While OiNK‘s creators Tony Husband, Patrick Gallagher and Mark Rodgers assembled an insanely great mixture of various art styles from the best cartoonists and illustrators around, many would agree Ian Jackson‘s work is considered the seminal OiNK look. His main strips were Uncle Pigg, Mary Lighthouse and The Sekret Diary ov Hadrian Vile and his covers always elicited an excited reaction when I picked up the latest issue.
As well as his jagged, animated and highly original drawings he was also the person behind the covers which featured actual model work. Who can ever forget the famous OiNK Book 1988‘s pig face (and tail) and the first Holiday Special cover of plasticine and cardboard, which you can see at the top of this post.
To mark OiNK’s 35th anniversary, John Freeman has written a fascinating post all about Ian for his Down the Tubes website. When I was writing the previous version of the blog Ian was one contributor to the comic who remained an enigma, so I’m very happy to see this could be rectified this time around, starting with John’s research.
Above, you can see Ian with his brother, John Jackson a family law barrister in Leeds, who shared on Twitter this photo and a recent piece by Ian of the Sandsend valley where his shop, Wild Hart resides. It’s a gorgeous illustration and it reminded me of a certain other map of Ian’s I remember enjoying somewhat.
John’s post goes into more depth on Ian’s catalogue of work, such as his work for Punch magazine, which fellow OiNK cartoonist Jeremy Banx also contributed to. I wasn’t aware of a children’s cartoon co-created by Ian called Minuscule Milton, the art style of which is clearly recognisable. It’s a lovely looking thing indeed.
It also includes some more OiNK information, such as this quote from an interview in 2015.
“I received a phone call from cartoonist Tony Husband,” Ian recalls, “telling me of a new comic he and two other writers/ artists were putting together. TheOiNKwork (I drew Uncle Pigg, Mary Lighthouse and Hadrian Vile) gave me no alternative but to go freelance properly, so a month before my 21st birthday, I became my own boss.”
Created for CBBC and broadcast between 1997 and 1999 it tells the tale of a very, very tiny little boy who lives in a clock on a mantlepiece, with only his canine friend aware of his existence.
John has plenty of information on Ian’s further work in illustration, model building, cartoons and more on the Down the Tubes post. For any fans of OiNK it’s an essential read and you can even watch an episode of Milton’s show while you’re there.
Off we go! Happy 35th anniversary to my very favourite comic of all time and what I truly believe is still the funniest to ever grace shop shelves. The preview issue released the week before had prepared some for what was to follow, but the actual premiere issue made quite the impact all by itself with a free record on the cover and a matching cover image to promote it. This could not have failed to catch the eye.
We’ll take a closer look at the free gift in a bit but first let’s start with editor Uncle Pigg taking no nonsense from critic Mary Lighthouse on page two. Written by Mark Rodgers and drawn by Ian Jackson, these strips were a regular fixture for many of the early issues and starting in #3 would introduce the fortnightly subject of each issue. These subjects would include your traditional Christmas and Hallowe’en editions, as well as anything from music, computer games and pets, to space, health and war.
There’s no subject this time obviously but there’s certainly an edge to the first few pages. Our editor introduces strips such as Ed Banger, the boy with the invincible headbutt and Mike and Spike, the naughty boy with a mohican and his equally naughty pet hedgehog. Both were drawn by Patrick Gallagher, who also put the cover together. Very modern, very 80s characters, both feel like they were intended to be regular fixtures, but Ed would only return once and after appearing in the preview issue this was Mike and Spike’s last strip.
But that was one of the things we loved about OiNK, the forever changing line up of regular, occasional and one-off characters kept things fresh and exciting rather than formulaic and predictable. In fact, it’s only upon looking back on the series I realise some of my favourite regular characters weren’t regular at all. But one thing we could always count on were spoof advertisements.
The half-page Uncle Pigg’s For Sale Column mimicked the kind of thing we’d see in local newspapers, except here they’re all being sold by one person, or rather pig. A precursor to the infamous GBH catalogue company in later issues, here everything is poor quality for extortionate prices. I particularly like the couple of running jokes, the ‘Barrel of Monkeys’ and ‘Live Shark’ gags rolling over into subsequent, even funnier adverts.
