www.kellysComics.com

D.C. Thomson's Artists.

A-Z. Not in order.

 

Jimmy Glen.

D.C. THOMSON and Co Ltd artist Jimmy Glen’s career drew to a close after 47 years bringing to life some of the comic world’s best known creations.

Jimmy joined D.C. Thomson in 1962, illustrating love stories on the Romeo magazine for two years before moving into cartoons with the Bimbo’s Jolly Mixtures.

Born in Lochee in 1944 Jimmy was educated at Ancrum Road Primary School and Logie. He started part-time art classes at 13 before becoming a full-time student at Duncan of Jordanstone in 1960.

The young artist’s first comic creation, the mop-topped "Have A Bash Billy," was a feature of the Topper in the mid-60s.

In 1966 Jimmy married—had two children.

In the late 60s, Jimmy moved to the Beano. His handiwork has also graced the pages of the Dandy and he has recently worked on the Beano and Dandy fun size editions.

Jimmy’s art has also taken him out and about with a Dandy and Beano illustrated talk that he has delivered for 20 years. He even found that a group of five-year-olds in Guernsey recognised Dennis the Menace immediately.

Jimmy said it was difficult to single out a favourite amongst the characters he has drawn. “If I was pushed, I’d have to say Lord Snooty as I was such big fan of Dudley D. Watkins.”

Jimmy said of his retiral, “I’ll definitely carry on drawing. I might work on some characters of my own or maybe set up a website.”

Jimmy also plans to carry on helping at the Children’s Club Lochee in Liff Road where he has volunteered for 30 years.

He is also looking forward to spending time with his four grandchildren and dogs—Clova and Gnasher-look-alike Prosen.

(Extract from D.C. Thomson's Courier).

 

  • Bimbo's Jolly mixtures.
  • Have a bash Billy.
  • Lord Snooty.

 

 

Ken Reid. 1919-1987.

 

After Reid's father died in 1953, his career took a fortuitous turn (thanks to an introduction by his brother-in-law, D.C. Thomson artist Bill Holroyd).

Reid received a letter from D.C. Thomson asking if he would be interested in doing a new series entitled Roger the Dodger for their best selling comic ‘The Beano’.  For many years D.C. Thomson had been considered to be a poor relation when compared to the mighty Amalgamated Press (AP). 

However since the end of the Second World War Thomson had been eating away at AP’s circulation.  In the early 1950’s a change of the guard with respect to their freelance art staff had seen the addition of young whippersnappers such as Leo Baxendale, Paddy Brennan, the brilliant Davy Law and others who had revitalized their line of comics. 

The addition of Ken Reid was tantamount to adding the jewel in the crown and within a very short space of time ‘The Beano’ was selling in excess of one million copies per week!!!  

 

 

 

Dudley Dexter Watkins. 1907-1969. 

Dudley Dexter Watkins (February 27, 1907 - August 20, 1969) was an English cartoonist and illustrator. He is best known for his characters Oor Wullie and The Broons; comic strips featuring them have appeared in Scottish newspaper The Sunday Post since 1936, along with annual compilations. Watkins also illustrated for comics such as The Beano, The Dandy, The Beezer and Topper.

Dudley was born in Manchester, England. The son of a lithographic print artist, he showed early artistic talent. By the age of 10 the local newspaper declared him a "schoolboy genius." He studied at Nottingham School of Art, and while working for Boots Pure Drug company in the early 1920s, Watkins' first published artwork appeared in Boots' staff magazine, The Beacon.

In 1925 his family moved to Scotland where he attended classes at the Glasgow School of Art. The school principal recommended Watkins to the thriving publisher D.C. Thomson, based in Dundee. Watkins was offered what he thought to be a temporary job, moved to their Dundee base, and began providing illustrations for Thomson's "Big Five" story papers for boys (Adventure, Rover, Wizard, and later Skipper and Hotspur). For several years he was just another illustrator, supplementing his small salary by teaching life drawing at Dundee Art School. In 1933 Watkins turned his hand to comic strip work, and soon his editor noticed that Watkins had a special talent as a cartoonist. So it was on the 8 March 1936 that his most famous characters, Oor Wullie and The Broons first appeared in The Sunday Post. He was soon illustrating the Desperate Dan strip for The Dandy comic, launched in 1937.

His workload was further increased when D.C. Thomson created The Beano comic the following year, with Watkins being responsible for drawing the Lord Snooty strip. When the Beezer and Topper were launched in the 1950s, Watkins was responsible for illustrating the Ginger strip (based largely on Oor Wullie, but unlike that strip the text was written in standard English and not in Scots vernacular) and the Mickey the Monkey strip for the two comics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudley_D._Watkins Please give donations to help this great site.

