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Herbert Jonas Kerby [known to his mates as “Herby”] passed away over the weekend.

Herby began an art scholarship from a charity in Norwich at the age of 15 -though he pointed out that the charity also provided a scholarship in art for a 12 year old who “went on to become a very famous fine art painter…buggered if’n I can even remember his name now!”

At 17 years of age,Herby began drawing cartoons and illustrations for various magazines based in London.  On a Summer trip to Dundee in 1938,Herby met one of the Thomson family and by December 1938 was working for D.C. Thomsons & Sons [Dundee Editions]. 

In 1940,Herby helped Sam Fair out by inking some pages of Addie & Hermy,understudied Jack Glass on The Amazing Mr X and even “moonlighted” for Amalgamated Press.

In 1941 [age 26] Herby joined the Merchant Navy but the ship he was on was torpedoed and sunk on its first night out.  “I was buggered if I was gonner let them Nazies get away with that!” he recalled rather angrily in 1998,”So I joins the Royal Navy only I had to serve on a motor launch -a month after I joined the crew we went out looking for an RAF chap that had been hit by Jerry fire.  We rescued him but we got our stern crushed by a German bomber that had been hit by flak!”  The launch sank.

After several more scrapes,Herby was “honourably discharged” after a piece of shrapnel was removed from what he laughinly called his “chutney wagon” [uh,his bottom!].

Back in comic strip drawing,Herby did work for Gerald Swan and worked with Len Fullerton [”Nat Brand”] on a strip but also worked for Thomson and them Amalgamated Press again -until a Thomson editor mentioned to an AP editor friend over lunch that Herby was a fast worker.  The AP man,being an idiot,responded,”Oh,I’ve a fellow working for me called Herbert Kerby -we call him “Herby!”

Thomson black-listed Herby.

‘John Spencer’ and Swan as well as a few other post-war publishers dabbling in comics kept Herby in work.  There had been an opportunity to work with Frank Hampson but Herby was non-too-keen on the “space padre” idea being a confirmed atheist -this “space padre” was Marcus Morris’ idea and it later evolved into Dan Dare and The Eagle!

Training disabled ex-servicemen to paint and draw using their toes or mouths to hold pens or brushes,Herby hit on what he thought would be a great gag.  He drew an entire Western strip for Amalgamated Press using only his feet! He handed over the art and was stunned to be praised “Your work is really improving” he was told.

Having lied about his age to new management,Herby continued drawing until he was 67 but then had to retire.  Eye sight problems and arthritis finally taking its toll.

His son Jack has a list of strips Herby worked on plus a few old comics with the strips in.  Hopefully,as time permits,this can all be properly catalogued.