It might seem strange to have the above as one of our first highlights of the premiere issue rather than a strip, but these were ubiquitous with OiNK. However, only a few page turns later a strip was set to astound the eyes of the young readers used to black and white or one-colour pages in their comics. The Street-Hogs were ready to make their grand entrance.
Written by one of the comic’s three creators/editors Mark Rodgers, who wrote so much of OiNK, it’s a spoof of classic Saturday morning television serials and their constant, increasingly ridiculous cliffhangers and even more ludicrous heroic escapes. However, inspiration could also be traced back to everything from the 60’s Batman to Starsky & Hutch.
It was all brought to life by the incredible talent of illustrator J.T. Dogg who, while comic artists usually drew their pages at a larger scale which was then shrunk down during publication, created his pages at the same size as the finished product. Knowing this fact makes his beautiful colour work even more incredible in my eyes.
No wonder the The Street-Hogs are so fondly remembered to this day by so many pig pals
Dirty Harry, Emma Pig, Hi-Fat and their informant Hoggy Bear would fight against the butcher mafioso and find themselves in one escape-proof scenario after another for the first 11 issues, returning later for further serials. As well as being hilarious, Mark’s scripts brought a real adventure vibe to things, albeit in suitably-OiNK fashion. No wonder they’re so fondly remembered to this day by so many pig pals.
The premiere issue saw some returning characters from the preview such as Burp,Weedy Willy and chat show host Terry Wogham who this time met The Invisible Man, and there was the second OiNK Superstar Poster as well. This time it was Bacon Stevens (I’m sure Shaky would’ve approved) and friend of the comic BBC Radio DJ John Peel also got the OiNK treatment. New addition Hadrian Vile would prove to be an instant hit and appear in almost every issue too.
Burp by Jeremy Banx Weedy Willy written by Mark Rodgers, drawn by Mike Green Terry Wogham panel by Patrick Gallagher OiNK Superstar Poster by J.T. Dogg Hadrian Vile written by Mark Rodgers, drawn by Ian Jackson
One thing I particularly loved were the OiNK takes on children’s stories. We’d also get lots of cheeky digs at specific cartoons and toys but when OiNK took staples of classic children’s books and created their own originals they were simply magical. Daz‘s The Wonderful Adventure of Billy Batt and his Magic Hat takes the idea of rhyming children’s stories, told in picture panels and captions, and illustrates it in what could be mistaken as a somewhat traditional fashion. That is, until you actually read it.
Daz (Dave Skillin) would contribute quite a few of these to the early issues of OiNK, each one starting off innocently enough, building anticipation in the reader. As I read them, I’m just waiting for that moment in each story when it starts to take a turn for the surreal, the comedic or the horrific. Then of course, they’re all capped off with a killer last line in the moral.
So, it’s time we talked about that free gift.
“Poo-poo, tinkle-tinkle, parp-parp, OiNK!”
Actual lyrics to The OiNK Song
Over a year later the team would bring us a record called The OiNK 45 which readers could buy through mail order. This is what I did back in 1987. It contained three songs, two of which had originally been on this special floppy flexidisc (although they were recorded and beefed up for The OiNK 45). Specially tuned to be enjoyed by young ears but excruciating for adult ones, The OiNK Song and The OiNK Rap were irritatingly catchy and I loved annoying my family with them at a volume they simply shouldn’t have been played at.
Along with silly dance moves on a special double page spread were the lyrics (and alternative uses for the disc for those without record players). Whenever OiNK is brought up on some random social media chat it’s never too long before someone quotes the chorus of the song on the right!
Both were recorded by former member of The Fall, creator of Harry the Head and BBC Radio 6 Music presenter Marc Riley, The OiNK Song’s effect of multiple squeaky pigs being achieved by overdubs. Co-creator/co-editor Tony Husband produced some of the electric percussion for the rap song and, according to Tony recently, “that influenced Public Enemy and Run DMC and all those people Dr. Dre talks about as a major influence.”
