Gordon Bell (comics)

Gordon Bell (1934 – 13 February 2014)Lew Stringer

Blimey! It's Another Blog About Comics!, 18 February 2014 was a British cartoonist, best known for humorous strips for D. C. Thomson's weekly comics, including "Pup Parade" in ''The Beano'' and " Spoofer McGraw" in '' Sparky''.

Biography

Bell grew up in Dundee, Scotland, where he was educated at Clepington Primary School and Morgan Academy, and studied art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design. He and author Brian Callison ran CB Studios, an art and furniture business, for a time.

From the late 1950s he worked as a cartoonist, mainly for D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, publishers of ''The Beano'' and ''The Dandy'' among others.Alan Clark, ''Dictionary of British Comic Artists, Writers and Editors'', The British Library, 1998, pp. 14-15 He contributed to most of the company's comics. His longest running strip was "Pup Parade", a spin-off of "The Bash Street Kids" featuring the kids' dogs, which he drew regularly in ''The Beano'' from 1967 to 1988, in '' The Topper'' from 1989 to 1990, and ''The Beezer'' from 1990 to 1992.George Shiers
D.C Thomson Origins: Pup Parade
Wacky Comics, 30 April 2012 According to D. C. Thomson editor Iain McLaughlin, he was "professional, quick, and ready to try anything."John Freeman
In Memoriam: Gordon Bell
Down the Tubes, 21 February 2014 He did some work for IPC's comics, drawing "The Wolf Pack" in ''Whoopee!'' in 1974,"The Wolf Pack"
at Fleetway Street and for the motoring magazine '' Autocar'', and created the "9 Wellies", cartoon characters designed to cheer up children in hospital for NHS Tayside. His satirical cartoons headed the political diary every Saturday in '' The Courier'', signed "Fax".

His main interest outside work was motor sports. He was a member of 750 Motor Club, and an RAC steward at Knockhill Racing Circuit. He and his wife Isabel, with whom he had two sons and two stepsons, lived in the West End of Dundee. He died suddenly on 13 February 2014, at the age of 79.

Comics work

''

The Beano''

*"Pom-Pom" (1958)
*" Dennis the Menace" (1966)
*"The Bash Street Kids" (1967)
*"Pup Parade" (1967–88, continued in '' The Topper'', 1989–90, and ''The Beezer'', 1990–92)
*"Roger the Dodger" (1968)Denis Gifford, ''Encyclopedia of Comic Characters'', Longman, 1987, pp. 26, 38, 70, 77, 79, 97, 102, 172, 184, 188, 206

''

The Beezer''

*"The Wabits"
*"Colonel Blink"

'' Buzz''

*"Harum-Scarem" (1973–74)
*"Sammy's Scribbles" (1973–75, continued in '' The Topper'', 1975–76)
*"The Buzzies and the Fuzzies" (1973–75)

''

Cracker''

*"Billy the Kid and Pongo" (1975–76)
*"Fiends Beans" (1975–76)

''

The Dandy''

*"Fibba" (1972)
*"The Dandy Editor's Little Helpers"
*"Joe Mince"

''

Nutty''

*"Scoopy" (1980–85)
*"Doodlebug" (1980–82)
*"Snoozer"
*"Micro Dot"

''

Plug''

*"Hugh's Zoo" (1977–79, continued in ''The Beezer'', 1979)
*"First Ada" (1977–79, continued in ''The Beezer'', 1979)

'' Sparky''

*" Spoofer McGraw" (1968–74)
*"Dreamy Daniel"

'' The Topper''

*"Pearl" (1986)
*"The Neals on Wheels" (1986)
*"Kuckoo Komedy" (1986)
*"Jimmy Jinx"

''

Whoopee!''

*"The Wolf Pack" (1974, Annuals 1975 and 1976)

References

External links

*Gordon Bell's work a
''Peter Gray's Cartoons and Comics''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Gordon
1934 births
2014 deaths
British comics artists
The Beano people
The Dandy people
Artists from Dundee
People educated at Morgan Academy
Alumni of the University of Dundee