Jack Edward Oliver (19 June 1942 – 26 May 2007) was a British
cartoonist. He is more usually known as J. Edward Oliver (or JEO, or Jack).
Biography
JEO achieved fame in the 1970s with a long-running strip in the UK music paper ''
Disc (and Music Echo)'', later ''
Record Mirror
''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...
''. The strip had many fans including
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
. It included characters from TV, film and music, with a large section for readers' contributions (Win a Plastic
Warthog
''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly co ...
). Jack provided other material, including a pop-based strip calle
The Nose stories and numerous graphics.
One character proved particularly enduring, a
dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
called
Fresco-Le-Raye. Up to his death, J Edward Oliver continued to create Fresc
stripswhich can be seen on his official website. (The site also features other strips, such as The Invisible Man, a staple of his ''Record Mirror'' years.) Other work at that time included promotional art for a single by
Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs
Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs were an English novelty band that issued a few recordings in the early 1970s. The band was an alias adopted by Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts but signed to a different record label.
Terry Dactyl and the Dinos ...
and UK records.
In November 1977, the ''Record Mirror'' strip was deemed not contemporary enough and was ended. Oliver went to work for
IPC Magazines Ltd, creating
comic strips including ''
Busters ''
Master Mind'' (1980-1983), ''
Cliff Hanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhange ...
'' (1983-1987) and ''
Vid Kid'', as well as drawing ''
The Champ'' in ''
Whizzer and Chips
''Whizzer and Chips'' was a British comics magazine that ran from 18 October 1969 to 27 October 1990, when it merged with the comic '' Buster''. As with most comics of the time, ''Whizzer and Chips'' was dated one week ahead of the day it actu ...
'' from 1979 to 1981. Many of his strips included puzzles and games.
In 1984, Oliver also wrote the words for a musical called ''
Swan Esther'' which was performed at
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
's
Young Vic and on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
When ''Buster'' ceased publication at the beginning of 2000, Oliver was the last artist left, and drew the only non-reprint material in the comic's final issue ("How It All Ends", which looked back at how all the Buster characters ended).
With Buster gone, Oliver investigated other work, including newspaper strips and first day covers. In 2000, together with his cousin Steve, he created Phil Stamp Covers, unique first day covers for stamp collectors.
Among Oliver's trademarks in his strips were little signs reading "Abolish Tuesdays" and regular sightings of a tiny cube with a crank handle attached. The latter was never explained. Oliver also had something of an obsession with the British actress
, drawing several appearances by her into his work, which she later complained about. Oliver reacted characteristically, producing a strip about her complaint.
In 2000, a website about Oliver's work revived interest in it. The site was originally created as a celebration of JEO's work in ''Disc'' and ''Record Mirror'' but later JEO contributed new material, as well as obscure historical stuff and a new, e-mailed (and free) weekly strip involving Fresco-Le-Raye, which eventually had hundreds of subscribers and ran for several hundred episodes.
In 2007 Oliver announced he was suffering from cancer, but he continued to create new material. In March 2007 he married his girlfriend of many years, Liz Hales. He died peacefully on 26 May 2007.
JEO's website continues, with much unpublished material finally seeing the light of day.
(c. 13th century B.) tools and weapons was discovered by Oliver's father John whilst digging the footings of an extension to his home in
, in 1986. The four implements comprised two axe-heads, a knife and a tanged shaving razor and are known as the
. The items were purchased by and are on display in Dartford Museum.