It's 'Im. The life and times of Ken Reid.

Ken Reid was another one of those brilliant British comic artists of the middle twentieth century. Reid continues to astound me for the depth and quality of his comic illustrations. He had the ability to take even a mediocre script and turn it into something wonderful.

Reid, born in Manchester in 1919, turned out some of the best and funniest comic artwork ever seen here in Britain. Capable of capturing so much detail combined with a brilliant wit and a natural sense of the absurd.

He made his first appearance in the Manchester Evening News, where he created and drew the strip, Fudge the Elf. This series ran for 35 years from 1938 until 1963.

In the early 1950's Reid was on the lookout for more work. Via his brother in law, Ken Holyrod, Reid was introduced to DC Thompson and was asked to contribute a new character to the Beano, Roger The Dodger. Roger debuted in 1953.  Reid also drew Jinx for the Beano and Bing Bang Benny and ali Ha Ha for the Dandy. These sets would be followed up by an even more popular character and perhaps the one which would define Reid's work for many.

This creation was Jonah, a seagoing buffoon who has the uncanny ability to sink any vessel he touches. It was Reid's brilliant sense of humour coupled with his fine draughtsmanship (look at the detail on the ship) and the ability to show the look of absolute terror on all the poor unfortunate victims who happen to have the misfortune of Jonah crossing their path.

Like Leo Baxendale, Reid would quit DC Thompson - departing in 1964. Lured over by his old friend, Baxendale, to Odhams where the page rates were better than at DCT, Reid would go on to create further characters including FrankieStein, Queen Of The Seas and The Nervs (a set he took over from Leo). Later Reid would move to IPC where he created Faceache, a boy who could use a strange ability called Scrunging to change his appearance into a myriad number of horrific monstrous creatures.

It would be Faceache that Reid would finish up drawing. In 1987 while working on a Faceache set, Reid suffered a stroke and passed away.

His work influenced many artists over the years and he continues to be sited as a favourite of comic fans in the UK.

An absolute genius.

More info:

Books

The Best of British Comic Art - Alan Clark (1989) Boxtree - Excellent chapter on Reid's work

Web

Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Reid_%28comics%29  - a useful primer with an outline of Reid's life.

Tribute to Dandy 75th.

A little bit more work that I've been developing recently. With the news that the Dandy is to close, I decided to do a small tribute. Rather than concentrate on Dan, Korky or co, I felt it would be more interesting to update an older character.

Jimmy and his Grockle was a strip that first appeared in Dandy number 1 back on the 4th December 1937. Drawn by James Clark, it featured a boy who is sent an egg by an uncle which then hatches out into an anthropomorphic dragon with fiery breath and an excellent right hook.

My modern interpretation keeps a similar premise but brings it up to date using a misadventure on an internet auction site. It's still a bit of a work in progress - I need to add some cuts and highlights to my work before it is ready.

Enjoy

Roy Wilson: Another British Comics Talent

I often complain that we in Britain fail to recognise our illustrators like they do on the continent. This is  true of cartoonists and in particular within that section of cartooning: children's comics.

There is a prevailing attitude that because comics are made for children, the work done by the various artists and writers is merely throwaway or inconsequental. Few realise how much time and effort is taken to create the stories and lay out the panels to combine the elements of humour or pathos within the story. Then there is the skill of inking and colouring, the latter in the days before Photoshop meant breaking out the tubes of watercolour or gouache.

It is why, as an aspiring comic artist myself, I am in awe of the guys who produced this work (and still do). And none more so than Roy Wilson, who has been rightly titled the Walt Kelly of Britain.

Now it's probable that you're saying "Who?" Well Roy, or to give his full name, Royston Warner Wilson (They don't give kids names like that anymore!) was a cartoonist who during his heyday in the 1930's and 1940's was probably one of the best in the industry.

Born in Kettering in 1900,  Roy studied at the Norwich School of Art. In 1920 he met fellow cartoonist Don Newhouse and worked as an apprentice to him. In the later 1920's Wilson branched out on his own, becoming one of Amalgamated Press' top cartoonists, a position he would retain right through to AP's decline at the end of the 1950's (when it essentially evolved into IPC). His death in 1965 was a great loss to the comics community.

Here's a selection of his works.

Roy was a master of watercolour and his covers contain so much detail. This is an adapted cover from a book on his life and work.

He was also a proficient inker. It's easy to see why his work is often compared to Walt Kelly. This is such a beautiful example.

Wilson's comic covers were a tour de force. It's hard to imagine this riot of colour was published back    
             in 1938,  just before the dark clouds of the Second World War would envelop Europe.

Wilson was a skilled draughtsman, but he also had that rare ability to show movement and life in his characters. These model sheets were produced for a comic strip in the 1950's called Smarty, about a black and white alley cat. Wilson went to a huge amount of trouble to get the look of the cat right, developing these wonderful model sheets. The strip only ran for a few months in TV Comic. These
                                            could almost be animators model sheets. Beautiful.

George the Jolly Gee Gee from Radio Fun. Just look at the horse's expression in panel 5 - Wilson would have made a fine animator as well as a cartoonist judging by his ability to capture expression.

Sources

The Comic Art of Roy Wilson by Alan Clark & David Ashford. Midas Books (1983). Long out of print but the definitive history of this wonderful artist.

Well that's all this week folks. Ken Reid will definitely follow next time.

T S Sullivant: A forgotten genius

Of all the comic artists I've discussed so far, most are well known. However, T S Sullivant seems to have been generally forgotten by most, perhaps with the exception of slightly geekier animators and illustrators like myself. I'm not too sure why this should be as the man was nothing short of a genius, possibly even an American equivalent of Tenniel or Grandville.

