Alan Philpott biography

Frederick Alan Philpott (28 July 1916 - 1997; Lewisham, London, UK)

Frederick Philpott was born in Lewisham, London, on 28 July 1916, son of Frederick James Philpott and his wife Florence Mary, née Gasson. When he left school he took evening classes at the Sir John Cass School of Arts and Crafts, and later at Woolwich Polytechnic.

His first work in comics was "Deerfoot the White Indian" in the Mickey Mouse Christmas Special in 1939. Shortly afterwards he joined up with RAF as a wireless operator/air gunner, but he was the only survivor of a collision of two loaded bombers on the runway. After treatment in Karachi for severe burns, he was sent to Delhi Air Headquarters Training Command to draw Japanese aircraft for recognition training.

He returned to England after the war and resumed his career as a comics artist, drawing for small publishers Amex, including adaptations of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Henry V and Macbeth for Classic in Pictures, and A. Soloway. He went on to get work with the Amalgamated Press, mainly adaptations of popular western films for Film Fun.

The Amalgamated Press launched Lion, a comic weekly filled with exciting adventure serials to compete with the popular Eagle title of competitor Hulton Press. Already in the first issue In 1952 he co-created Robot Archie, 'The Jungle Robot', written by E. George Cowan. It marked the debut of the classic Robot Archie character, "the world's most powerful mechanical man", created by Professor C. R. Richie to accompany his nephew Ted Richie and his friend Ken Dale on their jungle explorations, with writer Ted Cowan for the AP's new weekly, Lion. He drew "Rebels of Ancient Rome" for the same title. Also in the 1950s, he drew John Steel stories for Super Detective Library, and Kit Carson and Buck Jones stories for Cowboy Comics Library.

Immediately after 'The Jungle Robot', Philpott drew the historical 'Rebels of Ancient Rome' serial for Lion. During the 1950s, Philpott was a productive artist for the AP's 'Super Detective Library' and 'Cowboy Comics Library', drawing installments with characters like 'John Steel Special Agent World War II', 'Kit Carson', 'Buck Jones' and the 'Kansas Kid'. From the start of the 1960s, Philpott worked almost exclusively on war comics published by DC Thomson, appearing in The Victor with serials like 'The Smasher', 'The Flaming Vulture', 'Crib Carson-Fighter' and 'The Shadow over Scrapper Grey', and also in Warlord and Commando.

In June-July 1966, Philpott briefly drew 'The Astounding Adventures of Charlie Peace' in IPC's Buster magazine, a feature based on the real-life exploits of 19th-century thief Charles Peace, previously drawn by Eric Bradbury, Tom Kerr and Jack Pamby. Alan Philpott's art also appeared in the AP's 'War Picture Library' and in ITV's television tie-in magazine Look-In. Between 1973 and August 1974, Alan Philpott succeeded John Fox as the artist of the 'Klanky' feature, about an alien robot who befriends two earth kids, in DC Thomson's Sparky magazine.

From the 1960s on he mainly drew for DC Thomson, including the long-running serial "The Deathless Men" (1966-80) in The Hornet and The Hotspur, about a faceless resistance group within Nazi Germany. The concept originated from the wartime serial 'V for Vengeance' that ran in 1,942 issues of Wizard magazine. In 1965, it was adapted by Alan Philpott into a new picture story serial for DC Thomson's The Hornet, where it ran until 1975. Between 1976 and 1980, 'The Deathless Men' was continued in The Hotspur. The group was a grey-clad, grey-masked secret army of escaped prisoners from Nazi concentration camps. Each member was code-named Jack, followed by a number. Their leader Jack One was the secret identity of Colonel Von Reich, second-in-command of the Gestapo, but in reality the infiltrated British secret agent Aylmer Greyson. Later episodes are drawn by other artists.

Alan Philpott also drew "The Tough of the Track" for The Victor, and war stories for Warlord and Commando. He also had work published in Look-In, including the Pathfinders strip, and the AP's War Picture Library. He died in Yeovil, Somerset, in the third quarter of 1997.
Source: UK Comics Wiki; Lambiek

See ALAN PHILPOTT ART.