Lobey's the Wee Boy! The Collected Lobey Dosser

by Bud Neill, Ranald MacColl (Editor)

Mainstream Publishing [Published 1992]. Soft cover, 175 pp. Contents Introduction by Ranald MacColl; Prologue; His Life Story; The Mail Robbery; The Secret of Hickory Hollow; The Indian War; The 'Reform' of Rank Bajin. [From back cover] BUD NEILL was arguably Scotland's greatest cartoonist. He began his successful newspaper career in 1944 and five years later he created Lobey Dosser, the Sheriff of Calton Creek, considered by many to be the zenith of his creative output. The blood and cordite strip was an immediate success when it appeared in Glasgow's Evening Times and acquired something of a cult following. Nearly 40 years since Lobey's last ride, the little sheriff still holds a special place in the hearts of the Scottish, and in particular the Glaswegian, public. The five Lobey Dosser adventures contained in this book were originally published separately some 40 years ago, and are collected here for the first time in one volume.

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 26, 1992

About the author

William "Bud" Neill was a Scottish cartoonist who drew cartoon strips for a number of Glasgow-based newspapers between the 1940s and 1960s. Following his death, his work has attained cult status with a worldwide following.

Born as William Neill in Partick, he moved with his family shortly thereafter to Troon in Ayrshire. Growing up there, he would spend his Saturdays at the local cinema, and was particularly enthralled by the adventures of silent movie Western star William S. Hart. These experiences fuelled Neill's childhood imagination, and proved to be a formative influence for his future career.

After leaving school, where he excelled at art, he returned to Glasgow and enrolled for a course in commercial art at Glasgow School of Art.

In 1944 Neill began a series of cartoons for the Glasgow Evening Times, themed on Glasgow life. His wry observational humour focused on local wartime attitudes, and plundered the rich resource of the Glasgow vernacular. Neill's most famous characters first appeared in the Evening Times cartoon strip in January 1949. Sheriff Lobey Dosser of Calton Creek was a memorable series that ran in the newspaper until 1956. Further adventures were published in the Sunday Mail in the late 1950s. The strip was extremely popular with Glaswegians and it merged the adventurous style of the silent era western movies with traditional Glasgow stage humour, particularly pantomime. The outrageous puns and surrealistic drawings have endured over time and now attract a cult following.

Reviews

[David Muir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much of it’s age, so many racial stereotypes in evidence, but packed full of Glaswegian humour and daft puns. My favourite has to be:

| Ah, psychology, that's the thing! I remember a very
| eminent psychologist who'd eat eggs cooked in one
| way only.
|
| Oh, really? Freud?
|
| No. Poached

Mighty fine!

[JA Condie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read and interesting to get some small insight (reading between the lines) into late 1940's Glasgow. A wee bit of casual racism/sexism but not nearly as bad as I'd feared for the period. Full of The Banter and awash with some truly dismal puns. Lobey's the wee boy right enough :)

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cartoons of a sheriff, from The Calton in Glasgow, dealing with the Wild West Town of Calton Creek, where the Town's Resident Villain is Rank Bajin, and the local indian chief is Big Chief Toffy Teeth, of the Pawnees.

For me, there's a laugh on every page. Sample joke : Big Chief Toffy Teeth is organising the tribe to attack Calton Creek. One of the squaws is wearing a kilt - that's Pawnee Mary O' Argyll. [Bonnie Mary O Argyll]. The Chief will only pay for the men to go on the stagecoach - the squaws will have to pay their own way because "none but the braves deserve the fare".

The other Bud Neill books are also highly recommended.