The

ATOMICCOMICIssue 2

February 2013

Price: FREE!

WELCOME BACK!Welcome to our sensational second fun filled issue of Atomic Comic! We've got heapsof goodies lined up for you this month - including an interview with writer SeanBaldwin and cartoonist Jamie Smart, we find a fresh Korky the Cat story which hasnever before being printed, we have a guest article on Dennis the Menace written byWill Barber and heaps more!

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Contents:

3 ..... The Original Atomic Comic

4 ..... The Changing Face Of DennisThe Menace

8 ..... An Interview With JamieSmart

16 ..... A Brief History AboutBritish Comics (Part Two)

17 ..... Why The Digital Dandy IsUnderrated

20 ..... A Blast From The Past

22 ..... An Interview With SeanBaldwin

30 ..... Auction Watch

32 ..... Mega!

33 ..... Man From Space Is Out OfThis World

34 ..... Rejected!

35 ..... About Us

Atomic Comic(Original Version)

Welcome back to anotherissue of Atomic Comic.To start off this funfilled second issue Ithought I'd write anarticle about somethingI've discovered since issueone was published! Onyour left you can see acomic which goes by thesame name as thispublication - AtomicComic! Now I can't giveyou an exact publicationdate as I don't own acopy, but the researchI've done shows that it

was published in the 1940's, mostprobably 1947, with either a green orpurple cover. It cost 3D and had eightpages, and the front cover has acharacter named Horace Dragweed,illustrated by Rob Wilson, but other thanthat I'm afraid I can give you no morefurther information. I've managed totrack down a copy for sale, so hopefullywe can look at it in a future issue!

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- Taylor

The Changing Face of Dennis the Menace

- ByWillBarber

Dennis the Menace is a cultural legend likeSherlock Holmes, James Bond and DoctorWho. Like all these other great, timelesscharacters, he has changed. Unlike Bond,Holmes or The Doctor, Dennis is primarily acomic character so the change between eachincarnation of Dennis is harder to see thanwith the different Holmes for example. Letus start with the first of Dennis theMenace (A note: This Dennis should not beconfused with the American Dennis theMenace who appeared at the same time asour hero but over in

America.)Dennis the Menace Incarnation One:

1951-1970 Dennis' firstincarnation appeared inside ofthe Beano in 1951 where hewas drawn by David Law.Dennis was very different tohow he is now. He was muchtougher, although even back inthe early days he had histrade mark red and blackjumper. Often, at the end ofstories, Dennis would besmacked on the bottom by aslipper as punishment for hisantics previously in the strip.This was common practiceback in the 1950's. If wecompare Dennis at the

beginning of Law's work in 1951 with the end of Law's work in 1970, Denniswas taller in 1970 than he was in 1951! No one knows why Law did this. Itcould be suggested that as Law was a perfectionist, he needed Dennis to grow.David Law sadly died in 1970. By this time, Dennis had been promoted totheback and front pages of the Beano and in full colour. It was time for a newmajor change to the Dennis strip, the beginning of a new artist, DavidSutherland.

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Dennis the Menace Incarnation Two:1970-1998: Dennis was about to undergo morechanges. After the addition of his pal Gnasherduring Law's time as the artist, Dennis wouldmeet Curly (who had appeared briefly inprevious strips.) and Pie Face. For most ofSutherland's times as artist they would be calledThe Menaces. This showed a profound change inthe makeup and ideas of Dennis. Until Gnasherappeared, during the 70's, Dennis had been alonein his menacing. Now there was a full gang ofMenaces. Times were changing and so wasDennis. It was out with the corporal punishmentof the previous era and in with a new freshDennis. It was time for Dennis to clean up ratherthan be smacked on his bottom. Sutherland waslater told to make Dennis less teenage; his editorclaimed he needed Dennis to be more childlike forthe new Beano animations. Subsequently, Dennisbecame more like a child as he went into the2000s. Dennis was to undergo another change ofartist and a change of direction.

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Dennis the Menace:Incarnation Three(1998-2003)

Dennis' new artist wasDavid Parkins. He broughteven more change to theDennis strip. Gnasher, TheMenaces, Dennis' parentsand the Softies were stillcentral, but a new characterwas to emerge duringParkins era. The newcharacter was Bea, Dennis'younger sister. She was andstill is as much of a Menaceas Dennis is. Also, duringthis period, Dennis startedto be involved with otherBeano characters. AfterDennis' 50th anniversary,Parkins could not keep upwith the vast Menaceworkload and had to leavethe post as artist.

