a young family to support, Norm began work as a
commercial artist (known these days as a graphic designer). This was during an
era when all products for print advertising were illustrated by hand. He worked
for major Melbourne advertising agencies before going freelance, setting up his
drawing board in the lounge room of the family home in Glen Waverley during the
1970’s.
One of his first major
freelance jobs was as advertising illustrator for the first Kmart store to open
in Melbourne, located in Burwood.
Military aviation
remained his passion, and he became known for his accuracy and attention to
detail when it came to illustrating vintage aircraft. He was asked to work for
the Aviation Safety Digest, and was commissioned to illustrate multiple
magazine and book covers as well as air show posters.
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| Above: Norman Clifford (left) in his studio, 1988 |
In 1995, he was
commissioned by Australia Post to paint a series of Australian military
aviation stamps.
He completed many
commissioned paintings for the RAAF and his artwork can be found at the Point Cook museum, Australian air bases, the Australian War Memorial and in many
private and corporate collections world-wide.
He was obsessed with
authenticity…his airplanes had to be as accurate as he could possibly paint
them! Ditto pilots and personnel, and he would frequently dress his
long-suffering family in vintage RAAF gear and photograph them in his back yard
to use for painting reference. If he couldn’t buy or borrow what he needed, he
would source specifications and make it himself, once mocking up two life-size
machine guns made from wood, just so he could photograph a family member
dressed in full WW1 pilot gear complete with helmet and goggles, sitting on a
kitchen chair taking “aim” at the enemy.
Now 93 years old, Norm
is no longer able to paint after a minor stroke left him with balance issues.
But his passion for all things military aviation remains as strong as ever!
The following images were sourced from these websites: Photo of John Warlow (Trove-National Library of Australia); Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Special, no.174 & Christmas Comic (AusReprints); Sky Demons Special, no.1 & excerpt from ‘Fools Rush In’ (Old Australian Pre-Decimal Comics up to 1966/Facebook). All other images from Norman Clifford Aviation Artist and/or courtesy of Vicki Sach/One Horse Media)
