D C Thomson Cartoonists: Charles Grigg
Charles Grigg [1916-2014]
Easily one of the most accomplished UK 'funnies'- comics artists of the 20th Century, Charlies' Legacy is as proud as anyone elses' in this very specialized field: even when seen over 50 years later, his work still looks terriffic, packs a mighty comic-punch, and hasn't dated in the slightest: even now-historic 1960s anachronisms like bulky TV sets and 'vintage' bicycles and Dixon of Dock Green-like cops simply take on a brilliant period charm when seen all this time later......so, how come so many 'vintage' strips from the exact same era show much less staying power when revisited today, in comparison to Charlies' sterling output?
---For me, it's the twin merits of QUALITY and QUIRKINESS: like his near- contemporary Dudley Watkins, Charlie, 'Chas' or--for our purposes------'Chazzas' ----artwork goes far beyond the 'identikit' -'culled-from-whatever-is-in-the-current-vogue' approach that has always plagued comics production: he had a natural, uncopied and personal style all of his ownsome that was strong enough to hold it's own against all competition: no mean feat, in an Industry marked by much formulae and 'ghosting' of successful artists' styles. Yes, he took over the Korky the Cat duties in the very early 60s from one of the finest early D C T artists---James Crighton----and after initial 'shoehorning' of Crightons' established feline-persona in his first Korky strips,---- Chazza soon went on to develop the definitive version of Korky, still burned into the minds of Millions of successive DANDY readers, over quite literal decades.
Looking through my files of olden comics, the earliest examples of Charlies' work I have located thus far are in the late 50s BEANO: these strips include the low-concept PRINCE WHOOPEE, and the Tweety/Sylvester-a-like KAT and KANARY, easily his most animated cartoon-like serving.......however it is over at the DANDY and TOPPER especially that his work was given a high profile, and he was certainly diversive enough to also turn out extremely skilled adventure fare, with a more illustrative, less cartoon-like construction. Fantastic [in more ways than one] of this sterling adventure-fare included :
THE PURPLE CLOUD [Dandy early 60s: although it is the '68-69 repeats I personally recall]: brilliantly, and meticulously-rendered detail of large-scale destruction accross America at the hands of arch fiend the Purple Mask and his lethal metal-eating chemistry-compound.
THE UMBRELLA MEN:[ mid-60s DANDY]: Magritte-like surrealism as bowler-hatted , refined hoods take to the skies using powered brollies: deliciously eccentric fare, inked with Chazzas' usual high-caliber standards.
CAPTAIN WHOOSH!: [around 1967, DANDY]: I have a few of these episodes on file, and they are top-quality examples of beautifully-executed hokum-mayhem, with the high standards of draftsmanship you just don't see any more.
Back to KORKY though: again, the sheer quality of these covers are such that you just just have to savor each cover, and I am on a quest to track down every cover of the 20-odd years that Chazza graced the front cover of the DANDY: the topics covered therein are a lot more varied than the casual observer might realize: it is not just endless salmon dinners, practical jokes by Korkys' nephews the Kits, Korks getting one over the gamekeeper or the devious ploys of the mice who live behind the skirting-boards of the Feline Ones' house .---there are references to teenagers and ethnic Minorities, as well as most animals under the sun making some sort of cameo appearance, every breed from circus elephants to flocks of honking geese.
So, which artist put out the BEST comics-covers of that Golden 1960s period, an age that never saw artists 'cop out' and turn out one large single 'splash' image, [much easier to pull off, that one] instead giving us at least three rows of panels, often with a larger 'full stop' concluding frame: was it Grigg, or that other undoubted Master of the dip-pen, Dudley D Watkins?
CHARLES GRIGG versus DUDLEY D WATKINS:
-----Well, clearly, Watkins had the far higher profile as covers-artist, giving us not only BIFFO on the front of the BEANO, but also MICKEY the MONKEY [with his similar red shorts, big white buttons and galluses] for TOPPER and the Oor-Wullie-a-like GINGER for Page One of the BEEZER. For me, Chazza bequeathed top-quality Korky covers that easily match the Master Watkins: they are packed with variety and detailed comic incident, as well as being Masterclasses of caricatured expression and composition. Watkins gave us some really superior 'costume-drama' Biffo covers [the bruin in Medievel armor, etc] however a few of his covers are undeniably fairly sketchy: I reckon that Chazzas' Korky covers are more consistent overall, and you can pick up any of these DANDY covers completely at random, and that reliable quality will always be there: for me at least, Watkins 'highs' are higher, and his 'lows' are lower than Chazza.
Charlies' other high-profile work of course was over at the TOPPER, his very long-running FOXY hi-jinks detailing the devious ones' endless snaffling of cooked chicken from Farmer and his wife, and the plottings of the streetwise talking chickens who populate the pen outside. In the very early 70s, the whimsical SPLODGE-THE LAST OF THE GOBLINS took over the back page from SEND FOR KELLY, this was a Silly Symphonies-like affair, with anthromorphosized forest animals, and the titular Goblin often talking direct to the reader .
Chazza also diversified into saucy seaside postcards---the earliest example I have of these is from 1977, for the slightly risque BAMFORTH series: apparantly his open-minded wife helped to come up with some of the ideas, and there's nowt wrong with that!
Charlie semi-retired in the mid-80s, supplementing his well-derserved state pension with occassional new material, including the odd Korky cover. Reportedly he looked forwards to retiring, as understandably there was a lot of preperation and work in his detailed pages.
A true giant among British Humor artists---against any competition------Charlies' comic legacy is as proud as any in his illustrious field.
Here's my tribute to his most enduring character:
COPYRIGHT 2015: D C THOMSON & Co. LTD.
