Joe Colquhoun (7 November 1926 – 13 April 1987) was a British

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

artist best known for his work on ''

Charley's War ''Charley's War'' was a British comic strip about the First World War, written by Pat Mills and drawn by Joe Colquhoun. It was originally published in ''Battle Picture Weekly'' from January 1979 to October 1986. Though later parts of the sto ...

'' in ''

Battle Picture Weekly ''Battle Picture Weekly'', at various times also known as ''Battle Action'', ''Battle Action Force'', ''Battle'' and ''Battle with Storm Force'', was a British war comic book magazine published by IPC Magazines from (issues dates) 8 March 1975 ...

''. He was also the first artist to draw ''

Roy of the Rovers ''Roy of the Rovers'' is a British comic strip about the life and times of a fictional footballer and later manager named Roy Race, who played for Melchester Rovers. The strip first appeared in the ''Tiger'' in 1954, before giving its name to ...

''.

Biography

Born in Harrow,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, Joe Colquhoun served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and won a place at

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

School of Art on his return. His career in comics began in 1951 in Jungle Trails, and he went on to work for

IPC Media TI Media (formerly International Publishing Company, IPC Magazines Ltd, IPC Media and Time Inc. UK) was a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year. Most of its tit ...

on titles such as ''

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

'', and later ''

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

'', where he drew ''Roy of the Rovers'' for six years, from 1954 to 1960, despite having no interest in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. In the early 1970s he worked mainly for IPC's humour comics '' Buster'' and ''

Cor!! ''Cor!!'', a British comic book, was launched in June 1970 by IPC (International Publishing Corporation), their sixth new comic in just over a year. ''Cor!!'' was edited by Bob Paynter. The comic had 32 pages and included a full colour center ...

'', until Battle Picture Weekly came along in 1976. For Battle he drew ''Soldier Sharp: the Rat of the Rifles'' and ''Johnny Red'' before editor Dave Hunt assigned him to work on

Pat Mills Patrick Eamon Mills (born 1949) is an English comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since. He has been called "the godfather o ...

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

story ''Charley's War'' in 1978. After ''Charley's War'' finished in 1986 Colquhoun drew for ''

Mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practic ...

'' until his death from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in 1987.

Bibliography

Comics work includes: *''Charley's War'' (with

, in ''

Battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

'', January 1979 to October 1985) collected by

Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of Titan Entertainment Group, which was established in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and co ...

as: ** ''2 June – 1 August 1916'' (collects episodes 1-29, November 2004, ) ** ''1 August – 17 October 1916'' (collects episodes 30–59, November 2005, ) ** ''17 October 1916 – 21 February 1917'' (collects episodes 60–83, October 2006, ) ** ''Blue's Story'' (October 2007, ) ** ''Return to the Front'' (October 2008, ) ** ''Underground and Over the Top'' (October 2009, )

References

Joe Colquhoun
at

Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

Comiclopedia *

External links

Joe Colquhoun
at the Charley's War fansite
Joe Colquhoun
at the official Roy of the Rovers site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colquhoun, Joe People from Harrow, London Royal Navy personnel of World War II 1987 deaths 1926 births British comics artists