Dudley D. Watkins
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Dudley Dexter Watkins (27 February 1907 – 20 August 1969) was an English cartoonist and illustrator. He is best known for his characters ''
Oor Wullie ''Oor Wullie'' ( en, Our Willie) is a Scottish comic strip published in the D.C. Thomson newspaper '' The Sunday Post''. It features a character called Wullie; Wullie is the familiar Scots nickname for boys named William, equivalent to Willie ...
'' and ''
The Broons ''The Broons'' (English: The Browns) is a comic strip in Scots published in the weekly Scottish newspaper ''The Sunday Post''. It features the Brown family, who live in a tenement flat at 10 Glebe Street in (since the late 1990s) the fictiona ...
''; comic strips featuring them have appeared in Scottish newspaper
The Sunday Post ''The Sunday Post'' is a weekly newspaper published in Dundee, Scotland, by DC Thomson, and characterised by a mix of news, human interest stories and short features. The paper was founded in 1914 and has a wide circulation across Scotland, N ...
since 1936, along with annual compilations. Watkins also illustrated for comics such as ''
The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'', also known as ''Beano'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it became the world's longest-runn ...
'', ''
The Dandy ''The Dandy'' was a British children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after ''Il Giornalino'' (cover dated 1 Oct ...
'', ''
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 1956 to 21 August 1993, published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. Comic strips in ''The Beezer' ...
'' and '' Topper'', and provided illustrations for Christian stories. Watkins was posthumously inducted into the
British Comic Awards The British Comic Awards (BCA) were a set of British awards for achievement in comic books. Winners were selected by a judging committee; the awards were given out on an annual basis from 2012 to 2016 for comics made by United Kingdom creators publ ...
Hall of Fame in 2015.Freeman, John
"British Comic Awards Shortlist announced, Beano artist Dudley D. Watkins enters 'Hall of Fame.'"
DownTheTubes.net (OCTOBER 2, 2015).


Early life

Watkins was born in Prestwich, Lancashire, England, although the family moved to
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
while he was still a baby. His father was a lithographic print artist who noted the boy's early artistic talent and ensured that he received extra art classes at the Nottingham School of Art. By the age of 10, the local newspaper declared him a "schoolboy genius." He studied at
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
School of Art, and while working for
Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer St ...
Pure Drug company in the early 1920s, Watkins' first published artwork appeared in Boots' staff magazine, ''The Beacon''.


