Thanks, Pete. I was unaware of Roy Wilson; I suppose because he didn't branch out into children's books. One more reason for me to look forward to each one of your videos!
To me, Roy Wilson was the absolute pinnacle of lively comic book art. Between him and Albert Uderzo they turned me into the cartoonist I am today, and drove me into comic book illustration. Thank you, Roy, you were with far too short a time with us.
Brilliant comic artist who reminds me of the man who drew the original popeye comics, e.c. segar. Thanks for drawing our attention to Roy Wilson. Those Wonder Annual covers are gems!
Wonderful, Pete. Being American, I never knew Wilson's work so this was a real treat. I can imagine what a major influence he must have had on any budding British artist. The quality of his line and action is outstanding. I will hazard a guess that most illustrators and artists of my generation in the US were influenced by the comics page (as I was). Cartoonists back in the day in the US, the 30s and 40s especially, were real celebrities; I've even seen some ads as they tout cigarettes and other products. How about in the UK? Admittedly, not everyone thought cartoon strips artists were respectable, but for a while, it was the comic artists that actually sold the papers (If I recall the story, correctly, Hearst, the newspaper mongol, paid a handsome sum to get Windsor McCay's LITTLE NEMO in his papers to sell more). Thanks for this insight into a comic talent on the other side of the Big Pond. Take care, Pete!
Hello Doug and thanks again for your appreciation. And to answer your question, over here children's comic artists were - and are - treated with a tolerant disdain at best, and anonymity is their destiny in the majority of cases. Wilson is a perfect example of this. Leo Baxendale is another (well worth a look). On the other hand cartoonists and humorous illustrators from H. M. Bateman and Heath Robison through to Scarfe and many others do get to be household names and even celebrities. But it seems I'm introducing Wilson's work to quite a few hopeful converts on both sides of the ocean. Over and out for now.
Beautiful, witty, very entertaining drawings 👏🏽👏🏽👍🏼❤️! Thanks for bringing this artist under our attention in such a pleasant manner. (The intro music is very suitable🥳😊❤️).
Hello and many thanks for your appreciation of this video in particular. Wilson's work was probably the biggest influence on my own less impressive career and I'm delighted that you enjoyed his work.
Thanks again Pete for the best opportunity to learn about the different artists and their creations. I am newly introduced by your gifts of love and kindness in this process of sharing the bountiful harvest of such wonderful contributions to our world. Wilson's comics are so interesting and captivating. I appreciate your help and support for all of the many people who have influenced our lives with art and cultural matters. I adore the children's book art style. We all need more silliness in our lives ❤
Thanks again for your ongoing appreciation. And i for one endorse your enthusiasm for chldren's illustrators. In what passed for my own career I did quite a lot of work for educational publishers, and other than the fact it was poorly paid, actually creating those blameless pictures was highly rewarding.
Roy Wilson's own work may not have traveled too much, but i see his influence all over many of my fond memories from the 50s, like the Katzenjammer Kids! And it seems like Robert Crumb took a few lessons from him too!. Thoroughly enjoyable! Or in the musical line, "Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight!"
Hello and thanks a lot. It means a lot to me that a gentleman, scholar and enthusiast such as yourself approves of the video. I enjoy your blog and dip in fairly frequently. It seems that I've made a few converts of people, especially in the USA, who weren't aware of Wilson's glorious work, and I'll consider that a success. And I don't suppose you know whose reponsibility it was to write the captions/narrative below the panels in British comics, do you? I'm guessing it wasn't the artist, but maybe you know the answer. Such things keep me awake at night.
Like you, Pete, I have seen the work of Roy Wilson and I very much enjoyed what I saw. So I am greatly pleased that you have shared his life with us. Thanks.
Among my collection of books are two clip art catalogs from the late 1940s. Some of the pages have line art reminiscent of Roy Wilson's style, but not executed with the same skill. Your assessment of Wilson's talent for depicting comedic action is absolutely on target. I really enjoyed this episode.
This is a great presentation of an artist I've never heard of, all is in : the cartoon aspects of the characters, the vibrant colors.. Just love this, again a huge thanks for the discovery !!
Thanks for your comment, and yes there are similarities of style. Kelly favoured drawing with a brush too. I would like to do a video about him but the trouble is it would go "Pogo...Pogo...Pogo and so on". A pity because I really like his work.
I am appalled and embarrassed that I was wholly unaware of this man and his amazing work, but i am equally grateful for your presentation here!! Thank you.
Hello and many thanks for your comment. It's good to know I've introduced you to the marvels he created. He should be a household name as far as I'm concerned.
One of my favorite artists, I was fortunate to land a copy of the book a few years ago, I hadn't realised that the artist that produced the characters in the 30's and 40's was the same artist that gave us the TV personality strips in the 50's and early 60's until I read the book but of course it's obvious when you know, I have had a couple of Tshirts printed of Mr Wilson's art from the Happy Days period ..... Thanks for posting this.
Everytime I see something you have presented I immediately click on it & im never disappointed , your input is always interesting & informative whether I'm familiar with the subject or not. Thank you so much for a breath of fresh content !!
As someone who has spent over 20 years looking at (and trying to better my hand at) comic inking… I so appreciate the talent on display here. Fantastic work, and hard to believe I hadn't heard of Roy Wilson before. The character / panel design, and depiction of action… Those color covers are knockouts too… What a treat!
Never heard of him but the work i saw on here looks very interesting and entertaining! I am amazed people can draw so good, i can't even draw decent stick figures.