To hear the full version of the songs I heard at the time you can check out The OiNK 45.
I’m very happy to see Tom Paterson return for the premiere issue after his Revenge Squad in the preview. Drawing another Pigg Tale written by Mark Rodgers, this strip makes the previous one look like a warm up. This is Tom without any of the constraints he had to work with elsewhere. It epitomises silliness and is chock-full of his trademark sight gags and background jokes. Take your time in reading this one.
Young hot dog salesman Jimmy Bung would save the world against a crazy array of villains by leaping into the nearest dustbin
I love all of the little incidental details such as the explanation of where Jonesy’s underwear came from, the sound effects and descriptive words used throughout and the obligatory bangers and mash. I even like his depiction of Uncle Pigg, even though by this time it was agreed he wouldn’t be a typical smelly pig. If Tom had been able to become a regular contributor his collection of strips by the end would’ve been second-to-none, but at least we can enjoy such brilliance as Testing Time.
One more highlight for this issue and it’s a rare colour outing for OiNK’s very own superhero. David Haldane contributed quite a few strips to the comic, including Hugo the Hungry Hippo and the dark humour of the Torture Twins. Rubbish Man was his main character. Young hot dog salesman Jimmy Bung would save the world against a crazy array of villains by leaping into the nearest dustbin and becoming the smelly superhero, with everything from cold custard to mouldy mashed potato at his fingertips. Quite literally.
Haldane’s style has changed somewhat from the preview; his outlines are chunkier, the panels are fuller and overall it’s a much bolder look. It’s all very random, like organised chaos, which suits the comic perfectly. I love it. From the gorgeous colour work to the handily bleeped out curse words, it’s the final strip of the issue and a great way to end things for now.
As first impressions go this has been a huge success and a joy to read from beginning to end. The sheer variety in art styles was enough to make it stand out, but put those styles into genuinely funny strips, make them all different lengths, squeezing in as much as you possibly can to make use of every available space and print it all on extra large, glossy paper and what do you have? A comic like nothing else on the market. In other words, you haveOiNK.
Issue two’s review will be here in a fortnight on Monday 17th May.
To mark the 35th anniversary of the first issue of OiNK going on sale not only does the site’s real time read through begin later today, I was also invited on to Belfast author Andy Luke‘s podcast to wax lyrical about all things porcine. Andy’s podcast, The Drew & Look Show covers the topic of writing for all sorts of media, from film and television to novels and of course comics.
A fan of OiNK back in the 80s, Andy was eager to mark today with a special edition of his show and I was more than happy to take part. Andy has a way of approaching his subjects from interesting new angles, which made this a really fun way to spend an afternoon. In fact, we chatted for over two-and-a-half hours but don’t worry, Andy’s editing skills have chiselled away at it so that it’s a more manageable length for you all.
We cover topics such as the reasons OiNK existed in the first place, its origins in a Manchester library and discuss it in the context of the politics and punk music of 1980s Britain in which it was created. Andy describes the comic as a “sentient creature” and we discuss how as a whole it felt different in comparison to its contemporaries, how OiNK was as a complete package.
We hone in on a few of the main contributors to the comic and the mark they left on us, the humour they helped develop in our young minds and the impact it’s had on its readers as they’ve grown up (physically grown up, anyway) and in the wider context of the comics industry and beyond.
Everything is discussed, from its non-smoking and anti-bullying messages which had an impact without feeling like they were messages at all, to its mail order brand GBH. We try to touch on as many of the characters, writers and artists as possible and we had a blast doing so.
So whether you’re on the commute on this rainy Bank Holiday Monday or are at home wondering why there’s no James Bond movie on the telly, you can mark OiNK’s anniversary by listening to us for a little over an hour-and-a-half, talking about the best comic ever created.
The Drew and Look Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Just search for the name of the show.
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.
It was 1984, two years before the launch of OiNK and Lew Stringer was asked by IPC Magazine‘s Group Editor of HumourBob Paynter if he’d like to contribute to the new comic. At this point Bob hadn’t yet asked for it to be renamed from its original moniker of ‘Rrassp!’ (after seeing several pig related items in it), but the first draft of a dummy issue had been produced and it was slowly coming together.
