Help identify a couple of Wally Robertson drawn characters.

[stevezodiac]

At yesterday's Comic Mart I picked up 150 or so A4 roughs of Wally Robertson art. Most of it is from Film Fun as I can easily identify characters like Max Miller, George Formby and Frankie Howerd. However I have found loads of pages featuring a couple of characters I cannot identify. One is a country bumpkin referred to as Ferdy in the strips and there is even an inked drawing of him with three try out names. In the second post I have scanned in three pages of another character who has a brolly that he speaks to. These two characters don't seem to fit in with the Film Fun/Radio Fun inventory of characters so perhaps they are from a different comic or comics. Can anyone help. i am going to put these sketches into A4 wallets, one for each character and need to be able to label them properly.

[stevezodiac]

[stevezodiac]

I might as well spoil you. Here is a complete strip. Frankie Howerd I think although it doesn't look much like him.

[Kashgar]

I'll try to track down ID's for the others Steve but the 'Frankie Howerd' doesn't look much like him because it isn't him but Sydney Howard a music hall comedian and minor film star from the 1930's. In any case Frankie's surname was spelt differently Howerd rather than Howard.

[Lew Stringer]

Fascinating stuff! You can learn more about artwork from these roughs than from the finished pages. Marvelous purchase!

Interesting to see that farm hand character, and the various names they considered for him. Anyone know what they eventually settled on?

Lew

[Kashgar]

Ferdy the Farmhand was what they settled on Lew when the strip was published in Comic Cuts in 1947. This was a Wally Roberstson original as opposed to a strip that he took over from someone else e.g. the Sydney Howard strip from Film Fun which was originally drawn by Bill Radford when it first appeared in 1934.

[Lew Stringer]

Thanks Ray!

When is the next London comic mart? Sadly I couldn't make it to last weeks.

Lew

[philcom55]

Great stuff Steve, though it's a shame that the exact provenance of a lot of material like this was lost for good when Denis Gifford passed away. Robertson normally wrote his own scripts so I assume he must have submitted them in this form for editorial approval before going on to produce the finished artwork. As a matter of interest I have a similar sheet featuring Arthur Askey and I'd be greatly interested if Kashgar or anyone else could name the artist or writer responsible (of course Reg Parlett was Big-Hearted Arthur's best-known delineator, but this just doesn't look like his work to me):

I suppose it's even possible that Wally Robertson may have drawn this too as he was apparently considered to be one of the best 'ghosts' in the business during his years at AP, and was frequently called upon to duplicate the style of many of their top artists. In spite of this, however, his own style was ultimately judged to be too old-fashioned to publish anymore so, sadly, he had to turn to lettering instead in order to earn a living until his eventual retirement in 1974.

- Phil Rushton

[stevezodiac]

Tesco sells document binders with 40 A4 wallets inside for £1.28 each, a bargain, I picked up four of them on Monday night and, last night I went through all the Wally Robertson pencil pages putting them into character order. Mostly they were Sidney Howard, Max Miller and Ferdy the Farmhand (thanks for providing his name). But there are couple of pages of Arthur Askey, a couple of "Waddles" (Weary Waddles?) and a strip featuring two characters - possibly Laurie and Trailer?. Also "Tommy" but not sure if Trinder or Handley. Interestingly "Tommy" featured in one set of drawings that were also used for Max Miller. Seems Wally R had tried both characters with the same script, see example below. Have a load more of these drawings that I bought a few years back so will have to sort them into character order too but they are already in wallets (really old ones) so will have to remove them all and repack them in cleaner newer wallets.





All I need to do now is track down the various comics these strips finally appeared in. Don't think time is on my side though.

[stevezodiac]

Thanks Ray!

When is the next London comic mart? Sadly I couldn't make it to last weeks.

Lew

The next London Marts are Sunday 19 April and Sunday 17 May. They are usually for US comics sellers- the UK sellers only being there two or three times a year. The flier does have a web address if you want to make sure when next combined US/UK mart is. Its www.comicmart.co.uk

Just looked at the website, not much info but the next two marts are US comics dealers. Mind you there is always a bit of British stuff there. Phil Clark has loads of original UK art.

[Kashgar]

Great stuff Steve, though it's a shame that the exact provenance of a lot of material like this was lost for good when Denis Gifford passed away. Robertson normally wrote his own scripts so I assume he must have submitted them in this form for editorial approval before going on to produce the finished artwork. As a matter of interest I have a similar sheet featuring Arthur Askey and I'd be greatly interested if Kashgar or anyone else could name the artist or writer responsible (of course Reg Parlett was Big-Hearted Arthur's best-known delineator, but this just doesn't look like his work to me):

askey.jpg

I suppose it's even possible that Wally Robertson may have drawn this too as he was apparently considered to be one of the best 'ghosts' in the business during his years at AP, and was frequently called upon to duplicate the style of many of their top artists. In spite of this, however, his own style was ultimately judged to be too old-fashioned to publish anymore so, sadly, he had to turn to lettering instead in order to earn a living until his eventual retirement in 1974.

- Phil Rushton

Hi Phil, I think this is John Jukes who drew Arthur Askey in the mid-1940's between Reg Parlett and Alex Akerbladh.

[stevezodiac]

Did Roy Wilson ever draw Arthur Askey? I picked up a 1940 Radio Fun on Sunday and Arthur is the cover strip. Looks like Wilson.

[philcom55]

Hi Phil, I think this is John Jukes who drew Arthur Askey in the mid-1940's between Reg Parlett and Alex Akerbladh.

Thanks Kash, that's really useful as I'd never even heard of Jukes or Akerbladh. Incidentally, I don't know if it makes any difference but the smiling chap in the background of that section is Dickie Henderson, which may place the strip in the 1950s when they appeared together on TV in 'Before Your Very Eyes'.

- Phil Rushton

[Kashgar]

Apologies Phil I thought your piece of artwork came from Radio Fun but it seems that it might well have come from T V Fun instead in which case the artist is more likely to be Arthur Martin (It does still look like John Jukes though). If it is T V Fun and it was published I'll be able to track it down for you as I've got a full set of that paper. I'll keep you posted.

[Kashgar]

Hi Phil despite what I initially said on reflection I think your piece of artwork is actually a 1950's effort by Arthur Martin and not a 1940's John Jukes even though the similarities originally led me in that direction. The way that the figure of Arthur Askey is drawn is pure Arthur Martin once he was brought to mind.