Martin Aitchison
Encyclopedia
Martin Aitchison was an illustrator for the Eagle
comic from 1952 to 1963, and then one of the main illustrator
s for Ladybird Books
from 1963 to 1990.
Aitchison was born in Birmingham
. He was educated at Ellesmere College
in Shropshire
, leaving aged 15 to attend the Birmingham School of Art
and then Slade School of Art. He married fellow art student Dorothy Self.
He exhibited at the Royal Academy
in 1939. He was deaf, excluding him from active service in the Second World War, but he worked for Vickers Aircraft as a technical illustrator
. He produced drawings for the bouncing bomb
designed by Barnes Wallis
for the Dam Busters air raid
.
He became a freelance commercial artist after the war, producing drawings for a range of magazines. His earliest work was for Hulton Press' Lilliput
magazine. He drew for Girl
, filling in for Ray Bailey on "Kitty Hawke and her All-Girl Air Crew", and illustrating "Flick and the Vanishing New Girl" in the first Girl annual. He began to work for the Eagle in 1952, drawing the French Foreign Legion strip "Luck of the Legion
", written by Geoffrey Bond, for nearly ten years, including spin-off strips in ABC Film Review in 1952. He also drew spy series "Danger Unlimited" and adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle
's The Lost World and C. S. Forrester's Horatio Hornblower
stories for the Eagle, and "Arty and Crafty", written by Geoffrey Bond, for Eagle' s junior companion paper Swift
. His work for comics displayed his talents in an exuberant and creative medium, working mainly from imagination.
He joined Ladybird Books in 1963, and joined Harry Wingfield
in illustrating many titles in its new Key Words Reading Scheme books, also known as Peter and Jane
, which were used to teach so many British children to read. The consistency, naturalistic style and attention to detail of the artist made him a favourite with the prolific British publisher and over a period of a quarter of a century, he illustrated at least 100 different titles. Martin Aitchison was not the only artist to make the switch from The Eagle to Ladybird; Frank Hampson and Frank Humphris also followed the same path.
He left Ladybird in 1987, and retired - apart from drawing a new comic strip, "Justin Tyme - ye Hapless Highwayman", written by Geoffrey Bond, and later his son Jim, for the fanzine Eagle Times from 1998 to 2004.
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...
comic from 1952 to 1963, and then one of the main illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
s for Ladybird Books
Ladybird Books
Ladybird Books is a London-based publishing company, trading as a stand-alone imprint within the Penguin Group of companies. The Ladybird imprint publishes mass-market children's books.-History:...
from 1963 to 1990.
Aitchison was born in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. He was educated at Ellesmere College
Ellesmere College
Ellesmere College is an independent co-educational English independent school located in Ellesmere and based in rural northern Shropshire, England.-History:...
in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, leaving aged 15 to attend the Birmingham School of Art
Birmingham School of Art
The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, its Grade I listed building on...
and then Slade School of Art. He married fellow art student Dorothy Self.
He exhibited at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
in 1939. He was deaf, excluding him from active service in the Second World War, but he worked for Vickers Aircraft as a technical illustrator
Technical illustration
Technical Illustration is the use of illustration to visually communicate information of a technical nature. Technical illustrations can be components of technical drawings or diagrams...
. He produced drawings for the bouncing bomb
Bouncing bomb
A bouncing bomb is a bomb designed specifically to bounce to a target across water in a calculated manner, in order to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets, and to allow both the bomb's speed on arrival at the target and the timing of its detonation to be pre-determined...
designed by Barnes Wallis
Barnes Wallis
Sir Barnes Neville Wallis, CBE FRS, RDI, FRAeS , was an English scientist, engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the RAF in Operation Chastise to attack the dams of the Ruhr Valley during World War II...
for the Dam Busters air raid
Operation Chastise
Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the "Dambusters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis...
.
