This week we take a look at Tales of the Cobb Street Commandos written by Tony Bradman and featuring an eye-catching cover design and internal illustrations by Aleksei Bitskoff.
The Cobb Street Commandos is set in 1941 and the Second World War has transformed London. All the adults are doing important things and playing their part. Jimmy and his friends want to be in the thick of the action, doing whatever they can to keep the East End safe. So, they form a top-secret group called the Cobb Street Commandos.
Houses become hidden headquarters for official CSC meetings. Abandoned warehouses turn into their personal training grounds. They create helmets from cardboard and training tools from old scraps of wood. They know how to be creative and are more than ready for battle. The only thing missing is a mission for them – until now, that is.
Join Jimmy and his friends in action-packed adventures around the city as they raise money for Spitfire planes, train alongside soldiers and go on daring missions to meet the prime minister – Winston Churchill himself!
Aleksei's energetic line work brings Tony's text to life, from the scrappy, loveable Cobb Street Commandos themselves to swooping Spitfires, a brilliantly rendered Churchill and the bombed and bustling streets of wartime London. He has an instinct for comic timing that makes the characters leap off the page, but it's his eye for historical details that gives the book its real sense of place and period.
Take a look at more of Aleksei's amazing interior illustrations for Tales of the Cobb Street Commandos over on his portfolio.
Aleksei Bitskoff is well known for his humorous, and incredibly intricate illustrations and as a compulsive doodler from an early age, he has now collaborated with a huge number of best-selling and award-winning authors. His fine line work and comedic character creations lend themselves perfectly to the numerous fiction projects he has now collaborated on, including the Little Bad Man and Who Let the Gods Out series.
For more information regarding working with Aleksei or any of our fabulous artists please email info@arenaillustration.com or give us a call 020 8555 9827 we’d be delighted to help you select the perfect illustrator for your project. Keep up-to-date with Arena Illustration's talented artists by subscribing to our weekly news.