First comment, first like. :-D When Pete posts a video it is clicked without delay. Another exciting Illustrator's episode with great art inspiration!! Thanks very much again, for the great work, Pete!!.
A wonderful light hearted episode. Few people can have made such a positive contribution to society than Roy, through his comic strips that touched countless generations of children. Another marvelous presentation, thanks Pete.
I’ve never heard of Roy Wilson but the video thumbnail brought the works of the great outsider artist George Crumb instantly to mind. -Thanks in advance, I’m but a few minutes in and enjoying this quite a bit!
Quite a few of these Roy Wilson cartoons look very familiar to me even though he was middle aged when I was born. So many characters, SO entertaining for kids. I imagine his fanatical workaholism got him in the end.
Fantastic video as always! I wasn't familiar with Roy Wilson's work before this, now i feel like i should check more of his art out. Thank you for sharing, Mr. Beard.
Thanks a lot for your appreciation of this video. I'm sorry to say there isn't all that much online by Wilson. That's how under-appreciated he is, unfortunately.
How fun is this!! Utter chaos happening in every sketch but in the end, nobody is really hurt and the 'chaotickers' get away scot free. Or should I say "Scot" free? These strips immediately reminded me of some other comic, or comics, with similar wild themes and boisterous artwork, but it took a while to figure it out. Your reference to the 50s brought it back. When I was in 4th grade, I had a Scottish-born teacher, who linked up whoever wanted one, a pen pal from Scotland (did I mention her once before?). I quickly said yes and even though Valerie was a year or two ahead of me, we wrote each other for a couple of years. And over that time, she sent me maybe half a dozen "Bunty" comic 'readers'? Not sure what to call them but they were larger than regular comic books that I knew of. They were amazingly chock-full of wonderful series ie The Four Marys, and a ballerina named Moira, and others all very new and different - far more sophisticated from Archie/Jughead I was used to. But there was one that stood out similar to Roy Wilson's work - a strip called "Toots", a little girl who always got into some kind of mishap, like Wilson's characters, and like his, always managed to get out of them mostly unscathed. LOL I still have those Bunty's packed away somewhere, saved for decades now. I think I know where they are...and a revisit is most certainly due. Thanks for the lovely reminder, Pete! It's been fun taking more time to go through Roy's works also, just to admire his uncanny ability to portray humanity in all its pompous silliness yet never wavering from the truly "cartoon" form with just a simple yet also genius stroke of the pen. And then what fabulous bonus material added, to see his preliminary sketches!!! Top form video, Pete - thanks again, as always. :)
Thanks a lot for your very favourable comment and engaging trip down memory lane. I was well aware of the girls' comics of the period, and if memory serves there was another titled 'Judy' but of course as a miscreant young male I shunned them in favour of more rough and tumble comics. I didn't recall Toots - just the more serious-minded circus/ballerina/girls school sagas, so I looked it up and found this, which may be of interest. girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2011/10/toots/
@@petebeardThanks for the link! Toots was on the more subdued end of this kind of cartooning after all. But she did have her moments! Perhaps I related to her also as I was something of a willful child - this same teacher had me read Henry Huggins (B. Cleary) books so I'd learn better the meaning of 'comeuppance'! Never the miscreant tho, mine was a mostly tame suburban childhood. lol As for "Judy" comics, a friend visiting the UK years later brought me back a sample but IMO it just didn't compare to Bunty, namesake or otherwise.
Thanks a lot for your comment and appreciation - and stars of course. It never cease to amaze me how much work and imagination illustrators of comics will put into every panel, when they tend to be so poorly paid and under-appreciated.
Many thanks fr your appreciation and comment. I must admit other than Roy Wilson I struggle to find significant amounts of work and biography about other specific British comic artists, and I tend to find that it's humorous illustration and cartoons from Tenniel through to Searle and beyond that's far better represented. If you know any useful sources I'd be happy to check them out.
Reg Parlett could be a good one the comic art of Reg Parlett by Alan Clark.. I love Robert Nixon..Davey Law..Leo Baxendale..Ken Reid..Dudley D Watkins..Tom Paterson has had a book But might be too recent for your youtube..maybe you could do an overview of Bertie Brown..Percy Cocking..(Casey Court)Pease..Hugh McNeil..or there are some great nursery comic artists of the past..love Gordon Hutchings for example..maybe email Alan Clark he might be able to help he is selling small books on ebay on the earlier comics..I've done many fansites on comic artists and a big comic fan..though has you say tricky to get info on artist .anyway I've enjoyed many of your videos..@@petebeard
Excellent....as always...who would have thought it Kettering....here in Tranmere, we had Bill Tidy...a regular on the Daily Mirror....anyone remember the Fosdyke Saga...cheers, Pete....😊😊
Hi Eamonn. And yes, the Fosdykes, and the Cloggies too. If memory serves I think there was a failed attempt to make a TV prog out of the Fosdyke sage, but I may have imagined that. At this age it's hard to tell.
Thanks for the comment and appreciation. It's always possible he influenced Crumb but quite unlikely as Wilson's work never made it out of Britain. I read that Crumb was more influenced by Krazy Kat and Barney Google.
Many thanks for your appreciation. I grew up on the Beano and Dandy, but when we visited my aunt she had a massive collection of 1940s comics her kids had grown up with (she never threw anything away). And that's where I became immersed in Wilson's world.
