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.