'No. 10', starring U.K. Prime Minister Edward Heath.
Peter Maddocks was a British editorial cartoonist, book illustrator, animator and comic artist, who was the house cartoonist for The Daily Express, London Evening Standard and Mayfair. His signature comic series were the surreal western feature 'Four D. Jones' (1955-1965) in the Daily Express and the political satire 'Nr. 10' (1970-1991) in the Sunday Express. He also drew sex cartoons, which were compiled in various thematic books. Later in his career, he reinvented himself as a TV animator, creating the children's TV series 'The Family-Ness' (1984-1985), 'Jimbo and the Jet-Set' (1986-1987) and 'Penny Crayon' (1989-1990), the latter based on his similarly titled gag comic for the girls' magazine Jinty. Maddocks also established the first cartooning school in the United Kingdom, the London School of Cartooning (1977-1987, 1990) and was the author of several widely translated drawing guides for aspiring cartoonists.
Cartoon by Peter Maddocks.
Early life and career
Peter Maddocks was born in 1928 in Birmingham. His father was a bus driver. In 1939, Maddocks was able to attend the Moseley School of Art through a scholarship. One of his teachers was the comic artist Norman Pett, best-known for the risqué newspaper comic 'The Adventures of Jane'. Maddocks later said that it frustrated him that Pett "would sit there drawing naked ladies, while we sat there drawing daffodils in milk bottles." In search of more excitement, he dropped out of the academy at age 15 and enlisted in the British Navy to serve his country during World War II. Technically, he was too young for the draft, but lied about his true age. After World War II, Maddocks remained in military service for an additional four years. Interviewed by Tony Bryant for Sur in English (22 July 2022), Maddocks revealed that joining the Navy was the "best thing I ever did. It set me up for life. All of my storylines for children's films and short stories came from the adventures I had during this time."
In 1949, Maddocks' first job in civilian life consisted of lettering popular western and detective comics like 'Kit Carson' and 'The Saint' for the Amalgamated Press. He eventually set up his own advertising agency in London, through which he designed film posters.
Cartoon by Peter Maddocks.
Early cartooning career
Between 1953 and 1954, Maddocks drew his first cartoons for The Daily Sketch. Looking back, he never quite understood what their chief editor saw in his early cartoons, but it at least launched a long career. Around this time, Maddocks also met Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe of the surreal radio comedy series 'The Goon Show', with whom he planned to make a daily newspaper comic based on their characters. Milligan was to write the dialogues. However, the project stalled when Milligan wanted too much money. Later in their careers, Milligan and Maddocks collaborated again on a book for which Maddocks would provide the illustrations. Yet despite six months of preparation, Milligan suddenly went to Australia without informing Maddocks, also leaving this project in development hell.
'Four-D. Jones'.
Four D. Jones
In 1955, Maddocks joined the Daily Express, where he was employed for a decade. While his attempt to launch a newspaper comic based on 'The Goon Show' went nowhere, he used similar eccentric comedy for another feature, 'Four D. Jones' (1955-1965). For a meeting with Arthur Christiansen, chief editor of the paper, Maddocks had only prepared 14 sample pages and told him that he would "make up the rest of the story as he went along." Much to his surprise, Christiansen greenlighted the comic under the condition that Maddocks would receive ten weeks to show him what he could do. These 10 weeks eventually lasted 10 years.
The title character of 'Four D. Jones' is a cowboy who one day observes a total solar eclipse. The black circle in front of the sun turns out to be a round disk, which plummets down at Jones' feet. As he picks it up, he discovers he can use it to travel to the fourth dimension, time. For a decade, Jones enjoyed surreal adventures, on his way meeting various historical characters, but also modern-day celebrities, such as Dr. Who. Each episode ran in the paper's Sunday edition, the Sunday Express. The comic was also translated into Italian, appearing in Eureka Magazine. 'Four D. Jones' acquired some notable celebrity fans, including race car drivers Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins. According to legend, they even borrowed Four D. Jones' catchphrase "Mon ami, mate" in private conversations.