 

  • Oor Wullie.
  • The Broons.
  • Ginger.
  • Mickey the Monkey.
  • Desperate Dan.

 

 

 

Denis Mcloughlin. 1918-2002.

 

D.C. Thomson and Co., Ltd.

After sending art samples, McLoughlin found stories to illustrate for the Scottish publishing firm D.C. Thomson and Co., Ltd., in 1974. He had been working for them ever since and contributed to just about all of their adventure titles (all of which are now defunct) including Wizard, Victor, Buddy, Crunch, Bullet, and Scoop.

Primarily, however, McLoughlin's work appeared in Wizard. At his height with the company (October 22, 1977), five McLoughlin stories graced the pages of two Thomson titles, Wizard and Bullet. Perhaps the best regarded of McLoughlin's strips for Thomson were "Sign of the Shark" featuring x-agent Jake Jeffords, "The Green Lizard" which was a science fiction tale, and "The Shark" featuring the crew of a German E-Boat during World War II. Unfortunately, the days of the traditional British comic story paper were already numbered by the late-1970s and by 1983, most ceased publication. Denis drew two western features for the 1983 Look and Learn Annual before beginning his monthly stint for Thomson's Commando, a 64 page war comic digest which sees four issues released twice a month (96 issues a year). McLoughlin produced about one issue of Commando a month until his death on April 22, 2002.

Death

Exactly a week after his 84th birthday and while in good health, Denis McLoughlin took his own life. He used a Colt revolver that had been part of his reference collection for years and that friends and family thought was non-functioning. The cause of Denis' death was not immediately revealed in the British press. Exactly why he chose to end his life can never be known. However, he had survived all of the persons dearest to him including his wife, Dorothy, and brother, Colin. Denis and Dorothy had no children.

Like many others who devoted their life to commercial art in the first half of the 20th century, Denis McLoughlin was never paid a great deal for his work. Many pieces of his artwork, the Boardman book covers in particular, which Denis had been promised would be returned to him, were either lost or ended up in private collections. While he made a living, Denis never accumulated much money. Although he had a pension from the British government, he was forced to augment his income by working long past retirement age. He once commented that he never particularly liked illustrating military topics and yet that is what he found himself doing for the last 20 years of his life. Perhaps, had he been given cowboy stories to illustrate, he might have been happier. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/  Please give donations to help this great site.

 

 

 

Leo Baxendale. 1930-Present Day.

 

Leo Baxendale born in Preston, Lancashire is a British cartoonist, who was the creator of the classic Beano strips "Little Plum" (1953), "Minnie the Minx" (1953), "The Bash Street Kids" (created October 1953, began publication February 1954) and "The Three Bears" (1959).

Leo Baxendale was at the end of his National Service days in the RAF, when he decided he wanted to be an artist. He got his first job as an artist for a local newspaper. Here he drew adverts and cartoons. In 1952 Leo Baxendale began freelance work for the children's comic The Beano. This boosted his career. He became one of the most important artists of this comic, because of series like 'Little Plum', 'Minnie the Minx' (started in 1953, taken over by Jim Petrie in 1961), 'The Three Bears' and 'When the Bell Rings'. This last series was later renamed 'The Bash Street Kids'.

Baxendale also co-operated on the launch of Beezer in 1956 and Wham in 1964. Later in his career Baxendale spent a few years working for the company Fleetway (IPC Magazines), creating the likes of 'Clever Dick' and 'Sweeny Toddler'. In the seventies Baxendale created the 'Willy the Kid' series, published by Duckworths. Other artists like Tom Paterson and Martin Baxendale (Baxendale's son), adopted the technique. These artists carried his technique into the 1980s. In 1987 Leo Baxendale founded the publishing house, Reaper Books.

He left The Beano in 1962, and created the short-lived "Wham!" comic for Odhams Press, before contributing his brand of cartoon mayhem to Fleetway's line of comics for many years.

In the 1980s he fought a seven-year legal battle with D.C. Thomson for the rights to his Beano creations, which was eventually settled out of court.

In 1990 he created "I LOVE you Baby Basil!" for the Guardian.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Baxendale 

 

 

 

Vic Neill.

