Current Artists

[Jonny Whizz]

Coming back to Joe Jitsu, I think you're not wrong Digifiend - the ones used in 2006 will have been stockpiled - but what I am talking about is a case only a few months after the character was introduced - he appeared regularly for at least 2/3 of a year after that. What happened was a strip appeared in one issue, and then TWO ISSUES (!) later, the same strip appeared! (It's easier to understand what I mean if you have the comics) This also happened with Ball Boy once (a strip that first appeared in June 2006 was used in November the same year) and Singled Out around the same time.

Returning to the original topic (aren't reprints interesting!), Joe Jitsu is one of the strips drawn by Wayne Thompson. He started off in about 2001 in the Dandy with Auntie Clockwise, and has since drawn strips for the same comic including Agent Dog2Zero, Jak and Todd and a revival of Bully Beef and Chips, as well as Billy Whizz and Joe Jitsu for the Beano (plus Nicky Nutjob as a one-off). Now he only draws for the Dandy as far as I know, but he did have a couple of strips in the Beano Annual 2009 (including Dennis, who he's never drawn in the comic itself). I don't really know about artists' websites so I can't help with that.

As a Billy Whizz fan, I liked the Malcolm Judge style he used at first but I didn't like the Manga style used in his other strips that spilt onto it. I've never forgiven him for forgetting to draw in the pupils in Billy's eyes!

[Steve Henderson]

Barrie Appleby - only works for The Beano. Draws Roger the Dodger and Billy the Cat, used to do Cuddles and Dimples for The Dandy. Also drew most of the Beano Superstars comics. Doesn't have a website, I've checked.

I didn't know he did Billy the Cat! Its a nice variation on his other stuff. My fav still has to be Lauras work on the Birthday Beano though, Im not a massive fan of Manga but Lauras Billy the Cat strip harnessed the good things about manga and kept it traditional and fun.

[Peter Gray]

In the new Beano they are showing how Billy Whizz got a new zig zag lightning hair style...never did like that...

[Digifiend]

Barrie Appleby - only works for The Beano. Draws Roger the Dodger and Billy the Cat, used to do Cuddles and Dimples for The Dandy. Also drew most of the Beano Superstars comics. Doesn't have a website, I've checked.

I didn't know he did Billy the Cat! Its a nice variation on his other stuff. My fav still has to be Lauras work on the Birthday Beano though, Im not a massive fan of Manga but Lauras Billy the Cat strip harnessed the good things about manga and kept it traditional and fun.

Did you not see the recent Roger strip in which he has a Billy the Cat poster on his bedroom wall? Perfect art match. Coincidentally, I found out Barrie was Billy's artist from Laura Howell, when she posted in my thread about Wikipedia: http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... f=1&t=2770
I assume she found out when Alan Digby informed her it would be returning but she wouldn't be the artist.

It was the only uncredited present day strip in Wikipedia's list of Beano comic strips. Now sorted by yours truly. Actually, most of the updates on there are either mine or from people who haven't logged in...

Re: Billy Whizz - well that proves the reprints aren't in order, as I assume the one you speak of Peter was the first to feature the thunderbolt hair.

[Relaunch_Man]

Cheers guys, didn't check back here for a while because I thought the topic was dead, I'll read through currently soon.

Maybe we could keep this thread as a constant and update any changes with artists.

[kevf]

Maybe we could keep this thread as a constant and update any changes with artists.

Not, one might suggest, a column that will need that much updating?

[Digifiend]

True Kev, the most recent changes are your removal from The Beano, the apparent same fate suffered by Dave Eastbury (Ball Boy going reprint), and the addition of C McGhie to The Dandy (Bananaman). Unless 2000AD has hired anyone new lately? But then, all the artists in the original post were Beano/Dandy ones.

[Gary Northfield]

Gary Northfield only draws Derek the Sheep as far as I know - he had a strip in The DFC before it closed. His strip is unique as it is creator-owned; he released a book with some of the earliest Derek strips last autumn.

He also did some Pinky's Crackpot Circus strips for Dandy Xtreme last year: http://www.garynorthfield.co.uk/page19.htm

Since August 2008 I've also been writing and drawing a two-page monthly strip in National Geographic Kids called The World's Greatest Heroes.

[Jonny Whizz]

Just thought I'd return to this thread a few months on with one small correction.

In the end it turns out that Dave Eastbury hasn't left the Beano. He's still drawing Freddie Fear - who we thought was stockpiled, but it doesn't seem that way now, and he's back drawing Ball Boy in a different style. It makes me wonder why they were using reprints at all - they maybe could have had a short hiatus, like the changeover from Hunt to Laura with Ratz, it was the football off-season after all! They didn't actually use that many Ball Boy reprints I think - he was missing for quite a few issues, whereas say Billy Whizz or Les Pretend appear most weeks.

[skyromie]

And Kev F is still 'bitter'.

[colcool007]

And Kev F is still 'bitter'.

I am letting this post stand for the moment as I feel that it is Kev's prerogative to respond rather than any of us users.