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.