The reknown artist for the short lived Plug. This comic ran for just 76 issues.  Vic Neill started his career with Scottish Highlands-themed strips, such as 'The McTickles' and its successor 'Wee Ben Nevis'. In 1977 a new spin-off comic was launched to replace Sparky. The result was 'Plug', drawn mainly by Neill. During this period, Vic Neill was also drawing many strips for IPC magazines. In the eighties he took over 'The Germs' from David Sutherland, and he drew 'Billy Whizz' for most of the nineties. From 1997, Vic Neill also drew 'Tim Traveller', the boy with the time-travelling bike, for Beano.

 

  • The McTickles.
  • Wee Ben Nevis.
  • Sparky.
  • Plug.
  • Germs.
  • Billy Whizz.
  • Tim Traveller.

 

 

 

Bill Ritchie. 

Bill Ritchie is a cartoonist born in Glasgow 1 August 1931. He is known for work in D.C. Thomson comics. For many years he drew Baby Crockett in Beezer (and also Bimbo (comic)

He did go to Glasgow School of Art but they didn't teach him anything about cartoons or comics so he is mostly self-taught practising from local artists Jack Lindsay, Bud Neil, Jimmy Malcolm, Harry Smith and Bill Tait. It was Malcolm who suggested he try to draw comics for D. C. Thomson in Dundee. He sent in his first cartoons while in the army doing his National Service in Korea and this was printed in The Weekly News.

His first comic strip was Clumsy Claude in The Beano.

Other published strips include:

  • Barney Bulldog in Sparky (comic) similar to Biffo the Bear and the cover strip
  • Hungry Hoss in Beezer a horse owned by Joe the cowboy robber who couldn't stop eating.
  • Supporting Life in Plug.
  • Sweet Sue in The Beano running from 1978 to 1980 the strip featured Sue, a sweet and inoffensive young girl who always got the better of school bullies Harriet and Mabel. She had a dog called William.
  • The Moonsters in Sparky
  • Toots in Bunty

Since his retirement in the 1990s his comics have been "ghosted" by other artists.

 

 

 

John Dallas. 

 

John Dallas was a D.C. Thomson Studio artist, who produced his own Beano and Topper cartoon strips, including ‘Ball Boy’, and who contributed to Dennis the Menace and other D.C. Thomson  characters over many years. John retired around 3 years ago, and lives in the Dundee area.

 

  • Ball boy.
  • Dennis the Menace.

 

 

 

Gordon Bell. 

 

Gordon Bell is an artist who lives in the UK. From the 1960s onward he has worked extensively for D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, publishers of The Beano and The Dandy comics (among others). His sketchy, breezy cartoon style places the emphasis firmly on the foreground characters, with the backgrounds often consisting solely of a blank wall, a townscape silhouette or bleak scrubland. His regular strips over the years have included:

  • Sammy's Scribbles (Buzz)
  • The Buzzies and the Fuzzies (Buzz)
  • Harum Scarem (a rabbit against a farmer's dog trying to protect the carrots etc...) (Buzz)
  • Jimmy Jinx (Topper)
  • Pup Parade (AKA The Bash Street Dogs) (The Beano)
  • Scoopy (Nutty)
  • Snoozer (Nutty)
  • Micro Dot (Nutty)
  • Doodlebug (Nutty)
  • Fiends Beans (Cracker)
  • Billy the Kid (Cracker)
  • Dreamy Daniel (Sparky)
  • Spoofer McGraw (Sparky)
  • Hugh's Zoo (Plug)
  • First Ada (Plug, Dandy)

Various other Strips he drew were Tik & Tak, The Dandy Editor's little Helpers, and Fibba, a three-frame strip from the Dandy in 1992 about a boy who was very bad at lying.

Pup Parade made appearances in The Beano into the 2000s, still drawn by Bell, who had drawn the strip since it started in 1967. Most of his work involves animals as main characters, although two exceptions are Jimmy Jinx and Spoofer McGraw. In all his strips he regularly uses quirky comic details and side comments in his strips, such as smaller captions denoting to the reader (who might otherwise miss such details) that Smiffy was not only too lazy to move, but also sitting on a tack.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/  Please give donations to help this great site.

 

 

 

Bill Holroyd.

 

For an aspiring cartoonist born in Salford Lancashire 1919, Bill Holroyd broke into big time with a high degree of cunning. Knowing that D.C. Thomson, the prolific publisher of children's comics, was based in Dundee, he created a character called "Plum MacDuff the Highlandman Who Never Gets Enough". He sent it into the editor of Dandy and it was accepted at first sight.

Despite the long-standing non-stop eating of that greedy schoolboy "Hungry Horace" who had been munching away in Dandy from its first issue, Holroyd's kilted hero with a hunger for everything from porridge to haggis was an instant hit, especially with Thomson's Scottish staff, Bill sadly died 16th March 2000 aged 80 years.

