Wally Fawkes (original) (raw)

'Flook'.

Wally Fawkes is well known in the United Kingdom for two – as he put it himself – "minority pursuits": jazz music and cartoons. He was a clarinetist in several British jazz combos, among them Wally Fawkes and the Troglodytes. The latter group also inspired his pseudonym as a cartoonist: "Trog". For 62 years, Fawkes was also active as a political cartoonist. His sharp and left-wing cartoons sometimes went directly against his papers' official ideology. The same could be said about his most well known work, 'Flook' (1949-1985). The adventures of a little boy and his furry animal friend started out as a children's comic, but eventually evolved into something that appealed more to mature readers. Storylines made frequent allusions to current events and both British as well as international politics. In this sense it provided a veritable time capsule of three decades worth of post-war events. 'Flook' is also praised for its extensive portrayal of London. Nearly every street and location has been captured in Fawkes' poetic drawings. 'Flook' always remained a British phenomenon, despite efforts to translate it to other countries.

Caricatures of British comedian Max Miller and U.S. jazz musician Duke Ellington.

Early life and career
Walter Ernest Fawkes was born in 1924 in Vancouver, Canada. In 1931 his family moved to Great Britain, after which he was naturalized as a British citizen. At the age of 14 he left school to study at Sidcup Art School. Lack of money and the outbreak of World War II prevented him from finishing his education. He found a job as a camouflage painter on the roofs of factories, to prevent Nazi airplanes from bombing them. While it provided him with a good salary, it wasn't the most rewarding job. Fawkes remembered how he once passed by a building he just painted a week earlier. Nazi planes had bombed it to smithereens. As he jokingly reflected: "It was the harshest criticism of my work I have ever faced.". A bout of pleurisy made Fawkes unsuitable for the draft, but his drawing talent still proved useful for the Coal Commission. He designed many maps of coal seams for them.

'Flook Digs Jazz' (1959). Cover illustration by Wally Fawkes for a record by his own band, Wally Fawkes and the Troglodytes.

Jazz career
After World War II, Fawkes took a weekly course at the Camberwell School of Art in London, where future cartoonists Francis Wilford-Smith and Humphrey Lyttelton were his classmates. Lyttleton shared a similar interest in jazz and often performed in local clubs. Fawkes played as a clarinetist in his own band, Wally Fawkes and the Troglodytes, as well as George Webb's Dixielanders, where Lyttelton played the trumpet. Through these contacts Fawkes also met other jazz loving and playing cartoonists, like George Melly, for whom he illustrated the cover of his 1965 autobiography 'Owning Up'. Fawkes also designed his own album covers. He remained active in the British jazz scene for over half a century, but as his daily deadlines as a cartoonist grew stronger, it became more difficult for him to continue touring. From 1956 on he focused predominantly on cartooning, only performing in local pubs and clubs in London and occasionally going to a gig in the North of the country during weekends. Fame or succes didn't interest him anyway. He just wanted to play on stage once in a while.

Cartoons
As a cartoonist, Fawkes counted David Levine, Rowland Emmett, Leslie Gilbert Illingworth, Graham Laidler (A.K.A. Pont), James Thurber, Charles Addams, Saul Steinberg and John Minton among his influences. Later in his career, he also expressed admiration for Ed McLachlan.

In 1945, the British newspaper The Daily Mail organized a cartoon competition with their cartoonist Leslie Gilbert Illingworth as the juror. Fawkes' entry depicted a nervous boxer entering the ring. It got him a job in the Clement Davies advertising agency and later a contract as the Daily Mail's new cartoonist.

'Flook'. Debut episode.

Flook
Fawkes was originally a mere illustrator for The Daily Mail. In 1949 the chief editor, Lord Rothermere, asked him whether he would be interested in making a comic strip aimed at a juvenile audience. He agreed and left all his other cartooning jobs to his friend Humphrey Lyttelton. Rothermere wanted something in the style of Crockett Johnson's 'Barnaby', which featured a young boy and a fairy godfather. Journalist Douglas Mount was appointed as scriptwriter, while Fawkes provided the illustrations. 'Flook' made its debut on 25 April 1949. It centers around a little boy, Rufus, who wishes he had a pet. One night he dreams about the Stone Age and rescues an odd creature from a group of cavemen. When he awakes, the strange animal sits on his bedside. They quickly become friends. The creature – which looks like a cross between a piglet, a bear and a baby elephant - was originally named 'The Goop', but eventually Lyttelton came up with the name 'Flook'. Readers learn that Flook has all kinds of hidden talents, such as shapeshifting and speaking "seven languages fluently". Rufus and Flook enjoyed all kinds of magical adventures all across the world.

