The Kommissar thanks Comrade Jane
Colquhoun for providing the Politburo with her copy of this rare 1982
interview with her father. Comrade Joe talks about his history in comics
and about Charley’s War in particular. Sadly, Joe’s comments
about his own future were never to come true. A modest man, Joe rarely
spoke to the press, so this is one of the only interviews he undertook:
Joe Colquhoun is perhaps the
ultimate British comics artist. His career has covered the period from
the first boom in adventure comic strips in the early 1950s to the
present day, yet it was not until recently, with the addition of credit
lines in Battle, that he was able to gain proper recognition for his
work. Over the past 30 years, he has been working solidly, producing
strips of the highest quality across the entire range of juvenile
adventure. Though he has suffered the anonymity of all British comic
artists, there can be few who are not familiar with his work, be it on
Football Family Robinson, Zarga, Man of Mystery, Zip Nolan or many
others. He is currently producing, in conjunction with Pat Mills, some
of his best work ever, on Charley’s War for Battle. Colquhoun is a true
professional, and is held in high esteem by his colleagues, the staff at
IPC and the young lads who write to Battle praising his work. The
following interview with Joe was conducted early in 1982. The
interviewer is Stephen Oldman.
How did you enter the comics field?
I’d always wanted to draw, ever since I
was old enough to pick up a pencil, and of course I spent all of my
spare time drawing. In fact I got hold of an old ledger when I was
pretty young, and used to draw page after page of stories I’d made up,
mostly in the adventure line, Desert Island, war, which I suppose, even
in that early stage, served me in good stead for what was to come. I was
brought up on the usual diet most kids had in those days, Comic Cuts we
used to call them. Then there were the “Tu’penny Bloods”, Magnet, Champion, Triumph, Wizard, Hotspur,
which were all written stories, and very well written for what you
paid, with one-off illustrations. I always remember a chap called
Simmons in Champion and Triumph, and a chap called Chapman, who stood out to me as very good artists.
Kids with above-average drawing ability
were often lionised at school, and one got a false sense of one’s
capabilities at the time because there was no competition. Though I was
interested in the comic strips in its very minor form, it wasn’t really
my ambition to be an artist. The war was about to start and we didn’t
think too much about the future. I managed to get into a local art
school, Kingston-upon-Thames, about halfway through the war, and did a
short spell before joining the Navy.
I came out of the Navy about 1947, when I
went back to the art school on a more prolonged course, in book
illustration. This knocked a lot of the rough edges and crudities from
my work. I still had a dormant hankering for the comic strip field, but
the field was very, very limited at the time. Eagle had just
come out, but at my present stage of development I realised I hadn’t a
hope in hell of getting in there. Then suddenly I saw an advert in a
trade magazine, for artists to submit samples for a new project,
publishing independent comics and I jumped at this with alacrity. I met
with a couple of ex-GI’s and they seemed quite pleased with the samples I
had from art school, though as I subsequently found out, with the fees
they paid, they’d have been glad to get anybody. They paid the princely
sum of £1.50 per page.
Our work was crude and rushed, it had to
be. The printing was atrocious, and although we had a foothold in the
market, we rarely saw our work in print. The very first publication I
saw of my own work, gave me the most euphoric feeling I ever had. It’s
like riding a bike, or having your first woman, I suppose, never to be
repeated. We were doing one-off stories, covering war, westerns space
stuff, espionage, very American orientated, pretty well written, all
done by the Yanks. I was there for 7 or 8 months, and certainly didn’t
earn a fortune, though I learned speed and a certain amount of
slickness. However, the general consensus was that the outfit was done
for. We hadn’t been paid for a hell of a time. I’d just got married and
thing were pretty grim. With nothing to lose I managed to get an
interview with the editor of Eagle. I showed him the specimens
I’d managed to salvage from the Americans, and he was very
compassionate, but obviously it wasn’t quite what he wanted. He said,
“why don’t you go across to Amalgamated Press? They’ve just brought out a
new comic called Lion“. So I thought “What’s to lose?”
