Jack Edward Oliver | |
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Jack Edward Oliver marrying his longtime girlfriend Liz Hales in March 2007.
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Born |
Dartford, Kent, England |
19 June 1942
Died | 26 May 2007 | (aged 64)
Nationality | British |
Area(s) | Cartoonist, Writer, Artist |
Pseudonym(s) | JEO |
Notable works
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Buster's Master Mind Cliff Hanger Vid Kid The Champ |
http://www.jeoliver.co.uk/ |
Jack Edward Oliver (19 June 1942 – 26 May 2007) was a British cartoonist. He is more usually known as J. Edward Oliver or JEO and to his friends he was Jack.
He originally achieved fame in late 1970 with a long-running strip in the UK music paper Disc (and Music Echo), later Record Mirror. The strip had many fans including John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It included characters from TV, film and music, with a large section for readers' contributions (Win a Plastic Warthog). One character proved particularly enduring, a dinosaur called Fresco-Le-Raye — who was named by Alan Shaw from Liverpool. Up to his death, J Edward Oliver continued to create Fresco strips which can be seen on his official website. (The site also featured other strips, such as The Invisible Man, a staple of his Record Mirror years, with Young Julie, The Invisible Woman and more.)
In 1977, the Record Mirror strip was deemed not contemporary enough and was ended. Oliver went to work for IPC Magazines Ltd, creating comic strips including Buster's Master Mind (1980-1983), Cliff Hanger (1983-1987) and Vid Kid, as well as drawing The Champ in Whizzer and Chips from 1979 to 1981. Many of his strips included puzzles and games. In 1984, Oliver also wrote the words for a musical called Swan Esther which was performed at London's Young Vic and on BBC radio.
When Buster ceased publication at the beginning of 2000, Oliver was the last artist left, and drew the only non-reprint material in the comic's final issue ("How It All Ends", which looked back at how all the Buster characters ended). With Buster gone, Oliver investigated other work, including newspaper strips and first day covers. In 2000, he joined his cousin Steve Oliver, and together they created Phil Stamp Covers for stamp collectors. Other work included promotional art for a single by Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs.