Maurice S. B. Dodd was born in Hackney, London, on 25 October 1922. He volunteered with the RAF during the Second World War, serving as a Servicing Commando alongside Bill Herbert, future cartoon editor of the Daily Mirror. After demobilisation he went to art school, joined the Territorial SAS, worked in animation on Animal Farm, and got work in advertising as an illustrator, then as a copywriter. Bill Herbert then invited him to replace Ben Witham as writer of the Daily Mirror's daily strip The Perishers, drawn by Dennis Collins. Dodd created rough page layouts which Collins drew up. He continued to work in advertising, and was involved in the "Clunk Click Every Trip" campaign for seatbelts. He collaborated with FilmFair to bring The Perishers to TV, which allowed him to leave advertising in 1980. After Collins retired in 1983, Dodd drew The Perishers himself until 1992, when Bill Mevin took it over. Dodd continued to write it until he died of a brain haemorrage in Shepperton on 31 December 2005.
References[]
- Mike Dodd, Notice of the Death of Maurice Dodd, The Authentic Perishers, 28 January 2006
- Maurice Dodd, About myself, and the Perishers, The Authentic Perishers