Bob was looking for more cartoonists who could bring their own unique style of humour and art to the mix. OiNK was to be very different in every conceivable way to IPC’s other comics and they were putting a lot of money and resources behind its launch. As such, it was the perfect launching pad for those trying to break into the mainstream.
“Brand new characters often take a while to get right and Tom looked more like Frankenstein’s monster in this concept than a school bully!”
Lew Stringer
At this point in his career Lew had produced some strips for Marvel UK and in 1985 would begin contributing Robo-Capers for The Transformers. By the time OiNK launched he’d be a well known name to fans of those comics, but this wasn’t yet the case.
A “dim skinhead bully character” was suggested to Bob and according to Lew he suggested in return, “Perhaps his dad could be pushing him to be a bully to follow the family tradition, to inherit his boots”. This will sound familiar to anyone who has read the review of the preview issue.
Thus began Lew’s development of what would eventually become Tom Thug (What a Mug!) in OiNK. “I knew IPC liked puns on existing concepts and it sounded a bit like Tom Thumb,” he explains.
Previously on Lew’s personal comics blog he shared his very first rough sketches of Tom from 1984 and with his kind permission I’m able to share them with you here now on the OiNK Blog as we look forward to the review of #1.
You’ll see how the original idea was somewhat different to the character we all came to know and love in the regular comic. As Lew explains, “Brand new characters often take a while to get right and Tom looked more like Frankenstein’s monster in this concept than a school bully!
“Anyway, after a few more sketches, I eventually gave Tom a rounder look and something I felt comfortable submitting. Bob only wanted to see the strip in a pencil stage at this point, and here’s the actual artwork I sent him.”
This is the original rough page which showed Bob what Lew’s first story idea would be, setting the foundations for what would hopefully become a regular strip. Bob decided to rewrite the script a little, which Lew says tightened things up and created a better build-up to the punchline.
A lot of the content of this dummy comic made its way into the free preview issue. Remember as well, when Lew and Bob originally spoke an earlier version of the issue had already been created, so this gives an idea of just how long new comics could take to be developed, approved and finally given the green light for publication. Below is the completed Tom Thug strip as published in the preview.
Tom proved incredibly popular with OiNK readers (including this one) and regularly made it into reader’s lists of favourites. When the comic finished he was one of only three characters to make the transition to Buster alongside Lew’s Pete and his Pimple and Mark Rodger’s/Mike Green‘s Weedy Willy. Incidentally, Tom crossed over with both in the pages of OiNK, but he was the only one to last beyond six months in the merged comic. (You can see the crossover with Weedy Willy here and with Pete here.)
He quickly became one of Buster’s most popular characters too, something editor Allen Cummings acknowledged in a letter to Lew in 1990. The “Brats” mentioned here is a reference to The Vampire Brats, another Buster strip Lew was drawing, written by OiNK co-creator/co-editor Mark Rodgers and later Roy Davis.
In fact, across both comics Lew ended up creating an incredible 440 strips for the “dim skinhead bully character”.
At the time some parental groups felt OiNK’s contents were a bad influence on children and even these days I read the occasional comment online from someone who is confused at having a school bully as the main “hero” of a strip. But they’ve spectacularly missed the point. He was never the hero.
As Lew put it himself on his blog, “The intention of making him the villain of the story was to act as some contrast to all the goody-goody characters in IPC comics. The idea being that the reader would be laughing AT the character, rather than with him, and more importantly to act as some form of catharsis for readers who had been bullied in real life.”
On the back cover of the preview issue of OiNK was this full-page advert for the first issue of the comic to go on sale in newsagents the following week. It focusses entirely on the free gift, but then again the 31 pages before this were all a promotion for the contents of the new regular comic. Plus, when you’re giving away an honest-to-gosh record with your premiere issue you’re going to make a big deal out of it.
This promo was created by co-creator/co-editor Patrick Gallagher. Just to clarify no, Horace (Ugly Face) Watkins isn’t half-naked, there are definite bottoms to those trouser legs!