 

  • Plum MacDuff.

 

 

 

Davey Law.

 

Artist of Dennis the Menace.

Rosemary Moffat and Alison Gardiner, the daughters of David Law, the  D.C. Thomson cartoonist who died in 1971, said their father would have been horrified by the transformation of Dennis.

Viewers of a 52-part cartoon series, which stars on CBBC, will see Dennis without his trademark catapult, peashooter or water pistol.

His trademark scowl has been replaced with a boyish grin, and Dennis will no longer be allowed to bully Walter the Softy.

His dog, Gnasher, will no longer be seen taking bites out of other characters.

The decision to “re-imagine” Dennis for the “iPod generation” has disappointed Law's daughters.

Mrs Moffat, 63, said: “He doesn't even look the same, he is rather benign looking.

”He had a wicked look about him, a likeable wicked look, but he doesn't now. It has made him look very bland and ordinary and I don't like it.

”I think my father would feel they are downgrading him to make him quite ordinary.”

Mrs Gardiner, who was given a preview screening of the cartoon, said: “It was nothing like the real Dennis the Menace.”

Law, who created Dennis for Beano in 1951, worked for the Dundee-based publisher D.C. Thomson, for more than 30 years.

D.C. Thomson, which collaborated on Dennis's new look with Red Kite, an animation company, said it “wanted to remove any traces of nastiness” and said any trouble Dennis got into in the future would be as a result of “misadventure”.

The BBC said: “Like many cartoon characters, Dennis the Menace has been evolving ever since its creation in 1951, so changes are nothing new. The Beano comic book style of the 1950's is very different to children's expectations for their entertainment heroes today.”

Telegraph.co.uk  

 

 

 

Jack Prout. 

 

Black Bob was the name of a fictional Border Collie from Selkirk in south Scotland. Black Bob originally appeared as a text story in The Dandy in issue 280, dated 25th November 1944. Following this he appeared as a picture strip in The Weekly News in 1946, which continued until 1967.

Drawn by Jack Prout, the popular sheepdog appeared regularly in The Dandy from his 1944 debut until issue 2122, dated 24th July 1982. Eight Black Bob books were published at infrequent intervals from 1950 to 1965. (Specifically: 1950, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961 and 1965)

Jack Prout was born on 14th December 1900 and joined the Scottish publishing firm of D. C. Thomson as a staff artist on 21st June 1937. He retired on 30 June 1968 although his strips were reprinted in The Dandy until 1982. Shortly before his retirement, Prout acquired a black and white border collie. Staff at

 D. C. Thomson's presented the artist with a spoof "dog licence", allowing the animal to keep the artist as a pet. The document was "signed" with Black Bob's pawprint. Jack Prout died on 27th September 1978.

 

  • Black Bob.

 

 

 

Nick Brennan.

 

Nick is a British cartoonist who works mainly for D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, though still does private work and work for his own site. He started drawing for the company in 1993, drawing a revival of Peter Piper from The Magic Comic, but looking nothing like Watkins' creation, instead sporting an elvis-like hairdo and purple Jumper.

January 1994 saw his next work Blinky, a revamp of the nephew of Colonel Blink from The Beezer who had first appeared in the merged Beezer and Topper in 1990. Brennan changed his appearance considerably, making him look very different to Colonel Blink. However, when the Dandy was revamped in 2007 it appeared the character has been dropped (see below email from Nick Brennan). He has since returned in reprints.

In 1997, Brennan drew a comic strip for a vote for The Beano. this strip was called "Crazy for Daisy", and, along with Tim Traveller by Vic Neill, won the vote, followed by another strip, Pinky's Crackpot Circus, in 2004, and in 2006, a revival of "Brassneck" and "Noah's Ark". These last three are all from The Dandy.

Most recently, Nick Brennan has occasionally ghosted Nicky Nutjob, and contributes to the Fun Size Dandy/Fun Size Beano comics.

He also used to draw Sneaker for The Dandy.

For works by this artist, commissioned work can be obtained via: 

                                    nick@cartoonfun.co.uk

 

 

(What a nice man). Below conversation from Mr Brennan to myself.

Hi Kelvin


A couple of bits of extra info, and corrections to the info you no doubt got from sites who haven't bothered to check their facts - unlike your good self!

I wouldn't say I work 'mainly' for DCT - there's samples of other stuff I've done on my website - www.cartoonfun.co.uk

Whilst Blinky had a run of reprints, he hasn't been dropped as such. I drew a strip for the comic just the other week (don't know if they'll be any more at the mo), and I also did quite a few pages of him for the 2010 (I think) annual recently.

