Jack Phythian Monk attened the Bolton art school and debuted as a sports illustrator for the Bolton Evening News. He subsequently worked for the Evening Chronicle. In 1934, he created two comic strips for the Daily Express - 'Can You Beat It?' and 'The Funny Side of Northern Towns'. Two years later, he joined the Daily Mirror and made an adaptation of Edgar Wallace's 'Terror Keep' with Don Freeman. This Don Freeman (real name: John Henry Gordon Freeman, 25 April 1903- 8 July 1972) should not be confused with the American illustrator and comic artist Don Freeman (August 11, 1908 - 1 January 1978).
When 'Terror Keep' was dropped shortly afterwards due to problems with the copyrights, Monk and Freeman created their own strip, 'Buck Ryan'. The strip ran in The Daily Mirror from 22 March 1937 to July 1962. Buck was a young British private investigator, brown-haired and two-fisted, who battled crime and evil wherever he found it, whether the criminals were kidnappers, German spies, or more interesting villains like the crime boss, Twilight. Buck had a habit of taking in reformed villainesses as his sidekicks.
In the 1960s, Monk started working for the comic magazines by Fleetway and D.C. Thomson, and created 'Commander Cockle' in Lion, 'Wee Tusky' in Sparky, 'Inspector Jellicoe' in Hornet and 'Million Pound Mutt' in Debbie.
