Denis Gifford (26 December 1927 - 18 May 2000; Forest Hill, London, UK)
Denis Gifford was born in Forest Hill, London, on Boxing Day 1927 and was a British writer, broadcaster, journalist, comic artist and historian of film, comics, television and radio.

He made his first comic, 'The Ragtime', when he was still a kid. By the time he was fifteen he was spending his homework time drawing adventures of 'Pansy Potter' in The Beano magazine. After a brief spell as junior cartoonist on Reynold's News, he was called into the RAF, where he spent his duty weekends drawing a super-hero comic-book, 'Streamline', for a Manchester publisher. After demob he set up a studio with another cartoonist chum, Bob Monkhouse, producing complete comics for the many small publishers that proliferated in the late 1940s.

Then he joined Knockout magazine, the top comic of the day, taking over the popular favourites 'Our Ernie' (created by Charles Holt) and 'Stonehenge Kit the Ancient Brit'. He also did a long spell on 'Marvelman' comics, and the daily satire strip 'Telestrip' in the London Evening News. Other comics he worked on were 'Simon the Simple Sleuth', 'William Wagtail' and 'Dicky Diddle'. He worked for numerous titles, mostly for British comics in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Although these were largely humour strips, he worked in a range of genres including superhero, Western, science fiction and adventure.

The only comic Denis Gifford created himself was 'Steadfast McStaunch', which ran from 1950 to 1952. For some reason, Denis Gifford was allowed to sign his work, when most of the other British and Scottish artists working for publisher DC Thompson remained anonymous to their readership.

Denis Gifford wrote over 50 books, mostly on the subjects of comics and cinema, and can be regarded as one of British foremost comic experts. Ever since he was young, he collected comics, until his collection completely took over his house. He also created several programs for radio and television, the last one being the radio show 'A Hundred Laughs for a Ha'penny', about the history of comics, which he did in 1999 together with his old friend Bob Monkhouse.

Gifford's work in the history of film and comics, particularly in Britain, provided an account of the work in those media of previously unattempted scope, discovering countless lost films and titles and identifying numerous uncredited creators. He was particularly interested in the early stages in film and comics history, for which records were scarce and unreliable, and his own vast collection was an invaluable source. Gifford produced detailed filmographies of every traceable fiction, non-fiction and animated film ever released in the UK, and of early animated films in the US.

He compiled the first comics catalogue attempting to list every comic ever published in the UK, as well as the first price guide for British comics. His research into the early development of comics and cinema laid the groundwork for their academic study, and his reference works remain key texts in the fields.

Denis Gifford died in Sydenham, London on 18 May 2000.
Source: Illustration Art Gallery; Lambiek Comiclopedia