Pinky's Crackpot Circus, Brassneck and Noah's Ark (all Dandy) weren't in the competition with Crazy for Daisy (Beano - I think it may just be the way it's written that makes it sound like they were). Another strip I drew for the Dandy, which ran for a wee while, was "Frawg", the tale of a Louisiana swamp frog, and the efforts of a chef and his sidekick to capture him. No idea of dates, but it was quite a few years back.

I only did a short run of Nicky Nutjob, for the Beano, and that was quite a while back, now. And I haven't drawn anything for the fun-sizes for a couple of years.

I've been drawing "Hyde and Shriek" for the Dandy for well over a year now (interspersed with occasional Brassnecks and Blinkys) and (hot off the presses!) have just started drawing Billy Whizz for the Beano (first strip in this week's copy). No way to tell how long that will run for, though - depends how popular my version of the character is, although the editorial team like it, apparently.


Hope this is of some help.

Cheers for now,

Nick

 

 

Karl Dixon.

 

Karl has been drawing cartoons professionally for over 15 years, comparitively short by some standards, but his work was speaking for itself when asked by the editor of the Dandy to illustrate the top iconoclassic character Beryl the Peril. He then wnt on to do Fun-Size, Annuals and Summer Specials in his time with D.C. Thomson.

A new character of Ollie Fliptrik was born when asked to create a new charcter, Ollie Fliptrik is still in production today. 

Karl's work can be seen at:

www.loonitoons.co.uk 

 

 

 

Paddy Brennan.

 

Paddy was a comics artist who drew primarily for Dundee publisher D. C. Thomson.

He was a freelancer, working six months of the year in Dublin and six months in London. His first published work was in Magno Comic, published by International publications in Glasgow. He started work for D. C. Thomson in 1949. He started out doing "Arabian Nights" stories like "Sinbad the Sailor" for the Beano and "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" for the People's Journal, and a half-page comic strip called "Rusty" in the Dandy. From 1951, Brennan became one of the most prominent illustrators of adventure stories, including "Jack Flash and the Terrible Twins", "The Shipwrecked Circus", "Young Drake", "The Galloping Glory Boys" and "Crackaway Jack". For the Topper he drew "Flip McCoy - the Flying Boy", "The Whizzers from Ozz", and adaptations of Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood and H. Rider Haggard's The White Witch. He also drew for girls' comics like Bunty and Judy, working on literary adaptations and stories like "Sandra of the Secret Ballet". For the Beezer, his most notable work was "The Showboat Circus". He continued drawing into the 1980s, creating "Iron Hand" for Cracker.

  • Jimmy's Mighty Midgets
  • Arabian nights.
  • Sinbad the Sailor.
  • Rusty.
  • Plus above others.

 

 

 

James Crighton. 

 

Cannot find much out about this man, other than did illustrations for Korky the Cat in The Beano around the 1950s. If wrong please could someone correct me. 

 

  • Korky the Cat.

 

 

Peter Davidson. 

 

Peter joined D.C. Thomson at the young tender age of 20, previously he had been a near neighbour of the great Dudley Dexter Watkins, being only aged seven then he gainned the qualities that made him the artist he is today. Peter Davidson best known for his Oor Wullie and tbe Broon came from Dundee, the City of the D.C. Thomson empire. And what a place to work and be able to ply your trade!

Peter's first illustration was in the Golf Monthly, he was only 16 then! On joining

D.C. Thomson he began work on the Peoples Journal, Secrets and the Scots Magazine. 

He did leave in the 1960's to pursue a career with the opposition I.P.C. in London, but returned to Scotland as a freelance artist.

Despite leaving, he returned once more to begin a second spell as artist for the two above mentioned strips and continues to do them to this day.

 

John Geering. 

 

(9th March 1941 - 13th August 1999) was a British cartoonist with a distinctive, occasionally flamboyant style, most famous for his work for DC Thomson comics including Sparky, The Topper, Cracker, Plug, Nutty, The Beano and The Dandy.

Geerings strips included:

Puss 'n' Boots (Sparky/Topper/Dandy), a more anarchic, surreal take on the traditional cat-and-dog strips, complete with bizarre dialogue and situations - Boots, for example, having taken a gardening job, boasts that the perks include "all the grass I can eat", whilst Puss can be found selling ice cream at the North Pole.

Smudge (Beano), correctly billed as the world's dirtiest schoolboy, relishing any opportunity to get covered in grime and filth that presents itself.