Fawkes drew all episodes personally, but the comic saw different scriptwriters over the years. In 1951 Douglas Mount was succeeded by Robert Raymond, followed two years later by Compton Mackenzie - most famous for the novels 'The Monarch of the Glen' (1941) and 'Whiskey Galore' (1947). Between 1953 and 1956 Humphrey Lyttleton penned the scripts. The longest-running contributor was George Melly, who provided storylines between 1956 and 1971. The final writers were film critic Barry Norman, comedian Barry Took and – from 1980 on – Fawkes himself. Between 1984 and 1985 novelist Keith Waterhouse, best known for the novel 'Billy Liar', crafted ideas. By using different scriptwriters, 'Flook' remained fresh and original during its entire 36-year long run. It also had a notable impact on the tone.

'Flook'. First meeting between Rufus and Flook, 1949.

Flook: Political satire
During its early years, 'Flook' was basically a child-oriented fairy tale. Yet Fawkes wanted it to be a "bit more reflective" of current events. The first glimpse of this occurred in 1953, when Flook and Rufus visited Tibet where they met the Abominable Snowman. The legendary creature turns out to be an actual snowman, whose tribe is at war with another tribe of snowmen, one of them fat and the other skinny. Flook advises the fat tribe to throw snowballs at the thin ones. As a result all of them suddenly have an equal amount of snow in their bodies. Fawkes and Robert Raymond intended this as a satire on Communism, but their editors didn't catch on to this. Slowly but surely, 'Flook' evolved into gentle political satire, particularly when Fawkes' friends Humphrey Lyttleton and George Melly wrote the stories. Rufus remained an innocent and rather flat character, while Flook transformed into the strip's real star. He became less of a whimsical magical creature and more of a snarky, witty commentator on all the absurdities around him.

Flook meeting Millstone Dixon, A.K.A. Richard Nixon (1972).

Many plotlines in 'Flook' mirror real-life events and trends. In one episode, Flook and Rufus travel to the Stone Age, where they meet two groups of cavemen. One of them invents a club with a nail through it, but Flook tries to ban it, as it may end in their self-destruction. The Cold War metaphor is quite obvious. Several characters in the series are caricatures of well-known politicians and celebrities. In a 1972 narrative, Flook and Rufus meet an American sheriff, Millstone Dixon, who is basically U.S. President Richard Nixon with a mustache. The characters criticize him for reporting a bank robbery, which he "surely knew [about] ages ago. It was his sheriff who did the robbing" - a thinly disguised reference to the Watergate Affair. Some satire was even quite daring. In 1965, critic Kenneth Tynan became the first person to say "fuck" on British television. This was lampooned in a storyline where Flook becomes a food critic on TV. Disgusted by the amount of people who guzzle down food, rather than eat it properly he decides to abolish it. Even the mere mention of that "four-letter word which starts with the letter 'F'" makes him angry. When a caricature of Tynan says it on TV, Flook is, of course, furious. Another 1968 narrative targeted extreme-right politician Enoch Powell as 'Ethelred Clotte', leader of the "League of Insular Morons".

The most astounding fact about 'Flook' was that it was left-wing in nature, yet published in the very conservative and right-wing Daily Mail. This often caused friction with the editors, even though Fawkes and his scriptwriters didn't mind ridiculing the Labour and Communist Party either. More amazingly, some of their targets actually liked 'Flook'. Two of the strip's celebrity fans were British politician Kenneth Clarke and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In 1979, Mrs. Thatcher named 'Flook' "quite the best commentary on the politics of the day". She too was spoofed in a 1975 storyline (when she had just become leader of the British Conservative Party). Flook and Rufus encounter a medieval queen caricatured like her.

The satirical tone made 'Flook' far more popular with adults than with children. Much like Marc Sleen's 'Nero' in Belgium, 'Flook' took full advantage from the fact that it was a newspaper comic. Its satire was easily understandable since readers could look it up in the articles of that day. Some episodes even directly referenced events concerning the Daily Mail. In 1955 the journalists went on strike, which motivated Flook and other characters to play cards until the differences are solved. Even the villain joins in. After the strike is over, Flook and the others decide to continue their adventure again. Though he asks Rufus to remind him what they were doing again before the event happened.

'Flook'. Rufus and Flook meet Margaret Thatcher, 1975.

Atmospheric backgrounds
Another celebrated aspect of 'Flook' is its setting. Rather than draw vague backgrounds, Fawkes took great care in depicting actual locations in London. He copied photographs and personally went down to certain streets to sketch everything out. He felt that readers would enjoy it if they saw and recognized their own neighborhood in the paper. Fawkes attributed his attention to detail to the fact that he considered himself to be more an illustrator than a cartoonist. 'Flook' also stereotyped Londoners from every possible class and profession, down to their use of language. No comic before 'Flook' ever managed to capture the British capital with such broad versatility.

