Old DC Thomson names?

[Malc]

Through a Facebook/Cosgrove Hall connection, I've been in touch with Graham Kennedy, an ex Danger Mouse guy who also used to work for DC Thomson.
He did a strip for the Manchester Evening News called Botch Cassidy, written by a John Kelly.

 I gave him this address, so he may pop by, so don't say anything nasty about him.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Not a Kennedy I'm familiar with, Malky, so no worries on that score. I remember John Kelly very well however....

Actually, he was a helluva nice guy, and a prolific freelance scriptwriter. As an early lesson in how to handle rejections with total good grace and dignity, he was an inspiration...especially in light of how much (or little) DCT paid for scripts back in the late 70's (about ?4.50 a page....no, I may be exaggerating - it was ?8.50 when I resumed writing Bananaman as a freelancer just a handful of years ago, although it quickly rose to ?11, presumably because of the outstanding quality of my writing  :).

Yes indeed, those of you who fancy having a crack at comic script-writing - there's gold in them thar hills!

[Roger Kettle]

I also remember John Kelly, a good friend who died about a dozen years ago. He was on "The Topper" when I went there straight from school and he taught me an awful lot about script-writing. He was both prolific and wildly imaginative with, at times, a wonderfully surreal sense of humour. I took over some of John's creations, including "Thor Thumb" which was drawn by legendary New Zealand cartoonist, Murray Ball.
Another of the good ones who went far too early.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

I'm very sorry to hear John passed away, Roger. I hadn't seen him since my staff days at DCT. Our mutual Perth-based friend keeps me up to date with most things Dundee whenever we get together for a shandy or two, but that sad bit of news must have slipped the net. As you say, far too early.

By the way, reading my own post again, I may have given the impression that John's success rate with freelance scripts was not great. On the contrary, he was an excellent writer, and the overwhelming majority of his scripts were snapped up. It was more an observation on the scant reward for his efforts, which, then and now, made me marvel that anyone would want to pursue his chosen profession. As Roger says, he was damned good at it, and must have loved doing it to have put up with any rejections, never mind those that came from editors who thought the company was doing him the favour by paying for the cherries they'd picked. Boot on other foot, methinks.

I have a sudden urge for a pint of Murphy's...