Throughout OiNK’s run Uncle Pigg liked to show off how well received his comic was with the public (and even on one occasion how badly received it was, but more on that later in the year). As well as the kids telling him how awesome he was, he’d print newspaper and magazine articles that highlighted his piggy publication. The cover of one issue was even devoted to quotes like some kind of blockbuster movie.
For this post I’ve collected together all of the press clippings from throughout the run, beginning with #22. This was in the pre-internet days when a comic had to be on the shelf for a while to get noticed, then by the time the piece about OiNK was written, printed, noticed by the comic and then reprinted there (and remembering publishers work issues ahead at a time) it was months before they starting showing up on the Grunts page.
“A global platform for emerging talent in fashion, music, art and culture”, back in the 80s i-D obviously weren’t too happy with the amount of licenced comics on the shelves, but they took the time to highlight original publications for the kids and ours was included. This fleeting mention was just the beginning of OiNK’s impact with the British press, the next example being just three issues later in #25.
Obviously The Guardian needs no introduction and this clipping comes via another Irish reader. Again, it’s a brief mention but comics rarely got any positive light in the press at the time, so any mention at all was a big win. Then below, by #37 Fleetway Publications may have just taken over the printing of the comic but they were more than happy to share the feedback about what had been IPC Magazines’ OiNK.
The Sunday Times piece was the first we’d hear about W.H. Smith’s stupid decision (although a previous newsagent reservation coupon did allude to it), and the so-called ‘reason’ behind this will be the topic of a blog post in a few months. ‘Zzap!’ is actually Zzap! 64, the Commodore 64 computer gaming magazine and you can read the full article, which was a preview of the OiNK game in a post already up on the blog.
According to OiNK’s co-editor Patrick Gallagher, Mary Whitehouse was aware of OiNK and its spoof portrayal of her, and her team were watching the comic closely for libel although no action was ever taken. The image of Mary Lighthouse used by the News on Sunday is a perfect caricature of the conservative activist, almost like they chose the image that most closely resembled her!
The celebratory 50th issue had two clippings to show off the comic’s growing status in the press and it describes OiNK as a “new fortnightly”, although it does mention the change to weekly. Obviously 40-odd issues of a fortnightly was still deemed ‘new’. OiNK should’ve still been in the early years of its life, reminding us of how the comic was ultimately robbed! We’ll return to that Sunday Times piece further down this post.
The second clipping from #50 is from none other than NME (New Musical Express), and only in describing OiNK could “snot nosed cousin” be seen as a compliment. The magazine obviously focussed on OiNK’s musical parodies and when you see them all written out like this you realise just how many there had been! You can check out The Mekons on the blog in their photo story in #29 and the Ian Astbury interview with Janice Pong (in reality Tony Husband) in #16’s review.
In #52 a clipping from Escape magazine saw OiNK listed in their Hip Parade where readers voted on their favourite publications, and it included a little sample of the Uncle Pigg and Mary Lighthouse strips we loved so much during the comic’s fortnightly days. This won’t be the last we see of Escape’s chart either. But first, I mentioned a blockbuster movie-like cover, didn’t I?
For #54 OiNK gave us just a sample of all of the press coverage it had been gathering. Working our way down this impressive list, the Fantasy Advertiser quote came from an article written by Lew Stringer marking OiNK’s release, we’ve seen The Sunday Times and The Guardian already and as for The Press Council (of all people!) just keep an eye on the blog for that one (which I’ve already hinted at a couple of times in this post).
Sounds was a music newspaper along the lines of NME but sadly we never got to see the actual article this quote was taken from, and I love what the comic has decided to highlight from NME’s piece. How very OiNK! The News on Sunday obviously hadn’t made it far beyond its OiNK article in #37 above, and Escape brings up the rear.
Moving on to the monthlies we now find ourselves with the first of the bumper issues, #63. Relaunched for a new target audience, a plethora of press clippings were included on the Grunts page (or OiNK’s Piggin’ Crazy Readers as it was now known) with the tagline “New readers start here”.
Mainly they’re different bits of the articles we’ve seen already, however it’s nice to see more of that Sunday Times piece that was unceremoniously cut off in #50 just as it started talking about the eco-message in Jeremy Banx’s Burp strips. At the bottom you’ll see a clipping from The Sunday World, a tabloid rag available this side of the Irish Sea that likes to preach morality while sowing lies, hatred and division. So kudos to OiNK for proudly proclaiming how it reported on the comic’s existence.
Oh, and if you’re interested in the issue they’re criticising it’s #47, which was on sale at the same time as OiNK’s Smokebuster Special was distributed free to schools in England, but that would be seen as a positive so obviously the tabloid wouldn’t mention it. You can see the OiNK calendar with the offending football match and as for the “walrus with an alien coming out of its mouth”? Really, Sunday World? That would be horrible! It’s actually Burp the Smelly Alien’s sentient stomach spitting out a live oyster. Get it right! (Just goes to show you how closely these critics paid attention to what they were criticising.)
The final press clipping is from #64 and it updates us on OiNK’s standing with the readers of Escape magazine, whose votes saw our piggy pink publication skyrocket from 28th position to 17th since just three photos ago. From everything included throughout this post OiNK seemed destined to last and last, to soar ever higher in Escape’s charts and give us many more years of prime pork.
Unfortunately, just four issues later it would all come to an end. But OiNK’s legacy is still intact. It’s a legacy which some lesser informed commentators dismiss as one that caused complaints and controversy, but as you can see the reality was very different and so much better!
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