Ronald George Smith (1928 – 10 January 2019) was an English comic artist whose career spanned almost fifty years. Primarily producing strips for the two main publishers, DC Thomson and IPC Magazines, Smith was best known for drawing Judge Dredd for 2000 AD and the Daily Star.
Biography
Early life and work
Smith was born in Bournemouth in 1928, the son of a structural engineer. He studied to become an engineer himself, but his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. Smith enlisted as a pilot with the Empire Flying Training Programme, and ended up flying mark 19 Spitfires (a photo-reconnaissance model). He was demobbed in 1947, and joined the Gaumont British animation studio, alongside future comics artists Mike Western and Eric Bradbury.
After Gaumont British's parent company, the Rank Organisation, went bust in 1949, Smith found work drawing comics for the Amalgamated Press under editor Leonard Matthews, and "Young Joey". More adventure work, including "Ryan of the Redcoats" and adaptations of the western films Buffalo Stampede and The Last Outpost for The Comet, followed.
D. C. Thomson
In 1952 he was hired by D. C. Thomson & Co. as an illustrator for boys' story papers like Hotspur, Adventure and The Wizard under editor R. D. Low. Smith was now married with a child and no longer wanted to live in bomb-damaged London, so Thomsons bought him a house outside Dundee, where they had their headquarters, paid for from deductions from his wages. He also drew for their girls' comics Bunty and Judy. and ran until 1980. Other titles he drew for include humour titles The Topper, The Dandy and The Beezer, and boys' adventure titles The Victor