Bananaman (Nutty/Dandy), a bungling superhero whose alter-ego is a stubble-headed schoolboy. This character proved particularly popular during its run in Nutty, and spawned an animated television series voiced by Bill Oddie, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden. The strip continues today in The Dandy, drawn by Chris McGhie.

Geering's last new strip was Dean's Dino, which he drew for The Beano shortly before his death. He also produced topical and political satire cartoons for British newspapers.

He had lived in the village of Comberbach with his wife for many years before his death.

He died in Warrington, aged 58.

 

 

 

 

Ken H. Harrison. 

 

Ken H. Harrison is an artist at DC Thomson, who drew Robbie Rebel, Big Brad Wolf, and Lord Snooty for The Beano, The Hoot Squad for Hoot (later reprinted as The Beano's The Riot Squad), The Broons and Oor Wullie for the Sunday Post, Snookum Skool and Spookum Skool for Buzz and Cracker comics.

He drew Desperate Dan for The Dandy between 1983 and 2007 until The Dandy was revamped, when it became 1940s Dudley Watkins reprints before Jamie Smart (My Own Genie artist) took over. He currently draws Minnie the Minx from the Beano, in a style reminisicent of original artist Leo Baxendale and the front cover illustration for Classics from the Comics.

 

 

 

Laura Howell. 

 

Laura is a British-born comic strip artist. She is the first female artist in the history of The Beano comic, and responsible for "Johnny Bean from Happy Bunny Green", "Les Pretend" and "Ratz".  She also drew Billy the Cat in the Special 70 Years Beano, and two Minnie the Minx strips in the same comic. Laura also works for Toxic magazine, drew the comic strip "Sneaky, the world's cleverest elephant" for the DFC comic and is an award-winning Manga artist, including a stylized version of Gilbert and Sullivan,

She lives in Birmingham, England.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Howell

 

 

 

Malcolm Judge.

 

 

Malcolm Judge (1918-January 17th 1989) was a British cartoonist, best known for his contributions to DC Thomson's range of comics.

His early career was spent as a writer and journalist, and in 1948 he began contributing comic strips to the newspapers and magazines at DC Thomson. He contributed his first strip, The Badd Ladds to the Beezer in 1960, and Colonel Crackpot's Circus to The Beano the following year. He would go on to create several more popular strips including Ball Boy, Billy Whizz in The Beano and The Numskulls in the Beezer.

Judge remained an active contributor to DC Thomson until his death at the age of 70 in early 1989. John Dallas took over Ball Boy and The Numskulls, and John Geering replaced Judge on The Badd Ladds, while Billy Whizz ran as re-prints for most of the year, interspersed with some occasional new strips by Barrie Appleby until the appointment of long-term successor David Parkins a year after Judge's death.

 

 

Joe McCaffrey. 

Nothing found on Joe McCaffrey, but (possibly) cartoonist on the Beezer comic.

David Mostyn. 

Not much found other than artist for The Dandy's Mikey the Mouth!

Robert Nixon. 

 

In The Beano, he started out drawing Little Plum in the early 1960s after Leo Baxendale left D.C. Thomson. He later took over Roger the Dodger from Ken Reid and Lord Snooty from Dudley D. Watkins, and revived Grandpa, another Ken Reid creation, in the early 1970s in the same comic, as well as Captain Cutler and His Butler and Esky Mo in Sparky. He left DC Thomson shortly afterwards, and started to work at IPC Magazines (Fleetway), drawing such characters as Kid Kong, Frankie Stein and Gums.

Nixon drew The 12½p Buytonic Boy for Krazy although Brian Walker frequently deputised when Nixon was on leave. The strip first appeared in issue 1, dated 16 October, 1976.

Nixon returned to DC Thomson in 1984 after being asked to by new Beano editor Euan Kerr, and began drawing Roger the Dodger again, as well as creating Ivy the Terrible in 1985. Later his friend Trevor Metcalfe drew this strip.

He would go on to draw Beryl the Peril in The Topper and Korky the Cat in The Dandy later on in the decade, and continue drawing them throughout the 1990s.

 

 

Nigel Parkinson. 

 

Parkinson's career in comics began in 1980. For the next twenty years he worked for many British publishers including Fleetway, BBC Magazines, and D. C. Thomson. His first work for The Dandy was in 1982; his first work for The Beano was in 1997. He started drawing Bea in October 1998, including the new character Ivy the Terrible in 2008. Parkinson also occasionally draws The Bash Street Kids, and was particularly active on that strip between 1999 and 2001. He also ghosted Mike Pearse's style for the spin-off strip Singled Out.