This would lead to more change, but not as much as had goneon before. Dennis the Menace: Incarnation Four(2004-2010) Nigel Parkinson, Jimmy Hansen and Tom Patersonbecame Dennis' artists after Parkins left. This change, unlike the previouschanges, was not that drastic. Dennis, Gnasher, The Menaces and co.continued in the direction that they had been going in under Parkins. In2009 however, Dennis changed for good. The Beano became in co-production with the BBC for a new animated series. (The previous Dennisseries had been in the 90s and had run successfully for twoseries.) Dennis was to be completely revamped.The entire way Dennis was drawn was to change, as were all the familiarcharacters. Bea was side-lined and so were the Menace parents. Theemphasis was to be on the idea that Dennis was no longer a Menace butjust a kid trying to have fun. This announced change provedto anger somepeople. Indeed, when this new incarnation of Dennis appeared, lots ofpeople felt the strip had betrayed its roots. In 2010 NigelParkinson, Jimmy Hansen and Tom Paterson left the role asDennis' artists and a new artist took over.

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Dennis the Menace Incarnation Five(2010-2012)

Barrie Appleby took over a s Dennis' artist. The style was the same; Applebydrew the same Dennis as had appeared in the TV series. This Dennis, however,was different. The 2009- early 2010 version had not been a deliberateMenace. The Dennis Appleby draws, however, seems to have reverted backpersonality wise to the Dennis who was first introduced to us back in 1951.He may not look the same and he has definitely changed, but one thing youcan say is: Dennis is still a Menace after 61 years.

We Speak To TheGreat Jamie Smart!Hi Jamie! Do you haveany nicknames you'd likeus to call you?

Call me what you like!

So, tell us a bit aboutyourself. What exactly do youdo at present?

I don’t know what the wordis to describe me. I guessI’m an illustrator, but thatalways sounds grander thanwhat I do. I draw comics,

cartoons, things like that. I also write and draw children’s booksand work on a handful of projects which you could generally putunder the word ‘cartoons’.Though I’ve never liked the word ‘cartoon’. Even when I was a kid,I felt if I said I drew cartoons, it would get dismissed as a lesserform of art. Cartoon now has that connotation for me.

Ah, I see! So, could you perhaps tell me, when did you first getdiscovered and how?There isn’t really a ‘discovered’ in this game. You work hard,draw a heck of a lot, and keep sending it out and showing it topeople. My first actual job drawing cartoons was for a cookerymagazine, then I went onto drawing for newspapers and comics,but it was when I started drawing more alternative grown-upcomics (only grown-up in the sense that they were a bit moreviolent) that I really gained an audience, who then filtered backdown into the children’s comics I did. It’s weird how it has workedout.

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Interviewed byHarry RIckard

As a child, did you read a lot ofcomics? Which ones inspired you?

I used to read all of them. Suchas Dandy, Beano, Whizzer andChips, Buster, and especially Oink!I think I loved Oink most of all,it spoke to me and my sense ofhumour and helped me evolve that.It was really disgusting and rude,the sort of humour you probablycouldn’t get away with now, butit was so acutely funny and welldrawn.So, how did you come up with theideas for Space Raoul and MyOwn Genie - because they'repretty random!

I don’t know where ideas comefrom. That first spark cancome at random times. OftenI find my mind is thinking themost while I’m watching TV orplaying video games, that’swhen my brain switches offand allows ideas to come in(or perhaps it’s getting firedup by seeing other people’screativity, that’s a realpossibility).Space Raoul was originallyjust a quick sketch of a fox,called Roger. I drew a circleround his head as a space

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helmet, wrote ‘Space’ in front of Roger, then crossed out Rogerand wrote ‘Raoul’. That was the rather pitiful creative process, butwith some characters as soon as you can see them, you knowexactly how it’s all going to work. Who they are, the situationsthey’ll get into and how they’ll react. It all just floods into place.Other ideas take a lot longer to develop. But it’s all part of thefun.

Everyone loves you for your artwork - but we also love you for yourgenius writing skills. Could you give us any tips on how to writehilarious stuff?

I think the key is to be selfish. Some artists try and write for theiraudience, but in doing that I wonder if you’re watering down whatyou’re really trying to say. Personally, I draw comics to amusemyself, and write the things I find funny. And if other people enjoythem too then hey, that’s a brilliant bonus, but at its core I’mwriting these comics because I find them funny.One very important thing however is to write good characters. Youwon’t have funny things happen to boring characters. The charactersare key, and working out who they are and how they react. Often,the best characters are very flawed, they do things wrong and that’swhy they’re funny. We laugh at the inadequacies of others, it’shuman nature, it’s what most comedy is based around.

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Desperate Dan is aclassic character - howdid you feel when youbecame the new artistof it?

Honoured, absolutely! Iwas bowled over, Ididn’t expect it tohappen. They left me towrite the stories anddraw the strips how Isaw fit, which gave mea real sense ofresponsibility to do itas best as I could.