I'm a big fan of Roy Wilson as well, even though his work was never easy to find in America. I read the reason he worked in 2-3 panel chunks was because he was such a perfectionist he would rework an entire panel from scratch if he felt he made a single mistake. I guess one of the reason's his comics are so energetic, he cut in whichever panel had the best energy. Besides the art of Roy Wilson book, Happy Days and the Encyclopedia of British Comics have great examples.
Thanks a lot for your comment and appreciation, and I'm delighted to hear that he has at least one admirer across the ocean. Only hardcore enthusiasts are aware of him even here.
This guy has a lot going on in his drawings when you start looking at some of the detail. I like you choice in music, it sounds like it is from the time period. I really enjoy your videos Pete.
Thanks a lot for your comment and appreciation. Yes the music is from the 20s and 30s by British dance bands - and luckily for me it seems to not be in copyright.
I've just found your channel. Thanks for introducing me to Roy's work. I'll be subbing and going through your other videos and seeing the other classic illustrators who'd work i have missed.
This was wonderful! These drawings are - in my opinion - perfect examples of the ' English style of cartooning'! His drawing-style reminds me of the cartoons I read in the Sixties, especially the cartoons that originated from British publications. For example, the early Billy Bunter cartoons (that were published in the Netherlands as 'Billie Turf', in the weekly-published 'Sjors'-magazine). His drawing-style is also visible in work from other artists, who could be drawing inspiration from Roy Wilson (I am sure I see familiair lines drawn by Mr Giles). We loved this!
Thanks as ever for your appreciation. The Billy Bunter comic strip was drawn by Reg Parlett, a popular contemporary of Wilsons, and it appeared in the comic Knockout. And you are absolutely correct about the similarity. They were just two of many using a similar technique, but in my view Wilson was the best of them.
After watching your video, we couldn't agree more! Once again, thank you. You just keep on surprising us with all your magnificent insights. Always lovely to hear from you, as well! Greetings from the Netherlands
I really enjoy your videos. You, like Tom Haney (who features his automata on his TH-cam channel) have an incredible knack for picking the perfect music to accompany the images!
Thanks a lot for your appreciation, and thanks for pointing me in the direction of Tom Haney's engrossing videos. I do my best with the music but it's a minefield of copyright claims out here in youtubeland so I frequently can't use something I would like to. Sometimes I just get lucky, as with this one (so far at least).
Never heard of this guy and yet with only seeing a few of his works you can tell he was really skilled with his inking, not only that but with his movements and lively faces he could had a career in animation. With respect to your questionings on him not doing book illustrations I would say that he probably felt constrained to just a few illustrations by book rather the the full pages that he would usually do, or maybe it was a question of honor, after all comicbook work was used to be seen as a lesser art and he was traying to prove a point.
Thanks for the comment, and who knows why he stuck with comics? I just think it's a pity he didn't make books with the qualities of those watercolour album covers.
Pete, your channel is a breath of fresh air! well researched (how do you do it!?) and beautifully put together. I live in a very modern Asian city, and watching your videos just motivates me to maintain that human touch. Many Thanks.
Dear Mr Beard, another excellent video. Slightly off topic, I came across a book entitled "Our Magic" with the cover illustration by Will Owen. I checked and couldn't find him on the list of previous videos. He did Lux and Bisto adverts. Maybe you consider him too well known, but maybe worth a showcase at some time. As ever , all the best.
Hello and thanks for the appreciation. And thanks for suggesting Will Owen. But the sad truth is that far from being too well known he isn't well known enough, by which I mean there isn't even enough biographical information or more importantly decent usable evidence of his work to be had. A pity but he's far from the only one so poorly served.
Thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's quite possible that I will make a video aboutEC, but I should warn you not to hold your breath. I already have a very long list of other works in progress so it might take a while - and that's assuming I live long enough. In the meantime there is a video about Jack Davis on the channel, featuring his work for them.
Hello Pete Beard, I just wanted to say that you made a great video and it was really well edited and informational. I was wondering if you were ever going to go over the Belgian artist Andre Franquin. He is well known for being a part of Spirou Magazine in the 1940s as well as the creation Gaston Lagaffe.
Thanks a lot for your comment. And I am aware of Franquin and admire his work. Whether I get round to making a video I really can't say. Just to explain - the list of illustrators I already have as works in progress is terrifyingly long, and I'm pretty old. So the question is, will I live long enough to finish those I've started and be able to include him (and a host of others later). All I can say is my fingers are crossed...
I love your covering the comics like this one. And I know you cover mostly English illustrators but would you consider checking into some lesser known American comics artists. I am thinking of one in particular that is little known these days. It is Jimmy Hatlo who was very popular in the 50’s over here. I collect his Little Iodine comics when I can find them and enjoy his humor very much. He also had a strip called THEY WILL DO IT EVERY TIME. I hope you will give it some consideration. Thank you.
Hello again and I have covered quite a few American comic artists and cartoonists in the unsung heroes series. In most cases the reason they are confined to such short tributes is the general lack of decent material and information available. Mr. Hatlo himself has already appeared in unsung heroes 80. Unsung 100 has a complete list of all who have featured so far so you can find particular illustrators of interest.
the comic style of my childhood. could never draw like this no matter how hard i tried lol i do remember seeing some of this work in piles of comics when we went up North in Canada. hmm wonder if any of it was original since the people owning the house lived through this time period and place
Thanks for the comment, and I reckon you can put the similarities down to the fact that like others (Walt Kelly springs to mind) both these cartoonists used a brush rather than a pen to create the bulk of their line work. Remarkably expressive - in the right hands of course.
