Yaroslav Horak

Yaroslav Horak (12 June 1927 – 24 November 2020) was an Australian illustrator and comics artist, of ethnic Czech-Russian origin, best known for his work on the newspaper comic strip James Bond.[1][2]

Horak
BornYaroslav Horak
(1927-06-12)12 June 1927
Harbin, Manchuria
Died24 November 2020(2020-11-24) (aged 93)
Sydney, Australia
NationalityRussian
Australian
Area(s)artist
Pseudonym(s)Larry Horak
Notable works
James Bond

Biography
A panel of James Bond as illustrated by Horak.

Horak was born on 12 June 1927 in Harbin, China, the son of a Czech father and Russian mother. In 1939 his family migrated to Sydney, Australia prior to World War II. He began his career as a portrait painter but switched to illustration for the larger Australian magazine publishers. In 1948 Horak's first accepted comic strips were for Rick Davis (a detective adventure) and The Skyman (a mysterious costumed flyer) in 1948. He then moved to Syd Nicholls' Publications where he worked on Ray Thorpe (an adventure series) and Ripon – the Man from Outer Space (sci-fi). Horak also did comic strips for a number of other Sydney publishers, before he moved to Melbourne where he drew Brenda Starr for Atlas Publications. In 1954 he created The Mask – The Man of Many Faces[3][4] and an adaptation of the popular children's TV program Captain Fortune for Fairfax publications The Sun-Herald between 1957–1962 and Mike Steele – Desert Rider for Woman’s Day magazine.

Horak then moved to England in 1962, where he also drew adventure stories for D.C. Thomson of Scotland, the scripts being supplied by others. He was the second artist, taking over from John McLusky, for the Daily Express strip James Bond from 1966 to 1977, then for the Sunday Express and the Daily Star from 1977 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1984. In total Horak worked on 33 James Bond comic strips sequences.

Horak also created the comic series Jet Fury, in addition to working on other comic strips such as Andrea, Cop Shop[5] and Sergeant Pat of the Radio Patrol.

Horak also achieved a degree of popularity during the 1960s when he was employed by Fleetway Publications (later IPC Magazines) to contribute art for 11 of their comic books in the War Picture Library and Battle Picture Library series.

Horak died on 24 November 2020 in Sydney, Australia, after a decade-long struggle with Alzheimer's Disease.[6][7]

War Picture Library
  • WPL 214 Rough Justice 1963
  • WPL 303 Death Or Dishonour 1965
  • WPL 304 Battle Drill 1965
  • WPL 315 Cross For Courage 1965
  • WPL 323 Passage Of Arms 1966
  • WPL 648 The Curse 1971
  • BPL 156 The Savage Sands 1964
  • BPL 173 The Stronghold 1964
  • BPL 190 Killers Code 1965
  • BPL 197 Gun Crazy 1965
  • BPL 231 Victory Cry 1965

James Bond strips
TitleWriterPublished dateSerial no.
The Man with the Golden Gun0Jim Lawrence010 January 1966 – 9 September 19661-209
The Living DaylightsJim Lawrence12 September 1966 – 12 November 19660210-263
OctopussyJim Lawrence14 November 1966 – 27 May 1967264-428
The Hildebrand RarityJim Lawrence29 May 1967 – 16 December 1967429-602
The Spy Who Loved MeJim Lawrence18 December 1967 – 3 October 1968603-815
The HarpiesJim Lawrence10 October 1968 – 23 June 1969816-1037
River Of DeathJim Lawrence24 June 1969 – 29 November 19691038–1174
Colonel SunJim Lawrence1 December 1969 – 28 August 19701175–1393
The Golden GhostJim Lawrence21 August 1970 – 16 January 19711394–1519
Fear FaceJim Lawrence18 January 1971 – 20 April 19711520–1596
Double JeopardyJim Lawrence21 April 1971 – 28 August 19711597–1708
StarfireJim Lawrence30 August 1971 – 24 December 19711709–1809
Trouble SpotJim Lawrence28 December 1971 – 10 June 19721810–1951
Isle Of CondorsJim Lawrence12 June 1972 – 21 October 19721952–2065
The League Of VampiresJim Lawrence25 October 1972 – 28 February 19732066–2172
Die With My Boots OnJim Lawrence1 March 1973 – 18 June 19732173–2256
The Girl MachineJim Lawrence19 June 1973 – 3 December 19732257–2407
Beware Of ButterfliesJim Lawrence4 December 1973 – 11 May 19742408–2541
The Nevsky NudeJim Lawrence13 May 1974 – 21 September 19742542–2655
The Phoenix ProjectJim Lawrence23 September 1974 – 18 February 19752656–2780
The Black Ruby CaperJim Lawrence19 February 1975 – 15 July 19752781–2897
Till Death Do Us ApartJim Lawrence7 July 1975 – 14 October 19752989-2983
The Torch-Time AffairJim Lawrence15 October 1975 – 15 January 19762984-3060
Hot-ShotJim Lawrence16 January 1976 – 1 June 19763061-3178
NightbirdJim Lawrence2 June 1976 – 4 November 19763179-3312
Ape Of DiamondsJim Lawrence5 November 1976 – 22 January 19773313-3437
When The Wizard AwakesJim Lawrence30 January 1977 – 22 May 19771-54
Sea DragonJim Lawrence
1977
55-192
Death WingJim Lawrence
1977-1978
193-354
The Xanadu ConnectionJim Lawrence
1978
355-468
Shark BaitJim Lawrence
1978-1979
469-636
Snake GoddessJim Lawrence
1983-1984
822-893
Double EagleJim Lawrence
1984
894-965

References
  1. Vale - Yaroslav Horak (1927-2020), Kevin Patrick, Comicsdownunder.blogspot.com, November 26, 2020.
  2. Yaroslav Horak Death Notice, Sydney Morning Herald, November 27, 2020.
  3. vixenmagazine.com The Mask - The Man of Many Faces
  4. International Hero The Australian Mask
  5. "TV cops join our strips". Sydney Morning Herald. 15 June 1980. p. 2. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  6. Freeman, John (5 December 2020). "In Memoriam: James Bond comic artist Yaroslav Horak". Downthetubes News. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  7. "Yaroslav Horak Death Notice". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
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