Dudley Dexter Watkins: Oor Wullie Sunday Post on May 15th 1936.

Special thanks to MATT for helping me find some great historic art from SCOTLAND (Over 88 Year old historic art).

Oor Wullie Original Artwork by Dudley D. Watkins 1936 D.C. Thomson. Oor Wullie original artwork, full size story board drawn by Dudley Dexter Watkins (1907-1969) in Indian ink to card. One of the earliest examples, appearing in the Sunday Post on May 15th 1936. Measures approx 14 x 18. Supposedly from the family (daughter) of R.D. Low (Editor at DC Thomson) possibly from his private collection. Thanks again Matt!

Provenance: The daughter of a gentleman named ‘R.D. Low’ who worked quite prominently for D.C. Thomson (I believe there is a Wikipedia page with details of his career).He had accumulated all sorts of ephemera and original artwork of which the ‘Oor Wullie’ boards were part (from the 1930’s to the late 1960’s).

I am fortunate enough to buy the Wullie ones In my opinion, Dudley D. Watkins earlier work is his best.


Dudley Dexter Watkins (27 February 1907 – 20 August 1969) was an English cartoonist and illustrator. He is best known for his characters Oor Wullie and The Broons; comic strips featuring them have appeared in the Scottish newspaper The Sunday Post since 1936, along with annual compilations. Watkins also illustrated comics such as The Beano, The Dandy, The Beezer and Topper, and provided illustrations for Christian stories. Watkins was posthumously inducted into the British Comic Awards Hall of Fame in 2015.
He continued working with D. C. Thomson for the rest of his life. On 20 August 1969 he was found dead at his drawing board, the victim of a heart attack. D. C. Thomson continued to reprint Oor Wullie and Broons strips in The Sunday