Geoffrey William Squire (28 May 1896 - 1989; London, UK)
The talented British artist Geoffrey Squire was born in Camberwell, South London and educated at Watford Grammar School and Regent Street Polytechnic in London.

Squire served in both Belgium and France during WWI, and worked as a commercial illustrator between the wars and was a member of the Society of Artists in Commerce.

He began working in British comics during the 1950s and 1960s. Early examples of his works have been found for the Thriller Picture Library series between 1954-58 and his works for Playhour and Jack & Jill magazine are well documented and include Norman Gnome (1957-60) for Playhour, and Chalky the Blackboard Boy (1961-65) for Jack and Jill.

He was one of the main artists on 'Wink and Blink the Playful Puppies' in 1956-58 but perennial favourites are the stories he drew featuring Norman Gnome, including 'The Story of Father Christmas', that appeared in 1957, followed by 'Norman Gnome Gets Rich' in 1959 and 'When Norman Gnome Became a King' in 1960.

Squire's Norman Gnome character is humourous, irreverent and satirical, and yet appeals to readers of all ages. These panels were fully painted, funny and filled with little details that make them worth going back to a second and third time.