Fancy 32 very high quality pages containing 28 equally high quality and hilarious Lew Stringer comics? Surely for every reader of this blog the answer to that is a no-brainer. After a lengthy delay, Lew’s fifth collection of Combat Colin strips from Marvel UK’s Transformers comic arrives and it’s a belter. Lew’s humour strip just got better and better during the last couple of years of that comic’s life and now we’re deep into that part of the run.
Covering over half a year’s worth of misadventures from 1990 and 1991, Colin had been upgraded to a full page for a while and Lew really took advantage of the extra space. He included so many gags and background jokes per page his work was often a highlight for many readers of the Robots in Disguise. He also wrote more multi-issue stories which were among the best he produced.
Combat Colin with Semi-Automatic Steve in The Secret of the Combat Trousers is the first such tale in this collection and features baddies in disguise, multi-dimensional travel and even the honest-to-gosh “true origin of Combat Colin”. It’s a brilliant three-part tale that I remember well, not just from my recent real time read through of Transformers, but from the actual time of its first printing.
However, the yampiest tale here has got to be Battlefield Wallytown which originally ran for a whopping six weeks. Returning villains, returning heroes, warping of realities, time travel… anything Lew could come up with seems to have been squeezed into this one and it all works. It’s been combined into one story like in previous collections, although the other multipart series here appear in their original forms.
Lew’s art is just as funny as his scriptwriting, such as Colin’s enigmatic face or that brilliant panel where he conveys the bright light of a hero’s downfall on a black and white page. Story wise, there’s also the return of a robotic foe that’s much more cumbersome than the original (perfectly spoofing RoboCop 2 in my eyes) in a strip with an ending that has us re-reading the previous chapters to see the clue we all overlooked. Then there’s the perfect example of how a common everyday phrase can take on a whole new meaning here.
Every page includes details of the issue of Transformers they originally appeared in and its cover date (instead of release date, but this makes it easier to find the issue if you wanted to) and one of my very favourite Combat Colin pages finally makes its appearance. To see a preview of it just go and have a look at a special Christmas post from last year.
In Lew’s editorial he explains how some of the strips are printed in greyscale because they’ve been taken from the pages of the published comic after Marvel UK lost his original artwork and he hopes this doesn’t spoil our enjoyment too much. On the contrary, I think the greyscale pages are some of the best looking here, with a lovely retro feel like reading a classic Dandy or Beano annual, and the printing finish is smoother.
With an appearance by a certain Autobot, Lew’s token funny reference to The Prisoner and even a classic Airplane/Leslie Nielsen quote (you know which one) there’s so much to enjoy in here that I don’t have the room to include them all, nor would I want to! You should be surprised by them and enjoy them for yourself and you can do so by buying the comic directly from Lew.
Even the advert for Lew’s personal blog is funny with the cosiest looking Daleks you ever did see!
So how do you get a hold of #5 of Combat Colin for yourself? Just head to Lew’s eBay shopwhere you can buy this hilarious comic, printed on extremely high quality paper with a card cover no less, for just £5.00 (plus £3.50 p+p). A bargain if ever there was one! There’s just the one volume still to be published, which promises to include not only the remainder of the Transformers strips but also material I’ve never read before. Let’s hope we haven’t got as long to wait this time!
Did you know OiNK cartoonist David Leach is also a secret agent who has saved us from Godzilla-like monsters and Predator-like alien invasions? Well, if you didn’t pick up the first two issues of his occasional comic series David Leach Conquers the Universe now you know! It’s been a long time coming (#2 was released seven years ago) but #3 has finally arrived and is available now for all pig pals to buy.
In his four-issue series David’s character is self-deprecating, sarcastic and skilled at annoying the baddies with his endless patter, all the while being a hilarious spoof of action movie stars. This issue moves into familiar James Bond territory with a villain who has a suitably outlandish scheme, living in a secret lair with a band of minions (in this case a faceless robotic army). We even get a brilliantly funny ‘Q’-type scene in which he picks the most useless piece of tech imaginable, one which you instantly know is setting up a very specific pun for later in the issue, making the pay off even more satisfying (and hilarious).
As in the previous issues we get strange interludes of some people bent over a tabletop role-playing game who seemingly control the scenarios in which David finds himself. His reference to the mysterious “They” shows us he’s clearly aware of some higher power but it always comes across as conspiratorial, leading to ridicule from his family in a great opening scene where he’s hired for a new top secret job right in front of them.
