Colin Whittock RIP

I was sorry to read on downthetubes of the sad passing of Colin Whittock. I was aware of Colin's comic work (mainly Lazy Bones in Whizzer and Chips), but downthetubes' tribute gives details about his varied work as a gag and newspaper strip artist.

Colin provided a number of pages across the Cheeky canon, all of which were filling in for other artists. I believe this was known as 'ghosting', which I've always felt a rather disrespectful term because the 'ghost' artists are often in fact highly esteemed and accomplished practitioners, as is the case with Colin. I'm sure taking over the artwork on a strip involves extra effort in studying the existing episodes of a feature with which the 'ghost' artist may be unfamiliar, often just to provide irregular fill-ins.

Colin provided art for 2 of Cheeky Weekly's regular features - Speed Squad (3 episodes) and Mustapha Million (2 episodes). However, the first artwork of Colin's to be seen in the comic was during IPC's Star Guest promotion of 1979, in which characters crossed from their usual title into their IPC stablemates in the hope of attracting extra sales for their home comic. Veteran Whizzer and Chips sleepy scamp Lazy Bones appeared as Star Guest in Cheeky Weekly dated 09 June 1979.

 

Cheeky Weekly 09 June 1979
Art: Colin Whittock

 

My condolences to Colin's family and friends. 

Colin Whittock's Cheeky work...

Artist	Title	Date	Page	Feature
Colin Whittock	Cheeky Weekly	09-Jun-1979	11	Star Guest Lazy Bones
Colin Whittock	Cheeky Weekly	10-Nov-1979	23	Speed Squad
Colin Whittock	Cheeky Weekly	17-Nov-1979	16	Mustapha Million
Colin Whittock	Cheeky Weekly	17-Nov-1979	17	Mustapha Million
Colin Whittock	Cheeky Weekly	01-Dec-1979	28	Speed Squad
Colin Whittock	Cheeky Holiday Special	01-Apr-1980	16	Mustapha Million
Colin Whittock	Cheeky Holiday Special	01-Apr-1980	17	Mustapha Million
Colin Whittock	Cheeky Annual 1981	01-Sep-1980	30	Speed Squad
Colin Whittock	Cheeky Annual 1981	01-Sep-1980	31	Speed Squad