Dennis Collins

Illustration Art | Artists A-BArtists C-D | Artists E-FVince Colleta and Dick AyersDennis Collins Mike Collins

The Perishers strip was the brainchild of the then Daily Mirror cartoon editor, Bill Herbert. Scripted by Ben Witham and drawn by Dennis Collins, it first appeared in the Manchester edition of the Mirror in February 1958. Alas, the strip did not thrive and Bill enlisted the aid of advertising artist/writer Maurice Dodd.

Maurice didn't work in the usual way of producing a written script from which the artist worked, but worked out his own ideas in rough pencilled layouts with action and dialogue in situ, while Dennis continued to execute finished drawings for the script. Ben Witham moved on to write gags for the popular single frame cartoon Useless Eustace.

The Collins - Dodd combination was successful and the Perishers moved into the national editions in October 1959. The partnership lasted until Dennis retired in 1983. Maurice then took on the complete execution of the strip, from idea to finished artwork, until 1992, when he once again went into partnership, this time with Bill Mevin (The Soapremes). Sadly, Maurice died on 31 December 2005, and Bill continues to draw the finished work.