I saw there another nice chap called Stan Boddington. Lion was a bit more downmarket than Eagle and he seemed quite impressed. Unfortunately all the stories were tied up in Lion,
so in desperation I said “of course I write scripts as well.” In truth
I’d never done anything in my life. He pricked his ears up at that, and
sent me away to do a specimen adventure strip. So, very influenced by my
US debut, I flogged out a story about the Navy in the Pacific War. My
synopsis produced an epic of 100 instalments, ranging from a fairly
logical beginning to a rambling climax. It didn’t go down too well. They
ironed it out at a story conference, and we thrashed it out and
condensed it down to quite a neat four story job. Then they relegated me
to the struggling Champion, which was still mainly written
stories. They did have a two page centre spread and they got me to write
and draw another epic, which ran for 44 instalments called Legionnaire Terry’s Desert Quest,
which was all very much my own work with very little interference from
the sub-editors who subsequently became the bane of my life in
scriptwriting.
How did this scriptwriter/artist arrangement work in practice?
Just for the record, the first four instalments of Roy of the Rovers
were written by Frank S Pepper, and I was relieved to think I’d
finished with scriptwriting, but unfortunately Pep, I suppose was
getting on a bit and couldn’t cope. I was asked to carry on the series. I
had some great reservations about this, as I knew damn-all about soccer
really, but they said they’d help with the technical detail and
strategy. We had endless story conferences which necessitated me going
up to the office, dry-mouthed, month after month. it wasn’t a terribly
happy time. Other than those four instalments, up to the end of the
first five year stint on Roy of the Rovers I wrote and
illustrated all the stories I did. I never wrote any scripts for any
other artist, but I consider myself an artist first and a writer second.
The writing was a happy expedient to get into AP. Writing never came
terribly naturally to me, compared to the drawing. They seemed to like
it quite well, though it got progressively more that a hell of a lot of
it was edited out, until I got so frustrated I eventually hurled the
scriptwriting in.
So how were the payments arranged?
Despite the writing coming less naturally than the artwork, it didn’t take as long. A two page script for Roy
certainly didn’t take as long as two pages of artwork, but the ratio of
pay was less although I think it was proportionally about right per
hours work.
In those days, what were your artistic influences?
The artist that influenced me most in this field was good old Alex Raymond of Rip Kirby
fame. I thought he was a genius. His distinct style, economy, a super
ratio of black and white, a minimum of hatching…it was the quintessence
of what I felt I’d be happy to emulate and this influence stayed with me
a long time until my own technique and style developed. If the
influence still showed I’d be bloody happy.
Have you ever been affected by the changes in ownership and organisation at AP/IPC/Fleetway?
Yes, two or three times, I can’t recall
exactly whether it was the changes from AP to Fleetway, or Fleetway to
IPC, and there have been several changes in the hierarchy, but a few
heads have rolled from time to time, which was very disconcerting. The
changes affected me adversely initially, though in the end I came off
better financially. At the time of the change from AP to Fleetway, a lot
of strange new faces appeared in the editorials, and caused upheavals
in an attempt to modernise and update what were becoming rather
pedestrian publications. As freelancers, we worked, in varying degrees,
far away from the office and didn’t know what the hell was going on. I,
at the time, was working on Paddy Payne for my second or third
year and I never realised anything was in the offing until suddenly I
was told to belay my last work and stop the instalment I was doing, and
that was it. No explanation, I was out of work! Finally, what we were
told, due to the reconstruction of Lion and Tiger they
were calling in, as trouble shooters, a lot of continental artists. I
presume the new regime thought these guys a lot slicker and technically
superior to us, and possibly they were, though ultimately I was returned
to Paddy Payne with a slight increase in fees. It caused a
fair amount of resentment amongst the British guys. We thought these
guys were pretty good, but they didn’t seem to offer much more than we
were able to supply, and they were being paid less, the rate of exchange
being favourable to us at the time. Thereafter I felt pretty insecure, I
was shaken out of my complacency. It has never occurred to that degree
since, though I’ve had other upsets. Though the new faces never
intentionally did the dirty on me, they weren’t adverse to insisting I
drop a steady job. Case in point, The Football Family Robinson,
which I really enjoyed. They asked me to drop that, and pilot a great
new project, and in time this “great new story” would be shelved
indefinitely. There I was, no job, and no apologies. In the end I made
my feelings known. I told them “this is bloody ridiculous, this is
jeopardizing my career”. I came to a good agreement with them, but no
contract. They never signed any contract. Since then I’ve never had any
trouble.
How do you view the realism in the present day Roy of the Rovers?
I must admit I haven’t kept in touch with the storyline of Roy, though I think Barrie Tomlinson, who was the group editor until very recently, influenced the tendency of Roy
to progress to a more realistic and sophisticated level. I have an open
mind about it. Barrie did a lot to liven up the storyline, but I don’t
think it would hold much sway with the average reader. All I know is
that it wouldn’t have been allowed to happen in my day, due to the
policy at the time.
Were you then, subjected to a lot of editorial pressures?
Yes, we were really limited. A lot of it
was sub-edited. Perhaps they played down to the readers too much then,
and perhaps they play up too high above the readers now. Perhaps a
compromise is the thing. I got very frustrated, because I think its
awfully difficult for an adult writer to relate to the mind of a
youngster. At the time there was almost a boarding school, monastic
mentality in the strict censorship. You were never allowed to mention
women. Once, I managed to bring in Roy’s landlady and even that was
suspect. It’s unbelievable in this day and age, but that’s just how it
was.
Have the weekly schedules caused you many problems?
From the beginning. Serialisation is one
of the world’s worst ways to make a living. The deadlines and pressure
become pretty punitive from time to time. The worst thing is when you’re
trying to get ahead for a holiday, and up comes bloody Easter and the
office rings up to say you’ve got to gain another four days. When you’re
working six or seven days a week it’s practically impossible, but you
do it somehow. There were periods when I was a bit more ambitious, or
needed to earn a bit more money, that I took on annual jobs as well, and
even though you could be a bit more slapdash, it was still a hell of a
grind. Now, I take on as little work as I can do and still remain
solvent. I try to work Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm, but it just depends.
If there’s a cast of thousands in the strip, with the 5th Ablutions
going over the top it takes me a lot longer.
Does your attitude to your work vary with the job you’re doing?
I think I can say with a certain
satisfaction that I’ve always tried to do the best I can in any job. You
know there’s a readership out there somewhere, so you feel you want to
do the best for your own pride, as well as to justify your wages. Of
course, bad scripts do have a depressing effect. I feel happier when I
know I have a rapport with the author, even if I have never met the guy.
The time when I was least interested in my work was when I ended up on Buster. I enjoyed Zarga very much but this was rather short-lived and I was relegated to a rather childish script, The Ski-Board Squad and The Runaway Robinsons, a little Orphan Annie type of thing which wasn’t quite my line. This was no fault of the author, it just wasn’t my scene.
I think I’ve always tended to put a bit
more into my work than a few of my colleagues. I think they’re wiser,
they seem to have learnt the economy of line. Omission is always more
difficult than over working. I think my main failing in this type of
artwork is that I tens to put in everything AND the kitchen sink. A lot
of it gets lost in the reproduction, therefore in strict terms it’s a
waste of time, and, in this game, time is money. I’ve been a bit of a
mug in that respect, but the leopard can’t change its spots.
You obviously put a lot of care into your colour strips, Football Family Robinson and Kid Chameleon, would you like to do more?
I really enjoyed doing the colour work.
in some respects it’s a lot more fulfilling than black and white. the
next best thing is line and wash, which I was able to do for a fair time
in Tiger because of the litho printing. With letterpress it’s a
very limited medium, with the cross-hatching and moulding. I’m not as
happy with that as I am with colour wash or line and wash techniques,
but again it’s the old, old story of economics. Even if there were an
opportunity to go back to colour work, I would like to do it, but only
if they paid a justifiable fee for the considerable extra work and
expertise involved.
Do you have a lot of difficulty getting a change of jobs, when you’re becoming bored with the strip you’re working on?
Since I’ve worked on Battle, I’ve felt no desire to change but I found the attitude amongst editors to be most prevalent when I was on Roy of the Rovers, round about that period. I found Roy
a bit of a boring subject, not being a great fan of football, and after
four or five years of drawing those bloody hairy-arsed footballers
tearing round, morning, noon and night, it got me down a lot. I wanted
the Paddy Payne slot in Lion, and it took me a hell of a job to get off Roy.
