Greenall, Jack (1905 - 1983)

Jack Greenall Useless Eustace original cartoon artwork.

Jack Greenall contributed cartoons to Punch, Bystander, Passing Show and drew for children's comics such as Sparkler and Jolly Comic. Greenall's first ‘Useless Eustace’ cartoon appeared in the Daily Mirror on 21 January 1935, and thereafter appeared in every issue of the paper. The name Eustace had been suggested by the genie in William Darlington's novel Alf's Button, which appeared as a film in 1930, but the character itself was not modelled on anyone. As Greenall explained, "he is a hotch-potch of the many asses who cheerfully go through life doing the wrong thing at the wrong time." At first drawn as a typical office-worker, Greenall later transformed Eustace into a comic symbol of the common man, and gave him any trade or profession that fitted the joke. Useless Eustace was Sir Winston Churchill’s favourite cartoon which he avidly followed in the Daily Mirror.