'Tiger Tim and the Bruin Boys' (Tiger Tim's Weekly, 31 March 1925).
Herbert Sydney Foxwell was an early to mid-20th century British comic artist, mostly associated with the nursery weeklies published by the Amalgamated Press. Drawing several charming funny animal comics, his best-known work was done for other people's series, of which the popularity reached new heights thanks to his graphic talent. Between 1914 and 1933, he continued Julius Stafford Baker's 'Tiger Tim' (1914-1933), and did the same with Charles James Folkard's 'Teddy Tail' between 1933 and 1941 in the Daily Mail.
Early life and career
Herbert Sydney Foxwell was born in 1890 in Camberwell, London. His father was journalist and publisher Sydney Harold Foxwell. He grew up in Eltham and studied fine arts at Addey and Stanhope College of Science, Art and Technology. He debuted as a comic artist in 1912, when he drew 'Jumbo and Jim' for the children's magazine The Penny Wonder, a halfpenny comic magazine published by Alfred Harmsworth's Amalgamated Press. A year later, Fowell also drew 'Artie Artichoke' (1913) for the AP's The Favourite Comic and 'Harold Hazbean' (1913) in Comic Cuts.
In 1914, Foxwell became a graphic contributor to The Rainbow, the first color comic magazine aimed specifically at children. It was also famously the first comic magazine to be read by the children of the British Royal Family. Foxwell drew several short-lived series for The Rainbow, including 'Sam the Skipper' and 'The Dolliwogs' Dolls' House' (1914). In 1915 he drew 'Helpful Horace' for the Sunday Pictorial, the weekly sister paper of The Daily Mirror. His productivity is quite amazing, considering that around the same time he also served in the army during the First World War.
'Tiny Toy Boys' (Tiger Tim's Weekly, 3 March 1928).
Tiger Tim
In 1914, Herbert Foxwell got his big break when The Rainbow's house cartoonist Julius Stafford Baker II was fired. Baker had for many years drawn the successful comic strip 'Tiger Tim'. In the Rainbow, this feature had been retitled to 'The Bruin Boys', since the titular character - a little tiger - often had gags with his animal friends who were all students of a teacher who was a female bear, Mrs. Bruin. As Baker's successor, Foxwell continued the series for three decades. Thanks to his talent for drawing funny animals, he increased its popularity. On 1 June 1919, the characters received their own children's magazine, Tiger Tim's Tales, rebooted from 31 January 1920 until 18 May 1940 as Tiger Tim's Weekly. A series of annual book publications was additionally launched in 1921. 'Tiger Tim' was also popular in translation. Remarkably enough, foreign publishers used Tiger Tim's elephant friend Jumbo Jim as the focus. In 1932, an Italian children's magazine was established named Jumbo e i Compagni, which also received versions in Spanish (Yumbo, 1934) and French (Jumbo, 1935).
After Foxwell's departure from the feature in 1933, 'Tiger Tim' had been continued by Bert Wymer, and was subsequently drawn by Julius Stafford Baker III, Peter Woolcock and a host of anonymous Fleetway artists.
'Wonder Tales of Tinkle-Bell Tree' (Tiger Tim's Weekly, 17 March 1928).
Other comics
Foxwell contributed three other comic series to the Tiger Tim weeklies, namely 'Pinky and Patsy' (1919), 'The Tiny Toy Boys' (1920) and 'Tales from Tinkle-Bell Tree'. Foxwell later humanized 'The Bruin Boys' into 'The Bunty Boys' (AKA 'Mrs. Bunty's Boarding House', 1921-1941), a spin-off which appeared in the magazine Bubbles. For Playbox magazine, he created a feminine counterpart called 'Tiger Tilly and the Hippo Girls' (1925), as well as a new series called 'Chummy Boys (1930). He made a celebrity comic about Hollywood star Lloyd Hamilton in Kinema Comic (1920), and additionally created 'Merry Merlin' (1919) in Children's Fairy and 'Mrs. Croc's School' in Bubbles. His stature was so high that he was one of the few British comic artists at the time allowed to sign his work, which he usually did with the pen names "Foxwell" or his initials "HSF".
'The Bunty's Boys' (Bubbles, 22 October 1932).
Teddy Tail
In late 1933, Herbert Foxwell was asked to continue another popular comic series, 'Teddy Tail', originally created by Charles James Folkard in 1915, but by then continued by his brother Harry Folkard. This fantasy comic about a little mouse with a permanent knot in its tail was published in The Daily Mail supplement The Boy's & Girl's Daily Mail. In order to draw the series, Foxwell left the Amalgamated Press for Associated Newspapers. During Foxwell's run, the title character was remodeled into a schoolboy, and several new cast members were added, such as Mrs. Whisker the mouse, Piggy the pig, Kitty Puss the cat and Dougie the duck. Foxwell's art also appeared on 'Teddy Tail' postcards, jigsaw puzzles and other merchandising. 'Teddy Tail' became popular enough during this period to inspire a fanclub. Children who were members received greeting cards starring Teddy, personally signed by Foxwell.
After 1945, 'Teddy Tail' was continued by Arthur Potts, until William St. John Glenn took over from 1954 until 1962.
Teddy Tail's Annual (1936).
Final years and death
Foxwell also worked as an illustrator for Jolly Jack's Weekly, a comic supplement of The Sunday Dispatch. He drew the title character on the front page and created features like 'Professor Simple' and 'Chubby'. Foxwell's comics were popular enough to be translated into French and Italian. In 1941, Foxwell dropped most of his comic series to enlist with the Royal Army Service Corps. During World War II, he was called up as an army reservist at Aldershot Military Town. Foxwell moved up to the rank of captain and died in 1943. Some sources incorrectly claim that he was killed in action, but in fact he died of natural causes.
'Tiger Tim'.