Thanks a lot for your comment. I doubt he had any influence on Disney as nobody in the USA would have even heard of him. But certainly some of the Beano and Dandy artists, when they were first published in 1938, had certainly been influenced by Wilson and his contemporaries.
1:40 It´s so strange to see a comic working with two different text in the same panel: the one of the dialogue ballons, and the one under the picture. It´s like reading two stories of the same characters at the same time, althought it´s the same.
Thanks for your comment. It's something all British comics did at that time. The idea was that it made them more educational - like picture books. But we dropped it eventually.
@@petebeard Will Eisner had an assistant in the 1950s, who later, after moving to San Francisco in the early 70s, became one of the main people that helped develop my art career. Will Eisner was given contracts to do artwork for military training manuals in the 50s. My mentor once told me Will Eisner, sort of looked like Denny Colt when EIsner was younger, but interestingly he started to look like Commissioner Dolan as he got older. My mentor is the father of Leslie Cabarga.
There's a short video of images on the channel (unfortunately in poor resolution) from 2016 or so when I first started making videos. But that's the year I retired so very little since.
Interesting question, but it does seem unlikely, if only for the reason that usually influence came from the country of an illustrator's birth. Neither Capp or Kurtzman would have been likely to have been even aware of Wilson's work. But who knows for sure? Not me.
@@petebeard It makes perfect sense, sir. Thank you so much for your answer. Master Beard, I've been following your channel here on TH-cam for some time with great interest and admiration (I've drawn in the past), but I wanted to tell you that this is one of the best and most original channels I I've seen due the extreme quality and originality of the its content, technical knowledge (narration, editing, soundtrack). I think it's even better than a high-level university course in Arts. Thank you very much for your invaluable work (your masterpiece). It's always a special moment of delight to see a new video of yours. Always a master class! May God bless and protect you.
I never fail to be impressed by the consistent, unfailing excellence of Mr. Beard's presentations.
Ah - music to my ears. Thanks a lot.
Wow! This guy was fantastic. So much movement and expression in his cartoons. I had never heard of him. Thanks for sharing.
If I've made a new convert to the marvels Wilson created I'm very happy. Thanks for the appreciation.
Thanks, Pete. I was unaware of Roy Wilson; I suppose because he didn't branch out into children's books. One more reason for me to look forward to each one of your videos!
Thanks again, and I'm glad to have made the introduction.
Really drew me in to the whole, beautiful artumentary - The Best of TH-cam
That;s music to my ears. Thanks a lot.
To me, Roy Wilson was the absolute pinnacle of lively comic book art. Between him and Albert Uderzo they turned me into the cartoonist I am today, and drove me into comic book illustration. Thank you, Roy, you were with far too short a time with us.
Thanks a lot for your comment and appreciation of Wilson's colossal talent.
Brilliant comic artist who reminds me of the man who drew the original popeye comics, e.c. segar. Thanks for drawing our attention to Roy Wilson. Those Wonder Annual covers are gems!
Thanks a lot for your comment, and I'm glad to have made the introduction.
Wonderful, Pete. Being American, I never knew Wilson's work so this was a real treat. I can imagine what a major influence he must have had on any budding British artist. The quality of his line and action is outstanding. I will hazard a guess that most illustrators and artists of my generation in the US were influenced by the comics page (as I was). Cartoonists back in the day in the US, the 30s and 40s especially, were real celebrities; I've even seen some ads as they tout cigarettes and other products. How about in the UK? Admittedly, not everyone thought cartoon strips artists were respectable, but for a while, it was the comic artists that actually sold the papers (If I recall the story, correctly, Hearst, the newspaper mongol, paid a handsome sum to get Windsor McCay's LITTLE NEMO in his papers to sell more). Thanks for this insight into a comic talent on the other side of the Big Pond. Take care, Pete!
Hello Doug and thanks again for your appreciation. And to answer your question, over here children's comic artists were - and are - treated with a tolerant disdain at best, and anonymity is their destiny in the majority of cases. Wilson is a perfect example of this. Leo Baxendale is another (well worth a look). On the other hand cartoonists and humorous illustrators from H. M. Bateman and Heath Robison through to Scarfe and many others do get to be household names and even celebrities. But it seems I'm introducing Wilson's work to quite a few hopeful converts on both sides of the ocean. Over and out for now.
Beautiful, witty, very entertaining drawings 👏🏽👏🏽👍🏼❤️! Thanks for bringing this artist under our attention in such a pleasant manner. (The intro music is very suitable🥳😊❤️).
Hello and many thanks for your appreciation of this video in particular. Wilson's work was probably the biggest influence on my own less impressive career and I'm delighted that you enjoyed his work.
I absolutely love it. Yet again I am truly humbled.
Thanks a lot fr your appreciation. And don't be humbled - be inspired. Or maybe both.
Thanks again Pete for the best opportunity to learn about the different artists and their creations.
I am newly introduced by your gifts of love and kindness in this process of sharing the bountiful harvest of such wonderful contributions to our world.
Wilson's comics are so interesting and captivating. I appreciate your help and support for all of the many people who have influenced our lives with art and cultural matters.
I adore the children's book art style. We all need more silliness in our lives ❤
Thanks again for your ongoing appreciation. And i for one endorse your enthusiasm for chldren's illustrators. In what passed for my own career I did quite a lot of work for educational publishers, and other than the fact it was poorly paid, actually creating those blameless pictures was highly rewarding.
Thanks, Pete - I love Wilson's work. Another great video!
Thanks for the appreciation again.
