Roger Noel Cook (born 1946) is a British comics writer, musician, and magazine editor.

Biography

As a teenager, Cook began working at

Polystyle Publications Polystyle Publications Ltd was a British publisher of Children's literature, children's comics and books that operated from 1960 to 1997, publishing such titles as ''TV Comic'', ''I-Spy'', ''Pippin (comics), Pippin'', ''Countdown (Polystyle Publi ...

in 1962, becoming a staff writer on '' TV Comic'' in 1964. He wrote for various series in ''TV Comic'', including ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'', ''

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...

'' and '' Popeye''. His extensive work on the ''Doctor Who'' comic has led to him being described as the most prolific ''Doctor Who'' writer in any medium.A Writer Way Too Young: An Interview with Roger Noel Cook
Altered Vistas, 2011 While at Polystyle, Cook, on lead vocals, formed the band Stud Leather with Alan Kirkham on guitar. The rest of the band were Haydn Gridley on bass, Johnny Aldrich on drums and Dickie Graves on backing vocals. The band was signed to DART (Dart Records) but disbanded after one single, "Cut Loose," which also featured

Raphael Ravenscroft Raphael Ravenscroft (4 June 1954 – 19 October 2014) was a British musician, composer and author. He is best known for playing the saxophone on Gerry Rafferty's song "Baker Street". Early life While his place of birth is disputed, the En ...

on saxophone (who later played the famous sax solo on Gerry Rafferty's "

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

"). Cook then released a single with Alan Kirkham, "Slick Go-Getter", on DART, released October 1973. In 1974, Cook became the UK CEO of

Williams Publishing Williams Publishing was the short-lived European comics and magazines publishing division of Warner Communications in the 1970s. Headquartered at the Columbia-Warner House in London, Williams had European-language divisions in Denmark, Finland, F ...

, the publishing division of

Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

, where among other duties he edited the men's magazine ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

''."Parade" at Magforum
Archived at the Wayback Machine
Retrieved Apr. 20, 2021. In 1979, as Williams was shutting down, Cook joined lifelong friend

Tony Power Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...

at the pornographic magazine publisher Paul Raymond Publications. While there, Cook invented the first video men's magazine, '' Electric Blue'', for which we also wrote and recorded most of the music, forming the band Broadsword for this purpose. Cook later worked for

Richard Desmond Richard Clive Desmond (born 8 December 1951) is a British publisher, businessman and former pornographer. According to the 2021 ''Sunday Times Rich List'', Desmond was the 107th richest person in the United Kingdom. He is the founder of North ...

, taking over ''

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...

'' magazine. In 2004, Desmond commissioned Cook to write the first tabloid 3D picture strip, called ''Big Shot'', a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

star soap. Cook is currently working on a script for a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

called ''Guns 'n' Moses''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Roger Noel 1946 births British comics writers British magazine publishers (people) Living people