In 1998, Parkinson started work on The Dandy's football-mad character, Owen Goal. Parkinson redefined the strip to put more emphasis on Owen's fat, lazy coach.

In 2000 Parkinson commenced work on Dennis the Menace and has since alternated his interpretation of the character with other artists David Parkins, Jim Hansen and Tom Paterson.

In 2003, The Dandy commissioned Parkinson to freshen up the look of the terrible toddlers Cuddles and Dimples. In October 2004 he took over from the original artist, Barrie Appleby  changing the appearance the characters and the personalities of their parents.

Since 2005 Nigel Parkinson has also illustrated all of the Beano Jigsaw Puzzles and much of Dennis the Menace merchandise.

In 2008 he began drawing Puss'n'Boots and Marvo the Wonder Chicken for The Dandy and designed a new version of Lord Snooty - Lord Snooty the Third - for The Beano's 70th birthday year.

 

 

 

Tom Paterson. 

 

 A Scottish comic cartoonist drew characters for Fleetway Publications, between 1973-1986 and D.C. Thomson onwards. Tom's works included:

Mike Pearse. 

 

Mike is a cartoonist who worked for The Beano. He was responsible for the cartoon Bash Street Kids - Singled Out, a spinoff of the original Bash Street Kids.

Mike Pearse also drew The Three Bears comic strip in the Beano for a while, and drew many Beano special stories.

In the Bash Street Kids Annual 2009, Mike drew all the strips.

 

 

David Sutherland. 

 

David Sutherland is an artist with DC Thomson, responsible for The Bash Street Kids (1964-present), Dennis the Menace (1968-1998, still does work for annuals) for The Beano and the second version of Jak for The Dandy.

Dennis the Menace and Gnasher was first drawn by David Law (1951 – 1970), then David Sutherland (1970 – 1998). David Parkins took over in 1998, but due to his other work commitments, Nigel Parkinson and Jimmy Hansen have drawn the lion's share of the strips for some years.

 

 

Kevin F. Sutherland. 

 

is a comedian and comic strip creator. His TV work includes The Sitcom Trials and A-Z of Rude Health for ITV. Since 2005, Sutherland has written, produced and performed as The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

His comic strips appear in the D.C. Thomson comic The Beano, chiefly comedy adventures starring The Bash Street Kids, with Dennis The Menace, Roger the Dodger and Minnie the Minx. In 2007 he wrote Billy the Cat vs General Jumbo in The Beano Annual. In 2008 his Bash St Zombies original art was exhibited as part of the Comic Timing exhibition at Harrods in London.

Sutherland's previous comic strip work includes Star Trek Ghost Rider 2099 and Doctor Strange for Marvel Comics, UT which he also edited, Goosebumps for The Funday Times, educational illustration for Scholastic and Harper Collins, Zig and Zag's Zogazine, Red Dwarf Smegazine (both for Fleetway), and miscellaneous strips for Doctor Who Magazine, Oink, Viz, Gas, 2000AD, Warrior, Gladiators (based on the LWT TV series), The Worm The World's Longest Comic Strip and many more.

Since 2003, Sutherland has presented his Comic Art Masterclasses in schools and colleges, educating students from 7 years old to adult in the art of the comic strip. He appears regularly in the media as an authority on comics.

He created The Sitcom Trials in 1999, on stage in London and Bristol, at the Edinburgh Fringe 2001, 2002 and 2004, and in Hollywood in 2005. It continues on stage at the Leicester Square Theatre in London's West End.

From 1999-2004, Sutherland was the producer of the UK's Comic Festival in Bristol. Beginning as Comics 99, it included the National Comics Awards which he co-founded in 1997. He is also a stand up comedian and caricaturist. From 1994 to 2004, Sutherland was a regular compere at Bristol's Comedy Box where he developed the audience interactive game show Win Some Beer. In 2009 he made an attempt at the Guinness World Record for telling jokes in one hour, in support of Comic Relief. His paternal grandmother was the writer and photographer Jean Sutherland.

 

 

James Hall Thomson. 

 

James started his art carrer with the D.C. Thomson organisation in 1954 as a cartoonist and caricaturist. After six years he left for a short sojourn with Scottish Daily Mail in Edinburgh where he further developed his aptitude for caricature, moving briefly into the political arena.

Returning to Dundee he was to spend the next 24 years with Valentines of Dundee as a humorous greetings card designer. During this period his caricature work continued. Apart from the Glasgow Herald, Daily Record and Sunday Mail his main outlet was the Melody Maker being a weekly contributor for 13 years. Some 700 drawings later and with the advent of Punk his commission ended as new editorial staff took over.

