By David Roach
Cover by Brian Bolland – Available Now (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
Variant Cover by David Roach – Available exclusively online here
Published by Rebellion
Review by Steve Winders
First published on Bear Alley and re-presented here with Steve’s kind permission
With a specially commissioned cover by Brian Bolland showing four of Britain’s most iconic characters, Dan Dare, Judge Dredd, Rupert Bear and Tank Girl responsibly crossing Abbey Road using the Zebra crossing in the finest tradition of The Beatles and with Kolvorok from Jeff Hawke, slipped discreetly into the picture behind them, Masters of British Comic Art is an epic tome which runs to 384 pages, telling the history of British comics and in my view leaves no stone unturned.
Inside, artist and comics authority David Roach makes the bold claim that comics started in Britain – and proceeds to prove it.
Referring back to the work of Hogarth in the eighteenth century, he concludes that one of his successors, Thomas Rowlandson, was really the first cartoon strip artist and provides an example. Taking readers through examples in the next century, he reaches Ally Sloper, who first appeared in 1867 and then on to Chips in 1896, which featured “Weary Waddles and Tired Tim” by Tom Browne, immediately recognisable as a comic strip which predated America’s main claim to the first comic strip “The Yellow Kid” by several months. (Although created earlier, “The Yellow Kid” originally featured in single illustrations).
David then moves on from the Victorian era to first explore the humorous comics, as they predate those of other genres. Despite the vast range of comics requiring coverage, he manages to include every significant publication and his engaging and informative text is accompanied by examples of pages from many weeklies.
Later chapters cover pre-school comics, adventure comics, the influence of artists’ agencies, girls’ comics, newspaper strips, the influence of American comics, underground comics, 2000AD comic and its stable, comic developments from the 1980s, the British invasion of American comics and comics in the 21st century. All of these include many reprinted pages and pictures, in colour and black and white.
There is also a large gallery of full page examples of quality artwork, often reprinted from originals and covering the whole range of British comic strip art. Included in this section is work by such diverse talents as Leo Baxendale, Frank Bellamy, Shirley Bellwood, Reg Bunn, Rufus Dayglo, Jamie Hewlett, Sydney Jordan, Bryan Talbot and Mary Tourtel, among many others.
The book is so thorough that I tested it by listing a group of random significant artists to see if they were mentioned. Only two of my random fifteen were missing, which is remarkable in a publication which covers such a vast area.
I have few criticisms, but they are minor, small errors I picked up in my own particular area of interest. Frank Hampson’s strip for Eagle about the life of Christ, for example, is called “The Road of Courage“, not “The Road to Courage”. The “Dan Dare” strip moved from the cover to the inside pages of Eagle in March 1962 and not October 1961 as stated and the artists Richard Jennings and Martin Aitchison did not “move on elsewhere” from Eagle in March 1962. Aitchison drew “The Lost World” and then “Hornblower“, finally leaving in 1963. Jennings scripted “The Lost World” and then drew “Earthquake Island” before leaving.
However, the very fact that these details are even mentioned in such a broad work is an indication of the depth that David Roach has gone to in his narrative. Most works which cover such a huge area tend to skate over the finer details or make broad misleading statements. This book does not.
A small number of names are also spelled incorrectly: Oswald Mosely should read Mosley; Ian Flemming should have just one ‘m’, like his Secret Intelligence Service does; Steven Hawkins is Stephen Hawking; and Alberto Gilolotti is Giolotti. One or two dates given for artists are also wrong. Reg Bunn, for instance, died in 1971, not 1970. Finally, such a detailed work would have benefited from an index.
These minor discrepancies aside, Masters of British Comic Art is a well researched and ambitious book which succeeds admirably in its bold aim of exploring the long and varied history of British comics. Any fan of Britain’s comics will derive great pleasure and learn much from it. It has been written by someone who really knows the comic industry and his knowledge and enthusiasm are evident on every page.
Steve Winders
Masters of British Comic Art by David Roach
Rebellion ISBN 978-1781-08759-6, 2nd April 2020, 384pp, £39.99 / $50
• Standard Cover by Brian Bolland, available from all good book shops including AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
• Variant Cover by David Roach, available exclusively from The Treasury of British Comics Web Shop
Steve’s review is also on Bear Alley here
Born in Preston, Steve Winders has been a lifelong fan of Dan Dare and Eagle and of Doctor Who since its first episode. He has written many articles about the 1960s Eagle, the various incarnations of Dan Dare and the fictional exploits of the Harris Tweed Appreciation Society for Eagle Times and its predecessors and regularly reviews new works about British comics for Down The Tubes and Steve Holland’s Bear Alley blog.
He has also written articles about another interest, Robin Hood, for the online Adventures of Robin Hood Appreciation Society Magazine.
Other interests include the American West, which was inspired by the famous Eagle strip, Riders of the Range, Astronomy and soccer. He is a supporter of Preston North End. He has taught for over 40 years, in Lancashire, Mid Glamorgan and Plymouth. He is married and has three children.
Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Books, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features, Reviews
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I really enjoyed it (actually I’m still reading it) and it’s caused me to look out for comics on eBay that I’d never have thought of buying before. My only dislike is that I thought not enough prominence was given to Ron Smith, a titan of British comics. A great book that everyone should own.
I think many of the artists featured could have a book of their own, their contributions were incredible. I’d really like to see a book by, for example, Lew Stringer, on British humour comics in the same kind of style
I’d have reviewed this terrific book myself, by the way, but as one of the many contributors – and many contributed a lot more than me, felt a bit uneasy about it. But having now had the chance to read at least part of it (what lockdown?), I’m hugely impressed. I’m particularly delighted that David has covered as many areas of British comics as possible and the focus was not solely on adventures comics. He’s of course well known for his enthusiasm and expertise on the subject of girls comics and their creators, but I enjoyed his look at “21st Century” creators, and the gallery section is just a delight. A book more than worthy of any British comic fan’s book shelf!