Peter James Australia
- Born
- 1927? in Australia?
- Died
- ? in Australia?
- Credited for
-
art
letters
writing
- AusReprints
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Peter James (1954)
Biography
James studied at East Sydney Technical College and provided cartoons for the World's News in the 1940s. He had his first newspaper strip 'The Life of Les Darcy' published in Sydney's Daily Mirror from 13 May 1946 until January 1947.
From 1948, James created comics for Pyramid Publications, including features such as 'The Panther Man' for Pyramid Comics and other stories for Black X.
In 1950, he took over the 'Captain Power' newspaper strip in The Sun-Herald from Stanley Pitt, until it was cancelled in 1952.
In the early 1950s, he provided stories for KG Murray's Romantic Adventures and Approved Publications' Cobbers Adventure Comic.
With Ivan Southall, he created 'Mike Manly—Miracle Man', a scientist exposed to a radio-active ore that gave him unusual powers including invisibility and the ability to transport himself through time and space. The strip was published in Women's Day from 25 January 1954. After a year, Vernon Hayles took over drawing the strip until 1956.
James was exhibited in the Archibald Prize portrait competition three times, in 1954 (Hon WE Dickson), 1956 (Jack Dunleavy) and 1957 (WT Arthur, Esq).
Notes
It was reported that Peter James was 27 when Mike Manly was first published (January 1954) and 21 when he sold his first comic strip (which was in 1946). The dates don't add up. Some information in this biography is sourced from Graeme Cliffe's From 'Sunbeams' to Sunset.