Tuesday 6 January 2015

The Snowman of Doom!

Over on The Oink! Blog, blogmaster Phil Boyce has shown a few more pages from the excellent Oink! Book 1988. It includes a two-page Pigswilla strip I wrote/drew/lettered entitled The Snowman of Doom! It includes an appearance by Specky Hector, Comics Collector, who I later brought back for his own series of comic history articles in Buster

I really enjoyed drawing The Snowman of Doom and you can see the full story here:

http://the-oink-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/the-oink-book-1988-part-three-bum-deal.html

There are also pages by Oink's top talents such as Banx's highly inventive Hector Vector and his Talking T-Shirt, and Ian Jackson's Mary Lighthouse. Take a roam through Phil's blog to see what a great comic Oink! was, both to read and to work for. 

4 comments:

PhilEdBoyce said...

Blogmaster? Ah but I bow to you!!

Thanks for the plug for the blog Lew, got my work cut out now with weekly issues for a bit, and some very inventive reader zit cures.

STCforever! said...

So, you lettered this one yourself. Did you do any more lettering? I thought the lettering was done in the office? Perhaps I've got it wrong?

Lew Stringer said...

I enjoyed doing the weekly issues but there was a slight shift in the feel of the comic then. If I remember correctly the idea was that Oink should become more stable in its content, as young readers like stability. It made sense, although by that stage it was probably too late, and may have put off the older readers.

Lew Stringer said...

I've lettered loads of my strips over the years. All of the ones I drew for Oink, Marvel UK, Viz, Spit, and more. Also logo design, sound effects etc. These days I letter my strips for Doctor Who Magazine and Grindhouse but the ones for Toxic and The Beano are done 'in-house' (in the office) by the comic's staff.

Many years ago, in the 1930s for example, it was common practice for the artists to letter their own strips. Presumably outside letterers were later employed for more consistency of style and (often) a neater job. And they do a great job, but I must admit that as a kid I preferred to see strips that were lettered by the artists (such as Denis Gifford's Steadfast McStaunch) as it seemed a natural part of the art.