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OiNK Pre-Release

WHEN CARTOONiSTS GO BERSERK: OiNK PROMOTiONAL FOLDER

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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 show it to you.

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 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.

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CAN i HAVE A P(iG) PLEASE BOB: BLOCKBUSTER ADVERT

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Here’s something I never even knew existed until a few years ago. If you have a look back at the marketing leaflets distributed to newsagents across the UK before OiNK‘s launch, you’ll find reference is made to ‘Major Publicity’ in the shape of four-page ‘Blockbuster Advertisements’, whatever they were. Well, I’ve finally been able to get my hands on one and can now show it off for you.

These adverts took the form of four extra pages within Buster, Eagle, Whizzer and Chips, Roy of the Rovers, Battle and 2000AD comics, specifically the issues that went on sale on 3rd May 1986, the day #1 of OiNK hit the shelves. Since we’ve already seen examples of Buster and Whizzer and Chips in the marketing for OiNK, I thought I’d use an issue of 2000AD this time.

What’s strange is the lack of any promotion on the cover for the additional content which took the comic up to 36 pages that week. But then again, it’s not like it was easily missed when readers turned the page.

It all kicks off with an introduction drawn by Ian Jackson. It may only be four panels long, but in taking up a full page it makes a big impact, just as Ian’s work had in the preview issue. Unlike 2000AD, some of the comics had given away the free edition as well as including this a week later. Few IPC comics fans would’ve been unaware of OiNK’s arrival.

The advert opens up into the following double page spread, which lays out exactly what readers could expect from the mad new fortnightly.

Of course, with this being printed on newsprint the wonderful colour and grayscale shading of OiNK’s glossy paper are missing, but there’s still plenty to show off with the array of new characters and strips. The art is miles apart from the restrained feel of humour comics of the time and it must’ve been exciting to see such original content.

Tom Thug, The Street-Hogs, Horace (Ugly Face) Watkins and Burp the Smelly Alien are among those included here, even if Burp is out of view. Although, I think the panel included is even funnier when used out of context here.

It’s a loud, proud announcement indeed.

The back page concentrates on the free gifts in the first two issues, in particular that flexidisc, surely the most surprising free gift to be given away with a comic. Also nice to see the beginning of the ongoing joke about Uncle Pigg doing everything for his readers when in actual fact he’s raking in the dough, even at this early stage.

It’s a little strange to promote the posters like they’re free gifts though. The OiNK Superstar Posters were absolutely incredible pieces by J.T. Dogg but they were very much part of the comic, taking up the middle pages every issue for the first few months. Oh well, it’s something a lot of comics did at the time to promote such things.

IPC may have decided not to go down the TV advertising route with OiNK, but I think this past month or so has shown just how much better the promotional push for it was as a result. You can check out several posts all about that on the blog already in the OiNK Pre-Release section, link below.

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OiNK PREViEW iSSUE: A COUPLE OF COVERS

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The preview issue of OiNK was reviewed last week and the first issue will be popping up tomorrow. But before then I thought I’d share a couple of little extra tidbits about that free promotional edition.

The first thing I want to show you is a little photo I discovered on the OiNK Comic Facebook group when trawling through years of images from fans and cartoonists alike. One of OiNK’s three creators, Patrick Gallagher shared this a good few years ago now so the quality isn’t great (in fact this is the full size of the image so it won’t enlarge if clicked on) but what it shows is the original cover of the dummy issue.

You can see how the logo is a separate piece of paper stuck on there. This was the mock up given to IPC Magazines to see if they’d give it the green light for development and most of its contents would eventually make its way into the preview issue itself. The cover would be redrawn by the superlative Ian Jackson. In an amazing exclusive, Patrick was also able to get the following quote from none other than OiNK editor, Uncle Pigg:

“Undoubtedly the Holy Grail of OiNK artifacts, worth its weight in swill and lovingly cobbled together in the last century by a hodge-podge army of scribes and scribblers for the joy of piglets and children alike… the OiNK dummy issue! The one-off mock-up that secured the commission for the subsequent 68 published issues and spin-offs. But what’s inside?… Ah! Maybe one day all will be revealed! Anyone interested to know?” – Uncle Pigg x

Yes, Uncle Pigg, we’d be very interested!

Next up is this cover to the issue of Whizzer and Chips which the preview issue came bagged with. The same week’s Buster comic also gave it away but made no mention of OiNK inside, here it makes the front page strip. Shiner, Sid’s Snake and Sammy Shrink welcome Buster to the Comics Characters Club and an unfinished drawing of Uncle Pigg joins them.

A few times in the OiNK preview Uncle Pigg is shown drawn by various artists and some chose to have him surrounded by flies and a seemingly strong odour, things that were dropped for the comic proper. I’m assuming when Tom Paterson drew this cover strip the final look of our esteemed editor hadn’t been locked down yet. This might also explain his braces and going topless!

