George Parlett the brother of Reg..

[Peter Gray]

just done a post on George..

http://petergraycartoonsandcomics.blogs ... other.html

Other than Basil and Bert and Jolly Jingles...what else did George draw?
also a bit more info on him.couldn't find much on the internet..I would like to correct that..

thanks for any extra info..

[Digifiend]

Oink the Seal in TV Century 21 Stingray Special (later reprinted in Stingray Monthly), Supercar in TV Century 21 Summer Extra, both first published in 1965.
http://www.technodelic.pwp.blueyonder.c ... ecials.htm

[Kashgar]

He drew loads of stuff Peter, both serious and comic. A rare artist in that his comic and more serious work were split into two distinct phases in his life with his comic work, which I think is far superior to his other later adventure strip stuff, virtually drying up in the late 1950's Elder brother of Reg of course and from memory I think he died in 1981 but I'll check on that.

[philcom55]

George was always particularly good at drawing pretty girls, as can be seen in this detail of the original artwork for a 'Penguin Patrol' page that appeared in Sun during 1952:



Incidentally, one humorous strip he drew in the 1960s was 'The Tellybugs' in Smash!

- Phil Rushton

[Peter Gray]

thanks all for more info and scans..

I only have one early issue of Smash..number 10.


it might not be right?

[Lew Stringer]

George was always particularly good at drawing pretty girls, as can be seen in this detail of the original artwork for a 'Penguin Patrol' page that appeared in Sun during 1952:

Crikey! George Parlett invented the mini-skirt 15 years ahead of its time!

Interestingly you can see he had two attempts at drawing the pretty girl, as that art shows a patch over the figure. (Fantastic piece of original art by the way!)

It's curious how British humour comics from AP featured so many women flashing a bit of leg in the 1940s and 1950s, - many from the inkwells of George and Reg Parlett, - but this was frowned upon by Fleetway by the time we reached the more liberated 1960s. Another reason why older readers started drifting away from the comics perhaps?

Lew

[Peter Gray]

Of course Lily Pop in the 70's helped comic sales of Cheeky..

[Digifiend]

thanks all for more info and scans..

I only have one early issue of Smash..number 10.


it might not be right?

Who copied who I wonder? The premise of that strip is identical to Ma Kelly's Telly in Sparky.

[philcom55]

Interestingly you can see he had two attempts at drawing the pretty girl, as that art shows a patch over the figure.

Yes, you can just see the original if you hold the page up to a light. With old artwork I'm always really tempted to peel off any patches like this in order to reveal unpublished drawings that haven't been seen by anyone but the artist and his editor; the trouble is I don't want to damage the overdrawing either! Intriguingly there's also a patch on the little sparrow's word balloon in the bottom right-hand corner, while yet another patch actually seems to have fallen off the corked horn with its 'shrieks of silence' as you can still see its outline and the pencilled cross with which an editor rejected the now-visible original (unfortunately I don't own the printed comic in order to check how it was changed).

- Phil Rushton

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

PATCHES are usually added by the cartoonist himself after deciding that the original version was a bit lacking, so I would just leave it be, Phil! There's nothing more heartbreaking for an artist than the thought of having to start the entire page all over again: I must admit, I never even knew of this practice until I learned a lot of the tricks of the trade querying IAN GRAY [endlessly, and he was always patient with my limitless questioning.] He told me that Davey Law used this method frequently, such was his quest for perfection, and sometimes he removed ---or pasted over---an entire frame.

Anyone who has sifted through original comics artwork will be aware that this practise is very common, and there is no shame in it, as a lot of the very best artists use this method, which is fine for the generally lower-quality paper stock and reproduction used in comics....though I expect any 'digital' modern comics artist has a more seamless option regarding mistakes.


Regarding George Parletts' patch over the drawing of a young gal, this is hardly surprizing, given that young women of the attractive variety are notoriously difficult to draw [unless you are lucky enough to have a natural aptitude for this]: ironically, one of my own strips I was doing this morning has an inking I'm less than enamored with, and I'm toying with the idea of the old 'patch' routine. I've never done this for years, due to my usual practice of putting 'difficult' details together at different stages.

[philcom55]

Interestingly I have a page from AP's Thriller Picture Library adaptation of 'The Count of Monte Cristo' drawn by Thomas Heath Robinson (brother of the more famous William) where every single illustration of the hero's head was carefully patched over and redrawn by Pat Nicolle. The odd thing is that Heath Robinson's original faces (visible on my page because the patches have fallen off) seem perfectly fine to me. Presumably the editor just wanted a look that was more in keeping with the house style.

- Phil Rushton

[Lew Stringer]

Who copied who I wonder? The premise of that strip is identical to Ma Kelly's Telly in Sparky.

Smash did it first, in 1966.

Lew

[Kashgar]

Had a bit of a rummage and came up with the following.
George Parlett was born in 1902 and died in 1981.
His two most famous strips for the AP were probably Basil and Bert (Jester 1932-1940) which he took over from the Don Newhouse/Roy Wilson art team and Peggy - Pride of the Force (Larks) which he took over from his brother Reg. George was renowned for his ability to draw pretty girls like PC Peggy and this to a large extent would inform those strips that would take up the latter part of his career as a light adventure strip artist working mainly for the D C Thomson girls papers.( In fact he would draw a strip called Peggy the Police Girl for Mandy) Other Thomson girls paper strips included A Bed called Fred and Lydia and the Little People for Bunty and Queen Irena for Debbie. ( He also occasionally drew for Victor eg Kenny Carter's Kayo Kids)
In the late 1940's and 1950's he worked for a number of publishers most notably on Miller's Young Marvelman title.
In the late 1950's he did try to amalgamate his straight/comic style on occasion with one example being his stint on the Harry Secombe strip in Film Fun. But some of his best comic work, in my eyes at least, was that done for the Radio Fun comic feature pages Radio Fun Music Hall and In Town Tonight in the 1940's
His comic style lacked the fluidity of that of his brother Reg and his stronger line had more in keeping with the work of Charlie Pease but this was no bad thing in my opinion.
One interesting quirk that George Parlett did have was that he would often draw himself into his own comic strips as a subsidiary character. The giveaway being his mop of curly blonde hair which, very early on in his comic career, had earned him the nickname "Froth" around the AP editorial offices.

[Peter Gray]

Must try and get some Radio Fun's sometime..

Thanks Kashgar for all the info and for everyone else..
There was nothing much about George on the internet and now that has been changed.

I've update blog post on George..

Also found a comic page by Reg that the Buster website hasn't heard of..
The Bully Buzzard 1974.

[Lew Stringer]

Must try and get some Radio Fun's sometime..

It's my favourite comic from "before my time". Some really good humour material in there.

Lew