Easily one of the most accomplished UK 'funnies'- comics artists of the 20th Century, Charlies' Legacy is as proud as anyone elses' in this very specialized field: even when seen over 50 years later, his work still looks terriffic, packs a mighty comic-punch, and hasn't dated in the slightest: even now-historic 1960s anachronisms like bulky TV sets and 'vintage' bicycles and Dixon of Dock Green-like cops simply take on a brilliant period charm when seen all this time later......so, how come so many 'vintage' strips from the exact same era show much less staying power when revisited today, in comparison to Charlies' sterling output?
---For me, it's the twin merits of QUALITY and QUIRKINESS: like his near- contemporary Dudley Watkins, Charlie, 'Chas' or--for our purposes------'Chazzas' ----artwork goes far beyond the 'identikit' -'culled-from-whatever-is-in-the-current-vogue' approach that has always plagued comics production: he had a natural, uncopied and personal style all of his ownsome that was strong enough to hold it's own against all competition: no mean feat, in an Industry marked by much formulae and 'ghosting' of successful artists' styles. Yes, he took over the Korky the Cat duties in the very early 60s from one of the finest early D C T artists---James Crighton----and after initial 'shoehorning' of Crightons' established feline-persona in his first Korky strips,---- Chazza soon went on to develop the definitive version of Korky, still burned into the minds of Millions of successive DANDY readers, over quite literal decades.
Looking through my files of olden comics, the earliest examples of Charlies' work I have located thus far are in the late 50s BEANO: these strips include the low-concept PRINCE WHOOPEE, and the Tweety/Sylvester-a-like KAT and KANARY, easily his most animated cartoon-like serving.......however it is over at the DANDY and TOPPER especially that his work was given a high profile, and he was certainly diversive enough to also turn out extremely skilled adventure fare, with a more illustrative, less cartoon-like construction. Fantastic [in more ways than one] of this sterling adventure-fare included :
THE PURPLE CLOUD [Dandy early 60s: although it is the '68-69 repeats I personally recall]: brilliantly, and meticulously-rendered detail of large-scale destruction accross America at the hands of arch fiend the Purple Mask and his lethal metal-eating chemistry-compound.
THE UMBRELLA MEN:[ mid-60s DANDY]: Magritte-like surrealism as bowler-hatted , refined hoods take to the skies using powered brollies: deliciously eccentric fare, inked with Chazzas' usual high-caliber standards.
CAPTAIN WHOOSH!: [around 1967, DANDY]: I have a few of these episodes on file, and they are top-quality examples of beautifully-executed hokum-mayhem, with the high standards of draftsmanship you just don't see any more.
Back to KORKY though: again, the sheer quality of these covers are such that you just just have to savor each cover, and I am on a quest to track down every cover of the 20-odd years that Chazza graced the front cover of the DANDY: the topics covered therein are a lot more varied than the casual observer might realize: it is not just endless salmon dinners, practical jokes by Korkys' nephews the Kits, Korks getting one over the gamekeeper or the devious ploys of the mice who live behind the skirting-boards of the Feline Ones' house .---there are references to teenagers and ethnic Minorities, as well as most animals under the sun making some sort of cameo appearance, every breed from circus elephants to flocks of honking geese.
So, which artist put out the BEST comics-covers of that Golden 1960s period, an age that never saw artists 'cop out' and turn out one large single 'splash' image, [much easier to pull off, that one] instead giving us at least three rows of panels, often with a larger 'full stop' concluding frame: was it Grigg, or that other undoubted Master of the dip-pen, Dudley D Watkins?
CHARLES GRIGG versus DUDLEY D WATKINS:
-----Well, clearly, Watkins had the far higher profile as covers-artist, giving us not only BIFFO on the front of the BEANO, but also MICKEY the MONKEY [with his similar red shorts, big white buttons and galluses] for TOPPER and the Oor-Wullie-a-like GINGER for Page One of the BEEZER. For me, Chazza bequeathed top-quality Korky covers that easily match the Master Watkins: they are packed with variety and detailed comic incident, as well as being Masterclasses of caricatured expression and composition. Watkins gave us some really superior 'costume-drama' Biffo covers [the bruin in Medievel armor, etc] however a few of his covers are undeniably fairly sketchy: I reckon that Chazzas' Korky covers are more consistent overall, and you can pick up any of these DANDY covers completely at random, and that reliable quality will always be there: for me at least, Watkins 'highs' are higher, and his 'lows' are lower than Chazza.
Charlies' other high-profile work of course was over at the TOPPER, his very long-running FOXY hi-jinks detailing the devious ones' endless snaffling of cooked chicken from Farmer and his wife, and the plottings of the streetwise talking chickens who populate the pen outside. In the very early 70s, the whimsical SPLODGE-THE LAST OF THE GOBLINS took over the back page from SEND FOR KELLY, this was a Silly Symphonies-like affair, with anthromorphosized forest animals, and the titular Goblin often talking direct to the reader .
Chazza also diversified into saucy seaside postcards---the earliest example I have of these is from 1977, for the slightly risque BAMFORTH series: apparantly his open-minded wife helped to come up with some of the ideas, and there's nowt wrong with that!
Charlie semi-retired in the mid-80s, supplementing his well-derserved state pension with occassional new material, including the odd Korky cover. Reportedly he looked forwards to retiring, as understandably there was a lot of preperation and work in his detailed pages.
A true giant among British Humor artists---against any competition------Charlies' comic legacy is as proud as any in his illustrious field.
Here's my tribute to his most enduring character:
COPYRIGHT 2015: D C THOMSON & Co. LTD.
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