Frank Hampson was only thirteen when he got an assignment to draw sketches for Meccano Magazine. At the age of twenty, he started studying at the Victoria College of Arts & Sciences. During World War II, he served in the Royal Army Service Corps and became a lieutenant. At the end of the war, freshly married, he started attending the Southport School of Arts and Crafts and tried to make a living doing freelance jobs. He met Marcus Morris, a vicar, who had ambitions for founding a national Christian magazine, The Anvil, with a special emphasis on material for youngsters.