Translations
While 'Flook' was quintessentially British and mostly based on people, events and phenomena that wouldn't be understood by readers outside the United Kingdom, it did see some overseas publications and translations. Between 1952 and 1979 it was published in the Otago Daily Times in New Zealand. It also ran as 'Jumbo L'Aventurier' in the Quebec newspaper Le Petit Journal. Between 1951 and 1954 it was distributed by General Features. Predictably, it never caught on outside the United Kingdom.

French-language Canadian version of Flook' ('Jumbo L'Aventurier', from Le Petit Journal, Quebec, 9 March 1952).

Political cartoons
While Fawkes drew 'Flook', he also remained active as a political cartoonist for The Daily Mail. He excelled both in black-and-white and color and used various techniques to bring his targets to life, including scraperboard and grisaille. In 1959 he joined rival newspaper The Spectator, where he collaborated with George Melly. His work could also be read in Private Eye and The New Statesman. Halfway through the 1960s, The Daily Mail hired Gerald Scarfe, which motivated Fawkes to join The Observer. Yet Scarfe only stayed with the Daily Mail for a year. As the paper's other house cartoonist Leslie Illingworth retired as well in 1968, it made room for Fawkes' return. Fawkes also succeeded Illingworth in Punch as one of their main cartoonists.

In The Daily Mail, Fawkes took an independent position. He refused to be just a slave to the paper's conservative ideology. One time, the editors asked him to make a cartoon criticizing Prime Minister Harold Wilson, for no other apparent reason than that he was a Labour politician. Fawkes recognized the hypocrisy and rejected the offer. Although he remained true to his principles, this attitude didn't endear him with his bosses. In 1971 the Daily Mail fused with the Daily Sketch. Under the new management Fawkes was quickly retired and replaced with Stan McMurtry. Fawkes returned to the newspaper Observer, where he drew two cartoons a week, with the one on the front page titled 'Mini-Trog'.

'Flook'.

Final years of Flook
Although Fawkes no longer published political cartoons in The Daily Mail from 1971 on, he remained tied to the paper through 'Flook'. His comic strip remained the only place in its pages where he could still express his political views. Yet Fawkes had frequent arguments with editor David English over the content. In 1984, he decided to make a risky joke that would certainly result in his resignation, allowing him to perhaps move to another paper. At the time, South African athlete Zola Budd wanted to compete during the Olympic Games in L.A. But since South Africa was banned from participation due to their apartheid policy, Budd requested to be naturalized as a British citizen. Fawkes felt it was ironic and hypocritical that many people had to wait so long for naturalization, while Budd was able to get his document almost instantly, just so the British sports team could benefit from his participation. In that week's episode of 'Flook', Flook therefore commented: "Budd just broke a new record (…) She's just jumped five years in three weeks." Since David English was closely involved with Budd's naturalization, he refused to publish that particular episode. 'Flook' was moved to the sports pages, where it was reduced in size. The same year the comic was also removed from the paper.

Luckily, 'Flook' found a new spot in The Daily Mirror, which had just been purchased by billionaire Robert Maxwell. Maxwell's wife was a fan of the comic strip. Maxwell advised Fawkes to accept the strip's copyright instead of severance pay. Keith Waterhouse became the final scriptwriter. The first episode of 'Flook' in the Daily Mirror showed a big cartoon where Flook is kicked out of the Daily Mail with the accompanying text: "Flook Off!" Not afraid to bite the hand of his savior, Fawkes ridiculed Maxwell in the very first new episode. Unfortunately 'Flook' only lasted a few months in The Daily Mirror. In November 1985 it was transferred to the paper's Sunday edition and discontinued soon after.

Tony Blair's Millenium Dome (2000).

Recognition
Wally Fawkes' work has often been exhibited and received many awards throughout his career, such as the Cartoon Art Trust's Lifetime Achievement Award (2001) and an honorary doctorate from Kent University (2001). The British Press Awards also named him "Cartoonist of the Year" in 2004. In 1957 Flook became the mascot of 831 Squadron Fleet Arm.

Final years and death
After 'Flook' came to an end in 1985, Fawkes remained active as a cartoonist. He joined the papers Today and London Daily News, but only for a few months each. In 1996 he left the Observer in favor of the Sunday Telegraph, again because of changes in political ideology. A year later, he became a frequent cover artist for The Week. Throughout the decades he was also active as an illustrator. He designed the cover of 'Max Miller Blue Book' (Robson Books, London, 1975), a comedy book by British comedian Max Miller. In June 2005, Trog retired from cartooning due to failing eyesight. He died in early 2023, at age 98, from natural causes.

Legacy and influence
Wally Fawkes was a huge influence on Steve Bell, Raymond Briggs, Barry Fantoni, Nicholas Garland and Malky McCormick. 'Flook' was also the main inspiration for the character Jeremy in The Beatles' animated film 'Yellow Submarine' (1968) by George Dunning and Heinz Edelmann. Unfortunately, to this day, there is no complete collection of all 'Flook' comics available.

Self-portrait.