Early Life
Born in 1939, Ranson's childhood and formative years included access to the influences of art and artists in a mixture of British and American comics, including " Beano, Knockout, Dandy, Film Fun, Wizard, Hotspur..., The Eagle with Frank Hampson setting new standards. Wayne Boring's Superman, C.C. Beck's Captain Marvel," and others (including, "ater, John Buscema's Silver Surfer and his Conan, Jack Kirby's Thor"). He says that Hampson in particular was an early influence, but that
| “ | "Finding Al Williamson's work changed my approach because he did not do comic book drawings but just drew well using his own natural line. He replaced Frank Hampson for me as a spur when I started drawing. | ” |
Ranson attended the South West Essex Technical College and School of Art in Walthamstow, Essex, where he studied painting and printmaking. Trained initially as an "apprentice stamp and banknote designer" in the 1960s, learning "to translate photographs into watercolour... n stamp size." A "rare ability at the time," he would later use this skill as a "selling point" when pursuing a career "as an illustrator in advertising and publishing."
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