CRIVENS! COMICS & STUFF!: SOMEWHERE, A MOTH IS CRYING

Thursday, 5 February 2015

SOMEWHERE, A MOTH IS CRYING - DICK MILLINGTON R.I.P.

Dick Millington. Photo from The Daily Mail

I've just been alerted by one of cartoonist DICK MILLINGTON's children that the editor of TV COMIC and creator of MIGHTY MOTH sadly passed away at the age of 81 on the 4th of this month. Richard (Dick) Millington is one of the true legends of British comics and his flame will burn forevermore, undimmed even by death. I'm sure that all Criv-ites - indeed, all of comics fandom - would like to pass on their condolences to Dick's family and friends (including a certain little moth) at this sad time.

His art style was the first that ever made a big impression on me, to the extent that I recognised it a year or two after first seeing Mighty Moth in a TV Comic Holiday Special. (In 1962 or '63.) I didn't recall the name of the comic, but when I was idly leafing through an issue of the weekly in a newsagent's shop one day and saw the diminutive lepidopteran, I purchased it immediately. Alas, another childhood hero gone. I so wish I'd had the privilege and honour of meeting him.

Below are some of my favourite Mighty Moth strips by Dick. (Click to enlarge, then click again for optimum size.)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...: My father, Richard (Dick) Millington, died aged 81 on 4th February 2015. He was a very talented artist, best known for his comic creations over six decades. His career began at school, where he copied comic books and sold them for a penny. He'll be greatly missed by his family, and his friends, colleagues and admirers over the years.

(First posted on 'Dick Millington's Mighty Moth' earlier this evening.); 5 February 2015 at 20:40
Anonymous said...: Dick Millington is my uncle. When my mother, brother and I visited England (my Mom's first trip since after WWII) I got to meet my British family.

Uncle Dick was talented, funny, kind, and I'm sad that it's been more than a few years since I last saw him.

I am sad, and thinking of my cousins, and my aunties right now.

Janet; 6 February 2015 at 23:26
Anonymous said...: Dick Millington was my Uncle Dick. I first met Uncle Dick in 1959. My mother moved to Canada shortly after WWII to marry her Canadian sweetheart, my Dad. As I was a child I heard a lot about my British family, and in 1959 I was lucky to meet them.

My Uncle Dick was friendly, kind, talented and funny. I was very fond of him.

He drew both my brother and I a "Mighty Moth" personalized cartoon in 1959, and I cherish it. My mother (his sister) kept a file full of her brother's comic strips. She was very proud of him.

I'm sad that it's been a few years since I last saw him.

I will be one of those who will miss him.

Niece Janet; 6 February 2015 at 23:31
Kid said...: I see you were confused by the comments moderation, Janet, but I've printed both your comments anyway. I'm sure you'll never part with that drawing of Mighty Moth. Dick will surely be missed by anyone who truly loves comic strips. Thank you so much for commenting.; 7 February 2015 at 14:07
Anonymous said...: Lovely tribute, thank you.; 10 February 2015 at 12:56

About the artist:

From 1985 to 2000 A.D. (little joke there), I contributed to a variety of high profile comics and magazines for various companies.

For IPC/FLEETWAY/EGMONT, I freelanced as a lettering and logo artist on various weekly comics and monthly magazines, and also as a resize comic artist and spot illustrator on pocket books, summer specials and annuals.

For MARVEL U.K., BLACK LIBRARY, REDAN and USBORNE BOOKS, I again freelanced as a lettering artist, also working as a restoration artist for MARVEL U.S., restoring and re-creating certain pages of JACK KIRBY art for their MARVEL MASTERWORKS editions.

I also lettered the MARVELMAN sample pages submitted to MARVEL U.S. when they were considering acquiring the character, which - as we all now know - they DID.

Supplied comic strips, cartoons and illustrated advertisements for local business campaigns and newspaper publication on a professional basis since the age of 16. Did my first paid art job for publication at 14 or 15 for Lanarkshire Education Board.

Have also made TV appearances as a collector of memorabilia.

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Just some of the titles I worked on are:

2000 A.D. * JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE * DICEMAN * SONIC The COMIC * JUDGE DREDD, LAWMAN Of The FUTURE * CRISIS * REVOLVER * EAGLE * TIGER * BATTLE ACTION-FORCE * BUSTER * WHIZZER & CHIPS * WHOOPEE * NIPPER * SCHOOL FUN * ACE VENTURA, PET DETECTIVE * The REAL GHOSTBUSTERS * DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE * COUNT DUCKULA * RUGRATS * The TRANSFORMERS * DEATH'S HEAD * THUNDERCATS * GALAXY RANGERS * DRAGON'S CLAWS * SINDY * MARVEL MASTERWORKS * The TROLLS * LOADED * INFERNO * WARHAMMER * ROSE BLACK.

Copyright Notice:

Images remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are used here only for the purpose of review, promotion, and nostalgia.

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In the case of images culled from my own collection where copyright of an item isn't mine, I impose no copying restrictions on fellow bloggers.

(Although, if you don't allow copying on your own site, then you really shouldn't be copying from others, should you?)

And while you can credit this blog if you like, it's not mandatory. Who has time to make notes of every casually visited site during an idle browse of the internet?

In the case of anyone copying images of my own artwork and calligraphy, I affirm my right to be identified as the creator, and any such copying should not be for the purpose of monetary or material gain. (Unless it's mine.)

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