Here are three more covers for The Frogmen.  This 1950s edition is signed "Dix" but I haven't been able to find out anything about them. Leslie Wood (1920-1994), who painted this Quality Book Club cover, was a Cheshire-based artist best known for their work on the Little Red Engine series. He also produced covers for Hugh Walters' science-fiction novels. This revised Pan paperback edition dates from 1970 ..read more

 Today I'm bringing you two covers from Practical Mechanics, both of which were for articles on making your own underwater equipment. Unfortunately they didn't credit their artists so I don't know who painted these. The first issue, from January 1955, gives details on how to make an aqualung. I wonder how many people successfully managed it? A year later, anyone who hadn't drowned themselves could make an underwater housing for their camera. I just had a flood during a trip to the Red Sea so perhaps I'll have a go at making a replacement! I'm afraid I don't have a copy of the fi ..read more

 When I posted the third of my three selections of Henry Boltinoff''s humour strips from the 1960s, I thought I'd included all those that featured diving. Well, as Sean Connery might have said, "Never say never again!" Here are two more Homer strips that I found lurking in a couple of Sea Devils comics ..read more

Miss Lavinia Pickerell, Ellen MacGregor's unlikely heroine, first appeared in the short story Swept Her Into Space, published in 1950. The following year, MacGregor expanded it into Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars and launched(!) a new series. Her aim was to write fantasy stories that contained accurate scientific information and would appeal to children. She completed fours books about Miss Pickerell, the last of which was published posthumously in 1954. MacGregor left behind lots notes and ideas for further books and the series was continued by Dora Pantell. Miss Pickerell Goes Undersea was the ..read more

Today we have two covers from Pierre Labat's Le Merveilleux Royaume (The Marvellous Kingdom).    Labat had earlier served in the French army during World War II, earning the Croix de Guerre for acts of bravery. He also worked with Cousteau who wrote the following about him: "Labat is one of those men who have to fulfill the most beautiful mission: that of dazzling youth by leading them to conquer the splendours of Nature, to reveal to them the deep joys of effort." His death occurred while diving the wreck of the Arroyo near Toulon. He was just 29 years old ..read more

Nemrod were a pioneering Spanish manufacturer of diving equipment. They originally made spear-guns but soon expanded to produce a wide range of products. Their Snark III regulator remains the only three-stage regulator ever made. In the United States they were marketed by the Seamless Rubber Company who produced this lavishly illustrated catalogue for 1970. They used the cover again the following year and I'm assuming this also applies to the interior artwork. I'm afraid I don't know who the artist was but I really like the style they employed here ..read more

 Dicky Dolphin's time in The Topper was long gone by the mid-seventies, but in 1976 the comic featured a fortnightly series of "Golden Oldies" and one of the strips selected was from Lucky Dicky Dolphin, the first series of Dicky's adventures. Thanks to Ray Moore's excellent Topper Tales - A Complete Index to The Topper Comic, I now know that Dicky was an orphan who was nicknamed "Lucky" by his chums because he was so unlucky. Eventually he manages to run away from the orphanage and is befriended by Skipper Dolphin and his daughter Sue who just happen to share his surname. Well that was l ..read more

Today I'm presenting a double treat from the Collins Boys' Annual  that was published in 1960. The cover features a classic "diver and shark" illustration while the endpapers depict an equally classic scene ..read more

Apologies for the break in service but The Art of Diving is back in action! Here's a 1973 World of Wonder article about the development of diving gear, specifically underwater breathing equipment. (Click for larger images ..read more

 Just a quick one today as The Art of Diving goes back to its roots with a Mike Western Valiant cover. The Daredevils was the last of the comic's long line of cover features which had included the likes of It Could Happen, Is It True? and Who Is It? Updated to add some extra Mike Western goodness with this back cover from the 1975 Valiant Summer Special ..read more