Bill Ritchie (1 August 1931 – 25 January 2010) was a Scottish cartoonist. He is known for work on comics published by D. C. Thomson.

Biography

Born in Glasgow, Ritchie attended the Glasgow School of Art, where he learnt little about cartoons or comics; instead, he taught himself by practising from local comics artists

Jack Lindsay Jack Lindsay (20 October 1900 – 8 March 1990) was an Australian-born writer, who from 1926 lived in the United Kingdom, initially in Essex. He was born in Melbourne, but spent his formative years in Brisbane. He was the eldest son of Norman L ...

, Bud Neill, Jimmy Malcolm, Harry Smith and

Bill Tait Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pla ...

. It was Malcolm who suggested he try to draw comics for D. C. Thomson in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. While serving in the army in Korea, he submitted his first cartoons to the publisher, which were printed in ''

The Weekly News ''The Weekly News'' was a British national newspaper founded in 1855 and published every Wednesday by the Dundee newspaper chain DC Thomson. Billed as "the paper with the feelgood factor," it contained news and features on a broad range of su ...

''. His first comic strip was ''

Clumsy Claude Clumsy or clumsiness may refer to: Behaviour *Accident-proneness Accident-proneness is the idea that some people have a greater predisposition than others to experience accidents, such as car crashes and industrial injuries. It may be used as ...

'' in '' The Beano'', and for many years he drew ''

Baby Crockett ''Baby Crockett'' was one of the longest running comic strips that ran from ''The Beezer ''The Beezer'' (called ''The Beezer and Topper'' for the last three years of publication) was a British comic that ran from (issues dates) 21 January ...

'' in the '' Beezer''. Between 1957 and 1964 Ritchie drew the illustrations for "The Glad Mag" an annual magazine produced by students of

Queen's College, Dundee , mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord" , established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College , t ...

as part of their charities campaign. Copies of these magazines are held by University of Dundee Archive Services. After his retirement in the 1990s, his comics were " ghosted" by other artists. He died on 25 January 2010.

Bibliography

Comics work includes: * ''

'' in the '' Beezer'' * ''

Barney Bulldog Barney may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barney (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Barney (surname), a list of people Film and television * the title character of ''Barney & Friends'', an American live actio ...

'' in ''

Sparky Sparky is a common nickname for people and animals. In the British Commonwealth, it can also be used to refer to an electrician. People * Sparky Adams (1894–1989), American Major League Baseball player * Sparky Anderson (1934–2010), American ...

'' – the third cover strip, similar to '' Biffo the Bear'' * ''

'' in '' The Beano'' * '' Dicky Burd'' in the ''Beezer'' * ''

Hungry Hoss Hunger is a sensation that motivates the consumption of food. The sensation of hunger typically manifests after only a few hours without eating and is generally considered to be unpleasant. Satiety occurs between 5 and 20 minutes after eating. T ...

'' in ''Beezer'' – an ever-hungry horse, owned by Joe the cowboy robber * ''

Smiffy Simply Smiffy is a comic strip published in the British comic magazine ''The Beano''. It is one of the many spin-off comic strips off ''The Bash Street Kids ''The Bash Street Kids'' is a comic strip in the British comic magazine ''Th ...

'' in the ''Beezer'' * ''

Supporting Life Support may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Supporting character Business and finance * Support (technical analysis) * Child support * Customer support * Income Support Construction * Support (structure), or lateral support, a ...

'' in ''

Plug Plug, PLUG, plugs, or plugged may refer to: * Plug (accounting), an unsupported adjustment to an accounting record * Plug (fishing), a family of fishing lures * Plug (horticulture), a planting technique * Plug (jewellery), a type of jewellery wor ...

'' * '' Sweet Sue'' in ''The Beano'' – running from 1978 to 1980, the strip featured Sue, a sweet and inoffensive young girl who always got the better of school bullies Harriet and Mabel. She had a dog called William. * ''The Moonsters'' in ''Sparky'' * ''Toots'' in '' Bunty''

Notes

References

*Interview in ''

Psychopia ''Psychopia'' is a small press zine featuring reviews and articles on British comic books and small press comics and interviews with cartoonists. Unusually for comix zines it focussed almost entirely on British comics such as ''The Beano'' and ...

'' *Encyclopedia of Comic Characters by Denis Gifford, 1987.
Bimbo page at Britishcomics.com

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, Bill 1931 births 2010 deaths Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art Artists from Glasgow Scottish cartoonists The Beano people