My favourite moment is when he’s reminded about how he’s meant to keep a low profile in his role as a secret agent for M.A.R.S. (not Destro’s organisation in G.I. Joe, the acronym here is much better) before being lectured about appearing on Come Dine With Me, something the real David actually did back in 2013! I nearly bust a gut laughing at this moment.
I won’t give too much away here about the villain, his profession or his overall plan because it’s one of the highlights of the issue. What I will say is, after Godzilla and Predator, David clearly had his eyes on the Bond franchise next and as a fan of those films I can say he does not disappoint! Having met already, a later scene has our sort-of-hero notice something different about the man who now holds him at gunpoint.
The character of David here has an innate ability to talk. In fact, very often throughout the series his mouth gets him into all sorts of trouble because he doesn’t seem to have a brain-mouth filter. Just how much of the fictional David is based on the real-life one? I couldn’t possibly answer that, but you do come away with the impression that he’s having a good laugh at himself throughout these comics.
There are so many hilarious moments here and it’s so difficult not to tell you about more of them because they’re that good! It’s a catch-22 situation of course; I want to tell you more about the contents so you know just how brilliantly funny it is and you’ll want to buy it, but if I do so it’d ruin those moments for you and you wouldn’t enjoy it as much as I did. Plus, this is David’s job, for which he deserves to be paid for his work and at a measly £4.99 this is a bargain for the amount of laughs you’ll get in return.
Not only was I delighted to see a third issue after I’d assumed there’d be no more, the addition of the new ‘#3 in a four-issue series’ banner on the cover shows there’s another on the horizon. With said banner and the open ending (the panel below is not it) I do hope this means David has already begun working on it and we won’t have to wait as long for the conclusion.
Why have I reviewed the third issue first? Simple, because it’s new and, while I will be adding older comics released by OiNK’s cartoonists as the blog continues, any new releases will get covered straight away. No, you don’t need to have read the first two issues of David Leach Conquers the Universe to enjoy this one, but they’re all so good why wouldn’t you?
Published by Aylesbury comics shop Dead Universe Comics their website is down at the time of writing but it’s easy to order by phone. They’ll be happy to take your order on 07852 836307 and for £4.99 you’re going to get 36 pages chock full of brilliant art and even better laughs.
Before you go and search through the blog to find reviews of the first two issues of David Leach’s Psycho Gran Comic Capers Cavalcade I’ll tell you know you won’t find them. Yet. This blog was relaunched in 2021 and the previous two editions were released before that. Psycho’s earlier Cavalcades will eventually get included but for now I’m concentrating on the brand new issue that David has released through Dead Universe Publishing. Featuring a selection of strips originally released digitally in Aces Weekly this is their more natural home, on the printed page. And what lovely printed pages they are; 36 high grade glossy A4 pages and a thin card cover, really bringing David’s gorgeous colours to life.
Presented in “Widescreen Psycho Vision” the original landscape format for the digital comic means the reader has to turn this on its side, making the pages feel much larger when held, almost like a Psycho Gran broadsheet! It adds to the appeal and uniqueness of the comic and feels like a natural fit for what David has produced for us.
There’s a bit of a theme with some of the stories (all multi-page affairs apart from the front cover) as we meet some of her friends from the Netherworld who make up her book club. This seems appropriate given how it’s been emphasised before how old she must be and yet she just keeps on going. Speaking of her innate ability to give a middle finger to the Grim Reaper she goes up against what is surely her biggest foe to date: Covid.
As an obvious fan of the character from right back when she first appeared in OiNK #15 (my second issue as a kid so she was there from the beginning for me) is it just me or for a split second do you almost feel sorry for the virus here? Just for a second though. I won’t give anything away but you know she’ll come out on top of this fight. It’s how she manages it that makes us laugh. You’ll just have to buy the comic to find out for yourself. This strip is worth the entry fee alone.
Among the remaining stories we see her visit the grave of her deceased husband in what starts out as a surprisingly touching strip that slowly begins to wander back into familiar territory, bringing with it an ever-broadening smile from the reader. Her book club then returns in the largest strip of the issue with some imagery which definitely wouldn’t have made it into the pages of the kid-friendly OiNK!
This particular story also involves a trademark of Psycho Gran as she takes revenge out on those in the world that really deserve it, like in previous issues where she went up against pavement jumping cyclists or footpath hogging joggers. There’s a feeling these are being ticked off David’s own personal hit list of pet peeves and they’re always the funniest of all the strips.
Those who con little old ladies out of their money, polite queue jumpers in supermarkets and show-off swimmers in the local pool should all watch out from now on. Then, just as you think the comic couldn’t possibly surprise us any more it brings a brand new look to the character with a cheery, saccharine reboot as ‘Psycho Granny‘ in the style of old school traditional British humour comics, the type that OiNK itself was created in response to.