Work with D.C. Thomson

In 1924 Watkins entered the
Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and ...
. In 1925 the school principal recommended Watkins to the thriving publisher D.C. Thomson, based in Dundee. Watkins was offered a six-month employment contract with D. C. Thomson, so he moved to their Dundee base and began providing illustrations for Thomson's "Big Five" story papers for boys (''Adventure'', ''Rover'', ''Wizard'', and later ''Skipper'' and ''Hotspur''). The temporary employment turned into a full-time career; for several years he was just another illustrator, supplementing his small salary by teaching Illustration at Dundee College of Art c.1934-38. In 1933 Watkins turned his hand to comic strip work, and soon his editor noticed that Watkins had a special talent as a cartoonist. In 1933 he drew ''The Rover Midget Comic'' and in 1934 he drew ''The Skipper Midget Comic''. In 1935 Watkins' first regular comic strip, ''Percy Vere and His Trying Tricks'' appeared; the titular character was an inept magician whose tricks usually backfired on him. The strip ran for nearly two years, finally being replaced with another Watkins creation, ''Wandering Willie The Wily Explorer'' (Willie's hard-boiled characteristics would later re-appear in the form of ''Desperate Dan''). While ''Percy'' was still appearing in ''Adventure'', Watkins co-created, with writer/editor
R. D. Low Robert Duncan Low (25 August 1895, Dundee – 13 December 1980) was a Scottish comics writer and editor. Employed by D. C. Thomson & Co., he was responsible for their line of comics, and, as a writer, co-created ''Oor Wullie'' and ''The Broo ...
, what would become his most famous characters, ''
Oor Wullie ''Oor Wullie'' ( en, Our Willie) is a Scottish comic strip published in the D.C. Thomson newspaper '' The Sunday Post''. It features a character called Wullie; Wullie is the familiar Scots nickname for boys named William, equivalent to Willie ...
'' and ''
The Broons ''The Broons'' (English: The Browns) is a comic strip in Scots published in the weekly Scottish newspaper ''The Sunday Post''. It features the Brown family, who live in a tenement flat at 10 Glebe Street in (since the late 1990s) the fictiona ...
''. They were part of the first issue (8 March 1936) of a weekly eight-page pull-out 'Fun Section' of
The Sunday Post ''The Sunday Post'' is a weekly newspaper published in Dundee, Scotland, by DC Thomson, and characterised by a mix of news, human interest stories and short features. The paper was founded in 1914 and has a wide circulation across Scotland, N ...
. He was soon illustrating the ''
Desperate Dan Desperate Dan is a wild west character in the now-defunct Scottish comic magazine ''The Dandy'', and became its mascot. He made his appearance in the first issue which was dated 4 December 1937. He is apparently the world's strongest man, ...
'' strip for ''
The Dandy ''The Dandy'' was a British children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after ''Il Giornalino'' (cover dated 1 Oct ...
'' comic, launched in December 1937. His workload was further increased when D.C. Thomson created ''
The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'', also known as ''Beano'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it became the world's longest-runn ...
'', an eight-page comic booklet, with Watkins being responsible for drawing the ''
Lord Snooty Lord Snooty is a fictional character who stars in the British comic strip ''Lord Snooty and his Pals'' from the British comic anthology ''The Beano''. The strip debuted in issue 1, illustrated by DC Thomson artist Dudley D. Watkins, who designed ...
'' strip. The Beano's first edition was dated 30 July 1938. When the '' Beezer'' and '' Topper'' were launched in the 1950s, Watkins was responsible for illustrating the ''
Ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...
'' strip (based largely on ''Oor Wullie'', but unlike that strip the text was written in standard English and not in Scots vernacular) and the '' Mickey the Monkey'' strip for the two comics. Watkins' most enduring adventure strip was '' Jimmy and his Magic Patch'', which debuted in the 1 January 1944 issue of The Beano and ran for 18 years. Watkins was one of only two D. C. Thomson cartoonists who signed their work (beginning in June 1946), which was known for its intricate detail and unique style. The other cartoonist to sign his work was
Allan Morley Allan Morley ( Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Great Britain, 29 April 1895 - Thanet, Kent 5 September 1960) was a British comic artist. He first worked for DC Thomson in 1925, drawing a number of comic strips for the ''Sunday Post'' and for DC Th ...
and he was the first to do so.


Personal life

He was a devout Christian and an enthusiastic supporter of the
Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...
in Dundee (where he met his wife). He contributed artwork for mission calendars, and from 1956 he produced (free of charge) the comic strips ''William the Warrior'' and ''Tony & Tina – The Twins'' for ''The Young Warrior'', a children's paper published by the WEC Publications. These strips, filled with quotations from
Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...
, were collected into a series of booklets. In March 2008 a watercolour by Watkins depicting
The Crucifixion The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and considere ...
was discovered in a house in
Lochgelly Lochgelly ( ; gd, Loch Gheallaidh, IPA: ɫ̪ɔxˈʝaɫ̪ai is a town in Fife, Scotland. It is located between Loch Ore, Lochs Ore and Gelly to the north-west and south-east respectively. It is separated from Cowdenbeath by the village of ...
, Fife. Watkins and his wife built a substantial house in
Broughty Ferry Broughty Ferry (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Bruach Tatha''; Scots: ''Brochtie'') is a suburb of Dundee, Scotland. It is situated four miles east of the city centre on the north bank of the Firth of Tay. The area was a separate burgh from 1864 until ...
which he named ''Winsterly''. He continued working with D. C. Thomson for the rest of his life. On 20 August 1969 he was found dead at his drawing board, the victim of a heart attack. It is a testament to Watkins' work that D. C. Thomson continued to reprint Oor Wullie and Broons strips in ''The Sunday Post'' for seven years before a replacement was found. Watkins' ''Desperate Dan'' strips were reprinted in ''The Dandy'' for fourteen years.


References


External links


DC Thomson Website''Broons'' and ''Oor Wullie'' fan site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Dudley D. 1907 births 1969 deaths Artists from Manchester Artists from Nottingham People associated with Dundee English cartoonists English comics artists British comic strip cartoonists English members of the Churches of Christ Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art The Dandy people The Beano people Christian comics creators