The continual ploy was “we can’t get anyone else to do it”, but if it
had to come to the crunch they’d have found another bloke in five
seconds flat, I’m sure of it. In fact, when I finally insisted I wanted a
change, they found someone to do it, and do it pretty successfully as
far as I could see. the main problem was finding another artist willing
to move on from the slot you wanted. This really was a bigger problem
than the inertia of the editors. The inertia did exist, around the late
1950s to mid 1960s there definitely seemed to be a conspiracy of editors
to keep you on the same slot if it was proving successful. This
happened on Buster and I had a bit of a job wangling onto Battle.
Was your agent helpful?
I’ve never had an agent, I’m glad to
say, as they take, what is it, 20% of one’s earnings, which is a fair
old slice on top of the income tax and National Insurance.
During the 1960s your work was
published alongside such greats as Eric Bradbury, Mike Western, Geoff
Campion, etc. Were you aware of them at the time?
No, you must remember that, up until
very recently, IPC always insisted on anonymity. Even if you signed at
the bottom, out of sheer pride in your work, they would white it out. We
remained anonymous until very, very recently, when the credits went up
in Battle, which is very gratifying in a way. However, I
gradually got to know who the various artists were, if only by
reputation, and formed a few opinions. I wasn’t familiar with Western’s
work in the sixties, but Bradbury, Lawrence and Campion I thought were
excellent stuff. Campion’s work recently has seemed to have fallen off a
bit, I hate to say, but maybe the chap’s been ill, he may be getting on
a bit.
What about the newer artists?
I never seem to get time to study other
publications, but I’m very aware of Cam Kennedy’s work, which I think is
really top notch stuff. One little exception, he tends to leave the
backgrounds a bit vacant, but the presentation is superb. His detailed
and accurate drawing of war material is spot on, to my mind, and he’s a
damn good figure draughtsman. There’s a very good action and attitude
about them, they could almost be stills from a movie.
How about the Europeans?
I’m not familiar with any of these
artists, apart from Ezquerra, who has quite a strong, gritty, abrasive
sort of style which doesn’t appeal to me personally but I can see why he
has a following, it’s a unique style he’s got.
You’ve worked on a wide variety of strips, are there any you would have liked to have done more of?
That’s easy. Football Family Robinson
was rather cut off in my prime. Even though it was football, it was
football with tongue-in-cheek, and a lot of rather ribald humour, and
offered some good characterisation of the entire family. The zaniness of
it really, and it had a good author, Tom Tully. The other one, humour
again, Cap’n Codsmouth, my very first slapstick, cartoon
humour, and I was quite pleased with it. Also I wrote the script, the
first time I’d written a script since I’d packed in after Roy. I felt I
was just getting into my stride when it was cut off. The only other was Zarga – Man of Mystery, any of the others, I think, had reached saturation point and I was quite happy to move on.
Obviously you have a leaning toward humour. Have you a favourite humour artist that appeals to you?
One who appealed to me I think was called Nobby Clark, who drew in Tiger. I also believe he did Buster’s Diary.
He had a nice, clean, flowing line, amiable little characters, and he
drew super little dolly birds when it was allowed. Other characters he
did were Wild Bill Hiccup, and a Luftwaffe pilot from World War II called Messy Schmidt. I thought he was an absolute scream. I think I’d like to do more humour work. Charley’s War
is all very well, but it’s a sombre subject and believe it or not, when
you’re stuck doing it day after day, it can be bloody depressing. It
would be nice if I could find the time or the opportunity to do a
one-page on The Goodies or Cap’n Codsmouth, just to relieve the tension.
Charley’s War is regarded by
many fans and professionals alike as one of the best strip currently
produced in Britain. How do you feel about it?
First of all, I can only say how
gratified and quite surprised I am that it’s viewed so favourably even
by quite upmarket intellectuals. I was astounded when one learned
professor equated it with All Quiet on the Western Front as a
social document. That seems a bit high flying for me, though I’m
beginning to understand it in a way, thanks to the inspiration and
dedication of Pat Mills. I think this has really rubbed off on me. I
don’t want to let him down, and again I’m very interested in the
subject, even though at times I find it very depressing and emotive.