In 1984 his drawings of the Beatles, previously published in Melody maker were installed in the "Art of the Beatles" exhibition in Liverpool. The exhibition travelled to Japan and Germany in 1988. His caricature work has also appeared in publications such as New Society, Jazz Journal, Celebrity, Film Review and on book-jackets and in advertising. He retired from commercial work in 1995

 

 

Jamie Smart. 

 

Jamie is a British comic artist and writer, most famous for his ten-issue comic series, Bear. He has also had his comic My Own Genie published in the popular children's magazine The Dandy. His current project is a four-issue mini-series called Ubu Bubu, a spin-off of his oneshot comic, Bohda Te.

 

 

Dave Eastbury. 

 

Ball Boy is a comicstrip in the UK comic The Beano and also the name of the main character. It first appeared in issue 1735, dated 18 October 1975. It features a five-a-side football team (who usually lose all their matches, often 37-0 in some cases) that includes:

  • Ball Boy - the captain of the team, Ball Boy bears resemblances to The Dandy's Owen Goal. He plays striker for the team. He has a minor part in The Beano Interactive DVD, playing football with a globe in a geography lesson.
  • Titch - A small boy who (ironically considering his height) usually plays in defence. Little is known of Titch, although he is given his own short strip in The Beano Annual 2002.
  • Dimmy - A defender, who is quite dim, hence his name. He looks a lot like Plug.
  • Benjy - He is a good player on the team, Benjy seems to be vice-captain and Ball Boy's best friend.
  • Goalie - the goalkeeper. This character is an anomaly in the sense that in some strips he is a superb goalkeeper and in others he is comically awful, letting in everything. There are a few strips where he just sits in the corner of the goal, reading, because the rest of the team can't get a shot on target.

Chandra Singh - just joined the team at the end of 2008

  • Freddie Fear (Son of a Witch), The Beano. 2001.

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hunt Emerson.

Cartoonist for Little Plum. Shown in the Beano 2001ish.

G. Hall.

The artist responsible for Calamity James and his pet Alexander Lemming, this Plug like boy was a comic character frequently seen in and around 2001 in The Beano. 

Carlos Cruz. 

 

The artist for The Sniper, other than this nothing found.  

Barrie Appleby.

 

As a child, Barrie Appleby dreamed of drawing for the Beano. When he grew up, that dream became a reality. As the comic book turns 65, the cartoonist tells of giving shape to Dennis the Menace and Roger the Dodger.

 
A 65 whoopee cushion salute
Like most people I first came across the Beano as a kid. From the age of six, I read both it and Dandy religiously. It's just like a dream to work for these comics.

The reason I enjoy doing this is that I never changed - I still laugh at the same things I laughed at as a kid. It's a great pleasure to laugh as I work, interpreting a good gag from the scriptwriters.

I think the Beano still sells after all these years because it epitomises British humour - it's very surreal with a lot of slapstick, which goes right back to Charlie Chaplin.

It appeals to that anarchic side of kids, the side that enjoys seeing someone get one over on adults. If somebody's trousers fall down or they get kicked up the arse, kids love it. I loved it at that age; it was the same with my kids and now with my grandchildren.

Britain of yesteryear?

Beano certainly doesn't depict a sweet world, nor is it from a kinder, gentler time. When DC Thomson launched the comic, it was during the Depression - a far harsher and crueller world than we live in now.

It has changed with the times as it can't be too far from contemporary society. Yes the characters look much the same as they always have, but now there are TVs, microwaves and you don't get kids getting whacked with a slipper for being naughty.

I don't go along with the politically correct idea that you can't show any violence. While I'd never show gratuitous cruelty to animals, I would have a cat and dog going at it hammer and tongs. In the same way, I wouldn't show a child being smacked, but I would show damage being done to Dad by the kid.

Love of reading

I remember my father being very disparaging about comics. But I've always believed that a lot of kids will not read books but they will read comics.

I read comics as a boy and it didn't stop me going on to read Beowulf in Old English. Comics are a good starting point, and that's why the Beano has even been used as a language teaching tool in Japan.

I came from what I guess would be called a deprived background. I grew up in the mining village of Grimethorpe - there wasn't a great deal of money around, my Dad worked down the pit, so we didn't have a great many books.

But I always had comics and these encouraged me to be a habitual reader. Comics didn't do me any harm as my father said they would.

I occasionally get into debates at the pub in my Suffolk village about who has the most important job. The farmers insist they do, as they grow food. But I make children laugh, and that must be one of the greatest jobs there is.

 

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3090659.stm 

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