John McLusky (20 January 1923 – 5 September 2006) was a

comics artist 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 g ...

best known as the original artist of the

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

featuring

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...

's ''

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

''.

Biography

Hector John Dewhirst McLusky was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He eventually moved with his two brothers, sister and parents, to Leeds, Yorkshire. They moved from Leeds to Leamington Spa in 1936. John (also known as Hector) attended

Warwick School Warwick School is a selective, independent day and boarding school in Warwick, England in the public school tradition. Known until about 1900 as King's School, Warwick, it is believed to have been founded by Æthelflæd of Mercia in 914 AD ...

from 1936 to 1940, and, after a period back in Leeds, proceeded to the

Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

where he held the position of Art Teacher. WARTIME EXPERIENCES - Information to follow John McLusky began illustrating the comic strip adaptation of ''James Bond'' for the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

''. From 1958 to 1966, McLusky adapted 13 of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels or short stories. After

Yaroslav Horak Yaroslav Horak (12 June 1927 – 24 November 2020) was an Australian illustrator and comics artist, of ethnic Czech-Russian origin, best known for his work on the newspaper comic strip ''James Bond (comic strip), James Bond''. Biography Horak ...

had taken over the ''James Bond'' strip, McLusky drew ''Secret Agent 13'' for

Fleetway Fleetway Publications was a magazine publishing company based in London. It was founded in 1959 when the Mirror Group acquired the Amalgamated Press, then based at Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London. It was one of the companies that merg ...

. For the magazine ''

TV Comic ''TV Comic'' was a British comic book magazine published weekly from 9 November 1951 until 29 June 1984. Featuring stories based on television series running at the time of publication, it was the first British comic to be based around TV pro ...

'' McLusky illustrated several strips over 15 years, notably ''

Look and Learn ''Look and Learn'' was a British weekly educational magazine for children published by Fleetway Publications Ltd from 1962 until 1982. It contained educational text articles that covered a wide variety of topics from volcanoes to the Loch Ness ...

'' and strip adaptations for ''

Laurel & Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in ...

'', and the ''

Pink Panther ''The Pink Panther'' is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the classic film ''The Pink ...

''. In 1982 McLusky returned to illustrate the ''James Bond'' strip, collaborating with writer Jim Lawrence to illustrate four new original ''James Bond'' stories. John McLusky continued other work throughout his career – including several years as Art History Lecturer and substitute teaching in Art & Art History. A passion of his was working as a Punch & Judy puppeteer on Bournemouth Pier & Filey in Yorkshire. He became a Professor of Punch & Judy which was in recognition of his knowledge & services to this time honoured tradition.

''James Bond'' strips

Other work

* ''The Paradise Plot'' (1981-1982) * ''Deathmask'' (1982–1983) * ''Flittermouse'' (1983) * ''Polestar'' (1983) * ''The Scent Of Danger'' (1984)

Sources

External links

John McLusky biography
on Lambiek Comiclopedia

1923 births 2006 deaths British comics artists British comic strip cartoonists {{UK-comics-creator-stub