English Comics Diversion: Men Only

Comics and cartoonists from England were my entry point to comics and are still an interest, particularly material from the 1950's to early 1980's. I've been wanting to write about some of the work of this period and share samples of art so rather than start another blog I'll be posting the occasional English Comics Diversion here. The impression I get from my Internet trawlings is that the history of English comics and cartooning are severely underwritten about in comparison to the wealth of material available on American comics.

My particular favorite sites that cover English comics are Steve Holland's Bear Alley, Lew Stringer's Blimey!, the Comics UK  Forum, Paul Gravett, The Forbidden Planet Blog and Down the Tubes.

Whilst researching Ian Dickson I picked up a box of Men Only magazine digests from the late forties and early fifties. Men Only in this era comprised stories, articles and dozens of cartoons and illustrations in each issue. Peynet, Ronald Searle, Norman Mansbridge, Wyndham Robinson were amongst contributors to the pages of Men Only with distinctive caricature covers provided by Irish cartoonist Edward Sylvester Hynes (1872 - 1982).