Denis Gifford

Denis Gifford (1927-2000) was a writer,broadcaster, journalist, comics artist and comics, film, TV and radio historian, and also owned possibly the largest collection of British comics in the world. He compiled the first comprehensive British comics catalogue and price guide, and his many reference works on the subject remain an invaluable resource. As a comics artist, in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, he worked on humour, adventure, superhero, western and science fiction strips, and in the 1970s revived the 19th century character Ally Sloper, of whom he was always particularly fond. He attended the same school as fellow comics creator and fan Bob Monkhouse, with who he collaborated for many years on various projects. Publishers he worked for included DC Thomson (on Dandy and Beano, amongst other titles) who, almost uniquely, allowed him to sign his work, and IPC, for whom he worked on titles including Knockout and Whizzer and Chips. He also created several of the earliest British superheroes, including Mr. Muscle (for Dynamic Comics in 1945), Tiger Man (in Ray Regan #1, 19490 and Streamline (co-created with Monkhouse in 1947; Streamline was also the name of the publishing company set up by Monkhouse and Gifford in the early 1950s, which published reprints of older comics material. He worked on Super DC, and spent a lengthy period both writing and drawing Marvelman for L.Miller and Son.

Basically, this was a man whose importance to British comics can't really be overstated.