Particularly the sequence at the end of the Battle of the Somme. You’ll
find it hard to believe, but when I re-read that in its printed version I
was close to tears. Just shows how involved you can get, I suppose.
When I was first asked to take on Charley’s War after Johnny Red
, I said to the editor “God Almighty, how are you going to make any
subject matter out of such a static subject as trench warfare?” and Dave
Hunt (the editor at the time) said “We’ve got a damn good author, he’ll
be able to pull it through”. I’d never met Pat, or knew of him, I was
still a bit sceptical, but as it developed I began to realise that we
were onto something. It seemed to catch on. I’ve tried very hard to
bring out the realism in the trenches, and most of the sequences in the
story are based on factual incidents. That might lead to a certain
amount of authenticity which is possibly lacking in the more blood and
thunder, action-packed World War II stories. Finally, and this is my
opinion, it illustrates a period that was already dying then. When words
like honour, duty, patriotism, meant something, I think most decent
kids reading this epoch will have a sneaking, almost atavistic feeling,
that in this present rather sick and selfish world, with violence and
amorality seeming to pay dividends, they might think they’re missing out
on something. That’s a bit pretentious, but think about it.
How do you see Charley developing?
It’s really up to Pat, but I think the
best has gone. The Somme sequence had the greatest impact, and we’re now
in the greater horrors of Passchcendaele. After that there’s only 1918
and the armistice. However, Pat will probably pull something spectacular
out of his tin hat.
Since the mid-sixties there’s been a steady decline in the number of titles published. What do you see as any reasons?
I would think, or rather hazard a guess,
that the decline is due to a) the ever increasing costs of production,
b) inept management policy, by promoting new publications at the wrong
time with inadequate market research. Also some comics tend to duplicate
subject matter. A case to prove that in a way: Lion and Tiger,
companion papers, survived together for a long time because one was
devoted to adventure mostly, and the other mostly to sport. Entirely
different subjects. There was obviously much more scope to choose from
then, and possibly a lesser standard of artwork required to hold down a
job. I’d say quantity had been sacrificed for quality, which is a good
thing in most respects. All in all, I can’t really see a vast difference
between the publications then and now. IPC still remain fairly
conservative in their outlook.
But what about the new look that was started by Battle Picture Weekly in 1975?
I suppose they did try to break of their unspectacular ways with the arrival of Battle, Action,
and their companion papers. This arrival seemed to coincide with a
sudden lessening of restrictions all round, with the impact of such
films as Jaws. Prior to that you never saw a man’s legs
floating down to the bottom of the ‘oggin (sea) with all the entrails,
blood and guts falling out. Prior to that, violence or horror was only
suggested. This new realism tended to be emulated in Battle and Action.
I’m not condemning it. It was probably a good thing in some respects
but then again, with the new license, they tried to take it as far as
they could, until our friends at the good old Festival of Light, etc.,
stamped down. When I first started on Battle far more was
permitted that is now. I’m not too sorry, perhaps I’m getting a bit long
in the tooth and have seen a bit of violence myself. As long as we
don’t get back to that monastic censorship of the fifties and early
sixties a happy compromise is the ideal. The one thing I can’t quite
reconcile to is the dialogue. All along, Pat Mills has maintained the
realism, after all, it’s a Cockney regiment, and initially Charley spoke
in the Cockney idiom: “‘Arf a mo’, mate”, But now, though Pat still
writes in that vein, it’s invariably censored out. It’s now “Half a
moment”. It sounds crazy to me, too stilted.
What do you think of the photostrips that IPC seem so keen on these days?
I’ve just seen the number one copy of the new Eagle,
and I can’t say I was over impressed, but to be fair you’ve got to give
it a few weeks, let it settle down and it will either make or break.
The photo sequences have a bit more variety in impact than I would have
imagined before I saw it, but I still think it’s a bit of a con when you
consider how the stories could be put over in pure imaginative artwork.
It’s a disturbing trend, but in this case if Eagle failed on
its circulation figures the readers will have given this format the
thumbs down. I can’t see it overtaking or substituting for artwork, for
the simple reason of its limitations. You can’t have the 95th Foot and
Mouth charging over the top in glorious sepia colour, can you really? I
think they’ve got a long way to go and I hope I’ll long since be retired
before this phenomenon does become too prominent.
