John Keith Geering (9 March 1941 – 13 August 1999) was a British

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

with a distinctive, occasionally flamboyant style, most famous for his work for

DC Thomson DC Thomson is a media company based in Dundee, Scotland. Founded by David Couper Thomson in 1905, it is best known for publishing ''The Dundee Courier'', ''The Evening Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Post'' newspapers, and the comics ''Oor Wull ...

comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

s including '' Sparky'', '' The Topper'', '' Cracker'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Nutty ''Nutty'' was a British comic magazine that ran for 292 issues from 16 February 1980 to 14 September 1985, when it merged with ''The Dandy''. Published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, ''Nutty'' was an attempt to create a more lively and chaotic co ...

'', ''

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 ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''. Geering's strips included: * Puss 'n' Boots (''Sparky/Topper/Dandy''), a more anarchic, surreal take on the traditional cat-and-dog strips, complete with bizarre dialogue and situations - Boots, for example, having taken a gardening job, boasts that the perks include "all the grass I can eat", whilst Puss can be found selling ice cream at the North Pole. * Smudge (''Beano''), correctly billed as the world's dirtiest schoolboy, relishing any opportunity to get covered in grime and filth that presents itself. *

Bananaman Bananaman is a fictional character appearing in British comic books. Bananaman is a parody of traditional superheroes, being portrayed as a schoolboy who is transformed into a muscled, caped adult man when he eats a banana. The character origin ...

(''Nutty/Dandy/Beano''), a bungling superhero whose alter-ego is a stubble-headed schoolboy. This character proved particularly popular during its run in Nutty, and spawned an animated television series voiced by

Bill Oddie William Edgar Oddie (born 7 July 1941) is an English writer, comedian, songwriter, musician, artist, birder, conservationist, television presenter and actor. He was a member of comedy trio The Goodies. A birder since his childhood in Quinton, ...

Tim Brooke-Taylor Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor Order of the British Empire, OBE (17 July 194012 April 2020) was an English actor and comedian best known as a member of The Goodies. He became active in performing in comedy sketches while at the University of Cam ...

and

Graeme Garden David Graeme Garden OBE (born 18 February 1943) is a Scottish comedian, actor, author, artist and television presenter, best known as a member of The Goodies and a regular panellist on ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue''. Early life and education ...

. The strip continued in The Dandy, first drawn by John Geering and then by other artists following his death. Bananaman Geering reprints briefly ran in The Beano from January 2012. He worked at Cosgrove Hall animation studios in Manchester on '' Danger Mouse'', ''

Count Duckula ''Count Duckula'' is a British children's animated comedy horror television series created by British studio Cosgrove Hall Films and produced by Thames Television as a spin-off from '' Danger Mouse'', a series in which an early version of the ...

'', and the 1989 film ''

The BFG ''The BFG'' (short for ''The Big Friendly Giant'') is a 1982 children's book written by British novelist Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. It is an expansion of a short story from Dahl's 1975 book '' Danny, the Champion of the World ...

'' based on the 1982 novel of the same name by

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

. Geering's last new strip was

Dean's Dino Dean Foods was an American food and beverage company and the largest dairy company in the United States. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company maintained plants and distributors in the United States. Dean Foods had 66 manufacturing faciliti ...

, which he drew for ''The Beano'' shortly before his death. He also produced topical and political satire cartoons for British newspapers. He had lived in the village of

Comberbach Comberbach is a civil parish and small village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, between Northwich and Warrington. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 censu ...

with his wife for many years before his death. He died in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, aged 58.

References

External links

Peter Gray's John Geering comic fansite
1941 births 1999 deaths The Dandy people The Beano people People from Warrington British comics artists British comics writers {{UK-comics-creator-stub