Derek Charles Eyles (11 February 1902 - December 1974; Lowestoft, Suffolk)
Derek Eyles was born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, the eldest of five children, with an artist brother, Geoffrey, who had an uncannily similar style, although, according to Leonard Matthews, of no use when it came to "our sort of thing", i.e. adventure strip work.

Probably taught by his father, Eyles's colour plates and black and white illustrations began appearing in boys' annuals in the 1920s and 30s, painting covers and drawing interior illustrations for story papers like 'Wild West Weekly' and also illustrating novels, including an edition of Jack London's 'White Fang' and children's books including an edition of Charles and Mary Lamb's 'Tales from Shakespeare' and in the 1930s and 40s, painted a series of covers for Collins' western novels.

After the Second World War he was employed by Amalgamated Press to draw adventure strips for the publisher's comics including 'The Knockout' (from issue 1), 'The Comet', 'Cowboy Comics Library', 'Radio Fun', 'Adventures' and 'Swift'. He was particularly good at drawing horses which made him excellent for western characters such as Wild Bill Hickok, Kit Carson and Buffalo Bill.

He produced some superb full-colour cover paintings on a wide range of subjects as well as many of the interior illustrations. Eyles' first strip work was in 1947: a Western serial, The Phantom Sheriff (a strip featuring the same character appeared in the Knockout Fun Book for 1949 and is one of his best pieces of work).

This was followed, in 1948, by his masterly Dick Turpin's Ride To York and then by a complete Western story, Buffalo Bill's Close Call, in January 1949. His Kit Carson strips for the early issues of Cowboy Comics Library rank with the very best examples of the genre and his wonderful Western plates graced many of the A.P. annuals throughout the 1950s, including Comet.

In the 1960s he worked mostly on the nursery end of the comics market with titles including 'Treasure' and 'TV Toyland', and on girls' titles such as 'Tina' and 'Princess Tina'. He married at Islington, London in 1928, Ann Maria O'Donovan (20 May 1896-20 July 1983), and had two children John, born 1929 and Margaret, born in 1932, both in London.

Suffering from diabetes, Derek Eyles died at Barnet Hospital, Middlesex in December 1974 after an unsuccessful operation.