Vic Neill (24 November 1941 - 24 December 1999) was a British cartoonist who drew for

D.C. 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 ...

and I.P.C.'s comics. His first notable comic work was on

Sparky Sparky is a common nickname for people and animals. In the British Commonwealth, it can also be used to refer to an electrician. People * Sparky Adams (1894–1989), American Major League Baseball player * Sparky Anderson (1934–2010), American ...

strip Peter Piper. In 1969, he replaced Dudley Dexter Watkins on Topper cover star

Mickey the Monkey ''Mickey the Monkey'' was a comic strip which featured the eponymous fictional monkey, Mickey. The character was the cover star of British comic '' The Topper'' from its launch in 1953 until the 1970s. The strip appeared throughout the comic's ...

after Watkins' sudden death. Neill was a big admirer of Watkins' artwork. He made his debut in the Beano with

The McTickles ''The McTickles'' was a British gag-a-day comic strip in the British comic book magazine '' The Beano''. It was drawn by Vic Neill Vic Neill (24 November 1941 - 24 December 1999) was a British cartoonist who drew for D.C. Thomson and I.P.C ...

in 1971. In 1974, this was replaced by another Scottish-themed strip,

Wee Ben Nevis Wee Ben Nevis was a British gag-a-day comic, published in the comic book magazine '' The Beano'', first appearing in issue 1678, dated 14 September 1974, and continuing until 7 May 1977. It was drawn by Vic Neill, and replaced '' The McTickles'' ...

. In 1977, when D.C. Thomson launched their new comic,

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 ...

, a

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

from The Bash Street Kids, Neill became the regular artist of the title character's strip, which he continued to draw after it merged with

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'' ...

two years later. In the 1980s, Neill drew much material for I.P.C. Magazines. This included strips such as Top of the Class in

Buster Buster may refer to: People First name *Buster Drayton (born 1952), American boxer *Buster Glosson, retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general *Buster Mathis (1943–1995), American heavyweight boxer *Buster Mathis Jr. (born 1970), American heavyw ...

comic and Spare-Part Kit in Whoopee. His final strip for them, Nightmare on Erm Street, appeared in Buster in 1990. Returning to the Beano in the late 1980s, he took over The Germs from David Sutherland. Neill then started drawing

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 1992, and became the strip's regular artist the following year when the Beano switched to full-colour printing. While initially drawing the character in a loosely comparable style to

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 ...

and

Trevor Metcalfe Trevor Metcalfe (born May 1939 in Brotton, Yorkshire) is a British illustrator and comic book artist. Known for his comic strips in IPC Magazines comics such as Sweet Tooth and Junior Rotter in ''Whizzer and Chips''. Influences include Leo ...

when they shared the workload, once he was established as main artist he began making incremental changes to Billy's appearance. Most notably, Billy had always had two long hairs on the top of his head, but in the 9 July 1994 issue of the comic his hair fused into a lightning flash, and his head shape was also changed from oval to round. In the Beano's 1997 reader vote, Neill drew Tim Traveller, the boy with the time-travelling bike. Tim won the poll, along with Crazy for Daisy and went on to become a regular in the comic. He continued drawing for the Beano until his death in December 1999. Billy Whizz was taken over by Graeme Hall, with Keith Reynolds becoming his replacement on Tim Traveller, but The Germs ended. A number of his Billy Whizz strips were later reprinted in the Beano in 2008–2009.

References

British comics artists British cartoonists 1999 deaths The Beano people 1941 births {{UK-comics-creator-stub