John Kent (cartoonist)
Encyclopedia
John Kent was a New Zealand
cartoonist
who is best known as the author of the Varoomshka
comic strip
in the English
newspaper
The Guardian
during the 1970s.
Born Oamaru
, Kent was self-taught as an artist, influenced by Al Capp
, creator of L'il Abner. He worked principally in felt-tip pen on A4
paper. Kent emigrated to England in 1959, working in advertising
before his Grocer Heath strip was published in Private Eye
in 1969. Varoomshka appeared in The Guardian from 1969 to 1979, Kent also contributing work to The Sun
, The Daily Mail, The Sunday Times
and, from 1998, The Times
where his La Bimba strip showed clear influences of the earlier Varoomshka.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
who is best known as the author of the Varoomshka
Varoomshka
Varoomshka was a satirical comic strip by John Kent that appeared in The Guardian in 1969 and ran throughout the 1970s. The young woman Varoomshka was an Everywoman used by Kent to poke fun at the prominent British politicians of the day such as Harold Wilson and Edward Heath...
comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
during the 1970s.
Born Oamaru
Oamaru
Oamaru , the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is 80 kilometres south of Timaru and 120 kilometres north of Dunedin, on the Pacific coast, and State Highway 1 and the railway Main South Line connects it to both...
, Kent was self-taught as an artist, influenced by Al Capp
Al Capp
Alfred Gerald Caplin , better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip Li'l Abner. He also wrote the comic strips Abbie an' Slats and Long Sam...
, creator of L'il Abner. He worked principally in felt-tip pen on A4
ISO 216
ISO 216 specifies international standard paper sizes used in most countries in the world today. It defines the "A" and "B" series of paper sizes, including A4, the most commonly available size...
paper. Kent emigrated to England in 1959, working in advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
before his Grocer Heath strip was published in Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
in 1969. Varoomshka appeared in The Guardian from 1969 to 1979, Kent also contributing work to The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
, The Daily Mail, The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
and, from 1998, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
where his La Bimba strip showed clear influences of the earlier Varoomshka.
External links
- Obituary from The Guardian
- Obituary from The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
- Biography from British Cartoon ArchiveBritish Cartoon ArchiveThe British Cartoon Archive is a department of the University of Kent, at Canterbury in the United Kingdom, and holds the national collection of political and social-comment cartoons from British newspapers and magazines...
, University of KentUniversity of KentThe University of Kent, previously the University of Kent at Canterbury, is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom... - John Kent at lambiek.net