You can expect the full review of #1 this coming Monday 3rd May 2021, marking 35 years to the day when my favourite comic of all time went on sale for the very first time. Mark your calendars, the 32-month OiNK retrospective is about to begin.
It’s been 35 years to the day of writing this since readers of IPC‘s Whizzer and Chips, Eagle and Tiger and Buster received their comics inside a plastic bag with a piggy pink pig emblazoned on the front. Inside, tucked in behind their newsprint comic was a big, bold, brash and glossy new comic called OiNK!
This was the preview issue of OiNK and, unlike preview issues in the years to come, this was a full-sized 32-page comic. It must’ve been quite the revelation for readers to hold these large, bright pages in their hands, especially with that Ian Jackson cover. This was the first time young readers would’ve been introduced to his unique style; the jagged lines of editor Uncle Pigg and the gag of a medieval torture rack setting the stage for something truly original and anarchic.
One of the three co-creators/co-editors Patrick Gallagher created the bright pink logo which immediately stood out. The impact of that first page was carried over to page two with Ian showing us the inner workings of our editor’s office. It’s complete with staff, OiNK’s take on infamous campaigner Mary Whitehouse and even an embattled accountant who can’t quite fathom how they’re going to pull off such a high quality comic, the first issue of which would go on sale just seven days later.
Next to this is our very first OiNK strip, Cowpat County from fellow Northern Ireland local DavyFrancis, written by famed comics writer and another OiNK co-creator/co-editor, Mark Rodgers. This first appearance sees 80s environmentalist and television presenter David Bellamy pop up, only to come a cropper in Farmer Giles‘ (whose name we wouldn’t know until #14) world. If all this could happen to him when placed into the real, unfettered countryside, what about those used only to city life? We’d get plenty of chances to find out, and all very accurate of course.
The preview issue throws everything at the reader
The preview was mainly made up of strips from a dummy issue previously put together to sell the concept to IPC. As such, some of our favourite characters may look a little different here because they’re earlier versions of the ones we’d become accustomed to; we’ll see them evolve and change as we make our way through the regular comics. Below is the very first Burp the Smelly Alien From Outer Space from Jeremy Bank for example, his first strip for a children’s comic.
What a great introduction. Burp would be present in almost every issue of OiNK and we’d start with a near-constant series of attempts to ingratiate himself to the human race, all failing in spectacular fashion. In later issues we’d see vacations in space, a surreal and rather dark humour develop and we’d even become acquainted with the lives of his internal organs. These would culminate in an epic story that originally came at just the right point in my life to teach me about puberty! No, really. You’ll have to wait until Christmas 2023 for that review though.
Even simple things like Ian’s and Jeremy’s unruled, freehand panels set the comic apart. Strips are of varying lengths, some even tucked in beneath (or down the side of) others and in a huge variety of styles. The fresh appeal is very apparent after reading the issues of the established comics it was packaged with. Here’s a quick glance at a selection of what the young readers were suddenly exposed to, starting with Patrick and Mark’s co-creator/co-editing partner-in-laughs Tony Husband‘s iconic hero, Horace (Ugly Face) Watkins.
Horace (Ugly Face) Watkins by Tony Husband Weedy Willy written by Graham Exton, drawn by Mike Green Harry the Head by Marc Riley who also stars as Snatcher Sam Rubbish Man by David Haldane
OiNK definitely couldn’t be accused of having any kind of ‘house style’, unlike other comics which expected cartoonists to draw within certain parameters. It’s also chock full of content and the format of cramming as much into each page as possible provides a satisfyingly meaty read. An animal-free meaty read, obviously.
Showing how the aim was to rip up the rule book, throw out tradition and create a comic that was genuinely very funny, the preview issue throws everything at the reader and a surprisingly high amount sticks. One such idea was the pig-ifying of popular culture. Nothing was safe. From celebrities, television shows and musical artists, to movies, cartoons and literature, if a pig-themed pun could be made of a name you could bet OiNK would take advantage.