However, in 1957 Maddocks' maecenas, Arthur Christiansen, suddenly died from a heart attack, after which Edward Pickering became the paper's chief editor. It soon became clear that Pickering and Maddocks didn't get along. The editor disliked his comic strip and felt it didn't fit in a conservative newspaper like the Daily Express. One day, he bluntly discontinued 'Four D. Jones' halfway through a story. After a couple of days, readers complained and asked for its return, a request that was promptly granted. The embarrassed editors even made Maddocks their new cartoon editor, a job he held until 1966. Maddocks later reflected that his editors were apparently "shocked that the public cared enough about a comic strip to complain when it was pulled."
'Four-D. Jones', with a guest appearance by Vincent van Gogh, Daily Express, 15 September 1959.
Nr. 10
Maddocks' longest-running newspaper comic was 'Nr. 10' (1970-1991), which ran in the Sunday Express. The nr. 10 in the title refers to Downing Street 10, the official residence of the British Prime Minister. All episodes poked fun at the supposed private life of real-life British Prime Ministers and other politicians, including Edward Heath, Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher and John Major. In 1973, a book compilation was published, 'No. 10'. Although the series ran for 21 years, no other compilations are known to exist, presumably since the gags referred to whatever was in the news that day and were therefore quickly dated.
Cartoon from the Evening Standard, 21 May 1973.
Other newspaper comics and cartoons
For the Glasgow Evening Citizen, Maddocks drew the comic strip 'Horatio Cringe', about a dim-witted detective, but it is unknown when and for how long it was published. His animal comic 'A Leg at Each Corner' debuted in 1968 in the Manchester Evening News, before being transferred to the Sunday Telegraph in 1971, where it ran until 1973. His cartoon feature 'Slightly Maddocks' (1974-1977) ran in the London Evening News. In 1975, Maddocks took over the newspaper cartoon 'Useless Eustace' in the Daily Mail, succeeding Jack Greenall who had drawn the feature since 1935. For the Daily Record, he drew the comic 'Cop Shop'. When the London Evening News was relaunched in 1987 with a brand new promotion campaign, Maddocks created the comic 'Rush Hour Rosie' in its pages. Unfortunately, the paper only lasted a few months, taking Maddocks' comic down with it. Between 1966 and 1970, Maddocks provided sports-themed to the London Evening Standard, and between 1971 and 1973, he contributed to the Sunday Telegraph. Starting in 1977, his cartoons also appeared in the Daily Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday.
Political comic strip by Peter Maddocks from 1962.
Magazine comics
During the late 1950s, Maddocks also began working for comic magazines. On 5 September 1959, Maddocks launched the comic strip 'The Bouncers' (1959-1960) in Swift, the junior companion of the teenage comics magazine Eagle. The series revolved around a strange kind of people who live in the centre of Earth. They have no legs, but are able to bounce. The story follows them as they make their way up above the ground and are confronted with human civilization. The final episode was printed on 3 December 1960.
For the British girls' magazine Jinty, published by Fleetway, Maddocks drew the humorous adventures of 'Penny Crayon' (1975), a girl whose crayons had the magic ability to make everything she scribbled come alive. In 1989, Maddocks adapted 'Penny Crayon' into an animated TV series.
'Penny Crayon' (1975).
Magazine cartoons
Between 1967 to 1984, Maddocks was one of the house cartoonists of the men's magazine Mayfair. He was "Special Features" editor for its rival King Magazine too, until in 1968 King merged with Mayfair. In 1976 and 1977, he also appeared in Woman's Own magazine, where one of his tasks was livening up the pages of a cook book, despite not being a kitchen prince himself. His cartoons for Private Eye magazine were later compiled into the book 'Private Eye Maddocks' (1981).
'Condomania. 101 Uses for a Condom' (Robson Books, 1987).
