Tom Tully was born inGlasgow, but grew up inReading, Berkshire (where he became a supporter ofNewcastle United). He worked as a telephone operator for theRoyal Air Force as part of his national service. After a series of civil service jobs and earning a diploma in writing for children, he embarked on a freelance writing career. His first sale was at age 25 — aBuck Rogers story.
From 1963 to 1970, Tully was the principal writer onThe Steel Claw forValiant with artistJesús Blasco, taking over for the fourth serial fromKen Bulmer, and later returning from 1971 to 1973 for the sequel strip,Return of the Claw. In the early 1960s, he wroteHeros the Spartan with art byFrank Bellamy forEagle. Another one of his most notable strips forValiant wasThe Wild Wonders, drawn byMike Western, about a pair of wild boys, brought up by animals, who turn out to be fantastic athletes. He also worked onKelly's Eye andJanus Stark (both withFrancisco Solano López) in the 1960s.[2][a]
Tully wrote his first scripts forRoy of the Rovers in 1969, and wrote the comic sporadically until 1974 when he was given the permanent job as lead writer, a position he held for nearly 20 years. During that time, the strip moved fromTiger to its ownself-titled comic.
Tully also wrote three cricket-themed short novels in 1986 and 1987 - The Magnificent 11 (ISBN978-0-583-30921-9), Dangerous Game, and Showdown at Seabank (ISBN978-0-583-30922-6). These books followed the adventures of a young teenager Terry Mason and his friends who started their own cricket club after losing a season at their school. The first and last book are available, however Dangerous Game appears very difficult to find.[citation needed]
Tully wrote theRoy of the Rovers strip until the main comic's demise in 1993, with the final incident of Roy's playing career coming when he lost control of his helicopter and crashed into a field.[5] After the closure ofRoy of the Rovers, Tully had very few comics credits. He retired toWiltshire in theWest Country.
^According to the first printing of Paul Scoones'The Comic Strip Companion (2012), Tully was also the regular writer on theDoctor Who strip inTV Comic prior to 1966; however, subsequent research suggests that Scones had confused Tully with another comics writer of this period,Thomas Woodman.[3]
