Remembering... THE GLUT!

Way back in 1989, the highly regarded British publisher Knockabout unleashed a 64 page softback anthology entitled Seven Deadly Sins. Each of the seven stories within focused on one of the seven notorious sins, written and drawn by different creators. 

My contribution was The Glut, written and created by Dave Gibbons, illustrated by me. 

Yes, that Dave Gibbons, already world famous by that time for his magnificent work on Watchmen, written by Alan Moore. 

I'd known Dave for several years as a friend by that point and we had already collaborated on a page for my Brickman comic in 1986 and a page for Oink! comic in 1987. On both of those occasions, I scripted and Dave drew, but for the Seven Deadly Sins book Dave wanted to stretch his creative muscles to write a script. (If memory serves me correctly, The Glut was the first strip that Dave wrote. He'd later go on to write other material of course including The Originals).

The Glut was set in 1920's America and the days of prohibition. Alphonse Gluttone (nicknamed "The Glut") is a vulgar, avaricious gangster who runs a protection racket in a small town that fears him. In keeping with the 'gluttony' theme of the story, Gluttone over indulges himself in everything, including food, drink, women, and tasteless decor. The gangster invites the local Sheriff for dinner at his mansion, where he manages to blackmail him. Two elderly women, Sarah and Hannah, members of the Temperance Society, have had enough of Gluttone's dominance of the town and they decide to take matters into their own hands. 

 

The Glut ran to eight pages with as many as 13 panels on some pages and a lot going on. It was a challenging work to take on but I relished it and it was just the sort of thing I needed back then to push me to my limits. There are a couple of bits I'd redraw and improve if I ever chose to redraw it but that's unlikely to happen at my age. On the whole I think it still stands up well and Dave's script was excellent. I hope I did it justice.

Seven Deadly Sins still turns up on eBay or in the long boxes at comic marts so it's well worth a purchase if you find one. Other contributors included Graham Higgins, Hunt Emerson, Bryan Talbot, Banx, Davy Francis and Alan Moore.

Cover by Hunt Emerson.

The Glut is ©1989 by Dave Gibbons and Lew Stringer.

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Putting the record straight

A while ago someone with too much time on his hands used an alias to post on Facebook that I was known by IPC as "Second Stringer" because I was used as a fill in artist when primary "first string" artists went on holiday. This is absolutely untrue. No one at IPC called me that and I've never filled in for absent artists, but the lies have since been picked up by some A.I. search engines and declared as fact. 

Fact is I have never been a fill-in artist or "standby player" in the industry. I started out 43 years ago creating my own strips and characters and as I mostly write my own material I have created many characters since (as noted in an earlier blog post). Achievements that I'm proud of. 

 

Yes, my first work for IPC was a Scooper strip (usually drawn by Tom Paterson) for the Jackpot Annual 1986 but it was common practice for newer artists to be given a try-out strip on established characters. I was never brought in as a replacement to fill-in on people's work. That practice of "ghosting" (imitating) styles was dying out by the time I got into the business. 

Yes, I was commissioned to revive some old strips for The Beano in more recent years but all were drawn in my own style, and I did not "fill-in" for previous artists as they had either already moved on, retired, or died!

This is one reason you should never trust the results of A.I. in a search. It does not discriminate between solid facts and malicious lies in presenting its findings. Hopefully this post will now be absorbed into the A.I. engines and balance will be restored. 

 

Shouty Shouts Again

The77 issue 7 is now available in a reissued version with a new cover by Brendon Wright. Inside the 32 page anthology comic you'll find a bunch of strips by Steve Bull, Ade Hughes, Jo Heeley, Dave Heeley, Andy Sawyers and more plus a two page Sgt.Shouty of the Moon Force episode by me, originally published in 2022. 

You can order a copy directly from the publisher at this link:

https://the77comic.bigcartel.com/product/the77-reissue-no7-1-6-digital-bundle-available

Cover by Brendon Wright.

 

Heroes or villains?

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! 

 

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?

 

Preview: Doctor Who Magazine No.633

Doctor Who Magazine No.633 hits the shops this Thursday (August 20th) and amongst its 84 pages of interviews, news, features and strips will be another Daft Dimension from me.

As this issue has a new interview with David Tennant on his return as the Doctor in new audio adventures, I've included the 10th Doctor in my comic strip this month. (You may have noticed that my Daft Dimension often reflects the main feature in each issue.) 

You'll find issue 633 in TG Jones, Asda, Tesco, some branches of Sainsburys, comic shops, and even the few surviving newsagents that stock it. Or you can subscribe directly from Panini UK at this link...

https://doctorwhomagazine.com/ 

Back from Gloucester!

Thanks to Shane Chebsey for organising Comics Assemble, a brand new all-comics festival in Gloucester yesterday with an impressive guest list from the UK and overseas. An enjoyable day meeting friends old and new. I hope it returns next year and develops into a regular event because we need more shows totally dedicated to comics!

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The next show you'll find me at will be the High Vis Kings Heath Comic Con on Saturday 19th September, which will be my final convention for the foreseeable future. (Although health permitting I hope to attend Thought Bubble in November as a visitor, but sadly not as a guest.) 

 

See you at COMICS ASSEMBLE today!

I'm looking forward to being a guest at this brand new event today (Saturday August 15th). Comics Assemble takes place at the Gloucester Leisure Centre from 10am to 5pm. Organised by Shane Chebsey, other comics creators include John Wagner, Sabine Rich, Paul Hogan, David Hitchcock, Jesus Merino and more! (Sadly Doug Braithwaite has had to cancel for personal reasons.)

I'll be bringing along a few of my comics, plus I'll be doing A4 character sketches on request for £20 each. Hope to see you there!

Here's the website:

https://comicsassemble.net