Self-portrait from "Scream Inn", Shiver and Shake, 1973
Brian H. N. Walker was born on 22 March 1926 in Brislington, Somerset. At the age of 14 he enrolled in correspondence art course with Pitman's Press, and at 16 joined the Bristol Evening World, where he drew cartoons and war maps. From 1944 to 1947 he served in the RAF, after which he studied at the West of England College of Art and won a Punch scholarship. In 1961 he married Rosemary, née Beer, with whom he had two daughters.
He turned to writing, submitting articles to magazines like Picture Post, Lilliput, Punch and London Opinion, and wrote a serial, "Fiord and Flack and Fear", for DC Thomson's story paper Rover and Adventure. As an illustrator, he collaborated with writer George Haines on a book called How to Be a Motorist and Stay Happy (1967), as a result of which he was contact by DC Thomson to work on their comics. He ghosted for various artists, and drew "I Spy" for Sparky.
Around 1970 he started working for IPC, drawing "Three Story Stan" and "Wizards Anonymous" for Whizzer and Chips; "Fun Fear" and "Ghost Train" for Whoopee!; "Misery Buckets", "Box-a-Tricks" and "Our Gran" for Buster; and "Scream Inn" for Shiver and Shake, often written by his close friend and neighbour Cliff Brown.
Also in the 1970s he drew a regular strip, Ar Little 'Uns, for the Bristol Evening Post. In the 1980s he returned to DC Thomson, drawing a couple of pages a week and working on their annuals, while also working in book, magazine and advertising illustration and contributing to The Countryman magazine, and in the early 2000s he did some work for Viz, drawing "Johnny Fartpants" and his own creation "Goldfish Boy". His cartooning was influenced by Charlie Pease, John Jukes and Reg Parlett.
References[]
- Alan Clark, Dictionary of British Comic Artists, Writers and Editors, The British Library, 1998, p. 175-176
Online reference[]
- ↑ Brian Died in Glastonbury ,June 2020