Arthur Geoffrey Campion (19 November 1916 — 18 December 1997)Norman Wright and David Ashford, ''Masters of Fun and Thrills: The British Comic Artists Vol. 1'', Norman Wright (pub.), 2008, pp. 7-21 was a British comics artist who drew adventure strips for

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 ...

IPC IPC may refer to: Computing * Infrastructure protection centre or information security operations center * Instructions per cycle or instructions per clock, an aspect of central-processing performance * Inter-process communication, the sharin ...

. He started out as a tax inspector. As a staff officer in the East

India Command Following the Kitchener Reforms of 1903 during the British Raj, the Commander-in-Chief, India, enjoyed control of the Army of India and answered to the civilian Viceroy of India. The Commander-in-Chief's staff was overseen by the Chief of t ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he began drawing cartoons for the forces' magazine, ''Jambo''. Returning to England, he responded to an ad from the

looking for artists in 1948.Geoff Campion on Lambiek Comiclopedia
/ref> He was hired by editor Leonard Matthews to draw humour strips like ''Professor Bloop'' in '' Knock-Out'',Geoff Campion bio at the Book Palace
/ref> and filled in on a variety of strips for AP artist Hugh McNeill, including a ''

Thunderbolt Jaxon Thunderbolt Jaxon is a fictional Australian-British Golden Age comic book superhero. He first appeared in ''Thunderbolt Jaxon Comics'' #1, published in Australia by Amalgamated Press in 1949. While the character debuted in an Australian comic it ...

'' comic for publication in Australia in 1949.Steve Holland
Geoff Campion
Bear Alley, 1 August 2007 Matthews then recruited him to draw westerns for '' Cowboy Comics Library'' — when Campion protested he couldn't draw horses, Matthews replied, "Bloody well learn then!" He established himself as one of AP/

Fleetway Fleetway Publications was a magazine publishing company based in London. 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 that mer ...

's leading adventure artists, working for titles like '' The Comet'' and '' Sun'' as well as ''Knock-Out''. Aside from westerns, like ''Strongbow the Mohawk'', ''Buffalo Bill'' and ''Billy the Kid'', he drew WWII aviation strip '' Battler Britton'', historical strips like ''Dick Turpin'', a

highwaywoman A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to foot ...

strip, ''Black Velvet'', for '' Poppet'', and adaptations of ''

Quo Vadis ''Quō vādis?'' (, ) is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you marching?". It is also commonly translated as "Where are you going?" or, poetically, "Whither goest thou?" The phrase originates from the Christian tradition regarding Saint Pet ...

'' and '' Last of the Mohicans''. He also drew ''Tales of the Gold Monkey'' and ''The Cyclone King'' for '' TV Comic'', and for ''

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

'', '' Playhour'' and '' Look and Learn''. Over the course of the 1950s and 60s his style became the ''house style'' for AP/

adventure artists. In the 1960s he worked for ''

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

'', drawing ''

Captain Condor Captain Condor is a British comic character who has appeared in eponymous strips published by Amalgamated Press and Fleetway Publications. The character, a space pilot, first appeared in the launch issue of weekly comic ''Lion'' on 23 February 1 ...

'', '' Typhoon Tracy'' and ''The Spellbinder'', and ''

Valiant Valiant may refer to: People * James Valiant (1884–1917), English cricketer * The Valiant Brothers, a professional wrestling tag team of storyline brothers ** Jerry Valiant, a ring name of professional wrestler John Hill (1941-2010) ** Jimmy ...

'', drawing ''

Captain Hurricane ''Captain Hurricane'' is a 1935 American drama film about the life of fishermen in Cape Cod.Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, ''The RKO Story''. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p. 81. Plot Cast * James Barton (actor), James Barton ...

''. In the 1970s he worked for '' Battle Picture Weekly'', drawing ''

D-Day Dawson "D-Day Dawson" is a British comic war story published in the weekly anthology '' Battle Picture Weekly'' from 8 March 1975 to 22 January 1977 by IPC Magazines. Set during World War II, the story follows Steve Dawson, a sergeant in the Britis ...

'', ''The Eagle'', '' Fighter from the Sky'',David Bishop, ''Blazing Battle Action part 1'', ''Judge Dredd Megazine'' #209, 26 August 2003 ''

Sergeant Without Stripes Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other u ...

'' and '' Action Force''. In 1988, he drew large tableau boards for the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

, illustrating the history of

The Needles The Needles is a row of three stacks of chalk that rise about out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, United Kingdom, close to Alum Bay and Scratchell's Bay, and part of Totland, the wester ...

old Battery on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

, which remain on display there.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campion, Geoff British comics artists 1916 births 1997 deaths Artists from Coventry Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War II