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| Above: Norman Clifford, Melbourne 1959 |
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.
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).
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.Above: John Warlow, 1953
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.
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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.
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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.
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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 |
I was amazed at the success, but quickly recovered when they paid me £100 and the prospect of more comics (and money) to come.
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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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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. Above: 'Fools Rush In' (Excerpt)
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!
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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.
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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!
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.Above: Cover art by Norman Clifford
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 |
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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 |
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.
In 1995, he was commissioned by Australia Post to paint a series of Australian military aviation stamps.Above: Norman Clifford (left) in his studio, 1988
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)
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