Rick Brookes (born 16 June 1948 in

Bangor, Gwynedd Bangor (; ) is a cathedral city and community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

) is a British satirical cartoonist. Having studied art at Salford Art School, Manchester, he worked first as an assistant art editor for

Mirabelle Mirabelle plum (''Prunus domestica'' subsp. ''syriaca'') is a cultivar group of plum trees of the genus ''Prunus''. It is believed that the plum was cultivated from a wild fruit grown in Anatolia. Description The mirabelle is identified by it ...

magazine and then as a graphic artist and designer for IPC magazines such as '' Woman's Own'', ''Woman's Realm'' and '' Ideal Home''. Brookes was an

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

and staff

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 ...

at the

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

from 1977, signing his strips first "Rick Brookes" then "Brookes". He worked alongside

Jak Jak may refer to: Places * Ják, a village in Hungary People * Jak Alnwick (born 1993), English football goalkeeper * Jak Jones (born 1993), Welsh professional snooker player * Raymond Jackson ("JAK") (1927–1997), UK cartoonist * Jak Airport ( ...

for eighteen years, deputising for him In 1994 Brookes began contributing to 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 ...

taking over from Giles, using the signature "Brook", and he kept the same signature after he moved to '' The Sun'' in 1996, taking over from Tom Johnston. Brookes's cartoons appear regularly in newspapers such as

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...

, Mail on Sunday, The American and

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

, and is especially popular on

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

, with his series ''THIS LIFE''. He also worked on the Allied Lyons advertising campaign for Saatchi & Saatchi. Greatly influenced by Giles,

Low Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low Places * Low, Quebec, Canada * Low, Utah, United States * Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station * Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LO ...

and

, Brookes also admires Oliphant, Matt and Mac. He is reported as drawing his sketches with a Swan fountain pen and flexible nib, just so that he can be suppler in his drawing. He used to hide a rook in his drawings "because there is a

rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military *Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * USS ' ...

hidden in 'Brookes'".Mark Bryant ''Dictionary of Twentieth-Century British Cartoonists and Caricaturists'' ( Ashgate,

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

, 2000), p.39.

Notes

External links

British Cartoon Archive, University of Kent
(2005) * ttp://www.hotel-blogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/08/08/dsc00597_3.jpg A cartoon by Brookes(2007)
A page from ''Metro'', with cartoons by Brookes
(2008) Living people 1948 births People from Bangor, Gwynedd British cartoonists {{UK-cartoonist-stub