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in 1968, Barry Smith (he added the Windsor later, as a tribute to
his mom, Lena Windsor) came to America and headed for the top
company
of the time: Marvel Comics. Enduring a number of adventures eluding
INS officials and sleeping in the 1960s' notoriously dangerous Central
Park, he secured assignments writing and
drawing X-Men #53 (scripted by Arnold Drake), Nick Fury Agent
of S.H.I.E.L.D #12 (script by Steve Parkhouse), Daredevil #50-52,
(script by Roy Thomas) and a
slew of Kirbyesque covers for Spider-Man,
Captain Marvel, Sgt Fury, and others. After
being booted back to merry old England by the U.S. immigration
authorities, Windsor-Smith drew two issues of The Avengers and
some short stories for Marvel’s “horror” line.
Then, in 1970, he received his first shot at a long-term commitment
on Conan the Barbarian, originally created by Robert E.
Howard. Here he
shined, even though the art was sometimes immature and stiff. Within
a short time, however, Windsor-Smith had not only received acclaim
for his work on Conan, including the seminal Red Nails, but for
his romantic-symbolist
work through The Gorblimey Press, formed in 1974. With Gorblimey,
Windsor-Smith chucked his comics style and created densely lyrical
art prints. These
visionary works kept him busy on and off for over ten years, and
the output is legendary among collectors.
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