This Hambo poster from J.T. Dogg (real name Malcolm Douglas) wasn’t even the first such piggy pun. By the time readers got to this stunning centre-page spread they’d have already been treated to the delights ofWillyHAM ShakesPIG and Terry WogHAM, along with mentions of Ian BotHAM, Lester PIGgott and PIG Country. But let’s take a moment to appreciate that poster.
J.T. Dogg’s work is simply stunning. As well as this series of OiNK Superstar Posters he’d provide the artwork for The Street-Hogs and Ham Dare: Pig of the Future amongst others. What’s even more incredible is how he worked. At the time cartoonists would draw their strips at twice the size of the published comic, the finished page reduced at the printing stage. But not Malcolm. He’d complete all of his work at 1:1 scale! Sadly no longer with us, you can check out some more of his extraordinary work in his obituary.
Now it’s time for a commercial break.
The first of many Madvertisements to come, they went big to begin with, didn’t they? I mean, sausages made of minced up butchers isn’t exactly subtle. This is the perfect example of how they could push the boundaries of good taste and we kids loved it. It was just good, cheeky fun. On the top half of the page you can see Tony’s son, Paul Husband who would go on to appear in the occasional photo story. Nowadays Paul is an amazing professional photographer whose work you can check out on his Instagram.
“Rock’n’roll madness!”
Tony Husband describes working on OiNK
On more than one occasion working on OiNK has been likened to being in a punk band, especially by Tony. He describes those OiNK Manchester offices as “rock’n’roll madness”. Located in the same office building as the Happy Mondays‘ manager, next door to Haçienda nightclub DJ Dave Haslam and, while the city was at the height of its MADchester music and culture scene, the comic’s team even included former The Fall band member (and future BBC Radio 6 Music presenter) Marc Riley.
The rock’n’roll madness led to some hilarious scenarios, such as when Tony and Patrick were invited to London to appear on a breakfast TV show. They were given the impression they were appearing to discuss their new comic appealing to a new audience of young readers. However, the true intent was soon made clear when the first question referred specifically to the following Madvert.
Asked if they felt joking about smashing up friends’ bicycles was the “right message to send”, the presenters spectacularly missed the point of OiNK. But according to Tony it was worth it in the end because his and Patrick’s expenses were all paid for, including travel and a night in a 5-star hotel. Then on the return train journey Tony brought out a few of the small bottles of booze he’d sneaked out from his hotel room, thinking they’d have a tipple on the way home, only for Patrick to empty out a plastic bag full of every single bottle from his room. By the time they hit Manchester they could hardly walk off the train.
In among the wealth of talent who had never contributed to children’s comics before were some more familiar names. However, they were now being given free rein to produce strips they simply couldn’t elsewhere and let’s face it, if you could give such freedom to anyone, it would been Tom Paterson.
Pigg Tales would be the general name used on and off for some of the bigger one-off stories, written and drawn by a variety of people. The Revenge Squad showed what Tom could bring to OiNK but unfortunately he’d only show up in five editions of the comic throughout the course of its whole run. According to OiNK writer Graham Exton they really wanted him on board but he was just too busy to be able to contribute more. Such a shame because he was a perfect fit.
Finally, right at the back of the comic a certain character is introduced for the very first time. He’d go on to appear in all but one regular issue and then carry on for many more years in Buster after OiNK folded. A school bully may sound like a strange creation for a strip, even for such a wacky new venture, but by the end of his first story it’s clear that while he may be the star, he’s certainly never going to be the hero.
Lew Stringer‘s Tom Thug remains one of my very favourite comic creations of all time and I’m really looking forward to reliving his misadventures all over again. It’d take a while before he’d be able to tie those laces, he’d cross over with other characters like Lew’s own Pete and his Pimple and Mike Green‘s Weedy Willy, even leave school and sign on for unemployment which was a first in humour comics history. The original designs for Tom and the first draft of this very strip can also be seen in a special blog post.
So there you have it, a little look into how potential new pig pals (as regular readers were referred to by Uncle Pigg) were first introduced to the world of pigs, plops, puns and parody. Then, as if the promise of more of this insanity wasn’t enough there was news of a free flexidisc record with #1, surely a free gift as unique as the comic it would be attached to. I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the preview issue. There are also other posts on the site detailing the countdown to the release of the comic to keep you busy until Monday 3rd May. So off you trot (on your trotters) and I’ll see you then.