As it is this is already a funny take on the whole premise, never mind the ending which I won’t spoil for you, although I’ll just say it’s another reason for pig pals to get their trotters on this comic. So how do you do so? Aylesburty comic shop Dead Universe Comics have published the Psycho Gran Comic Capers Cavalcade series for David and if you’re not in the area you can order from them by giving them a bell on 07852 836307.
At £4.99 this is a bargain for all OiNK fans and fans of highly original, genuinely very funny comics in general. On the inside back cover is a comics checklist of sorts, of all of David’s physical releases to date. Psycho Gran Comic Capers Cavalcade #3 is the perfect starting point for anyone wanting to get into the modern publications from anyone in the OiNK team and an absolutely essential purchase for dedicated pig pals.
Created by master of mirth Lew Stringer, Barmy Comix was released for free online in 2020 in response to a delay in the publication of his next Combat Colin comic due to Covid. Bringing some much needed cheer to a locked down world when access to new comics was impossible, it has 32 pages (or screens) of strips taken from various publications in the Lewniverse, including a nine-page preview of the next issue of Combat Colin.
That’s not all from the moronic militia man though. There’s a classic from the Transformers days, when Lew’s strips were at their height later in the run with Day of the Gunge, a strip I fondly remember reading first time around when I was a much smaller human. There’s also a full-colour adventure with Colin and Semi-Automatic Steve I hadn’t read before from the pages of Aces Weekly. This on its own is worth the price of entry. Not that there is any price, but you get my drift.
Loose Brayne, aka Brickman is in here too. It’s quite possibly the barmiest strip of the whole comic and that’s certainly saying something. The Brickman Meets The Mad Cobbler is classic Lew turned up to ten. I love the character of Albert and on the next page we see that it’s actually the big fancy house, Brayne Manor, that sits in a cave while Brickman’s supposedly secret lair is above ground for all to see.
This should give you some idea of the chaos to expect if you’ve never read a Brickman strip before. Set in “Pre-Holocaust Thatcherite Britain” it’s an ingenious mix of slapstick, social commentary and daft gags. It’s probably my favourite out of the whole issue. Saying that, there’s also a second story of his, Brickman and Trowel Meet Professor Deranged! Nothing subtle about the villain names in this comic.
Derek the Troll’s strip takes the form of one of those Make-Your-Own-Adventure books we had as kids (OiNK had its own version back in #5). Derek was originally created for role-playing magazine Warlock and that’s where this strip comes from. Lew has also released a comic reprinting all of Derek’s misadventures which I’ve already reviewed on the blog and (spoiler) enjoyed immensely.
Derek the Troll’s ‘orrible Troll-Playing Game is almost impossible to win, throwing a spanner in the works every time you think you’ve made the right decision, its curveballs and surprises keeping you laughing all the way to the end. There are also two full-colour strips of Derek’s from the short-lived digital comic Goof and he’s the star of one of the mini-posters scattered throughout Barmy Comix, ready to be printed out and Blu-Tac’ed to your wall if you’re feeling particularly nostalgic.
One creation of Lew’s I’d never heard of before reading this comic during the pandemic was Pedantic Stan the Comics Fan. Co-created with former Marvel UK editor and the utter gentleman behind comics news site Down the TubesJohn Freeman, he was created for comic newspaper Speakeasy in the 1990s (an earlier edition of which has already appeared on the blog). Lew has also released the complete collection of Stan’s strips in a small, landscape format comic which was a hoot to read. It’s been a while since I’ve read it so it was fun to see his Full-Page Christmas Special again.
Also in here is a touching strip from the Undefeated Spirit of Hope book released in 2011 in the wake of the natural disasters in New Zealand and Japan of that year, finishing off the comic on the back page. Altogether this has reminded me of The Marvel Bumper Comic, which introduced me to comics and characters I hadn’t previously read among a mix of hugely enjoyable, hand-picked reprints of some of my favourites.
Barmy Comix was (and still is) free although Lew does ask fans if they could donate a small sum of £2.00 towards the creation of future comics in his range. This was particularly relevant during the pandemic but it’s such a small ask in return for the many laughs we get from each and every one of his publications. To download it just click on the link below to Lew’s own blog and please do remember to donate.
On this day back in 2010 the 30th episode of season two of Shaun the Sheep was broadcast by the BBC. Based on characters created by the legendary Nick Park, (spun off from a one-off appearance in a Wallace & Gromit special) the incredibly successful Aardman Animation series was created by Richard Starzak and developed by him, Alison Snowden and David Fine. What they developed was a genuinely funny silent comedy series adults get as much of a kick out of as the kids do. Even so, I didn’t discover it myself until a Christmas special many years later.
