When I was commissioned to do eight Biffo mini strips I was a bit apprehensive how I'd tackle it, but then I realised that Biffo can fit into any situation. That was always the strength of the old strips that Dudley Watkins drew in the 1950s and 1960s. Biffo could be a sailor one week, a barber the next, or he could have domestic slapstick doing some wallpapering, or embark on a marathon! Biffo is an everyman, or every bear if you like, albeit with a busier life than most, and a life with limitless possibilities! Through it all he's generally affable, sometimes clumsy, sometimes reckless, but he's mainly a good spirited, well meaning bear.
Although I got the handle of writing the character, drawing him was another matter. It took me a while to fashion my take on him, whilst also keeping him looking traditionally "Biffo". Doing my research with old copies of The Beano I noticed that even Dudley Watkins and his sucessor David Sutherland made slight changes to the look of the character from week to week. His snout grew longer, his ears shifted from close togerher to further apart, and that sort of thing. All comic characters evolve and change, even in the space of months.
I was pleased with my results in the end though, and I really hope I get more opportunities to create more new Biffo the Bear strips either for the annual or, hopefully, for the weekly Beano.
I like the idea for the comic... :) lets hope that happens soon..glad you got the annual work..
ReplyDeleteWe stopped buying Beano weekly this summer. It wasn't the same without a Pup Parade or an Ellis by you. Whatever happened to Rasher? All the funny has gone. Who do you work for now Lew? We'd love to follow your work but where do we look?
ReplyDeleteI always liked Biffo as a kid and I still associate him with the Beano more than Dennis as the front page star ( then again I'm old). Must be a bit of a thrill to draw these legendary characters and that your rightly considered capable of dealing with such a well loved character. Hope you get more work on the Beano .
ReplyDeleteThanks folks. Yes, it's great to have written/drawn some of those iconic characters. Usually I'm too involved to think about it but now and then I step back and think "Flippin' 'eck! I'm drawing Biffo the Bear!" :D
ReplyDeleteLouise and Gemma; my only regular strips at the moment are The Daft Dimension in Doctor Who Magazine, and Sgt.Shouty in The77. Sometimes Bad Pets in Animal Planet magazine. I could really do with a regular weekly page but sadly nothing is forthcoming at the moment. I have a few one-offs to keep me busy until the end of this year. After then... I don't really want to think about it.
It's tragic you've fallen so far when you were one of the most in demand artists back in the day. What is the reason? Who did you piss off?
ReplyDeleteI haven't annoyed anyone as far as I know! Editors have their own preferences, plus new people come into the industry, and before you know it the work just isn't there anymore. Such has always been the case for creators as they get older. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon. The past couple of years have been a struggle. Next year... I live in hope but time will tell.
ReplyDeleteOther elderly artists still get the work like DS on Bash St so, how can it be ageist?
ReplyDeleteI didn't mean that it was ageism. I meant it's a natural thing that new artists come in and there just isn't the work for everyone. Dave Sutherland has been an important contributor to the Beano for 60 years so it's only right that he should still get plenty of work. I never became that established at DC Thomson. I hoped I might one day, but it wasn't to be.
ReplyDeleteThank you for responding Lew. We will look out for 77.
ReplyDeleteAnother problem is partly styles.. not just art style, but people and stuff. Many older comics and even the companies went 'out of style' with someone (even if not always the public) and stopped, reducing the market. the style of the Market seams to mostly be only stuff they believe is a sure thing, thus major license tie-ins.. not all such things are bad, and have been around since.. well.. Radio Fun? I was always a bit unsure how much of that was.. licensed and howmuch was .. by modern terms, stolen (using a persons name and character without permission as a selling thing) but that too has changed over time..
ReplyDeleteWhile never against Biffo.. something never quite sit right with me with him.. I don't know if it was the overly wrinkled face or more that it reminded me of 'evil' soft toys of the 50s to 60s, where the body was furry and soft, with a solid hard plastic hairless face.. something scarey about most of them..
hi Lew,
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the shortage of work. I really hope things pick up for you.
Thanks qamar.
ReplyDeleteThe Beano may not be ageist, but it seems they're worried about offending people in other ways. First Fatty becomes Freddy, and now Spotty's been renamed Scotty!
ReplyDeleteDifferent times, and a yearning for a kinder society in a world that's increasingly divisive and hostile.
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