Dudley D. Watkins

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Dudley Dexter Watkins (February 27, 1907 - August 20, 1969) was an English cartoonist and illustrator. He is best known for his characters Oor Wullie and The Broons; comic strips featuring them have appeared in Scottish newspaper The Sunday Post since 1936, along with annual compilations. Watkins also illustrated for comics such as The Beano, The Dandy, The Beezer and Topper.

[edit] Early life

Watkins was born February 27, 1907 in Manchester, England. The son of a lithographic print artist, he showed early artistic talent. By the age of 10 the local newspaper declared him a "schoolboy genius." He studied at Nottingham School of Art, and while working for Boots Pure Drug company in the early 1920s, Watkins' first published artwork appeared in Boots' staff magazine, The Beacon.

[edit] Work with D.C. Thomson

In 1925 his family moved to Scotland where he attended classes at the Glasgow School of Art. The school principal recommended Watkins to the thriving publisher D.C. Thomson, based in Dundee. Watkins was offered what he thought to be a temporary job, moved to their Dundee base, and began providing illustrations for Thomson's "Big Five" story papers for boys (Adventure, Rover, Wizard, and later Skipper and Hotspur). For several years he was just another illustrator, supplementing his small salary by teaching life drawing at Dundee Art School. In 1933 Watkins turned his hand to comic strip work, and soon his editor noticed that Watkins had a special talent as a cartoonist. So it was on the 8th March 1936 that his most famous characters, Oor Wullie and The Broons first appeared in The Sunday Post. He was soon illustrating the Desperate Dan strip for The Dandy comic, launched in 1937.

His workload was further increased when D.C. Thomson created The Beano comic the following year, with Watkins being responsible for drawing the Lord Snooty strip. When the Beezer and Topper were launched in the 1950s, Watkins was responsible for illustrating the Ginger strip (based largely on Oor Wullie, but unlike that strip the text was written in standard English and not in Scots vernacular) and the Mickey the Monkey strip for the two comics.

For many decades, Watkins (along with Allan Morley) was the only cartoonist employed by D.C. Thomson allowed to sign his work, which was known for its intricate detail and unique style.

[edit] Private life

He was a devout Christian and an enthusiastic supporter of the Church of Christ in Dundee (where he met his wife). On his desk he had a huge Bible on a stand in which he made copious notes in the wide margins. He used to deliver Christian chats to children which he illustrated with quick drawings on a blackboard. He contributed artwork for mission calendars, and from 1956 he produced the comic strips William the Warrior and Tony & Tina - The Twins for The Young Warrior, a children's paper published by the Worldwide Evangelisation Crusade. These strips, filled with quotations from Scripture, were collected into a series of booklets. Watkins also illustrated some Biblical features for Thomson annuals in the 1960s. It was his ambition to adapt the Bible into illustrated format, but that dream was never realised.

Watkins worked with D.C. Thomson until his death at his drawing-board in his Broughty Ferry home on August 20, 1969.

In early 2006, with a BBC documentary marking 70 years of Oor Wullie, it was revealed that for his mockery of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in the comic strip 'Addie and Hermy' and a general anti-Nazi sentiment in Oor Wullie and The Broons during the 1940s, he was placed on a hit list.

[edit] External links

• DC Thomson Website
• Broons and Oor Wullie fan site
• Biography
• Dudley D. Watkins - Christian Comics Pioneer