He became a freelance commercial artist after the war, producing drawings for a range of magazines. His earliest work was for Hulton Press' Lilliput
Lilliput (magazine)
Lilliput was a small-format British monthly magazine of humour, short stories, photographs and the arts, founded in 1937 by the photojournalist Stefan Lorant. The first issue came out in July and it was sold shortly after to Edward Hulton, when editorship was taken over by Tom Hopkinson in 1940....
magazine. He drew for Girl
Girl (comic)
Girl was a weekly comic for girls published from 1951 to 1964. It was launched by Hulton Press on 2 November 1951 as a sister paper to the Eagle, and lasted through Hultons' acquisition by Odhams Press in 1959 and Odhams' merger into IPC in 1963. Its final issue was dated 3 October 1964, after...
, filling in for Ray Bailey on "Kitty Hawke and her All-Girl Air Crew", and illustrating "Flick and the Vanishing New Girl" in the first Girl annual. He began to work for the Eagle in 1952, drawing the French Foreign Legion strip "Luck of the Legion
Luck of the Legion
Luck of the Legion was a strip cartoon in the Eagle, written by Geoffrey Bond and illustrated by Martin Aitchison, that ran from 1952 to 1961....
", written by Geoffrey Bond, for nearly ten years, including spin-off strips in ABC Film Review in 1952. He also drew spy series "Danger Unlimited" and adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
's The Lost World and C. S. Forrester's Horatio Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy officer who is the protagonist of a series of novels by C. S. Forester. He was later the subject of films and television programs.The original Hornblower tales began with the 1937 novel The Happy Return Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy...
stories for the Eagle, and "Arty and Crafty", written by Geoffrey Bond, for Eagle
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...
. His work for comics displayed his talents in an exuberant and creative medium, working mainly from imagination.
He joined Ladybird Books in 1963, and joined Harry Wingfield
Harry Wingfield
John Henry "Harry" Wingfield was an English illustrator, best known for his drawings that illustrated the Ladybird Books Key Words Reading Scheme in the 1960s through to the 1980s,...
in illustrating many titles in its new Key Words Reading Scheme books, also known as Peter and Jane
Peter and Jane
The Key Words Reading Scheme is a series of 36 English language early readers children's books, published by the British publishing company, Ladybird Books...
, which were used to teach so many British children to read. The consistency, naturalistic style and attention to detail of the artist made him a favourite with the prolific British publisher and over a period of a quarter of a century, he illustrated at least 100 different titles. Martin Aitchison was not the only artist to make the switch from The Eagle to Ladybird; Frank Hampson and Frank Humphris also followed the same path.
He left Ladybird in 1987, and retired - apart from drawing a new comic strip, "Justin Tyme - ye Hapless Highwayman", written by Geoffrey Bond, and later his son Jim, for the fanzine Eagle Times from 1998 to 2004.
Comics bibliography
- "Kitty Hawke and her All-Girl Air Crew", GirlGirl (comic)Girl was a weekly comic for girls published from 1951 to 1964. It was launched by Hulton Press on 2 November 1951 as a sister paper to the Eagle, and lasted through Hultons' acquisition by Odhams Press in 1959 and Odhams' merger into IPC in 1963. Its final issue was dated 3 October 1964, after...
- "Flick and the Vanishing New Girl, Girl Annual No 1
- "Luck of the LegionLuck of the LegionLuck of the Legion was a strip cartoon in the Eagle, written by Geoffrey Bond and illustrated by Martin Aitchison, that ran from 1952 to 1961....
" written by Geoffrey Bond, EagleEagle (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...
Vol 3 No 5 – Vol 12 No 37, Eagle Annual No 3-10 (1952-1961) - "Danger Unlimited", Eagle Vol 12 No 33 – Vol 13 No 9
- "The Lost World", Eagle Vol 13 No 10 – Vol 13 No 29
- "Hornblower R. N.", Eagle Vol 13 No 28 – Vol 14 No 9
- "Warrior with Tin Legs", Eagle Annual No 11 (1962)
- "Justin Tyme - Ye Hapless Highwayman", Eagle Times Vol 11 No 4 (Winter 1998) - Vol 17 No 1 (Spring 2004)