What’s your current workload?
Solely three pages, with occasional
colour cover and 2 1/2 inside pages. You have to get the work done in
one week. I don’t do any other work except, very occasionally, annual
work, so the work tends to fill the time available. When I used to do
four pages a week on Charley, I found it absolutely killing, and it took
me seven days a week. But I suppose, plugging away without any
interruption, I can do 3 to 3 1/2 pages of Charley in four days.
Therefore I’m gradually increasing the time ahead and relaxing on my
deadlines. I send work in, all together finished job, though of course
when I first started they required the pencil roughs to be sent in for
approval.
Have you ever done any graphic design work at any time?
My only sortie into the realms of
‘legitimate’ publishing was when I illustrated quite a lot of thumbnail
sketches for a book on the rules of association football. I suppose I
got onto this due to my, so called ‘reputation’ for Roy of the Rovers,
but I wasn’t very happy doing it. I had to do it above and beyond my
weekly work, and it was a hell of a grind. I didn’t get paid a hell of a
lot for it, but I was gratified to see it on the shelves. It was
written by a chap called Stan Lover, who is, or was, a professional ref.
One question I meant to ask earlier: I’ve never seen any science fiction work by you. Would you like to do work for 2000AD?
No, not that I’ve studied 2000AD
too much. This seems to imply an awful indifference, but it’s really
lack of time in which to study these things in depth. I don’t think I’d
be creative enough to dream up the weird and wonderful situations,
characters in these stylised stories. Not by any means. I prefer to do
contemporary or period subjects such as Charley’s War, for which I can easily obtain reference.
Before you wrote the profile for Dez Skinn’s Fantasy Advertiser, were you aware of an organised fandom?
I had absolutely no idea before Dez
Skinn’s profile, and I was quite intrigued by it. However, until you
contacted me about this interview, I’d not been aware of any other such
publications besides Dez’s. I assumed there must have been some around,
but I’ve no knowledge as to whether it’s extensive or limited.
Do you think fandom is useful in any way?
It serves as a recruiting ground almost,
and a good training ground for up-and-coming artists who may desire to
become professional. I don’t know how developed it is in this country, I
must admit, but I’m pleased to see that Fantasy Express is
geared to British comics. From my point of view, and I’m sure for a lot
of other artists, being in touch with chaps like you is a very good
barometer to find out what’s happening, what the current trends are, and
the general gossip in this particular trade. I for one don’t get much
information from any other source, especially from the office. It’s like
getting blood from a stone, they’re so busy.
How do you see your own future?
In these uncertain times, I don’t like
to delve too deeply in the future. Being self-employed offers little
security, even in this welfare state. You get no pension,other than the
basic one, even though we’ve paid a high earnings-related insurance. You
get no fat, golden handshake when we decide to hang up our ink pen and
brushes. Frankly, after thirty years of concentrated comic strip work, I
certainly have no desire to carry on at this pace for another ten to
fifteen years, which is about all I’ve got left in active life. I think
the ideal way to bow out gracefully would be to, if economics permit,
reduce gradually my output of work, and enjoy an increase in leisure
until my official retirement age.
And how do you see comics in this country developing?
If costs can be kept to a reasonable
level, and inflation doesn’t go out of hand, I would hazard rather a
pessimistic guess that they’ll stay virtually the same in format and
story content. Rather a sobering thought. I’ve a feeling they’ve passed
their heyday and will never be as prolific again. In an ideal world I’d
like to see some new vigorous company take up the challenge, like the
old Eagle did in the fifties. I’d like to see a batch of new
publications to challenge the stagnation. Lots of full colour work, good
artists, good writers, with an abandonment of Letterpress, which I’ve
been particularly restricted by, in favour of Photolitho, and on that,
here endeth the first lesson…
Thanks for this interview, especially as you’re so busy on Charley’s War.
Thanks for your interest.
Joe Colquhoun
Artist and Writer
1927 – 1987
http://www.falconsquadron.sevenpennynightmare.co.uk/?p=200
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