Derek Charles Eyles (1902–1974)David Ashford and Norman Wright

, The Book Palace, accessed 27 December 2011 was a British illustrator and comics artist. Born in

North Finchley North Finchley is a suburb of London in the London Borough of Barnet, situated northwest of Charing Cross. North Finchley is centred on Tally Ho Corner, the junction of the roads to East Finchley, Church End, Friern Barnet and Whetstone. ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, he was the son of Charles Eyles, a painter and illustrator who had worked with the

Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subjec ...

in France, and had a brother, Geoffrey Eyles, an illustrator who appears to have died young.Norman Wright and David Ashford, ''Masters of Fun and Thrills: The British Comic Artists Vol 1'', Norman Wright (pub.), 2008, pp. 56-66 Eyles' colour plates and black and white illustrations began appearing in boys' annuals in the 1920s and 1930s.Alan Clark, ''Dictionary of British Comic Artists, Writers and Editors'', The British Library, 1998, p. 55-57 He painted covers and drew interior illustrations for

story paper A story paper is a periodical publication similar to a literary magazine, but featuring illustrations and text stories, and aimed towards children and teenagers. Also known in Britain as "boys' weeklies", story papers were phenomenally popula ...

s like ''

Wild West Weekly Wild West Weekly was a dime novel later turned pulp magazine. On October 24, 1902 Frank Tousey released his first issue of the 5-cent dime novel ''Wild West Weekly'' called "The Prince in the Saddle". Written by Frank, though said to be written by ...

''. He also illustrated novels, including an edition of

Jack London John Griffith London (; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors t ...

's ''

White Fang ''White Fang'' is a novel by American author Jack London (1876–1916) about a wild wolfdog's journey to domestication in Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush. First serialized in ''Outing'' magazin ...

'', and children's books,Alan Horne, ''The Dictionary of 20th Century British Book Illustrators'', Antique Collectors' Club, 1994, p. 183 including an edition of

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

and

Mary Lamb Mary Anne Lamb (3 December 1764 – 20 May 1847) was an English writer. She is best known for the collaboration with her brother Charles Lamb, Charles on the collection ''Tales from Shakespeare'' (1807). Mary suffered from mental illness, and i ...

's ''

Tales from Shakespeare ''Tales from Shakespeare'' is an English children's book written by the siblings Charles and Mary Lamb in 1807, intended "for the use of young persons" while retaining as much Shakespearean language as possible. Mary Lamb was responsible for ...

'', and in the 1930s and 1940s, painted a series of covers for Collins' western novels. Two fictitious portraits in a fake memoir are signed "D. C. Eyles 41".Gray, E., ''Surgeon's Mate'', Robert Hale, 1942, fronticepiece & p. 81 After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was hired by

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 ...

editor Leonard Matthews to draw adventure strips for the publisher's comics, beginning with "The Phantom Sheriff" in ''

The Knockout ''The Knockout'' is a 1914 American silent comedy film starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. It also features Charlie Chaplin in a small role, his seventeenth film for Keystone Studios. It is one of only a few films in which Chaplin's Little Tr ...

'' in 1947, a character whose prose adventures he had previously illustrated in ''Wild West Weekly''. Other titles he contributed to included '' The Comet'', ''

Thriller Picture Library ''Thriller Comics'', later titled ''Thriller Comics Library'' and even later ''Thriller Picture Library'', was a British comic book magazine, published in series of digest sized issues by the Amalgamated Press, later Fleetway Publications, from N ...

'', '' Cowboy Comics Library'', ''

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

'', ''

Radio Fun ''Radio Fun'' was a British celebrity comics comic paper that ran from (issues dates) 15 October 1938 to 18 February 1961, when it became the first out of twelve titles to merge with ''Buster''. The comic strips included the uncredited work o ...

'', ''

Adventures An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme s ...

'',Denis Gifford, ''Encyclopedia of Comic Characters'', Longman, 1987, p. 241 and ''

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...

''. He excelled at drawing horses,D. C. Eyles at Lambiek Comiclopedia
/ref> which made him particularly suitable for

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

characters, including

Wild Bill Hickok James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837August 2, 1876), better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, reconnaissance, scout, lawman, cattle rustler, gunslinger, gambler, s ...

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent and United States Army, U.S. Army officer. He became an American frontier legend in his own lifetime ...

and

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody started his legend at the young age ...

, as well other historical characters like

Hereward the Wake Hereward the Wake (Old English pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɛ.ward/ , modern English pronunciation / ) (also known as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and a leader of local resistance to the Norman Conquest of E ...

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

and

Dick Turpin Richard Turpin (bapt. 21 September 1705 – 7 April 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's trade as a butcher ear ...

, and new artists were given samples of his work as examples of how to "do horses properly". In the 1960s he worked mainly in the nursery end of the comics market, on titles like ''

Treasure Treasure (from from Greek ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions legally define what constit ...

'' and '' TV Toyland'', and for girls' titles like ''

Tina Tina may refer to: People *Tina (given name), people and fictional characters with the given name ''Tina'' Places * Tina, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran * Tina, Tunisia, a town in Sfax Governorate, Tunisia * Tina, Guadalcanal, Solom ...

'' and ''

Princess Tina ''Princess Tina'' (also known as ''Princess Tina and Penelope'' and ''Tina'' at various points) was a British comics, British weekly British girls' comics, girls' comic anthology published by Fleetway Publications and IPC Magazines from 23 Sept ...

''. By the 1970s westerns and other equestrian genres had fallen out of fashion, and Eyles struggled to get work. Suffering from

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

, he died in December 1974 after an unsuccessful operation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyles, D C 1902 births 1974 deaths 20th-century British illustrators British comics artists