Two years ago now we lost one of the greats. I don’t just mean one of the great OiNK cartoonists, or even one of the greatest humour cartoonists of all. I mean we also lost a great human being, OiNK co-creator Tony Husband; a wonderful man whose personal ethos would often form the basis of his cartoons. In the pages of OiNK this was felt most clearly with Horace (Ugly Face) Watkins.
Beginning with gags revolving around others’ reactions to his appearance, the stories soon became filled with teachable moments for the young readers about never judging someone by their looks and the importance of being kind. Of course, these were always wrapped up with great comedic timing, out-there plots and plenty of silliness. As a result Horace endeared himself to us and became one of those OiNK stars that fans on social media often asked for updates on.
Tony was more than happy to oblige the now-adult pig pals, drawing up sketches of Horace’s life after his slapstick-filled childhood and football star teen years. The first time I saw him since the pages of OiNK was when the original version of this blog hit its one-year anniversary. Back then I wasn’t even aware Tony was following the blog, so you can imagine my surprise when this plopped through my letterbox back in 2015. What a lovely gesture.
It was also nice of Horace and Mandy, Uncle Pigg, Kid Gangster and even Mary Lighthouse to reunite for me too.
By the 2020s Horace had long retired from football and was working as an optician. It was later revealed (we’ll get to that next) he’d set up his practice in Los Angeles and was making a mint from providing better vision to the rich and famous. Although perhaps this cartoon shows he’d have been better off letting some of his patients keep their eyesight as it was. But that’s Horace for you, putting everyone else first.
As with the rest of these images, Tony posted them to the OiNK Facebook group and I thought you might like to see them if you haven’t already. Tony even went so far as to write up a little Zoom call he had with Horace around the time that particular app was taking off during the Covid pandemic. As you’ll read for yourselves Horace is very much an adult now, his time within the world of children’s comics having long since past. The shock of that change just adds to the ludicrousness of this.
Well that’s a shame about Mandy, isn’t it? But isn’t that always the case when a TV show finishes and we get a reunion years later, or a sequel to a favourite movie? In those examples of course it’s usually because one of the two actors doesn’t want to come back. Instead, Tony just decided it’d be funnier if they’d had some awkward break up and hinted that she’s now a drug dealer. Add in the unfortunate nickname for his new partner the fact Tony went so completely in the opposite direction of a children’s comic is just so funny.
As for Mandy, Tony gave us a little bit of an update on her too. It would seem she became a bit of an anti-masker during Covid, although not for the silly conspiratorial reasons people gave at the time.
Before you get upset that Mandy went and had plastic surgery after the life-affirming messages at the heart of hers and Horace’s romance in the pages of OiNK, it looks like he’s only gone and done it too! Our last update on Mr. Watkins shows us he looks quite a bit different today, with all of that Hollywood money being used in the typical Hollywood way. Although, at least in his case he’s still recognisable and his chosen t-shirt has also got one last message for the child in all of us.
The main thing, of course, is that he’s happy. That’s the important thing. After essentially seeing him grow up in OiNK it felt like we knew this scrappily illustrated character and the sometimes cruel world he inhabited. We cheered him on and he prepared us for some of life’s lessons along the way. He’ll always have a special place in my comics-loving heart and I’m very grateful to Tony for giving us this chance to catch up with Horace and Mandy and have a few final chuckles with them.
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