Thursday 23 June 2016

Two of a Kind - Chanoc

Chanoc was a long-running Mexican comic series that first appeared in 1959. Over 1100 issues were published until circa 1980. The tag-line on the cover promised adventures in the sea and the jungle. The eponymous hero was a fisherman and adventurer, accompanied by his godfather, Tsekub.

The series was originally created from a rejected film script and it eventually proved popular enough to spawn a series of films between 1967 and 1983.

I hope to feature more Chanoc in the future but in the meantime enjoy these covers from 1969 and 1978 respectively. Judging by these examples, Tsekub is partial to a colourful pair of shorts when he goes diving! (Click for larger images).



Tuesday 14 June 2016

The Art of DIY-ving

Modern divers have it easy with a wide range of equipment available them, but back in the early days of diving many people made their own gear. This video takes a look at some of this early equipment and the magazines that showed people how to make it:



Here are the covers from some of the magazines featured in the video:

October 1952 (Click for larger image).




July 1953 (Click for larger image).



You can read this magazine online here.


June 1954. Cover by Geoffrey Biggs (1908-1971). Based in New York, British-born Biggs worked for a wide range of publications including Classics Illustrated, The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, Liberty and Good Housekeeping.



This magazine can also be found online.


June 1960.



As a bonus, here's the Supreme Divers logo as seen in the video.