Cartoon books
During the 1980s and 1990s, Maddocks was additionally notable for releasing several thematic cartoon books. He poked fun at masculinity in 'Men – A Field Guide' (New English Library, 1983) and 'I Hate Men Who…' (Michael O'Mara, 1995), while ridiculing women's obsession with weight in 'High Fiber Diet' (1995). A cat's viewpoint is provided in 'I Love My Pussy' (Michael O'Mara, 1994). Black comedy could be found in '101 Ways to End it All' (Michael O' Mara, 1992), where various absurd suicide techniques are demonstrated, making it almost a companion piece to Andy Riley's later 'Suicide Bunnies' series.
Maddocks showed a raunchier side of himself with two books finding humor in condoms: 'Condomania. 101 Uses for a Condom' (Robson Books, 1987) and 'Condomania Through the Ages' (1988), although he claimed that his son Simon had given him the initial idea for this series. Maddocks combatted the stiff competition on the sex-themed cartoon market by releasing 'Hard Times' (Headline Book, 1993) and 'Viagra: Making the Most Out of the Man in Your Life' (1998), two books poking fun at male erections. 'Come Colour Me In…' (2003) and 'Come Colour Your Shoes' (2003) were coloring books, but intended for adults.
Record cover for 'You'll Never Find a Nessie in the Zoo'.
Animation
In the late 1970s, Peter Maddocks worked for the British animation studio Halas & Batchelor in Berlin, creating animated TV commercials. A decade later, Maddocks and two of his sons established their own animation studio, Maddocks Cartoon Production Company Ltd, which produced three children's TV series for the BBC. The first was 'The Family-Ness' (1984-1985), about the famous folkloric Monster of Loch Ness, which turned out to have a large eccentric family. The TV series spawned an audio play record, as well as four story books published by Purnell: 'Speedy - Ness Saves the Day' (1984), 'Family Ness Elspeth and Angus Buy a Puppy' (1984), 'Forgetfulness Goes to School' (1984) and 'Ferocious - Ness Loses His Roar' (1984). A musical single, 'You'll Never Find a Nessie in the Zoo', was also recorded by the show's theme music composers Roger and Gavin Greenaway. Maddocks provided illustrations for all these media spin-offs. A couple of book annuals were published by Purnell Books, which, alongside stories, games and jokes, also featured comics based on the show. It is unknown if these comics were drawn by Maddocks himself or by some of the other contributors listed in the colophon: Gus Angus, Iain Cowan, Emma Dawson, Guy Maddocks, Clare O'Flynn, Kevin Smith and Ayse Ulkutay.
'Jimbo and the Jet-Set' strip of 14 May 1988.
Maddocks' next series was 'Jimbo and the Jet-Set' (1986-1987), which centered on an anthropomorphic aeroplane who aspires to become a Jumbo Jet. The show was popular and frequently repeated in the following years. Picture books were also published, including 'Jimbo Gets His Skates On' (Purnell, 1986) and 'Jimbo and the U.F.O.' (Littlehampton Book, 1986). A gag comic spin-off, 'Jimbo the Jet-Set', ran in the Mail on Sunday and the Radio Times, but is unknown if it was drawn by Maddocks himself or a studio co-worker. In 1988, the TV show was spoofed by Patrick Gallagher in the teenage children's magazine OiNK as 'Johnny the Jet'.
'Penny Crayon' title card.
In 1988, Maddocks adapted his comic strip from Jinty magazine, 'Penny Crayon', into an animated segment as part of the BBC toddler's program 'Playdays' (1988-1997). After this one-shot attempt, he developed it into a TV series aimed at older children, 'Penny Crayon' (1989-1990). Just like in the original comic, Penny is a school girl whose crayons have magic abilities. Everything she draws with them comes alive, resulting in lots of mayhem. The original Penny from the comics was a big-nosed, nearly masculine girl, which prompted the animators to drastically redesign her into a more appealing character for the TV show. 'Penny Crayon' was popular with viewers and spawned various children's books. Comics based on the show were also published in a 1990 annual.
Starting in 1993, Maddocks produced animated shorts for London's Good Morning Television. Maddocks also produced one animated TV series for the channel ITV: 'The Caribou Kitchen' (1995-1998), although he was only involved with the artistic direction and storyboards.
