Saturday 1 August 2009

Forty years after the death of Curly Wee artist Roland Clibborn , a look back at some of the work of this celebrated cartoonist.








Mr Clibborn was best known for the cult cartoon series Curly Wee and Gussy Goose published in a number of newspapers including the Liverpool Echo .



Research indicates that much of his original artwork was destroyed by fire. However some examples have survived


Here's a typical frame , from a small private collection , depicting Curly.
It is an original , numbered 7521 , stamped 2011 on the reverse.



From the mid 1940s onwards a number of annuals were released. The second , from around 1946 was titled "Curly Wee and Company"



This example , with slight water damage to the outer cover , contains a personalised message from Margaret and Roland Clibborn , 1965





The last reported cartoon by Clibborn is numbered 10274.


The frame below [10232] was drawn shortly before he retired from the world of Curly Wee due to poor health.

By then he needed a little help with the artwork as can be seen by the drawing on the right .





34 comments:

  1. He was my great grandfather. I have 2 of the original plates that survive, number 6300 and 6772. I would be happy to scan them and email them to you, so you can post them here.
    Thank you for setting up this blog.

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    1. sir ive been reading curly in my child hood mother lucks in bellary during early 50s gifted these books once i lent it to someone who never returned but till now curly is in my heart

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    2. Would you e-mail them to me? I'm at maya.dinotopia@gmail.com. thank you! Your great grandfather has warmed quite a few hearts in India, while Curly Wee featured in The Mail, a newspaper in erstwhile Madras.

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    3. My wife and I now septuagenaians still read Curly Wee daily with much pleasure.The facial expressions are fantastic.

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  2. What a wonderful artist! This work is a gift to us all. The expressions of the characters are so subtle...especially the young ones. You know their frame of mind at a glance. And all done by brushes, never a pen. He complemented Maud's witty rhymes so well.

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  3. Now almost 70 I still have fond memories of Curly
    Wee & his adventurous colleagues. Growing up in Ireland in 1950's we were able to enjoy a daily
    ration of imagination while reading the cartoon
    strip: Curly Wee & Gussie Goose. This appeared in the Irish Independent and continues to attract a loyal cohort of new fans. The
    characters depicted have echoes in our current society though the refined language may sound strange to 'texters'! Bravo Curly & Friends!
    The Elder Scribe (Malahide, Ireland)

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    1. Can you help me to fill the gaps in my collection.See me post here.I need the second episode of the first artist and the pudhbike race (immediately after the great train robbery) and 1 -480 of the second artist.All the rest I have digitalized and willing to share

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  4. I have cut pasted and saved a lot of these strips.Some of the new artist also,I am looking for ways to fill up my collection.I want 3734 to 7680 of the old artist and 1 to 481 of the new artist and any strips after 1004 of the new artist

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  5. After my last posting with the help of David Humphreys of the UK and another friend who gave aling to the Archives of The Age I have quite a good digitalised collection/But to complete the collection I mainly wany from Clibborns drawings 15 to 28 (2nd episode) 2455to 2502 and 9963 to 10040.Clarjes I want 1 to 480.I am willing to share my digitalised copies with other Curly Wee followers.But I want the above very badly.Pl contact me @ pbkhema@gmail.com

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    1. That is great. You are willing to share your joy which will double when it is shared. God bless you I am Vijay 67 years old residing at Chennai South India. Pl guide me as to how I can have a look at your treasure. thanks. Pl reply in my mail id savkumar48@yahoo.co.in

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    2. Hi.. Did you get to see the treasure? I live in Chennai too

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  6. How can we get those digitlaised copies please? We are all Curly fans !

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  7. A fan from India - I have fond memeory of Curly Wee books & strips I collected from The Mail - If there are digitalised copies, how can I get them?

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    1. It appeared on the Madras mail an evening news paper at Madras(now Chennai) South India. It was seen on the last page top right corner. They also released color comic books. One story was about fuel crisis and people switching over to cycles and a cycle race that followed as a climax where curly wee wins defeating all unethical tricks by the villain.Our mother bought these books for us. We gave them to our junior cousins and lost track of that treasure.I am now 67 years old & If I could have a glimpse of those comics my joy will have no bounds. Can some one who still possess these books help me?

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  8. Hi i have an original edition of this comic book for sale.

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    1. Hello Gracey, which book are you selling (title), and how do I contact you?

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. I used to read Count Curly Wee when I was living in Ireland in the 1980s (reruns, I suppose). There's something enchanting about Curly Wee and his friends.

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  11. My father read the daily Curly Wee cartoon to my brother and me(1962-5)(we were about 4 years old) published daily in the evening paper, The Cape Argus (Cape Town, South Africa). A treat we always looked forward to ... never forgotten those evenings with dad - we were usually tucked up in bed, he would come home about 8pm (he worked long hours), he would sit next to us on the bed, read slowly, and explain words we didnt understand...very fond memories..

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  12. Hello there, if any1 is interested I have 2curly wee books which I would like to sell you can call me Shirley on 07931088136

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  13. Hi there, my dad died recently and he had an original Clibborn pastel sketch of a woman in 1920s' dress with a dog. I can post photos if anyone is interested.

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  14. and sorry, never signed up to a blog before so not sure how to post photos... :(

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  15. OMG!! Brings back old childhood memories at 79, growing up in Dublin in the 40’s, I remember so well

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  16. Hi, my name is Freddie Hall, an Anglo Indian from Chennai, good old Madras, South India. When in my teens I just loved reading Curly Wee in the Madras Mail. I decided that one day I will write books in Curly Wee style. So now after my retirement I have completed my book. It is titled " Our Friends In Paws and Claws Land." The story, " Hide and Sneak." I am in need of a Publisher and Distributorfor national and iminternation. You may contact me on 9940633676 whattsapp or 9940136350 no Whattsapp or mail me to fchall944@hotmail.com

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  17. I still remember small quotes from those marvellous books like when the toys were on a shelf in a house which was on fire. "And well they may, because the flames were licking round their feet" !!

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  18. The Star (newspaper Johannesburg, South Africa)printed Curly on a daily basis throughout my childhood and youth (I left in 1968). Possibly their archive could cover for many editions possibly no longer available elsewhere.

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  19. I was an ardent reader of The Madras Mail of yesteryear because of the daily Curly Wee features. I vowed that one day I would write in the same fashion of Maud Budden, the author of Curly Wee. Why not? I told myself, being a Shakespearean actor and runner up for the New York Herald Tribunal Essay competition.I have authored two books till date after my immediate retirement. I have not infringed upon any copyrights of Maud Budden. Would welcome anyone to give me ideas as to how I could move forward. I stay in Chennai, India.
    My mail id fchmail2020@gmail.com

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  20. I remember one episode, regarding a bicycle race where the bad guys threw thumb tacks on the track so that Curly would get a flat tire but our intrepid Curly sat on the handlebars wit a magnet tied to his shoe and stretched his leg to the ground and the magnet lifted all the tacks and Curly won the race.

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  21. Hi. Anyone know Count Curly’s full name please?

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  22. Marvellous in these changing times how a newspaper like the Irish Independent continues the tradition of Count Curly Wee! My Dad who read the paper cover to cover each evening after work would read aloud the verses to us in our sitting room in Leixlip. Great memories

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  23. It's wonderful to see how many Curly Wee enthusiasts there are! There was/is obviously something very special about him and his friends, if it's kept us so loyal across time and the globe!
    I'm 78 now, but remember waiting for the Madras Mail in the 40s, and the big thrill of the arrival of the Annual. I had several of these, and my children read and loved them in the 80s, but sadly, they were lost and I can't replace them at the prices I see online!

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