| David Boswell | |
|---|---|
| Born | David E. Boswell 1953 (age 58–59) |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist |
| Notable works | Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman |
| Official website | |
David E. Boswell (born 1953)[1] is a comic book writer and artist, illustrator, and photographer based in Vancouver, British Columbia who has worked in the comics industry. He is the creator of the series Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman.
Boswell grew up in London, Ontario, Canada, and Hamilton and Dundas, Ontario. He studied film at Oakville, Ontario's Sheridan College, where he graduated in 1974.[2] After graduation, Boswell attempted to earn a living as a cartoonist, and his first full-page comic, "Heart Break Comics", was published in The Georgia Straight from 1977–1978. Boswell moved to Vancouver in 1977, and in 1978, he launched Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman.[2] Another title Boswell created is Ray-Mond.
Boswell's influences include film directors Josef von Sternberg and Luis Buñuel, composer Hector Berlioz, comedians Buster Keaton and W.C. Fields, and humourist Robert Benchley, as well as early Hollywood and European cinema stars, and he often features references in his work. He has written a number of screenplays for movies, none of which have been made.
In 2011 Boswell was inducted into the Canadian Cartoonist Hall of Fame.[3]
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Boswell based the character of Reid Fleming on a childhood bully with the same name.[2] Reid employs extremely aggressive means in delivering his dairy products. In the 1980s Hollywood bought the rights to the screenplay, which was written by Boswell. A film has yet to make the silver screen.
Although Reid's adventures were first published in 1978, his first comic book was self-published by Boswell in 1980. Beginning in 1986 and continuing through 1991, Eclipse Comics published two specials and five annuals featuring Reid. From 1996–1998, the Canadian publisher Deep Sea Comics published nine issues of Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman, plus one special. The first six issues consisted of new printings of the 1980 self-published series and the 1986–1990 Eclipse series. Issues #7–9 and the special featured new stories. In 2002, Dark Horse Comics published a one-shot featuring Bob Burden's Flaming Carrot and Reid. 2011 saw the first of two hardcover collected volumes released by IDW Publishing, "Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman Volume 1" contains the first Reid Fleming comic and the mini-series, Rogues to Riches, as well as Heartbreak Comics.
Issue #3 of the 1991 DC Comics limited series Challengers of the Unknown features a poster depicting the character Leslie "Rocky" Davis starring in a Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman movie. Reid also appears in issue #5 of that same title, threatening to "piss on [Rocky's] flowers" unless he pays a $17.28 bill.