'How To Be A Super Cartoonist' (Hamish Hamilton, 1985).
Cartooning education
Since childhood, Maddocks had been frustrated that there were no cartooning courses or guide books available. He basically went to art school due to a lack of an alternative. In 1966, he became co-founder of the British Cartoonists' Association (originally established in April 1960 by Ian Scott as the Cartoonists' Club). Among the other co-founders were Abu Abraham, Frank Dickens, Stanley Arthur Franklin, Carl Giles, John Glashan, Leslie Ilingworth, John Jensen, Osbert Lancaster, Ken Mahood, Ian Scott, John Stoneham and Keith Waite. Maddocks served as the Association's first honorary secretary and later became co-president.
In 1977, Maddocks established the London School of Cartooning in Fleet Street, where in 1986, he shared an office with his colleague Peter O'Donnell (of 'Modesty Blaise' fame). A year later, the school closed down, but was briefly revived in 1990 as the Cartoon School. In addition, Maddocks wrote several cartooning guides, published by Michael O'Mara Books, including 'So You Want To Be A Cartoonist' (1984), 'How To Be A Super Cartoonist' (Hamish Hamilton, 1985), 'Caricature and the Cartoonist. Drawings of the Famous by the Famous' (Elm Tree Books, 1989), 'How to Draw Cartoons' (1991) and 'Cartooning for Beginners'. A Step-by-Step Guide to Drawing Cartoons for All the Family' (1992). Several of these books were also translated into Dutch, French, German, Spanish and Japanese.
Promotion for the children's books by Peter Maddocks and Marian Bonelli.
Graphic contributions
Maddocks livened up the pages of several books by Marian Bonelli, including adult short stories like 'The Grey Ghost' and the children's books 'Hot Potato - Albert's Allotment' (2012), 'The Magic Cat Flap' (2012), 'Billy Kit Car' (2012), 'Santa's Pipe Dream' (2012), 'Albert's Allotment: Pigeon Trouble' (2012) and 'Pig and Whistle of Downtrotter Farm' (2013). He illustrated Ngaire Elder's children's book series 'The Adventures of Cecilia Spark' (Createspace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012), while also writing some of his own, such as 'Animal Antics' (Hodder & Stoughton, 1982) and 'The Sneezing Whale' (Hodder & Stoughton, 1983).
Cartoon for the Euro Weekly News.
Later life and work
While Maddocks was a productive comic artist, he always claimed that he preferred painting and drawing cartoons over comics. Interviewed in Crikey! Magazine (issue #12, November/December 2009), he revealed that holidays "bored him": "My poor wife would watch me mooch about walking up and down anywhere but the beach, passing away time until I could return to my drawing board in Fleet Street."
In 2000, Maddocks retired and moved to Alhaurín el Grande, in the south of Spain. As explained on his personal website, he wanted "to escape the grey skies and crowded streets of London. I wanted to forget cartooning and instead of the pen, turn to a brush with paint and canvas… Besides, the lights had gone out on my beloved Fleet Street. When you live in Spain as I now do you soon realize why they can boast of so many great and famous artists… The light here is just fantastic, the sun shines forever and if you use acrylic paint as I do… it almost dries as the brush hits the canvas." Though Maddocks also spent more time painting because his eyesight had diminished after drawing so many cartoons under a lamp in his studio. The natural daylight in Spain was therefore perfect. Although he never quite mastered Spanish, his drawing talent often helped him out whenever the locals couldn't understand what he wanted or needed. As revealed in an interview with Euro Weekly News: "If I can't make myself understood, I whip out my drawing pad and produce a picture of what I want to buy. It seems to work pretty well and the people in the shops seem happy to keep the sketches." In 2022, his paintings were exhibited in his hometown at the Arsenal Inoxix Art space.
Despite his retirement, starting in 2013, Maddocks continued to draw a weekly cartoon for Euro Weekly News, the leading English language newspaper in Spain. He died in 2024, after a short illness, at age 96. A compilation of his cartoons is available under the title 'Book of Maddocks Cartoons' (2012) and highly recommended.
Self-portrait.