Malcolm Judge (1918 – 17 January 1989) was a British cartoonist, best known for his contributions to

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 ...

's range of comics. He was married, had one daughter, and lived in

Bishopbriggs Bishopbriggs ( sco, The Briggs; gd, Achadh an Easbaig) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the northern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. Shires of Scotland, Historically in ...

near

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. His early career was spent as a writer and journalist, and in 1948 he began contributing comic strips to the newspapers and magazines at DC Thomson. He contributed his first strip,

The Badd Lads ''The Badd Lads'' was a comic strip that ran in The Beezer for twenty years starring Fingers, Knuck and Boss who were inept criminals. They were always getting caught, escaping jail and then finding themselves incarcerated again. Fingers was your ...

to ''

The Beezer ''The Beezer'' (called ''The Beezer and Topper'' for the last three years of publication) was a British comic that ran from (issues dates) 21 January 1956 to 21 August 1993, published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. Comic strips in ''The Beezer' ...

'' in 1960, and Colonel Crackpot's Circus to ''

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 ...

'' the same year. He created several more popular strips including

The Numskulls ''The Numskulls'' is a comic strip in ''The Beano'', and previously in ''The Beezer'' and ''The Dandy'' – UK comics owned by D.C Thomson. The strip is about a team of tiny human-like technicians who live inside the heads of various people, ...

in ''The Beezer'' in 1962,

Billy Whizz Billy Whizz is a fictional character featured in the British comic ''The Beano'', first appearing in issue 1139, dated 16 May 1964, when it replaced The Country Cuzzins. Billy, the title character, is a boy who can run extraordinarily fast. His ...

in ''The Beano'' in 1964 and

Ball Boy Ball boys and ball girls, also known as ball kids are individuals, usually human youths but sometimes dogs, who retrieve and supply balls for players or officials in sports such as association football, American football, bandy, cricket, tennis ...

in the same comic in 1975. He also drew Square Eyes for '' The Topper'', and Ali's Baba and

Baron Von Reichs-Pudding ''Sparky'' was a British comic published weekly by DC Thomson, that ran from (issue dates) 23 January 1965 to 9 July 1977 when it merged with '' The Topper'' after 652 issues. From 1965–1980 the comic published an annual entitled ''The Spark ...

in '' Sparky'' before and after its merge with ''The Topper''. Judge remained an active contributor to DC Thomson until his death at the age of 70 in early 1989.

John Dallas John Dewar Dallas (11 June 1878 – 31 July 1942) was a Scottish international rugby union player. Dallas played international rugby for Scotland but is more notable as a rugby referee, and his officiating of the ''" Match of the Century"'', ...

took over Ball Boy, and

John Geering John Keith Geering (9 March 1941 – 13 August 1999) was a British cartoonist with a distinctive, occasionally flamboyant style, most famous for his work for DC Thomson comics including '' Sparky'', '' The Topper'', '' Cracker'', ''Plug'', ''Nut ...

replaced Judge on The Badd Ladds, while the workload on Billy Whizz was shared by

Barrie Appleby Barrie Appleby is a British comics artist who works mainly for Scottish publisher D. C. Thomson & Co., drawing strips such as Dennis the Menace and Roger the Dodger for ''The Beano'' since the 1970s. He has also drawn Cuddles and Dimples for ' ...

and

Steve Horrocks ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve A ...

until the appointment of long-term successor

David Parkins David Alan Parkins (born 2 November 1955) is a British cartoonist and illustrator who has worked for D.C. Thomson, publisher of ''The Beano'' and ''The Dandy''. Now based in Canada, he illustrates children's picture books. Parkins was born in ...

. The Numskulls had already been taken over by

Tom Lavery Thomas "Tom" Patrick Lavery (18 December 1911 – 7 February 1987) was a South African sprinter and hurdler. He competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics in 110 metre hurdles and 4×100 metre relay, but failed to reach the finals. At the 1938 ...

in 1979.

External links

Comiclopedia entry
1918 births 1989 deaths British comics artists The Beano people {{UK-comics-creator-stub