Here's a selection of New Year themed strips that I did long ago from the pages of Oink! and Buster. Script, art, and lettering by me unless stated otherwise. As always, please click/tap on each strip to see it at full size. Let's start the party off with the Pete and his Pimple strip above that was in Oink! No.18 at the end of 1986 celebrating HOGmany for 1987.
Also in that same issue of Oink! was this Tom Thug strip of mine...
A year later and here's the Pete and his Pimple strip that looked forward to 1988...
The Tom Thug strip in that issue for 1988 didn't mention Hogmany but it did have a snowy theme so I thought I'd include it anyway...
Oink! merged into Buster in late 1988 and I was fortunate that my strips carried over into the long running weekly. Here's my Tom Thug strip that appeared in Buster in December 1988, looking forward to 1989. Balloon lettering by Mike Peters...
The Pete and his Pimple page that appeared in that same issue of Buster for 1989. Balloon lettering by Mike Peters...
In 1989 Pete and his Pimple was replaced by a new strip, The Vampire Brats. Initially scripted by Mark Rogers but by the end of the year I was writing it as well as drawing because Mark was ill (and tragically later passed away). This page from the New Year edition of Buster for 1990, with script, art, and lettering by me...
Back then I had two regular pages in Buster every week. Here's my Tom Thug page from the same issue. Balloon lettering by Mike Peters...
A year later, and Buster had added more colour to its pages so Tom Thug now appeared in full colour. (I used Dr.Martins water colour inks for my strips back then.) Here's the Hogmanay one published in December 1990 for New Year 1991. Balloon lettering by Jack Potter...
...and the Vampire Brats strip for the same issue. By this point the scripts for this strip were written by Roy Davis. This form of flat colouring was done by the Buster designers. (The comic couldn't afford full colour painted art on every page so this cheaper method was used for most pages, solely using 100% Magenta, Yellow, and Cyan. Somewhat garish but it's what the publishers wanted.) Jack Potter was now the letterer on both strips and those that follow.
Another year later and sadly The Vampire Brats had ended but Tom Thug was still ringing in the New Year. Published in December 1991, looking forward to 1992...
Finally, my Tom Thug page that appeared in Buster for New Year 1993....
I hope you've enjoyed these pages from the 1980s and 1990s. I'll be posting my end of year blog post over the next day or two.
Incidentally, Phil Boyce has done an item about the 1986/87 Hogmany issue of Oink! over on his OiNK! BLOG. You can read it here...
https://oink.blog/2021/12/27/oink-18-happy-hogmanay/
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6 comments:
Haha love that little credit to Mark for the final pun in the Pete strip haha! Seeing Tom's strips from Buster that I haven't read before is always a joy and makes me tempted to try to collect them all... but then I think of how many that would be! (Thanks for the plug by the way, Lew!)
You're welcome, Phil. Everyone should check out your blog.
Yeah, Tom Thug ran until 1996, and then another three years as a reprint, so there's a lot to collect! There wasn't a New Year themed one for '94, and I'm not sure about 1995 or '96 as those years are in a different box right at the back of the room, which is why those three years aren't in this selection. :)
A splendid selection! Love it that snow plays a big part. No something we see much of in the capital...
I've always enjoyed putting snow in comic strips, even though the timing might not be accurate or that, thankfully, it's rarely that deep in most places. Tying the strips in with the seasons is always a useful springboard for ideas, whether it be winter, spring, summer or autumn. Not everyone does it but I've always tried to because I think it helps kids to relate to the stories better.
Nice collection ^_^
Thanks Ryan.
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