Wednesday 7 June 2017

SHEDZILLA! (1979)


Here's a really old comic strip of mine from back in 1979. Shedzilla appeared as a one-off story in the first issue of a fanzine called The Alternative Headmaster's Bulletin, published by Gerald Midgley.

Shedzilla was one of the first strips I had published and, yes, it's very crudely drawn and I had a lot to learn back then. (I was 19 at the time.) Fanzines like TAHB were ideal for people starting out, to learn the ropes and get feedback before a lot more practise led to professional comics. 

Anyway, here it is in all its scrawly glory. Hope you like it!

4 comments:

Manic Man said...

I like it ^_^ like you said, crude but it does show potential which time has shown was homed and brought out.

Fanzines were great for new comers to learn.. people that loved comics for wanting to do them instead of 'hey, I can make a lot of money with this'. not saying people that see it as just a great money earner are completely bad, but well.. look at the 80s B/W boom in American comics.. trying to make money more then learning.. oh well, some good came out of it anyway.

Anyway.. nice little story, a lot of classic references to the age old monster comic stories with nice touchs added.

Lew Stringer said...

Yeah, fanzines just felt like the natural first step, really. I'd discovered 'zines in 1976 and eventually thought I'd have a go.

One of these days I'll show the comics I did when I was 7 that I only showed to my family. Now those were REALLY roughly drawn! :)

Anonymous said...

The first 2 panels are nicely designed and drawn... also the panel where the shed collapses with a BLAM! Ah; the Chewits advert's famous lines...

Lew Stringer said...

You got the reference! Yep, Chewits it was.