Dudley Watkins' Final Page

What you see above may look like any other old 1960s Beano cover, but it is in fact the last page illustrated by legendary artist Dudley Watkins. Watkins was working on the page at his home on the morning of 20th August 1969 when he suffered a fatal heart attack and collapsed over his desk. The Biffo the Bear strip was only part-done, and was later completed by David Sutherland for Beano #1423, dated October 25th 1969.

I've always found it interesting to see the last comic strip of an artist, as sad as the context surrounding them may be. I've posted a few such pages on this blog before, such as this one by Ken Reid, who passed away half way through his final Faceache strip. I do hope that artists passing away while still drawing speaks more to a love of the craft than anything else.

Whereas 99% of what I post on this site is taken from my own collection, this comic is not one of them. Instead, I came across the image during a reread of The Art and History of The Dandy, published in 2012. If you haven't had a chance to read it yet, you absolutely should. It's a wealth of knowledge and definitely a book worth seeking out.