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 ComicsZines 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.
This gorgeous Andrew Wildman cover (Transformers, G.I. Joe, Venom: Carnage Unleashed) opens the second issue of Marvel UK‘s new Visionaries monthly, released on this day back in 1988, showing some of our heroes and villains surrounded by the magical totems that’ll become part of their very being. We’ll get to that further down the review, but is that a price increase already? It’s only 5p but back then that was quite the hike, especially for a second issue.
Not only is the price increase a bit strange, so is the Vision On editorial which doesn’t mention anything about the issue’s story, instead focussing solely on other Marvel releases. The recap of the previous chapter is then pasted on top of the next page, excising the top third of the strip! It is atmospherically written though.
Last time, Reekon pulled on a lever as a large stone gargoyle rushed towards Leoric, Ectar and Feryl but what the lever did could easily have been missed because of where the story stopped. The metal gates that trapped them with seemingly no hope of survival would have come down at the top of this page. So not only could it have been missed last issue, this time it’s been deleted by editor Steve White.
An even higher grade of paper really does justice to Andy’s cover and the opening pages of the strip
Thankfully the strip itself more than makes up for any shortcomings in repackaging it for UK readers plus the outer eight pages are made of an even higher grade of paper than last time. A shame the rest is of the usual stock because these glossy pages are lovely and really do justice to Andy‘s cover, as well as the opening pages of the strip from penciller Mark Bagley, inker Romeo Tanghai, letterer Janice Chiang and colourist Julianna Ferriter.
Adapted by Jim Salicrup from Flint Dille‘s animated teleplay it’s all action this time around, with the knights from across planet Prysmos now inside Iron Mountain facing the trials of Merklynn the ancient wizard. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t time for humour, as we see when the startled gargoyle runs off like a yelping dog, and then there’s this panel featuring Darkling Lord leader Darkstorm and (the voice of) Mortdredd, his snivelling follower.
In fact the first several pages contain some comedy gold. Below, Cravex hears some apparently noble knights talking of forming what sounds very similar to Leoric’s vision of the Spectral Knights. It’s all talk though, humorously told with mention of their skills and expertise but their actual plans amounting to nothing more than monthly meetings. It reminds me of some office managers I’ve had to work with in the past.
Then, after being surprised by an animated skeleton pushing him over a crevasse, Darkstorm’s superior climbing skills and cool head save him and he finds himself beside a vat of milk from a giant spider, which ominously looks on overhead. Realising that in order to fulfill his ambitions he’ll need underlings he traps three knights in the sticky goo and forces them to pledge their allegiance. Cindarr‘s sole requirement had me roaring.
Hmm, a League of Knights dedicated to Justice? One with a bird-like mask? Could this be a little joke at the expense of the DC Universe? (Thanks to blog reader David Teller for this snippet of information.)
We see some personal rivalries begin here too. The Cryotek-versus-Cindarr fight is interesting as it’s actually the Spectral Knight who loses his temper. Showing a fearsome, darker side and swearing to kill his enemy, his magical totem in the final pages is revealed to be the grizzly bear for his incredible strength and endurance, so I’m interested to see how these two aspects of his personality develop in tandem in future issues. But I want to concentrate on one particular grudge match here.
At the time, having only one or two female warriors was deemed enough in everything from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe to The Transformers. The former at least had a female-centric spin-off but the latter had only one female robot in a cast of hundreds. This has been remedied in the intervening years but we can see now just how woefully inadequate it was at the time. Galadria and Virulina, shown here in a thrilling underwater fight scene, weren’t even toys and were instead creations of Flint’s. I hope they’ll get as much coverage as their male counterparts in future issues.
While the comic’s origin was based on the cartoon’s, there were already key differences. Something that irked me about the same story in the cartoon was the fact only the characters who’d receive the magical powers in the end had the hologram-shaped chest panel. It kind of gave the game away, but in the comic they’ve shown several background characters with the same design. It’s not overly done, we’re always aware of who’s going to make it and who isn’t, but it’s a welcome change.
