On this day in 2010 we sadly lost Chris Sievey, known to many as Frank Sidebottom. His passing reminded me of how much I loved his contributions to OiNK and, after reading the three editions I still owned from childhood, I began tracking them all down. So it was Frank who pulled me back to the world of OiNK after decades away. On this day, sixteen years later, as part of OiNK’s 40th here’s the first of three posts remembering Frank.
I loved this comic. This was my complete collection of regular issues before they went to another home. Back in 1991, BBC Two began repeating the classic Thunderbirds series at teatime on Fridays and, even though I was approaching 15-years-of-age and in grammar school, I became hooked and watched it with my parents every week. Fleetway soon released Thunderbirds The Comic and with its mix of gorgeous 60s comics serials, stunning new cutaway posters from Graham Bleathman, new strips and features it was a quality read. I bought it for over a year before believing I was too old for comics (don’t we all make that mistake for a while?) and missed out on a certain cameo later in its run.
You see, a megastar-of-megastars was also a big fan, namely Frank Sidebottom (aka Chris Sievey) and he’d pop up in the comic for a brief interview conducted by none other than Gerry Anderson himself. We’ll get to that eventually but by way of a build up I thought I’d begin by showing you all those times Frank brought a bit of Supermarionation to the pages of OiNK, most of which I haven’t shown you before. Frank joined the team in #16 and just five issues later in the Valentine’s issue he drew this wonderful strip starring two of his own puppets, Little Frank and Little Denise.
On a personal side note, I can remember around Christmas 1991 I discovered a double-bill video of the movies Thunderbirds Are Go (which Frank and Denise are sneaking off to see) and Thunderbird Six. I can remember the thrill of realising these had been cinema releases and rushing home to watch them for three hours. I think I wore that tape out!
Just a little while after the lovey-dovey issue came the first OiNK Holiday Special. You know the one, with the plasticine Uncle Pigg on the cover and a cardboard Mary Lighthouse fanning him on a desert island (classic Ian Jackson work). Inside was a space-based board game by Frank that tied in with his comic strip. Look out for Thunderbirds 3 and 5 making cameos, and for one of the playing pieces!
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention some of the other favourite references of mine in this piece, such as Tom Baker’s Fifth Doctor as another character piece. Or how about the Button Moon Heinz Baked Beans tin, the TARDIS, a multitude of other Gerry Anderson creations, Steven Spielberg, Roger Moore (I assume because of Moonraker), the Time Tunnel and more. I find how unfair the game is to anyone playing as Little Frank so funny too, as is that random space elephant square. Although, what’s wrong with wearing glasses, Frank?
I never played it and I doubt many did, but those that convinced their family or friends to give it a go must’ve had a laugh. Chris’ love of the shows he grew up with is apparent throughout his time in OiNK, as you can see with this pin-up from #66, just a couple of months before the comic’s cancellation. Again, Supermarionation programmes feature heavily among the vast array of merchandise he’s clearly never wanted to part with from childhood.
I was aware of Thunderbirds when I was reading OiNK as a child, we all were, but it wasn’t until a few years later that I became obsessed and the references became all the funnier for it. This brings us back to the early 90s and Thunderbirds The Comic from OiNK’s own publisher. In later issues Gerry Anderson contributed a regular page to the comic (via Simon Archer, the author of his biography), answering fan questions and keeping the kids clued in on the latest news of his new series and repeats of the classics.
Sometimes he’d speak to people who had worked on Thunderbirds to give readers even more of an insight into the making of their favourite show. On one occasion he spoke to a celebrity super fan, who even contributed their own self-portrait in character as International Rescue’s arch nemesis, The Hood. Although, it’s clear this was a general chat about all of Gerry’s series given how few of the answers pertain to this comic’s title.
It’s still a fun little addition and the answers are very Frank (oh, that could be a pun). Eventually, other Gerry Anderson series would be repeated on BBC Two and some would get their own Fleetway comic in pretty much the same vein, although none would last very long and they’d all end up merging into this one (some series would just start out as back up strips here rather than get their own title). Thunderbirds The Comic was very much the Buster of the Supermarionation line.
Later in life I’d fall in love with Thunderbirds all over again thanks to the newer Thunderbirds Are Go series which used CGI for the characters and craft alongside wonderfully intricate models for their sets and backgrounds. It was during this time I splashed out on the Thunderbirds The Comic complete set with the intention of covering it on the blog. However, flicking through them to check for missing pages or damage I soon realised why I’d stopped collecting it as a teen; when the classic reprints stopped the new stories just weren’t a patch on them and I never cared for any of the other puppet shows that found their way into the contents. But at least I did find this little gem of a Frank Sidebottom contribution to share with you.
As I’ve previously stated, OiNK’s 40th anniversary celebrations wouldn’t be complete without a celebration of Frank Sidebottom and over the next few weeks I’ll be watching for the first time the movies Being Frank (the documentary about Chris’ life) and Frank, the fictional story based on the character and written by one of Chris’ band friends, Jon Ronson.
I’ll admit I know little about Frank or Chris beyond what I’ve learned from OiNK and my research into his contributions to the comic, so I’m very much looking forward to both of these to learn more about the man himself and the psychology of becoming a different persona once the papier-mâché mask was put on. I can’t think of a better time to rediscover Frank Sidebottom.
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