Now part of my yearly festivities, I was sore from laughing so much the first (and subsequent times) watching it and went on to view the two full-length movies and several of the regular episodes. Now, after the announcement of a long-awaited new series in 2025, the OiNK Blog is taking a close look at one episode in particular, called The Big Chase. Why has Shaun appeared on the blog? It can’t just be because there are pigs involved. Here’s a hint.
That’s right, that’s co-creator and co-editor of OiNK, Patrick Gallagher. He and fellow writer Craig Ferguson created what is a fan favourite episode to this day and one which encapsulates the madcap hilarity perfectly. To mark the 14th anniversary of its original broadcast I asked Patrick about writing the story and working on the series and his insights make for great reading.
If you’re unfamiliar with Shaun, he’s what’s described as “an unusually clever sheep” who tries to bring a bit of fun and excitement to the mundane daily life on Mossy Bottom Farm (a name which wouldn’t have felt out of place in OiNK). This usually results in lots of frantic slapstick involving Shaun and all of the ensemble cast of sheep, as well as sheepdog Bitzer (my personal favourite) and the dimwitted and completely unaware human, TheFarmer. While Bitzer is constantly trying to keep the sheep in line, the friendship he and Shaun share when things go horribly wrong is one of the highlights.
The Big Chase revolves around young Timmy going for a joyride on The Farmer’s expensive new quad bike and the panicked flock giving chase in everything from a tractor to a shopping cart. It’s up to Shaun and Bitzer to rescue Timmy and get everyone back to the farm before they’re discovered, which they do by commandeering a pizza delivery driver’s scooter. So far, so utterly brilliant!
The episode also involves three joyriding pigs, whose car comes complete with an appropriate licence plate for this blog, and a little old lady who nearly gets knocked down several times before she has her wooly hat taken in the chaos. She joins the pigs to chase down Shaun and Bitzer while Timmy and the flock inadvertently run riot.
OiNK Blog: So Patrick, how did you become involved in the series for this episode?
Patrick Gallagher: “The offer of a commission came totally out of the blue, actually. Following the broadcast of the phenomenally successful debut series in 2007, and with the world clamouring for more farmyard frolics from Shaun and the flock, Aardman Animation approached my agent, Dominic Lord at JFL, and invited Craig and me to pitch ideas for the upcoming second series. It was a big surprise, a tremendous honour and an offer Craig and I couldn’t refuse. We had previously collaborated on several high-profile TV shows, including Spitting Image, The Russ Abbot Show and The Basil Brush Show.
“The Naughty Pigs who antagonise the sheep at any given opportunity could inexplicably turn up in their own ‘chavmobile’.”
Patrick Gallagher
“Furthermore, as a co-creator, I had Round the Bend under my belt and was also involved in co-developing Hangar 17. Therefore, writing for Shaun the Sheep would be a much-welcomed addition to our portfolios. The idea Aardman chose to commission out of the handful we submitted was The Big Chase, in which Timmy the baby sheep drives off on the Farmer’s brand new quad bike, sparking a whirlwind of uproarious chaos.
“However, there was a long wait before we got the green light. It was over a year before Aardman’s Development Executive, Dick Hansom(editor of blog comics Jurassic Park and the forthcoming Aliens! – Phil), wrote with the good news. He explained that the delay was due to the expense of making the quad bike, which they had to balance out with cheaper episodes, and eventually did.”
OB: The quad bike does look great but to have this little insight into the decision making because of it is interesting. They must’ve really liked your script. You co-wrote it with Craig, but given how central pigs are to the plot, would I be correct in assuming they were your idea?
PG: “Not entirely; it was a joint decision. We had free rein to use any of the Shaun the Sheep characters, and Craig and I agreed that The Naughty Pigs, who antagonise the sheep at any given opportunity and could inexplicably turn up in their own ‘chavmobile’, would be the perfect foils to instigate mayhem and hilarity in our vehicular-themed episode.”
OB: How appropriate! Can you give us a little insight into what it was like to work on the show for Aardman? And did you ever get to visit the studio and see it being animated? Did the finished product stray from your script or remain close to it?
PG: “It was an absolute dream to work on the show. I’d been a big fan of Aardman since 1977 when I first saw Morph, their claymation character which I loved, on CBBC‘s Take Hart. But Craig and I had to be on top form, as it would demand a lot of hard work and expectations were stratospheric. Shaun first appeared in Aardman’s Academy Award-winning film, A Close Shave. Therefore, the bar for the writing of the TV series had already been set high – literally – to Hollywood standards.