Okay, so that’s us all ready for the start of the OiNK real time read through. Starting tomorrow and continuing all the way through to the end of 2023, whether you’re eager to relive some cherished memories or discover the world’s funniest comic for the first time, I hope you’ll enjoy the ride.

UPDATE: Later in OiNK’s run Tom Thug made his way into Whizzer and Chips for a special crossover event. You can check it out here.

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iNTRODUCiNG OiNK: LEW STRiNGER iN FANTASY ADVERTiSER

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As we approach Monday 26th April 2021, the 35th anniversary of the preview issue of OiNK, let’s take a look at an article from the time written by Tom Thug and Pete and his Pimple creator Lew Stringer for Fantasy Advertiser. An introduction to the new comic just before its release, it was the first time readers of the fanzine heard about OiNK.

Fantasy Advertiser was the creation of Frank Dobson and had been printed since 1965 as an “Ad Zine”, being handed off to a series of editors over time. It featured listings of British and American comics for sale in the UK long before the internet made this a lot easier, alongside features like the one you’ll see below. Lew was a regular contributor with a column in every issue.

Lew would cover news of new comics, discuss classic titles and interview creators such as Mike Higgs, Kevin O’Neill etc. It sounds very much like his later Blimey! blog which, while it’s been closed, is still a treasure trove of British comics information.

The OiNK article featured in #96 of Fantasy Advertiser, dated May 1986 and you can read it in full below. I think the first paragraph perfectly sums up why Mark Rodgers, Tony Husband and Patrick Gallagher created OiNK in the first place. There’s also an interesting reference to the specific things other children’s comics required of their cartoonists and the rules they had to follow, which this new team would gleefully abandon. There are some details about the two dummy issues created to sell the concept to IPC Magazines, their positive reaction and how it was Bob Paynter, the Group Editor of Humour who approached Lew to join the comic. (When I’ve spoken with Patrick and Tony over the years they’ve often referred to Bob as “OiNK’s champion at IPC”.)

“The humour is the kind we like. Violent, anarchic, weird, generally lunatic and very modern.”

Mark Rodgers, OiNK co-creator/co-editor

There’s a great description of Lew’s Tom Thug and how he was a new, different kind of comics character, an interesting look at the independent nature of OiNK and how it was put together in a way unlike any other children’s title of the time. You’ll also see a few select panels from the early issues, including Tom Paterson‘s excellent Wet Blanket who is returning to print in a special collected book later this year.

Thanks to Lew for the kind permission to share this with you all. Just click on it below and have a read for yourselves.

Also note the correct influences for OiNK here and the absence of any mention of Viz. OiNK was never a children’s version of that (admittedly very funny) comic and was never intended to be, despite what is usually erroneously mentioned elsewhere online or in magazines.

David Hathaway-Price has, with permission, archived many of those Fantasy Advertiser issues digitally, at his Classic UK Comics Zines website, including the issue featured here. The fanzine continued until #115 in 1991, eventually relaunching as an online resource in 2010 by one of its previous editors, Martin Skidmore.

Don’t forgot to come back on Monday 26th April for the review of that preview issue of the world’s funniest comic, the whole reason this website exists. An amazing two-and-a-half years is about to begin. Not to be missed, pig pals.

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PiGS APPROACHiNG: FREE GiFT ADVERT

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On this day 35 years ago a little innocuous banner appeared along the top of the front cover to the latest issue of IPC Magazine‘s Buster comic. But this wasn’t going to be a poster, a badge, stickers or a boomerang as regular readers may have expected.

A boomerang? Yes, if you want to check out a very long list of the freebies given away by Buster throughout its decades-long life you can see that on the Buster Comic website. But for now, back to the issue at hand.

I decided to have a brief read of the comic too, checking out a handful of strips when I either remembered the characters or recognised the artist, such Tom Paterson‘s work above. I was quite surprised to see a handful of strips had signatures, such as Pete Dredge who would also appear in OiNK. It’s only a handful though and no writers are mentioned, something Uncle Pigg would put right very soon.

The details mentioned on the cover would amount to a half page advertisement at the end of an X-Ray Specs strip containing a piggy silhouette surrounded by one or two mentions of the new comic’s title.

Of course these could just look like sound effects to the uninitiated, so I like to think it peaked the curiosity of the young readers for what was to come in just seven days. With comics of the day being very similar in style and humour I don’t think anything could’ve prepared them for what they were about to read.

So we’re just seven days away from that free gift and just 14 away from the very first issue in this real time read through at the time of writing! It’s getting exciting here in OiNK Blog Towers and there are some extra treats in store between now and then too, so keep it tuned to the OiNK Blog, pig pals.

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