So, tell us a bit about your stories since the revamp, how did youcome up with the ideas for Pre-Skool Prime Minister and The Arenaof Awesome?

Pre-Skool Prime Minister wasan idea from The Dandy, theygave me the name and let mego off in whatever direction Iwanted. It appealed to me, thesense of craziness you couldbring to such a grown-upauthority.Arena Of Awesome was an ideaI’d been floating around for awhile, it’s a simple concept ofpitting one character againstanother, but what makes itmost fun for me is there reallybeing no rhyme or reason to it,anyone can win!

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One story we all found very strange was Thingummyblob - was ittrue that some of them were over 4 years old?

I drew Thingummyblob around the time I started on Desperate Danso yeah that would have been around 4 years ago. Some of themwere printed, but a lot were held back and shown more recently.That’s just how these things work sometimes.

What's your opinionon the Space Raouland My Own Geniereprints that wererunning in theDandy?Obviously I’mflattered The Dandysaw fit to reprintthem, and it’sgreat if they’refinding a newaudience.If you could drawany classiccharacter for theDandy - who wouldyou like to draw?

Y’know I feel pretty honoured to still be drawing Dan, so I’m quitehappy with that.

And if you could draw any current character from the Dandy - whowould it be?As above!

We all want to see your artwork in the Beano - so tell us, wouldyou like to work for the Beano as well as the Dandy and Phoenix?Oh who wouldn’t want to work for the Beano, that would beamazing! I know they have a slightly different sensibility to TheDandy though, so it would have to be the right character.

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I feel incredibly lucky to be working for the people I do, I wake upevery morning excited to start drawing, so I couldn’t ask foranymore than that.

Who would you love to have a shot at drawing in the Beano -current or classic?Lets not jump ahead of ourselves!Of course, it wasn't all Dandy - what stuff did you draw for theDFC and what were they about

I drew a strip called Fish-Head Steve which was about a town fullof people who woke up with crazy objects for heads. That was somuch fun to work on, and is currently in development to possiblybe a TV show (hopefully we can finally start announcing thingssoon). That aside I also drew the weekly puzzle pages, and a one-off 16 page strip called the DFC Olympics, which was one of thecraziest things I’ve written.

Do you miss drawing for the DFC?

The DFC really made a hugeimpact on the UK comics scene,even though it didn’t last toolong, it brought together a loadof artists from differentdisciplines and showed just whatwe were all doing. It really showedoff what the UK has to offer, andnow many of us are reuniting onThe Phoenix we all feel a realsense of camaraderie.How are you finding The Phoenixat the moment?It’s brilliant!

Are you enjoying drawing Bunny VS. Monkey?

Absolutely, I have a few ideas which have had long, difficulthistories, and Bunny Vs Monkey has certainly been through a lotto get to where it is today (maybe one day I’ll talk about it!).

But it really gives me this wholelittle world to play around in,there is so much potential and somany great characters hidden init that I’m full of ideas.

We've heard you get a lot oftrouble from haters on theinternet. How do you find that?

Ten years ago it would have stunga little, but I’ve been here longenough now to realize howludicrous it is. If I don’t likesomething, I just don’t look at

it, but the internet has given people the forum to really lay intothings and try to pull them apart. Which is a shame, it should be aplace where we support the things we enjoy and share art.It does get quite nasty sometimes. And they get very irate if youanswer back, as if they’re allowed free speech but you’re not. Thebest thing to do in all these situations, however, is to ignore them.Arguing just fuels them on further.So no, it doesn’t hurt me now. I hate to see other artists gettinganger aimed at them, that gets to me. But they can say what they

Any advice forwhat happens whenpeople begin to bemean about yourwork?

See above!

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And finally, do you have any importantadvice you'd like to give to any buddingartists out there?

Just draw. Draw draw draw. It’s the onlyway you’ll get better, and you need to begetting better all the time, we’re all tryingto get better!This is a really difficult career to choose,financially it can be a really bad choice, andyou can go long times without any work. Thething that will see you through, if you’rereally determined to make it, is passion.Absolute heart. If you believe in what you’redoing 100%, and you want to be doing it asa job more than anything else in the world,then chances are you’ll make it.But be prepared for rejection (you get it aLOT. Just warning you). And be prepared toreally put the hours in. We do this because welove it, but it is still work, and does requirededication.If, after all this, you do end up doing this asa fulltime career, then it’s the best job in theworld. Guaranteed.

A Brief History About British Comics (Part Two)- by George Shiers

In the previous issue ofAtomic Comic I finishedmy article on theHistory Of BritishComics talking abouthow Ally Sloper's HalfHoliday, a weekly paperwhich came out everySaturday, had set thetemplate for Britishcomics to come. AllySloper's Half holiadyfolded on 6th September1916, after over athousand issues, andmerged into Fun comic(apologies, I can't give apublication date for Fun,but all the issues I'veseen are from the early1920's).

