The Massimo Belardinelli Interview

Massimo Belardinelli was a fantastic talent. He was also crapped on by UK publishers. So when I got a translation of an interview with him in 2010 it went up on CBO almost immediately!

My THANKS to mega Belardinelli collector Robert Cox -you know there is a Massimo Belardinelli fan page on Face Book, right?

Anyway, here you go!

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MASSIMO BELARDINELLI was a genuine comic strip genius and in 1977 he created one of the biggest sensations in British comics for years by illustrating Tom Tully’s revival of the old Eagle character Dan Dare!

My young brother was hooked. I was hooked. You couldn’t find some issues of 2000 AD because,as newsagents told me:”Kids are going mad over that Dan Dare thing!” Oh,yes,and that Dan Dare thing had a name -Biogs! Suddenly plasticine became Biogs and toy tanks and aircraft were attacked daily.

Sadly,Massimo is no longer with us and there appears to be only one interview ever carried out with him -by Romano Felmang [an artist noted for his work on The Phantom].

In 2006,in Paolo Telloli’s Italian fanzine,INK! No.39,that interview appeared. Steve Taylor alerted THE Belardinelli expert Robert Cox who got a friend to translate it and it was a main feature on the then new Belardinelli yahoo group [see blog roll].

You can see INK! online now at this link:

http://www.inkonline.info/39.jpg/

But now,onto ROMANO FELMANG and his interview with the Master! And THANK YOU Robbie!

In the summer of 1966 two positive things happened in my life: military service had finished and I met a brilliant artist. He was Massimo Belardinelli, born in Rome on 5th June 1938. His father’s hobby was painting, and he painted high quality oil figures on canvas.

Massimo is a cartoonist more recognized in England than in Italy, were hundreds of his work were published in weekly English comics (from the middle of the 60s until the end of the 80s).

This interview took place in his garden, full of wooden sculptures of fantastic animals, a world of fantasy!

DRF:In which moment of your life did you decide to become a comic artist?

MB:When I was very little and my mother took me to the cinema to watch Walt Disney’s ‘Fantasia’, in that moment I decided that when I grew up, I wanted to be a cartoon artist.

Dan Dare as illustrated by Massimo [Robert Cox Collection]

DRF:What did you do then, as in 1966 I saw a backdrop for an animated cartoon by you which was 50 – 60cm in height, which was then developed to two metres in height?

MB:In the 60s I started working in the field of animated cartoons, in Sergio Rosi’s office, principally following the development of various action backdrops, like those you remember.

However the animated cartoon came about by teamwork and I realised that I wasn’t satisfied with this, so I decided to design comic strips, which was much more individual. I started designing only backgrounds which were my specialty, then slowly, I acquired experience and started also to design characters.

DRF:Which cartoons did you design in the Rosi Office?

MB:Together with Giorgio Cambotti we designed weekly titles for the English editing company Fleetway for ‘Steel Claw’ through the Euro office of Rinaldo Dami and we had to imitate the style of Jesus Blasco, who was the owner and graphic creator of the character. In that period Fleetway also published a pocket series. In fact in England, Fleetway published a series of pocket books which were requested by several publishers for the Italian market. Barracuda, Jonny Nero, Spider and Steel Claw. The last one, we completed in the Rosi office and also the pocket series.

DRF:Did you only work for English publications in the Rosi office?

MB:No, around 1968 together with the group we created other characters such as Kriminal, Messalina and Jacula.

In the same period I also drew Perry Rodan and Altan for the German market . . . This was a time where there was much demand for cartoons from the German market. In fact in 69, Alberto Giolitti, who had connections with ‘Bastei’, asked Giorgio and I if we
were interested in collaborating with him. The economic propositions were very interesting, and we left the Rosi office and transferred to his office.

Giolitti didn’t just have an office, he also acted as an agency and collaborated with various publishers in England, Germany, USA and also the Italian markets. Personally I collaborated with Alberto on the sketches that he drew for ‘Gold Key. Another example is when we drew various episodes of ‘Star Trek’. He designed the faces, and I always drew the spacecrafts.

A superb Belardinelli cover [Robert Cox Collection]

For the German ‘Bastei’, I continued drawing the ‘Perry Rodan and Altan’ characters which were published in the ‘Perry’ appendix. For the Italian market I drew four episodes of ‘Phantom’, the masked man, published by the Spada brothers. Meanwhile for the periodicals I drew No. 1 of Cosmine and No. 1 of Super Black. But the biggest part of my work I did for the English weeklies, drawing a myriad of serials with hundreds of titles.

Above:BIOG ACTION!!!! [Robert Cox Collection]
DRF:Which characters have you drawn?

MB:Many, but I don’t remember all of them. I don’t keep copies of the publications. In February 1977, the first edition of the weekly ‘2000 AD‘ came out on which I mainly worked on. This edition had the classic character Dan Dare in new adventures. Initially I drew Dan Dare according to whatever came to mind.

However after editing it was decided that he should resemble the pop star David Bowie and so I had to correct some episodes, redrawing all the heads of Dan Dare. Other characters that I have drawn are Slaine and Ukko, the Moon Runners and Ace Trucking Company.

I also completed many covers for ‘2000 AD’ and for other publications.

An old Thunder comic character Blackhawk for 2000 AD[Robert Cox Collection]

Have you ever worked in other areas?

Between one cartoon and another I completed moderate illustrations for LP covers of various English groups in the 70s and 80s.

DRF:Which were the last cartoons that you completed?

MB:Among one of the last things that I drew were the Ninja Turtles for Fleetway at the beginning of the 90s.

DRF:Of all the original titles that you’ve completed, how many have you recovered?

MB:Very few originals. Fleetway asked me if I wanted the originals returned, but not knowing where to keep them and not wanting to face expensive postal expenditures I declined.

Above:Slaine:The Battle Of Clontarf {robert Cox Collection]

DRF:At one point you stopped drawing cartoons. Why was this?

MB:Halfway through the 80s I was approached by an important architectural office ‘ADA’ who were working on creating a Disneyland project for a rich businessman in Singapore. This work engaged me for many years. I created many characters, monsters, medieval horses and wizards.

An enormous and very interesting project which in the end was not created.

A personal painting sent by Massimo to Robert Cox. [Robert Cox Collection]

DRF:How did these beautiful sculptures that adorn your garden come about?

MB:Sculptures have always fascinated me and for a certain period I dedicated myself to sculpting fantasy animals or whatever took my fancy. I have now abandoned sculpting as it was very hard work. I now prefer to paint towns with water colours, it’s much more relaxing.

A wonderful 2006 painting given to Robert Cox by Massimo. [Robert Cox Collection]