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A TRIBUTE TO THE ART OF BOB WAKELIN

30/3/2017

22 Comments

 
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These days, video game box artwork is virtually interchangeable. It's all about the logo and branding, which is a horrible, corporate shame.

What's that, idiot? "They do that so the games can stand out on the shelves?"

Is it? Is it now? Is that why they do it? Only, game boxes were once a quarter the size they are today, and STILL managed to feature bright, colourful artwork that leapt out at you, and grabbed your eyeballs and licked them. Now what have you got to say for yourself?

"I'm an idiot."

Yes. Yes you are - and that's why everyone hates you.

For any fan of gaming in the 80s, there's no question that the art of Bob Wakelin, which graced scores of games published by Imagine and Ocean Software (he also did a lot of work for Marvel Comics UK), was leagues ahead of anything else.

Though now semi-retired, Wakelin was once prolific, often turning around up to three designs a week - all of them notably better than 99% of any other game artwork of the time, and 1,000% better than modern cover art.

​Indeed, it's hard to argue against him being a major factor in Ocean's dominance of home computer gaming, as that would be a dull argument to have, and who really cares? Nevertheless, his gorgeous designs often helped to shift many otherwise unremarkable games.

​Here's a brief gallery of some of his finest work.
EPIC
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Though far from my favourite Wakelin piece - it lacks the cohesion of some of his other art - the cover of Epic is a favourite of many. Albeit mostly Amiga owners, for whom polished turds are something of a delicacy.

Contrary to urban legend, Wakelin didn't design the iconic logo for Ocean Software. However, he did take the logo - as created by some unnamed graphic artist - and give it the sleek, airbrushed look with which it would become synonymous. ​
BATMAN
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"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha - BATMAN!"

Definitely in my top three Wakelin pieces, the cover of Ocean's Batman felt like a lost Brian Bolland masterpiece. I would yearn for an entire Batman book illustrated by Wakelin. Well, I say "yearn"... I might have thought about it briefly. What can I say? I'm just trying to pep this piece up a bit.

Still, I did stare at the cover for slightly longer than might be considered normal, trying to work out how he did the things he did.
MIKIE
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Wakelin reportedly hated having to do more cartoonish covers, but Mikie demonstrates his versatility. Also, like many malfunctioning teenagers, I had a slight crush on one of the characters. Which one? The caretaker at the back, who appears to have had a stroke.
BILLY THE KID
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A truly gorgeous, sepia-tinged illustration, ruined by a logo which appears to have been partially rendered from red "fun fur". My only bone of contention here is that the feller's gun on the left is an entirely different hue to the rest of the piece.
CABAL
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"Look, mum! Whirlybirds!​" shouts the excited main figure in this image. If Wakelin hadn't been so busy working for Ocean Software, he could've been illustrating 1980s action movie posters.

Plus we've all "laid a few cabals" haven't we, lads? Few as impactful as this one, I'd wager. Although, one of mine did once land so hard that it cracked the pan.
DALEY THOMPSON'S DECATHON
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This earns its place in the list because I once saw Daley Thompson in a park. What was he doing? Poo under the slide, yeah?
OPERATION WOLF
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It might seem an odd thing to say, but two of the things I really liked about Wakelin's figure work were the way he painted powerful forearms and soulful eyes. And yes: that is what I look for in a man.

​Also: clammy plums.
WIZKID
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Again demonstrating Wakelin's versatility, the Wizkid cover was a spot-on R.Crumb pastiche. Also, there's a cat or a dog or something on a toilet, which is hard to argue against. Apologies for mentioning toilet stuff again, but there's something wrong with me.
THE NEW ZEALAND STORY
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What I really loved about the way Wakelin did his more cartoony pieces was how he'd combine intricate airbrushed detail and shading on characters with a thick black outline. It had a massive influence on my own work when I arrived at Teletext; those thick black lines around the characters in Turner The Worm were no accident.
WHERE TIME STOOD STILL
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The sort of cover you could never get away with these days, due to the saucy lady whose nip-nips - the third rudest part of the human body - can be seen clearly through her tight t-shirt.

Sadly, while Wakelin had the anatomy of ladies down to a fine art, that t-rex is an abomination. It doesn't even have a hat on!
FROM THE ARCHIVE:
​A GALLERY OF BAD BOX ART
15 EXAMPLES OF TERRIBLE VIDEO GAME COVER ART
15 HORRIBLE RETRO GAME ADS
22 Comments
Kara Van Park
30/3/2017 11:55:22 am

That Gryzor one looks like he's just traced a pic of Arnie in Predator.

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Spiney O'Sullivan
30/3/2017 12:30:30 pm

Motion towards the helicopter!

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Da5e
30/3/2017 12:08:21 pm

Did Wakelin originate the 'military man shouting at you while pointing at a nearby threat' thing that so many Call of Duty-type games use on their covers, then?

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Pootle-1
3/4/2017 09:55:31 am

There's a pretty good breakdown of the origin and subsequent influence of the Cabal artwork here..

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/tracing/tracing4.htm

Reply
DEAN
30/3/2017 12:26:24 pm

Bravo!

