Mike Western | |
---|---|
Born | Southampton, Hampshire, England | 4 February 1925
Died | 13 May 2008 83) | (aged
Nationality | British |
Area(s) | Artist |
Mike Western (b. Southampton, 4 February 1925; d. 13 May 2008) [1] was a British comics artist. He worked as a clean-up artist for GB Animation after military service in the Second World War, and later at Halas and Batchelor on their 1954 film adaptation of Animal Farm . In the early 1950s he joined fellow former GB Animation artists Ron ''Nobby'' Clark and Eric Bradbury at Amalgamated Press, drawing adventure strips for Knock-Out , including the western Lucky Logan and the aviation series Johnnie Wingco. [2]
In 1960 he moved to TV Express , where he drew TV tie-ins No Hiding Place and Biggles, the latter in colour. [2] In 1962 he began drawing for Buster , including The Leopard from Lime Street , on which his pencils were inked by Bradbury, [3] [4] When Britain Froze, World in Peril, and The Star of Fortune. [5] The same year he joined the newly launched Valiant , a title he would be associated with for the next thirteen years. One of his most notable strips there was The Wild Wonders (which ran 1968–1973), written by Tom Tully, about a pair of wild boys, brought up by animals, who turn out to be fantastic athletes, for which he used a semi-cartoony style which was much imitated. [2] Other strips Western worked on included Jack O' Justice and The Duke of Dry Gulch. [5] Valiant featured covers on historical topics, and Western drew over 500 of these. [6]
In 1975 he moved to Battle Picture Weekly , where he reverted to a grittier style and drew John Wagner's Darkie's Mob [7] [8] and HMS Nightshade, as well as The Sarge and Tully's The Team That Went to War. [9] He did some work in romance comics, but was not comfortable there, [4] and drew two covers for 2000 AD in 1977 and 1981. [10] [ failed verification ] He drew Baker's Half-Dozen for short-lived sports title Speed in 1980, then Topps on Two Wheels and Golden Boy for Tiger , and Computer Warrior , The Hard Men, Shadow and The Avenger for the relaunched Eagle . He drew Billy's Boots for Scorcher and Roy of the Rovers for four years, as well as the Roy of the Rovers daily strip in the Daily Star in 1992–93. He then retired from comics, with the exception of a strip in a theatre magazine in 1997–2000, and concentrated on painting and magazine illustration. He died in 2008, aged 83, having been confined to bed for a few months following a heart attack and a stroke. [1] [2] [6] [11]
John Wagner is an American-born British comics writer. Alongside Pat Mills, he helped revitalise British comics in the 1970s, and continues to be active in the British comics industry, occasionally also working in American comics. He is the co-creator, with artist Carlos Ezquerra, of the character Judge Dredd.
Battle Picture Weekly was a British weekly boys' war comic published by IPC Magazines from 8 March 1975 to 23 January 1988, when it merged with the new incarnation of Eagle after 644 issues. Most stories were set in World War II, with some based on other conflicts, while factual features also focused on warfare.
Tiger was a weekly British comics periodical published by Amalgamated Press, Fleetway Publications and IPC Magazines from 11 September 1954 to 30 March 1985. The title was initially launched in a large tabloid size to mimic newspapers; while it featured some action-adventure stories Tiger contained a large number of sport strips. The most famous of these was "Roy of the Rovers", which debuted in the first issue and was the comic's most popular feature, eventually transferring to its own comic in 1975. Tiger would go on to become one of the company's longest-running titles, notching 1573 issues before being merged with Eagle in 1985. Over the course of its run, Tiger featured columns by numerous famous sports figures, including Ian Botham, Geoff Boycott, Tony Greig, Trevor Francis, and Charlie Nicholas.
Tom Tully was a noted British comic writer, mostly of sports and action-adventure stories. He was the longest-running writer of the popular football-themed strip Roy of the Rovers, which he wrote for much of Roy Race's playing career until the weekly comic closed in 1993. Other notable strips penned by Tully included The Steel Claw, The House of Dolmann, The Incredible Adventures of Janus Stark, The Leopard from Lime Street, The Robo Machines, and Harlem Heroes. During his three-decade career, Tully wrote exclusively for what became known as the IPC line of publishers: Amalgamated Press/Odhams/Longacre Press/Fleetway/IPC Magazines.
