Roy Wilson

[Peter Gray]

Love to know more about him..after hearing Lew saying he is our top comic artist in the top five..

He inspired so many artists..Robert Nixon for one..
what inspired him..? Disney?
he was great at circles..making it 3D..
love to see more of his work..its sad that so few people know about him..or collect his work..

Anyone here collect or enjoy his work..
sadly I don't have any comics from that era..30's..40's..

[Lew Stringer]

He inspired so many artists..Robert Nixon for one..
what inspired him..? Disney?

I doubt it. Roy Wilson was drawing comics before Disney cartoons made an impact.

There was a hardback book published on him years ago, The Comic Art of Roy Wilson. Worth tracking down.

I'll run a blog on him one day soon.

More info: http://lambiek.net/artists/w/wilson_roy.htm

Lew

[stevezodiac]

He drew a great strip in the Wonder featuring a cat and dog, half page black and white but it was superb. Wilson drew great animals. I have hundreds of pre 1950 comics but not a single Happy Days - so hard to find.

[NP]

Roy Wilson is THE funny animal comic artist, his short run on the photogravure Happy Days is for many the pinnacle of the British comic. No one could draw a smiling pig like him! I agree with Lew the book he mentions is practically compulsory if you want to see how much joy a comic page can give!

[philcom55]

Believe it or not this masthead artwork for the Christmas 1943 issue of Wonder (formerly Funny Wonder) didn't meet Wilson's own high standards - so he redrew the whole thing!

- Phil R.

[Peter Gray]

Love to see more of his work..I have the comic art of Reg Parkett..love to have the Roy Wilson one..

He really knew how to draw a laugh..all those pleasing happy wrinkles..
thanks Phil..you've wetted my appetite...

It is very telling how Roy..Bertie Brown (Chaplin) and others can be forgotten has generations pass...will people in 60 years remember Robert Nixon..Dudley D Watkins even..etc.. Taste has changed and the Film Fun type comic isn't so popular by collectors or new comic fans..I'd say 60's..70's..80's era are in at the moment..
I hope we don't forget there wonderful work..

[philcom55]

For anyone who's interested this is how the printed version looked:


...It's fascinating to look at the subtle differences made to hands, expressions, etc. - all for the better! (Incidentally the three characters are Pitch & Toss with Captain Codseye):

- Phil R.

[Peter Gray]

they are laughing even more in the finished piece..love it..

[Lew Stringer]

It is very telling how Roy..Bertie Brown (Chaplin) and others can be forgotten has generations pass...will people in 60 years remember Robert Nixon..Dudley D Watkins even..etc.. Taste has changed and the Film Fun type comic isn't so popular by collectors or new comic fans..I'd say 60's..70's..80's era are in at the moment..
I hope we don't forget there wonderful work..

Sadly, some comic fans only seem interested in comics of their own childhood, and not the history of comics overall. British comics fandom has never been huge but there was an interest in 1930s/40s comics about 30 years ago because there were collectors around who had grown up with such comics such as Denis Gifford and his peers. They could therefore write from first hand knowledge about prewar and wartime comics.

Since Denis passed on there's been far less written on that era, apart from occasional articles in Book and Magazine Collector perhaps. Webmaster of this very site, Al, has also kept the flame burning if you check out some of the scans in the Full Strip section:

http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/FullStrip/FullStripMain.asp

Apart from the info I gained from Denis' books my knowledge of prewar/wartime comics is patchy but I will endeavor to spotlight those comics on my blog this year. The development and evolution of British comics is fascinating, - every generation has its own style of comic, - and it's important to record it for posterity.

By the way Peter, about 25 years ago there was a great book on the history of Film Fun published. (Not one of Gifford's but still very good.) I was so absorbed by it I read the whole thing in a day!

Lew

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

PETER: I have the book that was dedicated to ROY WILSON [published around the early 80s]: I'll try and get it looked out: you'd love it, mate! First saw this book while visiting D C THOMSON, and I immediately compared his work with the very cream of THOMSON: there were NO arguments from the BEANO veteran who showed me ROY'S stuff!

[stevezodiac]

Although I grew up in the 60s I have managed to collect probably over a thousand comics from before 1950 going back to the early 1900s. I love them. There is something special about them. I collect any Victorian magazines I can lay my hands on as well as newspapers. I still remember coming across a 1930s Larks a few years back that was in near mint condition! Must have been kept under a carpet or something.

[Brendan McGuire]

Peter, if you can possibly get The Comic Art of Roy Wilson then do so. I promise you, you will not be disappointed. If you can't find it on Ebay then try ABE Books.
Book details are as follows:
The Comic Art of Roy Wilson by Alan Clark and David Ashford, Midas Books, 1983, Kent.
ISBN 0 85936 283 3

There is a beautiful sequence on page 68 where Pitch and Toss' pet octopus, Occy, is nailing up a sign. He hits one of his tentacles with a hammer. It has me in fits every time I look at it.

[Brendan McGuire]

Peter, I hope this link works. Get your twelve quid ready.
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/Searc ... roy+wilson

[Brendan McGuire]

Incidentally, the chap to the right of Frank Hampson, in the banner heading at the top of this very page, is none other than Mr. Wilson himself.
I shall shutup now.

[Peter Gray]

Ok I'm trying to order it now..thanks for the link..