If you happen to be in a certain English town today then you could always pop along to the Maccpow comic con where there’s a preview screening of the OiNK documentary tonight. But what if you don’t happen to live in Macclesfield? Don’t fret, the OiNK Blog has got you covered, and will throughout the year. You see, tonight is very much a preview screening, a first edit if you like, to gauge audience reaction of the film so far.
Very kindly, filmmakers Claire Bend and Rob Reed of Bread and Butter Films sent me a copy a couple of days ago so that I could give all of you lovely pig pals something of a preview too. Obviously, I don’t want to spoil anything for when you finally get to see the finished product but I can certainly give you a tease of how the film stands so far.
Back in May I interviewed Claire and Rob about Piggs, Puns and Plops (the new name for the film) and was able to reveal those who had been interviewed so far. They included the likes of OiNK’s co-creator and co-editor Patrick Gallagher, Tom Thug’s and Pete and his Pimple’s Lew Stringer, Psycho Gran’s David Leach, and Helen Jones, Mark Rodgers’ wife and star of some hilarious photo stories in the comic. Oh, and me. Now with an official title no less!
There were others I mentioned too and now I can reveal who else they’ve spoken to in this preview cut.
The big news is that the brilliant TV writer and producer Charlie Brooker has been interviewed! Creator of the hilarious Screen Wipe and the compelling Black Mirror, and known to OiNK readers as the mastermind behind The Swinelight Zone, Transmogrifying Tracey and The Adventures of Death among many others. I’ll admit it was a very surreal moment in my life to watch myself share screen time with Charlie bloomin’ Brooker!
I remember several years ago being told that Charlie was embarrassed with his art on OiNK but that was soon dispelled as rubbish and a misquote from when he’d looked back at his first published work. This documentary will put that to bed permanently. His obvious love of OiNK and the three editors who gave him a chance is clear and he tells a great story about how he originally got hired.
Jeremy Banx has also been added to the mix and regales us about Burp the Smelly Alien From Outer Space, a huge fan favourite. I’ll admit this (somehow) was the first time I’d seen Jeremy’s face beyond his childhood photos and that shocked me. I mean the fact this was the first time, I wasn’t shocked by his face! OiNK was such a silly and fun comic we don’t think of the challenges faced by those creating it and this makes Jeremy’s piece particularly fascinating.
If you think you know everything about OiNK’s story already you’ll be very happy to know you’re wrong. Take it from the guy who has written hundreds of thousands of words on the subject. This is thanks not only to the new additions but also seeing more of the interviews with everyone else. For example, Helen brings a certain detail to the story of Mark and Patrick meeting in a library that I hadn’t heard before and I laughed out loud upon hearing it!
The film also includes two very favourite cartoonists of mine who grew up with OiNK, the crazy contents of which very much influenced their own work, namely award-winning graphic novelist Jamie Smart and Beano cartoonist Laura Howell. Between Laura’s continuing enthusiasm for OiNK decades later and Jamie breaking into spontaneous laughter while reminiscing about it, they’re brilliant additions to the film.
Patrick Gallagher is as passionate about OiNK as he was when he and Mark and Tony were creating it and I could listen to him talk about it all day. Lew Stringer tells us about the creation of one of OiNK’s most popular characters, David Leach wears a hat you’ll all want while describing his big break, Steve McGarry laughs about his most famous OiNK cover and there’s even a nice section about a certain piece of merchandise that’s featured heavily on the blog too. This is all just the tip of the melting-in-this-heat iceberg! Quite a feat for a short film.
There’s so much in this I want to tell you about, so much I want to add to various OiNK posts on the blog, but I’ll not be doing any such thing until you’ve all seen it. When will that be? Well, Claire and Rob have made it very clear they’re nowhere near finished yet. Originally, it was meant to last 10-15 minutes but so far it’s running to 25 and they’ve a lot more they want to add, including more people to interview.
Some have already agreed to take part but I can’t mention any names as yet. There’s also the matter of funding to try to make a longer film and get it distributed and a lot (a lot!) of footage already filmed that’s had to be cut at this point which may be released as fun extras. There are plans to screen it at more comic cons and film fests as it develops and beyond that, when it’s finally finished, plans to release it to your sties.
As always, the OiNK Blog will be the place to find out about all future developments so make sure you follow along by subscribing via RSS or email, or follow along on the blog’s socials. Needless to say, your favourite childhood comic is in very safe hands with Claire and Rob.
(And thanks to both of them for the loveliest surprise addition to one of the end credits.)
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