“I found it quite refreshing to focus solely on the action and dismiss any dialogue, in the fashion of writing a silent movie.”
Patrick Gallagher
“Not that we needed reminding, but as we presented our concept to the producer, Gareth Owen at Aardman’s Bristol studio, the gleaming golden Oscar statuette perched behind him caught my eye. And with its shimmer, I could have sworn it whispered, “Time to shine, boys!” But that meeting was the only time we visited the studio. The final produced show remained really close to our original script; however, we expected tweaks since we overwrote the episode by a couple of minutes. Moreover, we would naturally welcome any supplementary changes by Aardman, as they would only enhance the production further.
“On a more specific writing note, we adhered to the three-act structure for the seven-minute episode. The main plot centred on Shaun and the flock chasing after Timmy and their attempts to get him off the quad bike and back to the farm safely before the farmer found out. And the subplot revolved around the old lady’s efforts to retrieve her hat, which had bizarrely become caught up in the chase along with the naughty pigs as she tried to cross the road.”
OB: It all seems so chaotic when watching it, with more and more layers of comedic situations being added on top. It’s really quite a genius piece of writing, and the animation is just absolutely incredible. How difficult (or not) was it to write comedy for a show where there’s no speech whatsoever? Did your background in the visual comics medium help?
PG: “Personally, I found it quite refreshing to focus solely on the action and dismiss any dialogue, in the fashion of writing a silent movie. But overall, I’d say it was as equally challenging to write it without dialogue as it would have been with dialogue. Either way, we still had seven minutes to fill. And yes, I do think my background in comics helped, as I’ve always thought visually and storyboarded my comic scripts for Buster, Whizzer and Chips, OiNK and all the other Fleetway titles I cut my teeth on.”
OB: Should OiNK pig pals see this episode, at least parts of it and especially that licence plate, as a bit of a homage?
PG: “For my part, most definitely. Although the idea of the pigs’ ‘chavmobile’ licence plate reading ‘OI NK 5’ wasn’t scripted by Craig and me. It was the animators who came up with that notion, so it was just coincidental. Or perhaps, more probably, it was a case of serendipity at play, orchestrated psychically by Uncle Pigg from his tropical retirement island.”
OB: Thanks for your insights, Patrick. It’s a perfect seven minutes of unadulterated laughs. Is there anything else about it that you’d like to share with us?
PG: “Yes, just a couple of things. It was brilliant to be associated once again with the ridiculously talented Dave Alex Riddett, the lighting cameraman for The Big Chase. Dave was the genius animator who, 21 years earlier, had been responsible for producing Round the Bend’s iconic stop-motion serials The False Teeth from Beyond the Stars and Attack of the Atomic Banana, which I had written with my dearly departed co-writers Tony Husband and Mark Rodgers. On top of that, Dave was the cinematographer on the Oscar-winning A Close Shave, so we knew that our episode was in the safest of hands before it was broadcast globally.”
PG: “In terms of figures, the series is seen in 170 territories throughout the world but it’s difficult to estimate how many people have watched it. However, according to YouTube, Shaun has amassed 1.7 billion views on their platform alone. Also, in 2010 following its broadcast Shaun the Sheep Series 2, which included our episode, was honoured with three distinguished awards: The Writers’ Guild Award for Best Children’s Television Drama/Comedy, The BAFTA Children’s Award for Best Animation and The International Emmy Award for Best Children and Young People’s Programme.
“And finally, the crowning achievement for Craig and me came in 2011 when a compilation DVD was released featuring eight standout episodes from the second series, including ours. The highlight? The DVD was titled The Big Chase, and our eponymous episode topped the bill as the lead show in the collection… from that very series that swept the board at the 2010 awards ceremonies.”
Blimey. My thanks to Patrick for chatting with me about this particular highlight of his illustrious career. As a viewer Shaun more than deserves all of the praise and awards bestowed upon him. This episode in particular showcases the incredible comic timing of the animators, surely no easy task when animating modelling clay frame by frame. An amazing achievement and I for one am looking forward to the new series. In the meantime there are 159 episodes over six series to catch up on first!
There are also the specials of course, including The Flight Before Christmas which must be watched by everyone during the next festive season after you read this! I know I will be. Again.
The Flight Before Christmas is on Netflix. Shown on the BBC every year, keep an eye on the blog’s socials for news of when it pops up on the iPlayer too.
OiNK Blog 