Sullivant lived from 1854 to 1926. An American, he was born in Columbus, Ohio. Some of his work would appear in the American satirical magazine, Puck, an equivalent of the British 'Punch' magazine. He was greatly influenced by AB Frost, a contemporary of his who worked in a similar style of using exaggerated forms. (I'll look at Frost in a future post, as his work is every bit as fine as Sullivant's). Like Frost, Sullivant was a master of pen and ink illustrations, using delicate cross hatching to render his figures and backgrounds.

Where Sullivant excelled was in his caricatures of animals. He was one of the first to really create a modern anthropomorphic look to his creatures - particularly his use of more rounded forms which would be emulated by animators at the Disney studio in particular in the 1920's and 1930's and later on by comic strip artists from Walt Kelly to Bill Watterson.

There's also a real attention to detail - despite the simplification of forms that Sullivant uses, the anatomy is still spot on. He also added a dynamism to his animals - compare this to a Tenniel from the 1870's which while competent seems staid and a little old fashioned (that isn't to degrade Tenniel - he too was a talented illustrator, just in a different way - I'll have a review of his work in a few weeks). He also seemed to pay close attention to movement, his animal characters seem animated - flowing with life and energy.

TS Sullivant

John Tenniel 

                                                                                                          From Alice In Wonderland

His human caricatures were also well observed, although perhaps some of the stereotypes are a little crude compared to today's more liberal minds.

Sullivant's work had a significant impact on many in the early American animation industry as well as on a number of comic artists, which makes his work all the more important to scholars of animation and comics history.

Until recently it was next to impossible to find any meaningful information on Sullivant, but through the dedication of a number of enthusiasts, a number of good articles have been written and many of his drawings have been reproduced on the web for future generations to enjoy. They're certainly going into my morgue file.

Biblography and further reading

http://animationresources.org/?p=718      - Good all round introduction to Sullivant's work with a number of links to blogs highlighting more of Sullivant's life.

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/t-s-sullivant.html  - Andreas Deja, an animator, who admits he's nuts about Sullivant and has posted a number of wonderful images, a few of which, I swiped for this article (sorry).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Sullivant  - Biography of Sullivant's life and some images.


Next along - Back to blighty - it's not 'Im.... but it is.... Ken Reid.

See you next week chums.

Farewell Dandy

So its true. After a few days of rumour and conjecture, DC Thompson have confirmed that the Dandy will close on its 75th anniversary, the 4th of December 2012. With sales having fallen to an average of 8,000 copies during the final six months of 2011 (the figures for the first half of 2012 are yet to be released, but I suspect that too will make for grim reading) it seems the writing is on the wall for this iconic comic.

The biggest blow is to all the writers, artists and designers who work on the comic - and in particular to the freelance contributors (who are not tied to DCT so if the work dries up - well that's one less client to work for). They may not number in the thousands or even the hundreds but its still a blow nonetheless to Britain's comic art community.

The greatest irony is that since it's 2010 relaunch, the publication has been one of the best things on the market with graphically brilliant strips, good gag writing and a real sense of anarchy - indeed it truly felt like a 2010's equivalent of the comic of the 1960s and 1970's, constantly pushing the boundaries of good taste and comic violence (which every children's comic should do in my view). It's a testament to the hard work that Editor, Craig Graham along with Jamie Smart and all the other writers, artists and designers, have put in to the comic to make it relevant and fresh for today's youth.

But sadly, it seems it's not to be. Low sales figures show that and despite what someone like me thinks, the vast majority of the public did not seem to agree and stopped buying the Dandy. It's not my nature to look for blame, it's likely a mixture of factors have combined over time from shop availability and presentation to the old evils of the TV, Computer Games and The Internet. It should be noted that the more conservative Beano still holds up with close to 40,000 copies sold every week, so perhaps kids prefer the older strips like Dennis The Menace after all.

The Dandy will move into a new realm in 2013, the digital domain. DCT promise some exciting things for the brand next year, but whether this translates into new strips and artwork or simply a Dandy portal with reprints and games, well we'll have to wait and see.

So for print at least, its Farewell Korky. Adios Dan, Goodbye Winker. Time to go to the great big press in the sky.

Anubis On The Road: Cover mock up

After a bit of planning, I've come up with the final idea for my cover for my small press comic, which I hope to have completed by the end of the summer. The intention is to create a sixteen page short story - so far eight pages down, eight to go. I decided to have a bit of a break from the main story and have a go at designing the cover. Rather than going down the road of inking and then colouring on a graphics program such as Photoshop, I felt it would be more interesting to try to hand colour and letter the cover to give it a bit more of a handmade look. This mock up should help in the positioning of elements as well as different line thickness to use to create a sense of depth to my work. I'm fairly happy with the result so I'll do some simple colour tests with markers and paints to judge what works best before working on the final cover.

That's all for now.
                                   

Animal Crackers at the Cartoon Museum

The Cartoon Museum in Bloomsbury, London has just opened a new exhibition looking at how cartoonists, animators and comic artists have depicted animals over the years. From greats such as Sir John Tenniel and Ronald Searle through to modern artists such as Steve Bell, Martin Rowson and Simon Tofield (of Simon's Cat fame), this is a fun filled exhibition for all the family with a veritable menagerie of animals and furry frolics.

The exhibition runs until the 21st October 2012 and entry is £5.50 for adults, £4 concessions, £3 for students and free to under 18s. Do come along.

More info

http://www.cartoonmuseum.org/


Bye for now.