Roy Wilson's own work may not have traveled too much, but i see his influence all over many of my fond memories from the 50s, like the Katzenjammer Kids! And it seems like Robert Crumb took a few lessons from him too!. Thoroughly enjoyable! Or in the musical line, "Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight!"
Thanks for the comment as ever. I'm glad you appreciate his work.
Excellent video! Roy Wilson was the greatest.
Hello and thanks a lot. It means a lot to me that a gentleman, scholar and enthusiast such as yourself approves of the video. I enjoy your blog and dip in fairly frequently. It seems that I've made a few converts of people, especially in the USA, who weren't aware of Wilson's glorious work, and I'll consider that a success. And I don't suppose you know whose reponsibility it was to write the captions/narrative below the panels in British comics, do you? I'm guessing it wasn't the artist, but maybe you know the answer. Such things keep me awake at night.
WOW!!
Those Wonder Annual covers were spectacular!!
Great job Pete!
Thanks for the comment, and I'm pleased you share my admiration for his work and those colour paintings in particular. What a talent he had.
Like you, Pete, I have seen the work of Roy Wilson and I very much enjoyed what I saw. So I am greatly pleased that you have shared his life with us. Thanks.
Hello again and you are more than welcome.
Thanks pete ,wonderful as always ,,
Your comments are always appreciated.
Among my collection of books are two clip art catalogs from the late 1940s. Some of the pages have line art reminiscent of Roy Wilson's style, but not executed with the same skill. Your assessment of Wilson's talent for depicting comedic action is absolutely on target. I really enjoyed this episode.
Thanks as ever for your appreciation and comment.
This is a great presentation of an artist I've never heard of, all is in : the cartoon aspects of the characters, the vibrant colors.. Just love this, again a huge thanks for the discovery !!
Thanks a lot for your comment, as ever, and I'm delighted to have introduced you to the many wonders of Wilsons work.
A new artists to me and very interesting. Sort of reminds me of Walt Kelly and his comic character Pogo.
Thanks for your comment, and yes there are similarities of style. Kelly favoured drawing with a brush too. I would like to do a video about him but the trouble is it would go "Pogo...Pogo...Pogo and so on". A pity because I really like his work.
I am appalled and embarrassed that I was wholly unaware of this man and his amazing work, but i am equally grateful for your presentation here!! Thank you.
Hello and many thanks for your comment. It's good to know I've introduced you to the marvels he created. He should be a household name as far as I'm concerned.
One of my favorite artists, I was fortunate to land a copy of the book a few years ago, I hadn't realised that the artist that produced the characters in the 30's and 40's was the same artist that gave us the TV personality strips in the 50's and early 60's until I read the book but of course it's obvious when you know, I have had a couple of Tshirts printed of Mr Wilson's art from the Happy Days period ..... Thanks for posting this.
Thanks. Wonderful artwork where one can feel the action in the drawings.
Thanks for the comment, and I can;t think of anyone who did it better than Roy Wilson.
Everytime I see something you have presented I immediately click on it & im never disappointed , your input is always interesting & informative whether I'm familiar with the subject or not. Thank you so much for a breath of fresh content !!
Many thanks for your enthusiastic support of the channel .Such comments never fail to make my day.
Like many, I was not aware of this talented artist. I do love his thick outline work. Great video and rabbit to dive in to!
Many thanks for your appreciation of this video, and I hope youll find more that's of interest on the channel.
As someone who has spent over 20 years looking at (and trying to better my hand at) comic inking… I so appreciate the talent on display here. Fantastic work, and hard to believe I hadn't heard of Roy Wilson before. The character / panel design, and depiction of action… Those color covers are knockouts too… What a treat!
Hello and I'm very pleased to have introduced you to the marvel that is Roy Wilson. Best unofficial tutor I ever had.
This felt so nostalgic! I love all the amazing line work. Adding color did little for me. And presented so professionally. Tnx
Hi again and thanks for your comment. I'm very glad you are impressed with his work.
Thank you for shining a light on Roy Wilson’s work. Another great essay, as always. I appreciate you sharing, PB. All the best.
Thanks a lot, and you are very welcome.
Another great video, I loved Wilson's comic art and line work, such a talent. His panels were so lively, brilliant. Thank you.
Thanks a lot for your appreciation, and I'm very pleased you admire his work.
You are so very informative .z Thank You
Many thanks for your appreciation of my contribution to the channel. It's very welcome.
I just love all the work you do so that we can enjoy all of these illustrators. You are the best!
Hello again and I really am grateful for your enthusiastic responses to the channel content. Such comments are a greatly valued.
Never heard of him but the work i saw on here looks very interesting and entertaining! I am amazed people can draw so good, i can't even draw decent stick figures.
Thanks for the comment and I'm glad you appreciate his work.
First comment, first like. :-D When Pete posts a video it is clicked without delay. Another exciting Illustrator's episode with great art inspiration!! Thanks very much again, for the great work, Pete!!.
I agree. It is tough to be one of the first to view these when they are released.
Pretty quick off the mark there. And thanks for your appreciation of the video.
A wonderful light hearted episode. Few people can have made such a positive contribution to society than Roy, through his comic strips that touched countless generations of children. Another marvelous presentation, thanks Pete.
Thanks a lot for your comment, and I'm glad to say I've made at least a few converts to his work in the USA and elsewhere.
Astounding
I'm glad you think so.
This is an amazing video showcasing another 'lost' illustrator/artist. Fn music too.
Hello again and thanks a lot for your appreciation. Always welcome.
