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| Ted Cowan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Edward George Cowan |
| Died | Early 1970s |
| Nationality | British |
| Area | writer |
| Pseudonym(s) | E. George Cowan Edward G. Cowan Denise Cowan (for thegirl's story market) George Forrest Geo. Forrest |
Notable works | Robot Archie The Spider |
Ted Cowan, being the best known familiar name ofEdward George Cowan, was a Britishcomic book writer.
His early career included working as a laboratory assistant prior toWorld War II when he enlisted firstly in theRoyal Air Force and subsequently in theBritish Army where he was a dispatch rider. After the war he initially continued in the Services in a clerical capacity when he began to make the change to writing.
Having long been fascinated by the comics of the day, it was in response to a friendly challenge that he submitted a story for an amateur writing competition in a newspaper. Shortly afterwards he landed work forThe Champion, writing the text story series about schoolboyGinger Nutt. An increasing number of commissions prompted him to resign his regular job in order to turn professional as a freelance scriptwriter.
This was the start of nearly four decades of working in theBritish comic industry where at his peak he was considered among the most prolific writers of children's scripts inFleet Street,London. He not only wrote for comics, but also annuals, "Libraries," and short stories for many publishers includingOdhams Press,Fleetway Publications,IPC Media, and extensively in later yearsDC Thomson of Dundee, Scotland.
Undoubtedly his most famous creation was forLion, for which he conceptualisedRobot Archie (initially known asThe Jungle Robot) which he would script for much of the strip's run. Archie, which first appeared inLion's launch issue published on 23 February 1952, was 'operated' by the fictional Ted Richie and his best friend Ken Dale. Archie has been translated and published in foreign languages including French where he is known as bothArchie Le Merveilleux Robot (The Marvellous Robot) andArchie l'homme d'acier (The Man of Steel) and Dutch,Archie de Man van Staal (The Man of Steel).
Another famous creation also forLion was theanti-heroThe Spider, which after the character's conception and first two complete stories was subsequently scripted byJerry Siegel (though Cowan would return to script "The Bubbles of Doom" for the character'sSuper Library Stupendous Series). These first two stories by Ted Cowan were reprinted in full in 2005 in a newhardback picture strip book, theKing of Crooks, together with other content.
HisTarzanesque jungle storySaber King of the Jungle forTiger was later reprised in France asYataca.
Cowan died in the early 1970s.[1]
Edward George Cowan has written under variations of his real name as well as pseudonyms, including (but not limited to):
There are other unrelated authors who have written under the name of George Forrest. The content will tend to indicate which scripts were written by Ted Cowan, who wrote almost exclusively for the boys / girls / comic market.
Script accreditations include (but are not limited to):
Short Stories in Hard Cover Compilations: