Bill Ritchie (1 August 1931 – 25 January 2010) was a Scottish cartoonist. He is known for work on comics published by D. C. Thomson.

Biography

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Ritchie attended the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; ) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and design. These are all awa ...

, where he learnt little about cartoons or comics; instead, he taught himself by practising from local comics artists

Jack Lindsay John Lindsay , FRSL (20 October 1900 – 8 March 1990) was an Australian-born writer. He was born in Melbourne, but spent his formative years in Brisbane. He was the eldest son of Norman Lindsay and brother of author Philip Lindsay. Early li ...

Bud Neill William "Bud" Neill (5 November 1911–28 August 1970) was a Scotland, Scottish cartoonist who drew cartoon strips for a number of Glasgow-based newspapers between the 1940s and 1960s. Following his death, his work has attained cult status w ...

, Jimmy Malcolm, Harry Smith and Bill Tait. It was Malcolm who suggested he try to draw comics for D. C. Thomson in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. While serving in the army in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, he submitted his first cartoons to the publisher, which were printed in ''

The Weekly News ''The Weekly News'' was a British national newspaper founded in 1855 and published every Wednesday by the Dundee newspaper chain DC Thomson. Billed as "the paper with the feelgood factor," it contained news and features on a broad range of sub ...

''. His first comic strip was '' Clumsy Claude'' in ''

The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it published its 4000th issue in August 2019. Popular and ...

'', and for many years he drew '' Baby Crockett'' in the ''

Beezer Beezer may refer to: * ''The Beezer'', a British children's comic * Robert Beezer (1928–2012), American federal judge * John Vanbiesbrouck (born 1963), American ice hockey player nicknamed "Beezer" * Beezer, robot companion to comic book charact ...

''. Between 1957 and 1964 Ritchie drew the illustrations for "The Glad Mag" an annual magazine produced by students of

Queen's College, Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

as part of their charities campaign. Copies of these magazines are held by

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

Archive Services. After his retirement in the 1990s, his comics were " ghosted" by other artists. He died on 25 January 2010.

Bibliography

Comics work includes: * '' Baby Crockett'' in the ''

'' * ''

Barney Bulldog Barney may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barney (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Barney (surname), a list of people Film and television * Barney (film), ''Barney'' (film), a 1976 Australian film for child ...

'' in '' Sparky'' – the third cover strip, similar to ''

Biffo the Bear Biffo the Bear is a fictional character from the British comic magazine ''The Beano'' who stars in the comic strip of the same name, created in 1948 by Dudley D. Watkins. He was the mascot of ''The Beano'' for several decades. Background Biffo ...

'' * '' Clumsy Claude'' in ''

'' * '' Dicky Burd'' in the ''Beezer'' * '' Hungry Hoss'' in ''Beezer'' – an ever-hungry horse, owned by Joe the cowboy robber * '' Smiffy'' in the ''Beezer'' * ''

Supporting Life Support may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Supporting character * Support (art), a solid surface upon which a painting is executed Business and finance * Support (technical analysis) * Child support * Customer support * Income Su ...

'' in ''

Plug Plug, PLUG, plugs, or plugged may refer to: * Plug, an insertive closure or stopper (plug) ** Core plug, used to fill the casting holes on engines ** Butt plug, a sex toy that is inserted into the rectum ** Earplug for ear protection ** Plug (s ...

'' * '' Sweet Sue'' in ''The Beano'' – running from 1978 to 1980, the strip featured Sue, a sweet and inoffensive young girl who always got the better of school bullies Harriet and Mabel. She had a dog called William. * ''The Moonsters'' in ''Sparky'' * ''Toots'' in ''

Bunty ''Bunty'' was a British comics, British comic for girls published by D. C. Thomson & Co. from 1958 to 2001.Gibson (2003)p. 91/ref> It consisted of a collection of many small strips, the stories typically being three to five pages long. In cont ...

Notes

References

*Interview in ''

Psychopia ''Psychopia'' is a small press zine featuring reviews and articles on British comic books and small press comics and interviews with cartoonists. Unusually for comix zines it focussed almost entirely on British comics such as ''The Beano'' and ...

'' *Encyclopedia of Comic Characters by

Denis Gifford Denis Gifford (26 December 1927 – 18 May 2000)Holland, Steve, Obituaries: Denis Gifford', ''The Guardian'', 26 May 2000. was a British writer, broadcaster, journalist, comic artist and historian of film, comics, television and radio. In h ...

, 1987.
Bimbo page at Britishcomics.com

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, Bill 1931 births 2010 deaths Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art Artists from Glasgow Scottish comics artists Scottish humorists The Beano people