I’ve never heard of Roy Wilson but the video thumbnail brought the works of the great outsider artist George Crumb instantly to mind. -Thanks in advance, I’m but a few minutes in and enjoying this quite a bit!
Thanks a lot for your comment and appreciation of Wilson's work.
Wonderful presentation!!!!
Thanks a lot for your appreciation.
wow, im a comic author and I didnt knew about Roy !! thanks for sharing!! greetings from Colombia!
Hello again and I'm very pleased to have introduced you to Wilsons wonderful drawings.
Quite a few of these Roy Wilson cartoons look very familiar to me even though he was middle aged when I was born. So many characters, SO entertaining for kids. I imagine his fanatical workaholism got him in the end.
Thanks as usual for your appreciation. Sad to say (although the outcome was the same) it was his lifetime nicotine habit that took him so early.
Most Splendid... Thank you for this...
Thanks, and you are welcome.
Fantastic video as always! I wasn't familiar with Roy Wilson's work before this, now i feel like i should check more of his art out. Thank you for sharing, Mr. Beard.
Thanks a lot for your appreciation of this video. I'm sorry to say there isn't all that much online by Wilson. That's how under-appreciated he is, unfortunately.
Thanks, Pete! That was some really impressive brush-work!
I thought you might appreciate it.
"Visual Anarchy"! A perfect description
...and even more thanks from me. It's nice when my attempts at expressive language are appreciated.
How fun is this!! Utter chaos happening in every sketch but in the end, nobody is really hurt and the 'chaotickers' get away scot free. Or should I say "Scot" free? These strips immediately reminded me of some other comic, or comics, with similar wild themes and boisterous artwork, but it took a while to figure it out. Your reference to the 50s brought it back. When I was in 4th grade, I had a Scottish-born teacher, who linked up whoever wanted one, a pen pal from Scotland (did I mention her once before?). I quickly said yes and even though Valerie was a year or two ahead of me, we wrote each other for a couple of years. And over that time, she sent me maybe half a dozen "Bunty" comic 'readers'? Not sure what to call them but they were larger than regular comic books that I knew of.
They were amazingly chock-full of wonderful series ie The Four Marys, and a ballerina named Moira, and others all very new and different - far more sophisticated from Archie/Jughead I was used to. But there was one that stood out similar to Roy Wilson's work - a strip called "Toots", a little girl who always got into some kind of mishap, like Wilson's characters, and like his, always managed to get out of them mostly unscathed. LOL I still have those Bunty's packed away somewhere, saved for decades now. I think I know where they are...and a revisit is most certainly due.
Thanks for the lovely reminder, Pete! It's been fun taking more time to go through Roy's works also, just to admire his uncanny ability to portray humanity in all its pompous silliness yet never wavering from the truly "cartoon" form with just a simple yet also genius stroke of the pen. And then what fabulous bonus material added, to see his preliminary sketches!!! Top form video, Pete - thanks again, as always. :)
Thanks a lot for your very favourable comment and engaging trip down memory lane. I was well aware of the girls' comics of the period, and if memory serves there was another titled 'Judy' but of course as a miscreant young male I shunned them in favour of more rough and tumble comics. I didn't recall Toots - just the more serious-minded circus/ballerina/girls school sagas, so I looked it up and found this, which may be of interest.
girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2011/10/toots/
@@petebeardThanks for the link! Toots was on the more subdued end of this kind of cartooning after all. But she did have her moments! Perhaps I related to her also as I was something of a willful child - this same teacher had me read Henry Huggins (B. Cleary) books so I'd learn better the meaning of 'comeuppance'! Never the miscreant tho, mine was a mostly tame suburban childhood. lol As for "Judy" comics, a friend visiting the UK years later brought me back a sample but IMO it just didn't compare to Bunty, namesake or otherwise.
Thank you, as always, Pete…
And thanks for your ongoing appreciation.
Wonderful! His art is beautiful! Thank you for presenting his work and story.
Thanks for your comment. I'm glad you enjoyed his work.
So much detail in those ... *Thanks Pete*
Thanks a lot for your comment and appreciation - and stars of course. It never cease to amaze me how much work and imagination illustrators of comics will put into every panel, when they tend to be so poorly paid and under-appreciated.
@@petebeard Yes, that is true & that detailed work would drive me crazy. I'll stay w/ my oversized rabbits🐰🐇🐇🐇
thank you for showing comic art hope you do more..love Roy Wilsons art Peter Gray
Many thanks fr your appreciation and comment. I must admit other than Roy Wilson I struggle to find significant amounts of work and biography about other specific British comic artists, and I tend to find that it's humorous illustration and cartoons from Tenniel through to Searle and beyond that's far better represented. If you know any useful sources I'd be happy to check them out.
Reg Parlett could be a good one the comic art of Reg Parlett by Alan Clark.. I love Robert Nixon..Davey Law..Leo Baxendale..Ken Reid..Dudley D Watkins..Tom Paterson has had a book But might be too recent for your youtube..maybe you could do an overview of Bertie Brown..Percy Cocking..(Casey Court)Pease..Hugh McNeil..or there are some great nursery comic artists of the past..love Gordon Hutchings for example..maybe email Alan Clark he might be able to help he is selling small books on ebay on the earlier comics..I've done many fansites on comic artists and a big comic fan..though has you say tricky to get info on artist .anyway I've enjoyed many of your videos..@@petebeard
Just remembered my favourite adventure comic artist is Paddy Brennan another good one is Ken Hunter...
@@thejeep2000 Hello again and thanks for the names, neither of which I was previously aware. I'll see what I can find by them.
