Saturday 24 May 2014

Lord Snooty returns!

As Beano subscribers have now been informed of the news I guess it's OK to reveal that the mystery mini-strip I've been working on is Lord Snooty

The character who first appeared in The Beano No.1 back in 1938 has had several runs of various length in the comic over the past 76 years and I consider it a privilege to be the latest cartoonist to bring his tales to a new readership.

For me, Snooty's original artist Dudley Watkins will always be the definitive one, and I enjoyed reading those stories as a child in the sixties. I'm not trying to imitate the style of the late Mr.Watkins in any way but I was asked to retain Snooty's classic look with the bowtie, white collar, black jacket and of course his top hat. There'll also be a few of his old Pals turning up from time to time along with the local bullies The Gasworks Gang. It's quite a formidable task taking on such a legendary character as Lord Snooty but I hope the readers enjoy the strips.

The new series of Lord Snooty mini-strips that I've written and drawn will begin in The Beano No.3737, on sale Wednesday 4th June. 

6 comments:

Manic Man said...

Interesting and a good choice.. I can't say I was really taken with that 'Lord Snooty the third that Nigel Parkinson did for a bit. though I would point out, it wasn't a period I really brought the beano.. I admit to flipping through a copy once in a while at the time.

Lew Stringer said...

Nigel's version was fine. A new spin on an old character.

By the way, I didn't choose the character. I was commissioned to do it. Or did you mean I was a good choice by the editors? :)

George Shiers said...

A great character Lew, and good to hear his old pals will still be showing up. :)

Lew Stringer said...

Yes, some of his pals will appear occasionally but as you can probably appreciate there's not much room in a three panel strip to do justice to them regularly. I've redesigned the Pals a little bit to make them look more contemporary. Liz is wearing something more modern than a gymslip now.

Manic Man said...

It was probably fine, it's just I didn't really take to it ^_^

and yes, I think it was a good choice by the editors

Gilly said...

Brilliant to see you working on one of the Beano's all time classics Lew. I look forward to reading the new series of Lord Snooty.