I love this. I picked all my games by their covers and these here are some fine examples of how that worked.

I particularly like the New Zealand Story one, it's like a festival of unbridled fun and is also why I love retro Japanese game artwork.

I also think the jolly jarhead in Cabal (2nd figure) is hilarious in a GUNS GUNS GUNS sort of way.

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Sean Buckingham
30/3/2017 01:01:15 pm

I spent a long time 'studying' the "Where Time Stood Still" cover art when I was younger. Half decent game if I remember as well - I seem to remember having to collect parts to fix your crashed plane.
The fidelity of the Spectrum graphics, even with the 128k version, did not allow the lady lorry wheels as promised by the cover. You just had to imagine them, using the cover art as a guide.

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Dan Whitehead
30/3/2017 01:54:57 pm

Where Time Stood Still is legitimately great. You didn't have to fix the plane, you just had to escape from the prehistoric plateau where you'd crashed. It was a real miniature Doug McClure movie, as a game, with four different characters with clearly different personalities, and a free-roaming world that allowed for all sorts of different adventures each time you played. One of the games that truly pushed back the boundaries of what games could do and be.

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Ste Pickford
30/3/2017 01:48:40 pm

It's interesting that he regularly drew the game's logo as part of the cover painting, which seems crazy nowadays as you can't easily take the logo and use it elsewhere, or have the cover art without the logo.

Top, top stuff though, and like you I was very much inspired by his artwork when I was growing up.

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Acid_Arrow
30/3/2017 03:35:09 pm

Surely bums, cocks and fannies are ruder than nip-nips?

I was always impressed by the main Cabal guy's hair, the way it's gelled back like that in the middle of a battle indicates strong decision-making capabilities.

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Mr Biffo
30/3/2017 04:41:10 pm

Nah, nip-nips are ruder than bums. I saw a bum on Blue Peter once! Peter Duncan's bum, if you must know. A ladies nips could never be seen on Blue Peter!

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Starbuck
30/3/2017 06:32:20 pm

Yes, Peter Duncan's bum, which had also been covered in mud if I remember right

Dan Whitehead
30/3/2017 08:06:07 pm

"A ladies nips could never be seen on Blue Peter!"

Which is ironic, given the name.

Acid_Arrow
30/3/2017 08:10:48 pm

Well my argument would be that bums produce poo and cocks and fannies produce wee and spunk and fanny-juice which all contribute to additional rudeness. Where as nips mainly produce milk which is wholesome and clean and therefore reduces their rudeness.

Through to be fair if you limit the criteria to the parts themselves rather than what they produce I have no real counter-argument.

Effervescing Elephant
30/3/2017 08:15:05 pm

"A ladies nips could never be seen on Blue Peter!"

I'm sure Simon Groom once showed us a beautiful pair of knockers...

Chris Wyatt
30/3/2017 07:54:21 pm

In order of rudeness:
- Man's nips
- Man's bum
- Woman's bum
- Woman's nips

Though there are also other factors involved, like whether a baby is sucking on aforementioned nips (which *obviously* makes it far worse!) etc. etc.

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Kara Van Park
30/3/2017 08:15:30 pm

Are superfluous nipples, as seen on for example, The Man with the Golden Gun more or less rude?

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CrispyF
30/3/2017 09:13:46 pm

"Poo under the slide, yeah?"
Yes, that made me squeeze out a lol on the floor. A dirty lol. Disgusting.
I do like that New Zealand Story picture. If anything could be used to represent the 7-11 period of my childhood, it would be that. Or a dead bat, nailed to a fence with a Push-Pop shoved up it's bum.

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Roy (Stuart N Hardy fan)
30/3/2017 09:32:41 pm

There was a time in the mid to late 80's (giving me age away now but you know what....I don't care) when I got off the train at West Wickham station and went straight opposite the road to the computer shop.
Looking back, the owner always seemed to do me a deal.
I'd always assumed it was because I was a regular customer but looking back, it was probably because of my handsomeness.... If that is such a word.
I've always erred on the side of handsome, even moreso the older I've gotten. Well the old woman sez so anyway. However, I digress...turns out he was a bit of a nonce but it was always the artwork of C64 games that attracted me.
Never knew his name until this article.
Great stuff!

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Roy (Stuart N Hardy fan)
31/3/2017 03:19:11 pm

I hate to admit this but I may have had a wank over one of his illustrations.
I can't quite remember what one it was but the smart money is on the.blonde girl.
Having said that, I used to love New Zealand Story.
I certainly hope it wasn't that one.

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RoboJamie
31/3/2017 05:52:52 pm

The more I think about it the more I am amazed that there hasn't been a New Zealand Story remake / reboot / sequel.

This game was amazing to me as a youngster - the Amiga version of Mario 3.

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Hamptonoid
31/3/2017 08:55:18 pm

Rainbow islands!

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CdrJameson
22/1/2018 12:37:49 pm

Bye, Bob, and thanks for the memories.

http://metro.co.uk/2018/01/22/acclaimed-video-game-cover-artist-bob-wakelin-dies-7249183/

Reply



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