😎👍As a (first and foremost ) loooong time comic strip fan this episode is definitely on my replay list.
I'm very pleased to hear that. Thanks a lot.
Excellent....as always...who would have thought it Kettering....here in Tranmere, we had Bill Tidy...a regular on the Daily Mirror....anyone remember the Fosdyke Saga...cheers, Pete....😊😊
Hi Eamonn. And yes, the Fosdykes, and the Cloggies too. If memory serves I think there was a failed attempt to make a TV prog out of the Fosdyke sage, but I may have imagined that. At this age it's hard to tell.
@@petebeard...as a person of a certain vintage, yes , there was a short lived drama, ...cheers, Pete...E...
Great coverage! Looks to me that he greatly influenced the underground comic strips of R.Crumb.
Thanks for the comment and appreciation. It's always possible he influenced Crumb but quite unlikely as Wilson's work never made it out of Britain. I read that Crumb was more influenced by Krazy Kat and Barney Google.
This is wonderful! Always loved my Dad’s comic annuals of this period especially Roy Wilson. So much detail and action. Thank you so much ❤
Many thanks for your appreciation. I grew up on the Beano and Dandy, but when we visited my aunt she had a massive collection of 1940s comics her kids had grown up with (she never threw anything away). And that's where I became immersed in Wilson's world.
Great program.
Thanks a lot for your appreciation.
One of the regular Viz artists does this style well, love it.
I haven;t seen a copy of Viz for years - I didn't even know it was still being published. I must make amends.
I'm a big fan of Roy Wilson as well, even though his work was never easy to find in America. I read the reason he worked in 2-3 panel chunks was because he was such a perfectionist he would rework an entire panel from scratch if he felt he made a single mistake. I guess one of the reason's his comics are so energetic, he cut in whichever panel had the best energy.
Besides the art of Roy Wilson book, Happy Days and the Encyclopedia of British Comics have great examples.
Thanks a lot for your comment and appreciation, and I'm delighted to hear that he has at least one admirer across the ocean. Only hardcore enthusiasts are aware of him even here.
This guy has a lot going on in his drawings when you start looking at some of the detail. I like you choice in music, it sounds like it is from the time period. I really enjoy your videos Pete.
Thanks a lot for your comment and appreciation. Yes the music is from the 20s and 30s by British dance bands - and luckily for me it seems to not be in copyright.
Thank you very much!
My pleasure. Thanks for the comment.
Great artist!
Glad you think so.
I dare say for a moment i thought this Roy Wilson fella was some sort of artist for Disney. Considering how active his artwork looks.
Thanks for the comment. To the best of my knowledge nobody has ever tried to animate his work. I would have thought it lent itself particularly well.
I've just found your channel. Thanks for introducing me to Roy's work. I'll be subbing and going through your other videos and seeing the other classic illustrators who'd work i have missed.
Hello and welcome. Thanks for the comment and subscription and I hope you find plenty more that's of interest.
This was wonderful! These drawings are - in my opinion - perfect examples of the ' English style of cartooning'! His drawing-style reminds me of the cartoons I read in the Sixties, especially the cartoons that originated from British publications. For example, the early Billy Bunter cartoons (that were published in the Netherlands as 'Billie Turf', in the weekly-published 'Sjors'-magazine). His drawing-style is also visible in work from other artists, who could be drawing inspiration from Roy Wilson (I am sure I see familiair lines drawn by Mr Giles). We loved this!
Thanks as ever for your appreciation. The Billy Bunter comic strip was drawn by Reg Parlett, a popular contemporary of Wilsons, and it appeared in the comic Knockout. And you are absolutely correct about the similarity. They were just two of many using a similar technique, but in my view Wilson was the best of them.
After watching your video, we couldn't agree more! Once again, thank you. You just keep on surprising us with all your magnificent insights. Always lovely to hear from you, as well! Greetings from the Netherlands
I really enjoy your videos. You, like Tom Haney (who features his automata on his TH-cam channel) have an incredible knack for picking the perfect music to accompany the images!
Thanks a lot for your appreciation, and thanks for pointing me in the direction of Tom Haney's engrossing videos. I do my best with the music but it's a minefield of copyright claims out here in youtubeland so I frequently can't use something I would like to. Sometimes I just get lucky, as with this one (so far at least).
Never heard of this guy and yet with only seeing a few of his works you can tell he was really skilled with his inking, not only that but with his movements and lively faces he could had a career in animation. With respect to your questionings on him not doing book illustrations I would say that he probably felt constrained to just a few illustrations by book rather the the full pages that he would usually do, or maybe it was a question of honor, after all comicbook work was used to be seen as a lesser art and he was traying to prove a point.
Thanks for the comment, and who knows why he stuck with comics? I just think it's a pity he didn't make books with the qualities of those watercolour album covers.
Pete, your channel is a breath of fresh air! well researched (how do you do it!?) and beautifully put together. I live in a very modern Asian city, and watching your videos just motivates me to maintain that human touch. Many Thanks.
Hello and my gratitude for your positive response to the channel content and my contribution to the videos. It's very welcome, and so are you.
Dear Mr Beard,
another excellent video. Slightly off topic, I came across a book entitled "Our Magic" with the cover illustration by Will Owen. I checked and couldn't find him on the list of previous videos. He did Lux and Bisto adverts. Maybe you consider him too well known, but maybe worth a showcase at some time.
As ever , all the best.
