Australian and New Zealand Artists working in English Comics

[matthew emery]

In response to philcom55's suggestion on the footie forum I've started a thread for some information on Australasian artist's in English comics. I'm not aware of a large amount that worked over there, and I welcome suggestions of any from folk out there.

Australian Peter Foster lived in England briefly in the late seventies and early Eighties and worked for a short period at IPC before working DC Thompson for a dozen years.

Some of the Material he worked on:

The Mill Street Mob
The Bleak Street Bunch
Billy the Cat
Crag
We are United
Johnny Red Battle Holiday Special 1979
Ghosted for some humour strips like odd ball at IPC
Various strips for girls comics

He also did about a dozen issues of Commando and several issues of Football picture comic.

[paddybrown]

Australian lefty playwright Betty Roland wrote for Girl and Swift in the 50s, including "Angela Air Hostess".

Colin Wilson, who's drawn Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper for 2000AD, Young Blueberry in France and Star Wars in the States, is a New Zealander.

[philcom55]

...And, of course, the Barry McKenzie comic strip was written by Australian megastar Barry ('Dame Edna') Humphries (McKenzie's jaw being famously based on the Dandy's own Desperate Dan!).

- Phil Rushton

[dishes]

Is this Peter Foster's work?



If so, "a dozen" football picture story monthlies is an understatement. He did many many more that. He also drew the token adventure story in the 1989 Dandy Book, which was about foxhunting.

Association football and foxhunting.... not obvious subjects for an Australian artist to tackle, you might have supposed.

If that's not him, I'd like to know who this artist is. He has very flamboyant style.

[AndyB]

Yes, Peter certainly drew that story. Morris Heggie records in The Very Best of Black Bob that he wrote it as a Black Bob story, but retitled it as Rip as Peter's work "did not feel like Black Bob." Feedback from Keith Robson led to the creation of Young Black Bob the following year.

[matthew emery]

thanks for the comments,

thanks Paddy, I was completely unaware of Betty Roland.

I'll ask Peter about the football books, he doesn't have a clear recollection of all the things he worked on as often he would draw them, send them to DCT in the mail and he'd not receive any notification of their publication and in some instances the comics they were in would not make it to Australia.

he also did several years of an adventure newspaper strip for the Sydney sun and a comic adaption of a classic Aussie novel For the Term of His Natural Life in the mid eighties.

[philcom55]

the Barry McKenzie comic strip was written by Australian megastar Barry ('Dame Edna') Humphries

...Not forgetting (which I did) Bazza's artist Nicholas Garland, who spent part of his childhood in New Zealand though he was actually born in London.

- Phil R.

[matthew emery]

Thanks Phil, a hunt around my book shelf turned up a Barry Mckenzie collection, I was unaware of Garlands background, let alone that he is Alex Garlands dad.

Can anyone share a scan of a page from the Rip story in the 1989 Dandy Annual? I asked Peter about it but he could not recall it.

Peter was unsure of the exact amount of football picture library stories he did, there may have been some done by other artist's drawn in his style. We found a Crag and a Mill street Mob story that were ghosted by other artists to look very much like his work.

[dishes]

Here's the spread from "Rip" (Dandy Annual 1989). Interesting to find out it was written as a Black Bob story, I wondered at the time why they didn't jsut make it a Black Bob story but I see Mr Heggie's point.

[matthew emery]

thanks for the pics

that was a surprise for Peter, he does remember drawing those pages now, he had no idea it was published in the dandy annual though. if anyone's aware of other stories I havnt mentioned that he may have worked on please chime in.

[dishes]

Here are the Peter Foster-illustrated Football Picture Story Monthlies I have in my collection. There are fifteen, and there must be more he drew because there are huge gaps in my FPSM collection as you can see from the jumps in numbers.

7. Terror City: An unusual one in that there is almost no footer action. It's all about violence, thuggery and treachery off the pitch. It being early in the title's life I suppose they were experimenting with different story styles. (1986)

31. "High Rise Rovers": Kids on a rough council estate form a football team. (1987)

? "The Return of High Rise Rovers"- Yep. Back For More. (1989)

103 "High Rise Rovers In Europe"-The High Rise Rovers must have been a hit with readers, and they were certainly favourites of mine. Sadly they were getting a bit too old after the third story to continue playing as a youth team. (1990)

39. "We Want Football": Kid sent to a posh rugby-playing public school fights to get a soccer team going. (1988)

43: "The Rivals" (A We Are United Story) Flashback to the boyhood of Hedgehog Jones and Terry Evans. (1988)

57. "Rammer Reeves" Unemployed illiterate orphan, often misjudged because of his large bulk and muscles, makes good as a pro footballer. Warms the cockles of your heart.

"The Goalden Boys" (We Are United) United's Tricker Smart (a new player for the club who barely ever makes an appearance again) is in line the "top boot" trophy for best goalscorer in Europe, in stiff competion with an Italian. The struggle for the prestigious (and totally fictional) award threatens to overshadow the interests of the team as a whole (1989)

92. "The Iron Fist" Unpopular martinet player-manager whose late father was the much loved former manager. Eventually wins the respect of his players without softening an iota. One of the best. (1990)

97. "World Cup Wonder" (We Are United) united's Joe Pearson and Tug Wilson coach the arab Quarid World Cup Squad. They do well until beaten by (who else) an England team stuffed with United players. (1990)

107. "Taylor's Team" Bobby Charlton-type football hero becomes a manager on retirement and can't manage for toffee. He calls up his less romantic, more down-to-earth elder brother (a Jack Charlton-type character, he's even called Jack) to sort it out for him. (1990)

117: "Tug's Challenge" (We Are United). Tug becomes Player-Manager of another club. Lots of player-managers in these stories. (1991)

121: "We Are United" Ludicrous story where a playboy second hand car-dealer takes over United, sacks the coach and forces the manager to play the long-ball game and play patently useless players. He is arrested as a crook just in time for United to avoid relegation! (1991)


Where no number is given it means the cover has come off.

If Peter has no recollection of some of these and outright denies drawing them I'll happily post scans from them. A brilliant artist.

[Digifiend]

Return of High Rise Rovers is #63. The Goalden Boys is #69.
http://www.britishcomics.20m.com/foottitles.htm

[Shaqui]

Australian lefty playwright Betty Roland wrote for Girl and Swift in the 50s, including "Angela Air Hostess".

Mary Patchett (aka M.E. Patchett) was born in Sydney and raised in Australia apparently, but was living in London when she wrote 'Alice In Spaceland' for 'Princess' in the mid 1960s.

Does anyone know of any other comic material she wrote?

[dishes]

In my list of Peter Foster football comics I have, I forgot one:

"The Mean Machine": kid in a football-mad family becomes a striker for the team his family has always supported. Asks for a transfer when it is taken over by a nasty player-manager who turns it from a 'family club' to a 'mean machine'. Signs for local arch-rivals instead and is disowned as a turncoat by his family (except his mum).

[Digifiend]

No cover again? That's issue 81.