Preview: The final Big Eggo strip!

My run on Big Eggo ends next week. I've really enjoyed doing the strip over the past six months and grew quite attached to it. What an honour to create new stories featuring the Beano's oldest character and original cover star! 

The last episode is an emotional roller coaster of sorts. Here's a preview advert I've designed for it. I hope you'll pick up Beano No.3950 on Wednesday to see how the story ends. (And if you do, please - post no spoilers! Thanks.)

Lord Snooty returns

Next week's Big Eggo strip features a vintage guest star who, like Big Eggo, also debuted in The Beano No.1 in 1938. Yes, it's Lord Snooty, back for one week only. 

I wrote/drew an ongoing Lord Snooty series for the Beano a few years ago and as this is the Beano's 80th anniversary year I couldn't let it pass without bringing the character back for a brief appearance. The editors approved, so here he is. 

See Big Eggo and Lord Snooty together in Beano No.3948, on sale Wednesday 15th August!

Eggo at the museum

Here's a preview of a strip I have in print this coming week. Big Eggo is still searching for his egg, and decides to check out the Beanotown museum to see if it's in there. See the full story in Beano No.3944, on sale Wednesday 18th July!

The heatwave continues

The summer heatwave continues for another week across the UK, and in the pages of the Beano! On Wednesday, Big Eggo is still feeling the heat as he strolls along the prom. See what happens next in Beano No.3942, on sale 4th July!

That same day, Toxic No.308 also arrives in the shops, and Team Toxic have a brand new baddie to deal with! Earflapper has stolen all the Toxics from the shop! See what happens on Wednesday!

Published this week...

This week sees Big Eggo feeling the effects of the current hot weather in Beano No.3941, on sale Wednesday 27th June!

The following day, on Thursday 28th June, Doctor Who Magazine No.527 features another Daft Dimension strip by me. This time the focus is on fan-friction! (Not a typo.)

Remember that Goof! No.0 is now available and includes the start of an all-new Derek the Troll series! This online monthly comic costs just £1 an issue and you'll find out all the info here:
https://www.goofcomic.co.uk/about

Happy reading! 

Angry Eggo!

Who's annoyed Big Eggo? Find out in the Beano No.3940, on sale Wednesday 20th June!

Eggo Beach

Is Terry Tuff about to capture Big Eggo? He's tracked our octogenarian ostrich to the coast and there's nowhere left to hide. Find out what happens next in the Beano No.3938 on Wednesday 6th June!

Coming this Wednesday...

I have two strips in print this coming week. On Wednesday 23rd May, Toxic No.306 sees Team Toxic enter a gateway to another world. Unfortunately for them it's the world of the Eye-Bots! Yes, it's a sequel to the previous issue's story, with the Eye-Bot that Doc Shock tricked now out for revenge! 

That same day sees Beano No.3936, which includes another Big Eggo strip! This time, Big Eggo hides out in a school. What happens next? Find out on Wednesday!

In print this week...

The Beano No.3929 will be out this Wednesday (4th April) and if they print the Big Eggo strips in the order I drew them the image above gives you a glimpse of this week's episode. One of the best things about working for the Beano is that all the characters live in Beanotown and can interact with each other. Fun for the readers and it also gives artists the opportunity to draw characters they wouldn't usually draw. Therefore I had Roger the Dodger and Danny and Toots of the Bash Street Kids cameo in this week's story.

On sale Thursday 5th April is the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine. We can't really use the 13th Doctor in the strips until Jodie Whittaker's series starts in the Autumn, so it gives me a good reason to focus on some of the other Doctors, such as the First Doctor in this month's Daft Dimension strip!

Both Doctor Who Magazine and Beano are on sale at all good newsagents and supermarkets.

Easter Beano - out now!

The Easter issue of the Beano is in the shops now. It includes loads of Easter-themed strips, although admittedly my Big Eggo strip doesn't fit that category. (I didn't know this would be the Easter issue when I wrote the script.) Even so, he's still hunting his egg, - and being hunted by Terry Tuff! 

The Beano is very rarely bagged with gifts these days, but this week is an exception for the holiday period. Here's what to look out for in your local shops...

You can find out more about this issue at the Beano website:
https://www.beano.com/posts/inside-beano-no-3928

Big Eggo in pencil

On my drawing board this morning is another Big Eggo strip for the Beano. Here's a photo of part of it at the rough pencil stage. The finished strip will be in print in early May.

It's Wednesday so it must be Beano day!

Catch Big Eggo again in the latest Beano (No.3927), on sale today. He's quite a spry ostrich for an 80 year old! 

BIG EGGO returns to the BEANO!

I can now reveal what my new Beano strip is, and it's the return of Big Eggo, the Beano's very first character, who is coming back for the comic's 80th anniversary year!

Big Eggo was the first Beano cover star from the very first issue in July 1938, through to No.326 in January 1948. The original exploits of the ostrich were drawn by Reg Carter until the character was ousted from the front page by Biffo the Bear drawn by Dudley Watkins.

The Beano contacted me a few months ago to commission me to write and draw a new series of Big Eggo as weekly mini-strips inside the comic, starting with Beano No.3925, on sale Wednesday 7th March. I was given a brief that Big Eggo has escaped from Beanotown Zoo and is looking for his egg, but he is pursued by a hunter, Terry Tuff (who I believe was a character in the Dennis and Gnasher TV cartoon). Each week, Big Eggo will be either looking for his egg or eluding Terry's crazy traps. Some other Beano stars will cameo in upcoming episodes too.

I've written/drawn over half a dozen so far and I'm really enjoying it. Not only is it great to be back in the Beano, but to work on such a classic Golden Age character is an honour. I'd actually suggested new Big Eggo strips a few years ago, so I'm pleased to finally have a chance to do it. I think very few people expected Big Eggo to return after 70 years but I hope they'll enjoy his new adventures!

See the first new Big Eggo strip in Beano No.3925, on Wednesday 7th March 2018.

...and if you want to read Big Eggo's first strip from 1938 by Reg Carter, it's up on Beano.com here:
https://www.beano.com/posts/see-big-eggos-first-beano-appearance

MacUser mention

Thanks to Oink! fan supremo Phil Boyce for the info that the latest issue of MacUser magazine gives me a mention. It's a feature on logo design, and in one instance how the language of comics has influenced them. They've chosen a recent image I drew for The Beano to illustrate it, and add a nice comment. I was quite pleased with that Big Eggo drawing so I'm chuffed they chose that one.

In a previous issue they spotlighted The Beano's designer Mark McIlmail so it's good to see a High Street magazine mentioning UK comics in a positive way, as opposed to some of the more pessimistic articles we've seen in the press over the years. 

Thanks to Phil for the photos. Visit his excellent Oink! Blog here:
http://the-oink-blog.blogspot.co.uk/

Official MacUser magazine website:
http://www.macuser.co.uk/

Terrible Day!

Today's the day that Ivy the Terrible returns to The Beano! A brand new series of weekly half page strips begins, written by John Anderson and drawn by me. Ivy's a great character to draw and I'm really enjoying this strip. 

This week's Beano also features another Lord Snooty mini-strip by me, which guest-stars Fatty from The Bash Street Kids...

I also wrote and supplied the artwork for a puzzle page this issue called Swot Down! (A much better title than the one I suggested - 'Real or Rubbish'.) Cuthbert Cringeworthy goes up against Walter the Softy, and they were fun to draw but the bit I enjoyed most was drawing the legendary Big Eggo, - The Beano's original cover star! 

The Beano No.3747 - out now! £2.