FIRST GULLIVER GUINEA-PIG STORY BY GORDON HUTCHINGS – PART TWO

Here’s the second part of Gulliver-Guinea-Pig and the Rainbow Folk - the first Gulliver story by Gordon Hutchings, two double pagers from PLAYHOUR cover-dated 11 and 18 February, 1961. 

Apart from being superbly drawn, the story also features one of my favourite themes when the plot is based on characters’ power to control the colours. I have a few more examples of that in my collection. The Wizard’s Black Magic by Nadir Quinto from the back pages of TREASURE in 1964 is another brilliant example that immediately comes to mind, and I will show it on my blog sometime soon…

Click to enlarge and enjoy!

 

Click on the POWER PACK banner in the right-hand column and get your copy of the POWER PACK OF KEN REID - the deluxe two-volume set of Ken’s strips in WHAM!, SMASH! and POW! comics of the ‘60s.

FIRST GULLIVER GUINEA-PIG STORY BY GORDON HUTCHINGS

It's been a while since I last showed something of Playhour’s Gulliver Guinea-Pig. 

I recently received an email from a reader who is the proud owner of the original artwork for the first Gulliver story by Gordon Hutchings after he took over from Philip Mendoza who was in charge of the strip since it began in May 1958. 

Hutching’s first story, called Gulliver Guinea-Pig and the Rainbow Folk, ran in the 4 consecutive issues of Playhour in January and February 1961, and was so nicely drawn that I decided to show it in full. Here are the first 4 pages, the rest will follow soon. Click to enlarge and enjoy!

Click on the POWER PACK banner in the right-hand column and get your copy of the POWER PACK OF KEN REID - the deluxe two-volume set of Ken’s strips in WHAM!, SMASH! and POW! comics of the ‘60s.

ADVENTURES OF GULLIVER GUINEA-PIG

Judging from the low number of pageviews and hardly any feedback on the last few blogposts about Gulliver Guinea-Pig, a detailed account of the complete Playhour series from 1958 till 1965 is unlikely to be very popular but I have started planning it nonetheless. Wouldn’t it be fun to trace the adventures of the restless traveler drawn by some of the finest artists - starting with both main illustrators of the strip, i.e. Philip Mendoza:

... and Gordon Hutchings:

… and including those who only occasionally stepped in for the regulars, such as another Playhour’s star artist Fred White: 

… the excellent Ron Embleton:

… the versatile Jesus Blasco:

… and a few others, such as Cambra whose name I’ve never heard before:

I am only missing 12 episodes, they are all from the years 1958 and 1959, and it looks like a fellow Gulliver fan from Australia will help me fill the gaps in the near future!

GULLIVER GUINEA-PIG ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY GORDON HUTCHINGS

Here are some nice examples of Gulliver Guinea-Pig original artwork by Gordon Hutchings that I recently came across on eBay. I didn’t buy them, so the images are “borrowed” from the auction site.

They were first printed in PLAYHOUR in 1961. According to the auction description, the story was re-used in TEDDY BEAR’S PLAYTIME in the 1980s. It looks like the full page shown above was “constructed” from two episodes of the original tale. Here is how they appeared in PLAYHOUR:

Gulliver Guinea-Pig Saves Summer started in PLAYHOUR cover-dated 25 February, 1961 and ran for 6 weeks until Easter issue of 1 April, 1961. It was the second Gulliver story illustrated by Hutchings who took over from the original artist Philip Mendoza. Both did an excellent job on the strip. The quality of the artwork and the stories makes me want to do a detailed account of all Gulliver’s travels during the seven years of the strip’s existence (1958 – 1965)…