Most of the lead characters in British humour strips are either well meaning goodies or mischievous anti-heroes, but I tried to make some of mine a bit more complex at times. Here's a brief rundown of characters I've created over the past 40 plus years (not including characters written and created by others).
War-Bot (originally War Droid). After Image fanzine 1979.
A futuristic robot created for destruction but begins to question his programming. Definitely a hero.
Brickman and Trowel (various since 1979).
More of a grey area. Brickman and Trowel mainly want to defend Guffon City from the villains, but they can also be selfish and their relationship is often unstable and self destructive. So... heroic intentions but definitely "red flag" characters who you wouldn't want to associate with in reality.
King No-Nose (Robo Capers). Transformers comic 1985.
He wants to invade and destroy using mad robots. Even though he's inept and the robots are useless and often malfunction, his intentions are evil. Certainly a villain.
Rock Solid, Space Hero (Swiftsure, 1985)
Well he thinks he's a hero but he was a total narcissist. Died "saving" Earth (which involved him destroying the Earth).
Captain Wally (Spider-Man Comic, 1985).
He may be naive but his intentions are good and he's dedicated to fighting crime. 100% hero.
Snail-Man (Spider-Man Comic 1985).
Slow moving but determined. Definitely a hero. Valiantly died fighting The Brain in a Combat Colin episode in 1989.
Derek the Troll (Warlock, White Dwarf 1985)
Grubby and smelly but usually means well, even though things go wrong. Yeah, he falls into the heroic category.
Macho Man (Secret Wars, 1986)
Sole survivor of Planet Klakton, the essence of Macho Man merged with Earthman Norman Dribble to become the world's most powerful hero. Well, until he was killed during The Invasion of Megabrain in a Combat Colin episode in 1990. (Yikes! That's two heroes Megabrain killed!) Let us remember him. 100% hero.
Tom Thug (Oink! 1986)
Not a decent bone in his body. A selfish bully who never learns his lesson. Definitely not an anti-hero, but 100% a villain.
Pete and his Pimple (Oink! 1986)
Considering he's doomed to have a massive zit flare up on his nose at any moment, Pete copes really well. Certainly a good guy, but has been known to have a flawed personality. Nevertheless, a sympathetic figure and basically heroic, especially when fighting against the Zitbusters from Planet Yampy.
Pigswilla (Oink!, 1986).
A co-creation between me and Mark Rogers, Pigswilla the Giant Robot Pig fought massive monsters and an evil robot butcher so lets give a big cheer for an undisputed hero!
Specky Hector, Comic Collector (Oink! 1986)
Originally a one off character for Oink! in 1986, then a recurring character introducing Specky Hector's History of Comics in Buster in the 1990s. He just wants to indulge in his hobby of reading comics and spreading the word. A hero in my book.
Combat Colin (Action Force, Transformers, etc 1987 to present).
He might be a bit gormless but he's pure of heart and often endangers himself to save the world. Like his assistant Semi-Automatic Steve, Colin is 100% hero.
Norma Snockers (Sunday Sport 1989)
"One for the Dads" as they say. Commissioned to create a "dolly bird" character for the Sport I tried to make her the hero of the strips, with the leering dirty mac brigade being portrayed as the losers. Quite a tightrope to walk in a publication devoted to objectifying women. I consider Norma a hero. Some might disagree.
Pedantic Stan the Comics Fan (Speakeasy 1990)
Co-created with John Freeman, Stan is quite obsessive about the details of his comics! Not a villain but not exactly heroic. Stan is Stan.
Alistair Sadgitt (Camera Obscura fanzine, 1990s).
Similar to Pedantic Stan but Alistair is obsessed with The Prisoner TV series. And far weirder than Stan. Neither hero or villain but definitely not someone you'd want to be trapped in a lift with.
Tough Guy and Scruffy (Triffik comic, 1992)
Super strong but super dense and the most conceited superhero you'll ever meet, Tough Guy tries to be heroic but it's always his assistant Scruffy who saves the day. Scruffy is the real hero here.
Shortfuse the Cybernik (Sonic the Comic, 1995).
Conceived and created by me and illustrated by various artists in the comic, Shortfuse existed in the Sonic universe and was a squirrel trapped inside badnik armour. Originally a villain, then redeemed as a good guy. Yep, 100% hero.
Tekno the Canary (Sonic the Comic, 1995).
Another character I created for the Sonic universe that was illustrated by various artists. Tekno was a scientist forced to work for Dr Robotnik and later escaped to become a Freedom Fighter. She also had various adventures in other dimensions with her best friend Amy Rose. Tekno is certainly a hero. She fights dictators!
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Suburban Satanists (Geek, Herman Hedning comics, 1997 to around 2003).
Created for comics in Norway and Sweden, this devil-worshipping family were more likely to summon up deckchairs than demons as they were so bad at being Satanists. Even so, hardly heroic. Inept villains. (Yes, I do still intend to publish a British edition, health allowing.)
The Dark Newt (The Dandy, 2012)
He was a superhero fighting crime in the local pond. Yes, it's The Dark Newt, a six part story created for The Dandy in its final year. Very heroic, amongst pondlife anyway.
Sgt. Shouty of the Moon Force (The77 comic, 2020)
Set in the far future (and a sequel to Rock Solid), Shouty is a synthetic soldier created in a lab. Initially the process was sabotaged by Dr.Plank, making Shouty volatile and violent, but he's learning to control it, if he can. A hero ...for now!
Deja Vu Man (Goof, 2025).
He lives a cyclic existence repeating his crime patrol over and over forever... and that's why there'll never be a second episode! A hero, repeatedly!
Snowman of the Yard (This Comic Is Haunted, 2025),
He's a living snowman and he solves crimes. Only a one off strip so far but hopefully he'll return. There's "snow" doubt he's a hero!
...and there you have it. A brief rundown of most of the lead characters I've created for comics. This is just the titular characters of course, not including all the monsters, mad scientists, and other villains and supporting characters. How many do you recognise?
