1967, gouache on board, 56cm X 81cm
Cover illustration commissioned by Corgi for Mickey Spillane’s 5th novel in the Mike Hammer series, first published in 1951. Spillane started out as a comic book writer, creating adventures for superheroes like Captain Marvel, Superman, Batman and Captain America. An earlier version of the Mike Hammer character was originally intended to be a comic book detective. The colours and stylised poses used by Fratini in his cover illustrations don’t move the books too far from the comic book tradition.
