Angus Peter Allan (22 July 1936 – 16 July 2007) was a British comic strip writer and magazine editor who worked on ''
TV Century 21
''TV Century 21'', later renamed ''TV21'', ''TV21 and Tornado'', ''TV21 and Joe 90'', and ''TV21'' again, was a weekly British children's comic published by City Magazines during the latter half of the 1960s. Originally produced in partnership ...
'' in the 1960s and ''
Look-in
''Look-in'' was a children's magazine centred on ITV's television programmes in the United Kingdom, and subtitled "The Junior '' TVTimes''". It ran from 9 January 1971 to 12 March 1994.The Six Million Dollar Man
''The Six Million Dollar Man'' is an American science fiction and action television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After being seriously injured in a NASA test f ...
'', ''
Logan's Run
''Logan's Run'' is a science fiction novel by American writers William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Published in 1967, the novel depicts a dystopic Malthusian future society in which both population and the consumption of resources ...
'' and ''
Charlie's Angels
''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts for ABC. It originally aired from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, airing for five seasons consisting of 115 episodes. It was produ ...
''. Allan collaborated with many well-known British
comic strip
A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
artists, including
Jim Baikie
James George Baikie (; 28 February 1940 – 29 December 2017) was a Scottish comics artist best known for his work with Alan Moore on '' Skizz''. He was also a musician.
Biography
Baikie served as a Corporal with the Royal Air Force in 1956–19 ...
and
Arthur Ranson
Arthur James Ranson (born 1939) is an People of the United Kingdom, English Comic book creator, comic book illustrator, known for his work on ''Look-in'', ''Judge Anderson, Anderson: Psi Division'', ''Button Man'' and ''Mazeworld''. His work on C ...
.
Biography
Allan was born in
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
, on 22 July 1936 and attended
King's College School
King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The s ...
there.
Allan's first job in publishing, in late 1952, was as an office junior at
Amalgamated Press
The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the ...
(later
Fleetway
Fleetway Publications was a magazine publishing company based in London.
History
It was founded in 1959 when the Mirror Group acquired the Amalgamated Press, then based at Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London. It was one of the companies t ...
, then
IPC
IPC may refer to:
Businesses and organizations Arts and media
* Intellectual Property Committee, a coalition of US corporations with intellectual property interests
* International Panorama Council, an international network of specialists in ...
). He worked on the weekly comic '' The Comet'', and the monthly titles ''Cowboy Comics'' and ''Super Detective Library'', edited by Ted Holmes.
Following a period of national service in the
Gordon Highlanders
The Gordon Highlanders was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed for 113 years, from 1881 until 1994, when it was amalgamated with The Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons) to form The Highlanders (Seaforth, Go ...
from November 1954 to November 1956, having been on active service in
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
, Allan returned to Amalgamated Press and after working on ''Super Detective Library'', eventually became co-editor of what was now known as "Cowboy Picture Library", with
Alan Fennell
Alan Leslie Fennell (10 December 1936 – 10 December 2001) was a British writer and editor best known for work on series produced by Gerry Anderson, and for having created the magazines '' TV Century 21'' and ''Look-in''.
Fennell wrote episod ...
. He handled the ''Davy Crockett'' and ''Kansas Kid'' monthly titles.
Eventually, he was recruited to join the team producing ''Marty'', the first photo-strip teenage romance weekly published by Newnes and Pearson. Here he met his future wife, Gillian, and made the decision to become a freelance writer instead of editing. He has remained a freelance ever since.
Later, he was heavily involved with Alan Fennell's Century 21 Publishing company, becoming associated with
Gerry Anderson
Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist, who is known for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s production ...
classics such as ''
Stingray
Stingrays are a group of sea Batoidea, rays, a type of cartilaginous fish. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae (deepwate ...
'', '' Thunderbirds'', etc. He was also the mainstay scriptwriter for Fennell's ''
Look-In
''Look-in'' was a children's magazine centred on ITV's television programmes in the United Kingdom, and subtitled "The Junior '' TVTimes''". It ran from 9 January 1971 to 12 March 1994.DangerMouse''.
Allan also wrote for many other outlets, and penned several of the '' Garth'' adventures for the ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
''. In January 1990, he and his wife moved to France.
Allan died of cancer on 16 July 2007, having been admitted to hospital the previous Thursday, at least six days before his 71st birthday.
Bibliography
Allan wrote the novelisation of the film Thunderbirds Are Go.
He also wrote a novel of
Dan Dare
Dan Dare is a British science fiction comic hero, created by illustrator Frank Hampson who also wrote the first stories. Dare appeared in the ''Eagle'' comic series ''Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future'' from 1950 to 1967 (and subsequently in ...
(NEL 1977)
His comics work includes:
Work in
TV Century 21
''TV Century 21'', later renamed ''TV21'', ''TV21 and Tornado'', ''TV21 and Joe 90'', and ''TV21'' again, was a weekly British children's comic published by City Magazines during the latter half of the 1960s. Originally produced in partnership ...
Work in
Look-In
''Look-in'' was a children's magazine centred on ITV's television programmes in the United Kingdom, and subtitled "The Junior '' TVTimes''". It ran from 9 January 1971 to 12 March 1994.The Six Million Dollar Man
''The Six Million Dollar Man'' is an American science fiction and action television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After being seriously injured in a NASA test f ...
''
*''
Logan's Run
''Logan's Run'' is a science fiction novel by American writers William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Published in 1967, the novel depicts a dystopic Malthusian future society in which both population and the consumption of resources ...
''
*''
Charlie's Angels
''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts for ABC. It originally aired from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, airing for five seasons consisting of 115 episodes. It was produ ...