Saturday 23 March 2013

Spot the Difference!



Back in 1995 I self-published three issues of a comic called Yampy Tales which featured reprints of Combat Colin strips plus (in issues 2 and 3) a new Brickman adventure. The splash page of the Brickman strip showed how chaotic and grim Guffon City had become in its hero's absence; a street scene full of crime and sleaze. High above, was an aircraft about to plow into a towering skyscraper. 



Ten years later, in 2005, when Richard Starkings contacted me regarding his generous idea to reprint all the Brickman strips in one book, he quite rightly expressed concern about that image. Since its original publication the world had witnessed the appalling events of 9/11 and, understandably, that page would not sit well with some readers. It had to be changed, and naturally I agreed. 

Simply deleting the 'plane from the drawing wouldn't work as it'd leave the composition unbalanced with nothing happening in the top right of the page. It had to be replaced with something else, so I decided it'd be a monster, coiled around the skyscraper, about to eat it. At least there was no fear of that happening in real life.



That done, Richard's company Active Images published Brickman Begins! in April 2005 as a 152 page digest softback. It collected all the Brickman strips to that date, along with brand new Brickman illustrations by Alan Davis, Hunt Emerson, Tim Sale, Mike Higgs, and many more. If you missed it, I still have copies available which you can order from my website:
http://www.lewstringer.com/page7.htm 



Speaking of Richard Starkings, I recommend his excellent series Elephantmen if you haven't tried it already: http://www.hipflask.com/

Richard is also the founder of Comicraft, the top place for comic book lettering fonts. (I use some of their fonts myself on this blog, as does The Beano these days.) Check them out: http://www.comicraft.com/


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

So you quit doing the old blog because you didn't hav time & looking after yr old mum or something but here u are writing a blog about yourself everyday. Cud be u just want to self promote & sod everybody else huh?

Lew Stringer said...

I was in two minds whether to publish your comment and justify it with a reply or not, but just in case anyone else is thinking the same as you: yes, I stopped doing my other blog for the reasons mentioned. Researching old comics took up a lot of time. I did it for six years, covering comics from the 19th Century to the present, and promoting current comics and their creators. I think I did my bit, yes?

THIS blog takes up far less time because I don't have to research it, having drawn the strips myself. Many other comic creators also have their own personal blogs. Self promotion is part of being self employed.

Anon, if you can't deal with that, don't follow my blog. Brush up on your grammar and spelling instead.

Anonymous said...

u only have 14 followers so say no more. your other blog got loads.

Peter Gray said...

I must get that book sometime...when money is better...it is my kind of humour...love that crazy picture..love over the top humour..

I'm really enjoying your new blog and we should all be grateful for what you did for many years on the other blog...

Manic Man said...

Anonymous people are always.. mm.. can't think of a polite word.. Sure, I use a Pseudo-name but at lest it's one used a lot my me so connection isn't too hard and My reputation is kinda on the line.

Oh and '14 followers'? erm.. Oh that stupid Google Plus rubbish.. never use it. I also can't stand and never use Twitter, that Face book created by the backstabbing tosser, My Space, or any of the others. I also don't bother with RSS feeds.. So I guess I don't read this ^_^

Lew Stringer said...

Indeed. Not everyone clicks the 'Join this site' button. The total pageviews in the 3 weeks since I started this blog have been over 4,500, so I'm happy with that.

Lew Stringer said...

And my thanks to Paul H. Birch for this plug on the Birmingham Mail website:
http://blogs.birminghammail.co.uk/speechballoon/2013/03/lew-stringer-blogs-it.html

Anonymous said...

page views are no indication they like what they see. could be people searching for something else and finding your blog by accident. it stands to reason that if they liked what they found theyd become a member of your new blog just like they became members of your old blog. the fact that they dont suggests they prefere your blog on other peoples comics rather than your own smug self satisfied sh*te.

Lew Stringer said...

If you actually knew me you'd know you couldn't be further from the truth, but you're more about trolling than truth aren't you? Compelled to return to a blog you evidently dislike. What a maroon.

Anyway, you've had your say. On your way now. Any further comments which seem to be from you will be deleted.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I will comment on the spot the difference article not a general comment as the others.
For the updated picture, did you consider drawing a giant gorilla climbing the skyscraper or was that too obvious? You have a shark (jaws) so maybe a Kong would have been cool.

Lew Stringer said...

Kong didn't cross my mind, but it had been done, and parodied numerous times already in comics, so I wouldn't have used that. I just wanted something that looked bizarre, and hopefully funny. I needed a replacement for that aircraft image quickly, and a monster came to mind immediately. It seemed daft enough to work so I went with that. The design of the monster was sheer stream of consciousness stuff.