Biography

Richard E. Jennings was born in Hampstead, England on 20 May 1921. In 1937 he won a free place to the Central School of Arts

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. The school has an outstanding international reputation, and is considered one of the world's leading art and design institutions...

, London. After 2 years his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War, during which he served in the Air/Sea Rescue service of the Royal Air Force in the Middle East. Following demobilisation he travelled around England before taking work as a fisherman, and decorating public houses and hotels in the Devon area for a brewery company.

Moving to London in 1950, he secured a position with the newly launched Eagle comic

Eagle (comic)

Eagle was a seminal British children's comic, first published from 1950 to 1969, and then in a relaunched format from 1982 to 1994. It was founded by Marcus Morris, an Anglican vicar from Lancashire. Morris edited a parish magazine called The Anvil, but felt that the church was not communicating...

. His first work was on the Tommy Walls strip (advertising Wall’s ice cream

Wall's (company)

Wall's is a United Kingdom-originated food brand, covering both meat products and ice cream, owned by Unilever. Founded in London in 1786 by butcher Richard Wall, it was acquired in 1922 by Lever Brothers, which became a part of Unilever in 1930. To avoid summer lay-offs due to the down turn in its...

). He worked on this for the next three years, eventually writing the scripts as well as providing the artwork.

In October 1953 Jennings commenced work as the artist on the new Eagle Storm Nelson

Storm Nelson

Storm Nelson, was a character in the eponymous strip in the British comic, Eagle.A former officer of the Royal Navy, Commander Nelson owned the ship Silver Spray, part of the Silver Fleet...

maritime adventure strip, in collaboration with film script writer Guy Morgan. After Morgan left he continued both drawing and writing the strip until its cancellation in March 1962. Further work for the Eagle followed during that year, with his last strip for the comic being 'Island of Fire' which ran from July to October 1962.

Jennings' work was not confined to the Eagle. Other commissions included strips for the Junior Mirror, Swift

Swift (comic)

Swift was a weekly comic published by in the UK as a junior companion to the Eagle. It was founded by the Rev. Marcus Morris and launched by Hulton Press in 1954...

 and early episodes of The Daleks comic strip for TV Century 21

TV Century 21

TV Century 21, also known as TV 21, was a weekly British children's comic of the 1960s and early 1970s. It promoted the many television science-fiction puppet series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Century 21 Productions...

. He also provided artwork for several annuals.

By the late 1960s Jennings had ceased working as a comic strip artist. At one point he was employed as a long-distance lorry driver, supplementing his income by travelling around the Yorkshire Dales during his spare time painting pub signs and portraits.

In later years Jennings retired to Cornwall. He died of pneumonia on 19 January 1997, aged 75.

See also

• Eagle comic
  Eagle (comic)
  Eagle was a seminal British children's comic, first published from 1950 to 1969, and then in a relaunched format from 1982 to 1994. It was founded by Marcus Morris, an Anglican vicar from Lancashire. Morris edited a parish magazine called The Anvil, but felt that the church was not communicating...
  
  
• Swift comic
  Swift (comic)
  Swift was a weekly comic published by in the UK as a junior companion to the Eagle. It was founded by the Rev. Marcus Morris and launched by Hulton Press in 1954...
  
  
• List of Eagle comic strips
• TV Century 21
  TV Century 21
  TV Century 21, also known as TV 21, was a weekly British children's comic of the 1960s and early 1970s. It promoted the many television science-fiction puppet series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Century 21 Productions...
  
  
• Storm Nelson
  Storm Nelson
  Storm Nelson, was a character in the eponymous strip in the British comic, Eagle.A former officer of the Royal Navy, Commander Nelson owned the ship Silver Spray, part of the Silver Fleet...
  
  
• Dalek comic strips, illustrated annuals and graphic novels
  Dalek comic strips, illustrated annuals and graphic novels
  This is a list of Dalek comic strips, illustrated annuals and graphic novels. Cameo appearances and reprints are only covered if notable.-Annuals & Graphic Novels:...
  
  

External links

• LAMBIEK.NET - Lambiek comic shop website: Jennings' biography.
• Eagle and Dan Dare website - Examples of Jennings' artwork.
• ComicBookDB.com - The Comic Book Database entry for Jennings.