Many leading talents from the vibrant art culture of 1960s, as well as classically trained traditionalists like drawing instructor Gordon Lawrence, found their way to London’s East Ham Tech. BWS himself taught drawing at the school before he emigrated to the U.S. in 1971.

At college Windsor-Smith received rigorous training in design and academic drawing, but his childhood interest in comics, particularly the American adventure style as exemplified by artists Gil Kane, Carmine Infantino, and especially Marvel Comics’ star artist, Jack Kirby, became his artistic passion. These ersatz imports, which featured dynamic super heros like Green Lantern, The Flash, The Fantastic Four and The Mighty Thor, appealed to the young Englishman much more than the comparatively staid British comics of the day, which focused largely on humor for young children, or historical adventure strips like Heros the Spartan.

Following his graduation from college, Windsor-Smith found work doing pinups of Marvel Comics characters for British publisher Odhams Press, which was publishing black and white reprints of Marvel comics in England under license. His work appeared as “Power House PIN-UPS” for titles like Terrific and Fantastic.