As part of the marketing push for the first issue of OiNK, IPC Magazines sent out a lot of “blurb” (as co-editor Tony Husband put it) and one particular piece of this caught my eye recently. Thanks to a friendly pig pal I can now show you it too.

I spotted a photograph of Steve Fitch‘s OiNK collection online and on top of the comics was a special folder wrapped around his copy of the first issue. While the inclusion of #1 means this isn’t technically a pre-release piece of marketing, for whoever it was intended for it was to be their first taste of the comic; it was being used to promote the launch and so that’s the section of the site I’m placing this under.

Lucky enough to find it on eBay, Steve had stumbled upon something sent out by IPC as part of the publicity campaign for their new comic. Titled “What do you get when three cartoonists in Manchester go berserk and decide to create their own comic?”, it contained the complete issue one and its free flexidisc, further cementing the publisher’s commitment to OiNK’s launch.

Although Steve isn’t sure how its previous owner originally obtained it, it’s a rare and special piece of OiNK history indeed. So special in fact, Steve sent it off to both Tony and Patrick Gallagher who were kind enough to sign it for him.

On the back of the folder was a little drawing of Uncle Pigg and IPC’s telephone number for enquires, perhaps for additional distributors, independent shops, the media etc.

The main highlight for me though is the included information on OiNK’s three creators, namely Tony, Patrick and Mark Rodgers. With their serious business faces on, the three share secrets about themselves such as Mark reading other comics to steal ideas, Patrick’s new book and Tony’s complete lack of free time.

Mainly nonsense of course, but the actual facts included here are really interesting. The pedigree behind OiNK’s editorial team was second-to-none, reassuring anyone unsure of this barmy new comic which was so different to anything else on the market.

I also love the idea of them hiring Uncle Pigg, only for him to take over and force them to work for him! Thanks again to Steve for sharing this and for sending me the images of the contents.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at another part of OiNK’s launch and don’t forget to check out all of the other pre-release posts which include everything from contemporary interviews and articles to advertisements and comic crossovers.