It may be over three decades later and it may be based on a toy line, but this is still a thrilling read.
Something else a comic can do is expose the inner thoughts of the characters and it’s used here in abundance, and not in that annoying way of just describing what we can plainly see is happening to them. Instead, it’s used to add depth to reactions and portray their inner doubts and fears.
As we approach the final pages a huge climactic battle between the knights is interrupted by a booming voice as a huge wooden door nearby contorts into the shape of Merklynn‘s face. Daring them forward, they’re faced with horrors on the other side.
It’s actually Darkstorm who feels a certain level of familiarity with the screaming souls in front of them. They march on and Merklynn explains this was their final test, the spirits really being mystical reflections of their deepest, darkest fears and in conquering them they’ve conquered their inner demons. It’s quite startling to turn the page over and see this image. It may be over three decades later and it may be based on a toy line, but this is still a thrilling read.
It’s at this point we finally get some more background into the previous Age of Magic. It’s played out over a page previously shown in the preview mini-comic but essentially Prysmos was a planet with a strong-willed race of humans, able to achieve anything they set their minds to for the good of their neighbours. The strongest were the Knights of Prysmos and from these arose the Mages of Prysmos. Only a few were able to predict the cataclysm when the Age of Science came, of which Merklynn was one. By secreting his power inside the mountain upon which his castle once stood he was able to ride out time until the suns aligned again and the ages were reversed.
“Be not afraid, Knights of Prysmos! Accept these totems as your just reward! Only you had the vision it took to succeed in finding this chamber! Truly thou art Visionaries!”
Merklynn the Great Mage
Then it’s on to the finale and the part I, as a fan of the toys and cartoon, had been waiting for. It was time for the new Knights of Prysmos to receive their totems, their magical emblems that would encapsulate each individual character, granting them unique special powers, regardless of their intentions beyond the mountain.
Looking over these particular images sparks happy memories. I had so many of these toys it’s like being reunited with old friends. It’s been a great start and we haven’t even seen any of their powers being used yet. But given what we’ve seen them all achieve as people grasping for the power to rule or rebuild, it’s already a compelling story and I think this is mainly thanks to the way the characters have interacted with one another. They feel real, which is no small feat given they’re based on action figures.
Judging by these beginnings, if Visionaries had proven more popular and had had the chance to develop over the course of a few years, I would say these human characters could’ve risen through the ranks of comics to sit proudly alongside the likes of Larry Hama‘s superlative G.I. Joe creations. I’m well aware I’m saying this after only one story, but I’ve a feeling the remaining issues are going to back that up.
For now The End… The Beginning finishes with everyone safely transported back to the entrance of Iron Mountain, where a rock formation in the shape of its soul occupant’s face (he does like doing stuff like that) ends the proceedings with some ominous words for all those assembled.
After this initial story the comic would diverge completely from the cartoon and I’m looking forward to seeing what direction it goes in, what with the animated series being one of the best of its time. I really do get the feeling all is set for a story unlike any other. The comic team should be proud of their adaptation (I usually can’t stand comic adaptations of films and shows) and now we’ll have to wait a whole month to see what they bring to the world of the Visionaries.
To round off here’s a quick look at the only two non-strip pages in the comic after the editorial. I know how much people love these retro advertisements. This month there’s another Marvel UK monthly looking for attention, then that small promotion in the preview comic for what I’m sure was a superlative poster gets the full back page treatment.
I can remember the whole family sitting down and watching ALF together on the TV every week. We’d giggle along with the canned laughter as we watched the adventures of the Alien Life Form, real name Gordon Shumway from the planet Melmac, taking shelter in the home of the Tanner family after his planet was destroyed when everyone turned their hairdryers on at the same time. I think I can remember buying an issue of the Marvel comic, which was a basic repackaging of the American title along the same lines as Visionaries.
It’s been great fun revisiting this story on the planet of Prysmos so far. I’m eagerly awaiting the next edition and I hope you’ll join me too, #3 of Marvel UK‘s Visionaries‘s review shall be here from Wednesday 19th May2021.
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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