Valiant was a weekly British comics periodical published by Fleetway Publications and later IPC Magazines from 4 October 1962 to 16 October 1976. A boys' adventure comic, it debuted numerous memorable characters, including Captain Hurricane, The Steel Claw and Mytek the Mighty. Valiant lasted for 712 issues before being merged with stablemate Battle Picture Weekly.
Smash! was a weekly British comic book, published initially by Odhams Press and subsequently by IPC Magazines, from 5 February 1966 to 3 April 1971. After 257 issues it merged into Valiant.
Vulcan was a British weekly boys' comic published by IPC Magazines from 1 March 1975 to 3 April 1976, when it merged with Valiant. The comic was unusual among IPC's weeklies for several reasons - it used a much smaller format than most of the company's weeklies and featured more colour; until September 1975 the title was only available in Scotland as the format was tested; and it consisted entirely of reprints of extant material. It was also published simultaneously in German as Kobra.
"The House of Dolmann" is a British comic strip published by Fleetway Publications and later IPC Magazines in the boys' comic anthology title Valiant between 29 October 1966 to 11 April 1970, with a brief revival from 7 September to 26 October 1974. Written by Tom Tully and primarily illustrated by Eric Bradbury, the strip centred on the exploits of genius inventor Eric Dolmann and his army of crime-fighting robot 'puppets'.
The Leopard from Lime Street was a comic strip appearing in the British comic Buster from 1976 to 1985. Written by Tom Tully, it was drawn in a 'realistic' comic style by Mike Western and Eric Bradbury, much like Marvel Comics's Spider-Man comic, in direct contrast to the stylized cartoony style of the rest of Buster.
Eric Bradbury was a British comic artist who primarily worked for Amalgamated Press/IPC from the late 1940s to the 1990s.
Arthur Geoffrey Campion was a British comics artist who drew adventure strips for Amalgamated Press/IPC.
Brian Moncrieff Lewis was a British science fiction illustrator, comics artist, and animator. In the 1950s, he illustrated covers for pulp magazines like New Worlds, Science Fantasy, and Science Fiction Adventures. In the 1960s, he drew adventure comic strips for Tiger, Boys' World, Hurricane, and Eagle. He also used a more cartoony style to draw humor comic strips for Wham!, Smash, Cor!!, and Buster. In the 1970s, Lewis focused on comics adaptations of television and horror film properties.
Captain Hurricane was a fictional comic book character in Fleetway Publications' Valiant during the 1960s and 1970s, first appearing in issue #1. Captain Hurricane's adventures were scripted by the likes of Scott Goodall and Desmond Pride; Jon Rose also wrote some stories in the 1970s. R. Charles Roylance drew the strip for many years.
John Cooper was a British comics artist.
Battler Britton is a British comics character created by Mike Butterworth and Geoff Campion. He first appeared in Amalgamated Press' Sun in 1956, and later was featured in Knockout, and the long-running digest titles Thriller Picture Library, Air Ace Picture Library, and War Picture Library.
Thunder was a weekly British comics periodical published by Fleetway Publications from 17 October 1970 to 13 March 1971. A boys' adventure comic, the title only lasted for 22 editions before being merged with another Fleetway title, the long-established Lion.
"Mytek the Mighty" is a British comic adventure strip, appearing in titles published by Fleetway Publications. The story revolves around Mytek, a large and powerful robotic ape. The strip first appeared in the boys' anthology title Valiant on 26 September 1964. The story was written by Tom Tully and initially drawn by Eric Bradbury, with Bill Lacey later taking over.
"Darkie's Mob" is a British comic war story published in the weekly anthology Battle Picture Weekly from 14 August 1976 to 18 June 1977 by IPC Magazines. Set during World War II, the story follows a rogue unit led by the uncompromising Joe Darkie, operating in Burma behind Japanese lines. Written by John Wagner and drawn by Mike Western, the strip was told through a bloodstained notebook recovered from the Burmese jungle in 1946.