Hello and thanks for the appreciation. And thanks for suggesting Will Owen. But the sad truth is that far from being too well known he isn't well known enough, by which I mean there isn't even enough biographical information or more importantly decent usable evidence of his work to be had. A pity but he's far from the only one so poorly served.
Thank you , that was pure joy. I hope one day you make study about EC comics crew
Thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's quite possible that I will make a video aboutEC, but I should warn you not to hold your breath. I already have a very long list of other works in progress so it might take a while - and that's assuming I live long enough. In the meantime there is a video about Jack Davis on the channel, featuring his work for them.
Roy Wilson's style reminds me of old Aussie comics, namely "Bluey & Curley" or "Wally & the Major".
Yes indeedy, I remember them well.
You have a point, and some time later this year the work of Stan Cross will feature in my unsung heroes series.
@@petebeard Thanks & I look forward to that.
Old fashioned? I'd gladly take his work over many of the contemporary comic strips in the US today!!
Thanks for the comment, and I'm very pleased that so many other viewers seem to feel the same way.
Hello Pete Beard, I just wanted to say that you made a great video and it was really well edited and informational. I was wondering if you were ever going to go over the Belgian artist Andre Franquin. He is well known for being a part of Spirou Magazine in the 1940s as well as the creation Gaston Lagaffe.
Thanks a lot for your comment. And I am aware of Franquin and admire his work. Whether I get round to making a video I really can't say. Just to explain - the list of illustrators I already have as works in progress is terrifyingly long, and I'm pretty old. So the question is, will I live long enough to finish those I've started and be able to include him (and a host of others later). All I can say is my fingers are crossed...
Terry Thomas and Harry Secombe! Then Morecombe and Wise! Gee, what an interesting ending!
Thanks for the comment. He did quite a few others too - Arthur Askey among them, and Bruce Forsyth.
comics never grow old. who thinks they do? shame on those people.
I second that opinion.
I love your covering the comics like this one. And I know you cover mostly English illustrators but would you consider checking into some lesser known American comics artists. I am thinking of one in particular that is little known these days. It is Jimmy Hatlo who was very popular in the 50’s over here. I collect his Little Iodine comics when I can find them and enjoy his humor very much. He also had a strip called THEY WILL DO IT EVERY TIME. I hope you will give it some consideration. Thank you.
Hello again and I have covered quite a few American comic artists and cartoonists in the unsung heroes series. In most cases the reason they are confined to such short tributes is the general lack of decent material and information available. Mr. Hatlo himself has already appeared in unsung heroes 80. Unsung 100 has a complete list of all who have featured so far so you can find particular illustrators of interest.
Thank you. I have not been keeping up as before. I reckon I have to go back to begin again. Thank you for letting me know.
the comic style of my childhood. could never draw like this no matter how hard i tried lol
i do remember seeing some of this work in piles of comics when we went up North in Canada. hmm wonder if any of it was original since the people owning the house lived through this time period and place
Strange how modern this is, reminds me of Franquin, belge cartoonist, but his work comes much later, in the 70s and 80s.
Thanks for the comment, and I reckon you can put the similarities down to the fact that like others (Walt Kelly springs to mind) both these cartoonists used a brush rather than a pen to create the bulk of their line work. Remarkably expressive - in the right hands of course.
what a great artist, did he help influence the dandy and beano? and a cartoon style we see from Disney?
Thanks a lot for your comment. I doubt he had any influence on Disney as nobody in the USA would have even heard of him. But certainly some of the Beano and Dandy artists, when they were first published in 1938, had certainly been influenced by Wilson and his contemporaries.
1:40 It´s so strange to see a comic working with two different text in the same panel: the one of the dialogue ballons, and the one under the picture. It´s like reading two stories of the same characters at the same time, althought it´s the same.
Thanks for your comment. It's something all British comics did at that time. The idea was that it made them more educational - like picture books. But we dropped it eventually.
@@petebeard Thanks.
Will Isner, have you done a story on one of the greats, even an award is named after him.
Thanks for both your recent comments, and Will Eisner is on my 'to do' list. But it's a very long list and I have no idea when he will appear.
@@petebeard Will Eisner had an assistant in the 1950s, who later, after moving to San Francisco in the early 70s, became one of the main people that helped develop my art career. Will Eisner was given contracts to do artwork for military training manuals in the 50s. My mentor once told me Will Eisner, sort of looked like Denny Colt when EIsner was younger, but interestingly he started to look like Commissioner Dolan as he got older. My mentor is the father of Leslie Cabarga.
Hey Pete, where may I see your own work?
There's a short video of images on the channel (unfortunately in poor resolution) from 2016 or so when I first started making videos. But that's the year I retired so very little since.
@@petebeard ok, thank you so much, I'll make sure to check it out
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Could it be possible that he influenced All Cap (Alfred Gerald Chaplin) and Harvey Kurtzman? Not really, right?
Interesting question, but it does seem unlikely, if only for the reason that usually influence came from the country of an illustrator's birth. Neither Capp or Kurtzman would have been likely to have been even aware of Wilson's work. But who knows for sure? Not me.
@@petebeard It makes perfect sense, sir. Thank you so much for your answer. Master Beard, I've been following your channel here on TH-cam for some time with great interest and admiration (I've drawn in the past), but I wanted to tell you that this is one of the best and most original channels I I've seen due the extreme quality and originality of the its content, technical knowledge (narration, editing, soundtrack). I think it's even better than a high-level university course in Arts. Thank you very much for your invaluable work (your masterpiece). It's always a special moment of delight to see a new video of yours. Always a master class! May God bless and protect you.