Ally Sloper Award

The Ally Sloper Awards were a series of annual, now defunct^[1] awards designed to recognise veteran British comic creators, initiated by the comics historian Denis Gifford in 1976. From 1978 they were awarded under the auspices of the Association of Comic Enthusiasts, also founded by Gifford.

The awards were named after Ally Sloper, the nineteenth century British comic character championed by Gifford as the world's first comic character. Gifford also launched and edited an Ally Sloper 'comic magazine' in 1976. The award itself was a figurine of Ally Sloper, based on brass doorstops which were produced as merchandising in the nineteenth century.^[2]

Prizegiving of the first Ally Sloper Awards for comic creators also took place at Gifford's Comics 101 comics convention (1976), with TV comedian Bob Monkhouse presenting.^[3]

History

Joke awards, known as the Sloper Award of Merit, had been issued while Ally Sloper was at the peak of his popularity, to topical figures such as Scott of the Antarctic,^[4] and others who made the news for unusual achievement.^[5]

Award winners

1976

• Best British Newspaper Strip Cartoon Artist: Steve Dowling - for Garth in The Daily Mirror^[6]
• First British Science Fiction Artist: Stanley White - for Ian on Mu^[7] in Mickey Mouse Weekly (1936)
• Best British Strip Cartoon Artist: Frank Hampson - for Dan Dare in Eagle (1950s)
• IPC sponsored award for outstanding work in their own publications: Don Lawrence - for The Trigan Empire ^[8] in Ranger and Look and Learn
• Gold Award: Terry Wakefield and his father George (Billy) Wakefield - for strips in Tiny Tots, Bubbles, Tip Top, Butterfly and Joker, amongst other titles.

1980

Hugh McNeill was to receive the award but died the day before the announcement was made.^[9]

1981

• Lifetime achievement: Ernest Shaw^[10]

1982

• Lifetime Achievement: Fred Robinson ^[11]

See also

• Denis Gifford
• Ally Sloper

References