McLoughlin (1918-2002) had a passion for drawing since his early age, when he admired the artwork in American comics and was greatly fascinated by pulp fiction covers. When he was offered a job in the Ward & Copley Art Studio in 1932, he dropped out of college to work there until 1940, when the studio folded due to the lack of clients. During World War II, McLoughlin became an unofficial painter of his regiment, painting murals, officers’ portraits and the regiment’s insignia on vehicles. It was also during the war that he began illustrating book covers, which in addition to comics make up the core of his body of work. His first comic was published with Kangaroo Books, where he also produced covers. In 1967, he got a job with IPC, the biggest British comics publisher, for which he created several successful comics, including ‘Saber’, a series about some sort of a blond version of Tarzan.

Denis McLoughlin: “Saber, King of the Jungle”, 1969, 38 x 48 cm