Ken Reid (comics)

Ken Reid(December 18, 1919 – February 2, 1987) was a British comic artist and writer, best known as the co-creator ofRoger the DodgerandJonahforThe BeanoandFaceacheforJet(later appeared inBuster).

Ken Reid
Born	(1919-12-18)18 December 1919 Manchester,England, UK
Died	2 February 1987(1987-02-02)(aged 67) Pendlebury,Greater Manchester,England, UK
Nationality	British
Area(s)	Cartoonist,Writer, Artist
Notable works	Roger the Dodger Jonah Faceache Fudge the Elf
Awards	Best Writer and Best Artist,Society of Strip Illustration,1978

Biography

Born in Manchester, Reid drew from an early age. At the age of nine he was diagnosed with a tubercular hip and was confined to bed for six months, during which time he drew constantly.He left school at thirteen and won a free scholarship to Salford Art School,but was expelled shortly before graduation after being caught in a local café when he should have been in class.He set himself up in a studio as a commercial artist, with little success until his father offered to act as his agent, and bluffed his way into an interview with the art editor of theManchester Evening News.Reid was invited to submit ideas for a new children's section for the paper, and proposedThe Adventures of Fudge the Elf,which first appeared in 1938 and ran until 1963,with a break from 1941 to 1946 when Reid was on National Service.

After a brief period contributing toComic Cutsin the late 1940s, Reid proposed a full colour strip calledZoovilleto theEagle.At the same time,Dundee-based publishersD. C. Thomson & Co.,to whom he had been introduced by his brother-in-law, fellow cartoonistBill Holroyd,invited him to contribute toThe Beano.Their managing editor,R. D. Low,travelled to Manchester to discuss a proposed new strip,Roger the Dodger,with him. Reid accepted their offer, andRogerfirst appeared inThe Beanoon 18 April 1953.

Over the next decade he drew a number of successful strips forThe Beanoand its sister comicThe Dandy,includingJonah,a strip about a jinxed sailor who brings bad luck to every ship he sails on, written byWalter Fearne.Reid later recalled how much Fearne's scripts made him laugh, but he made many visual alterations to them, cramming as many as thirty panels to a page.

In 1964 Reid and fellow artistLeo Baxendaleleft DC Thomson to work forOdhams Press' new titlesWham!andSmash,which allowed Reid to write as well as draw his strips. He began to explore his interests in "comic horror" and gruesome imagery, which would characterize the latter part of his career, withFrankie SteinandThe Nervs,the latter of which he took over from Baxendale.Frankie Steinwas a goofy take onFrankenstein's monster,about a harmless Frankie living with his mad scientist father, Professor Cube, at Mildew Manor. Frankie doesn't know his own strength and constantly ends up breaking everything. The Professor, meanwhile, is always scheming, and failing, to rid himself of Frankie.Frankie Steinran inWham!until the comic's cancellation in 1968.

One of his first strips forSmash!,in 1966, wasThe Queen of the Seas,a short-lived masterpiece of comic artistry. The two main characters were drawn in the likeness of comediansStan LaurelandOliver Hardy,and the strip's humour was based on their movies.

ForPow!in 1967, Reid createdDare-a-Day Davy,a character who could not resist dares set for him by readers. One episode, in which Davy was dared to resurrectFrankenstein's monster,was too gruesome for the editors and eventually saw print in the UK small press magazineWeird Fantasy,published byDavid Britton,in 1969.)

Reid's work onThe Nervsin 1968–1969 turned it into an extremely surreal, even visceral, strip, achieving a rare level of hilarity and bawdiness. Its subversive presentation of comical horror again alarmed IPC's management.

In 1971 he createdFaceache,a boy who couldscrungehis face into any shape, forJet,which later moved toBusterwhere it continued until Reid's death. Reid revivedFrankie Steinin 1973 inShiver and Shake;the strip was taken over in 1974 byRobert NixoninWhoopee!,with Frankie ultimately becoming "editor" ofMonster Fun.) Through the 1970s and 1980s he created horror-themed strips for a variety of comics, includingCreepy CreationsforShiver and Shake,Martha's Monster Make-upforMonster Fun,andTom Horror's WorldforWhoopee!.Martha's Monster Make-upwas similar toFaceache– about a girl with a mysterious jar of magical cosmetic cream that temporarily transformed someone's face into that of a hideous monster. The strip survived the end ofMonster Funand moved toBusterin 1976.

Reid was named Best Writer and Best Artist by theSociety of Strip Illustrationin 1978.

On 2 February 1987, while drawing a page ofFaceacheat his home inPendlebury,Greater Manchester,Reid suffered a stroke and died in hospital.

Bibliography

Manchester Evening News

• The Adventures of Fudge the Elf(1938–1941, 1946–1963)

Comic Cuts

• Super Sam
• Billy Boffin
• Foxy

D.C. Thomson

• The Beano
  • Roger the Dodger,1953–1959
  • Grandpa,1955–1957
  • Jonah,1958–1963
  • Jinx,1963–1964
• The Dandy
  • Little Angel Face,1954–1955
  • Bing-Bang Benny,1956-1960
  • Ali Ha-Ha and the 40 Thieves,1960–1963
  • Big Head and Thick Head,1963–1966

Odhams/IPC

• Frankie Stein,Wham!,laterShiver and Shake,1964–1968, 1973–1974
• Jasper the Grasper,Wham!,laterCor!!,1965–1972
• Queen of the Seas,Smash!,1966
• Dare-a-Day Davy,Pow!,1967-1968
• The Nervs,Smash!,1968-1969
• The Robot Maker,Cor!!,from 1970
• Faceache,Jet,laterBuster,1971–1987
• Wanted Posters,Whoopee!,1974
• Martha's Monster Make-up,Monster Fun,1975–1976, moved toBuster
• Tom Horror's World,Whoopee!,1981–1983

External links

• Fudge the Elf
• Comics UK biography of Ken Reid (1919-1987)
• Reid's bannedDare-A-Day DavyFrankenstein strip,published inWeird Fantasy#1 in 1969, Savoy Pictures website