However, over the fewdecades from 1900 -

1930 we would see dozens, if nothundreds, of titles come and go! One suchexample can be seen above, but othersinclude The Buttlerfly, Comic Life, Boy'sOwn, Funny Wonder, Crackers and someof the more well known titles such asIllustrated Chips, Film Fun and Rainbow.All these comics followed the samepattern - a handful of comic strips and ahandful of text stories. Comic strips wereof course the way forwards, and duringthe few decades mentioned the speechbubble became more and more popular,occasionally even replacing the chunks oftext underneath a panel!

Continues in the next issue ofAtomic Comic!

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Why The Digital Dandy

Recently, the Dandy folded andmoved to a solely online version.Now I can understand why somany people are disappointed, asI was myself when the news wasrevealed, but what I don'tunderstand is why people aren'treading the digital Dandy. I'lladmit some have their reasons,but others dropped the title,which they were reading beforeit folded, simply because it wasmoving online. And this is whatI'm disappointed by. The firstthing I want to point out isthat price of the comic hasgone down by 50p, which factfans, is 25% off the previousprice!

Moving on, the comic isfantastic. Although when issuezero came out the animation

was jumpy and, I'll be honest, awful, and it didn't improve much with thefirst issue (shown above). However, when issue two was released, all thatchanged. The animations became much smoother and the comic strip loadedfaster, meaning it was nicer to read. It improved even more with issue threeand who knows, by issue 10 it might be perfect!

Of course, a comic isn't about animations, but the actual contents. Now Ican't give you an exact page count as the strips are shown panel by panel,but issue one had 18 features (comic strips, the back page video and acompetion), which is a decent amount. Lets take a look at just a few comicstrips.

- by George Shiers

Is Underrated

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The Numskulls by Jamie SmartThe Numskulls originally appeared inThe Beezer in 1962 illustrated byBilly Whizz artist Malcolm Judge,and was so popular that they movedinto The Beano, and have now alsogot a strip in The Dandy. Thecharacter that the Numskulls live inhas changed many times, and JamieSmart's version is a young ladnamed Alex, who lives with a familyof, in short, weirdos.

Whereas Jamie's version is a lotcrazier than previous versions (forexample, some of the Numskulls aredinosaurs, ghosts, robots etc), butthe writing is still funny whichmakes the stories an enjoyableread!

Retro Active by Wayne Thompson

Retro Active brings back The Amazing Mr. X, a character that appeared inthe Dandy way back in the 1940's and is also considered to be Britain's firstsuperhero, and introduces some other characters along the way. The strip isvery well drawn in Wayne's style with a fantastic layout, which in a waylooks similar to the American comic books!

Although it is interestingto see the animations, theway Wayne draws hispanels suggests that itwas designed to be shownas a full page, and that issomething I'd very muchlike to see! Maybe one dayhe'll reveal it to us, butuntil then we'll have to useour imaginations!

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And finally, something for fans of Tom Paterson! The man who drew suchfantastic strips such as Sweeny Toddler, Calamity James and even Busterreturns with not one but two brand new strips! The first, revealed in issuethree, was a revival of The Laughing Planet, the second is Expirin' UncleByron and still to come is Castle Bleurgh! Below is the first LaughingPlanet in full, in which David Chattenborough visits Limpet World! I'm surethis on its own would make you subscribe!

And so you see, there is some fantastic stuff in the digital Dandy, and itreally does deserve more appreciation than it is currently recieving. Justbecause it's going digital is not a good reason to drop the comic, andyou're missing out on some stellar stuff!

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A Blast From The Past!

Welcome back to another blastfrom the past, the featurewhere we show you a fullcomic strip from a classiccomic! This issue we head backto 1975 to the first issue ofMonster Fun! Monster Funintroduced some greatcharacters, my personalfavourite being X-Ray Specs,but this issue we'll be lookingat Terry Bave's contribution -Draculass.

Draculass was Dracula'sdaughter who moved awayfrom Transylvania to live withher cousin in an ordinaryBritish town! The strip wasgreat fun, with some cleverstories along the way, so herefor you to enjoy, is the veryfirst one!

- by George Shiers

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So Séan, you have an accent mark in your name -bit posh isn't it?It’s Irish! And it's called a fada, apparently. Maybe it'sposh in Ireland.

SÈAN BALDWIN TALKS

And so have you always wanted to become awriter? Never a policeman or a wizard?

First off I wanted to be an astronaut but there weren'tany space academies for 3 year old Northerners. I was always inventing stories anddrawing but I also got a taste for acting at an early age. So there was a confusion ofsorts about which direction to take until eventually I realised that these were allvarious means of telling stories. The method may change but I'm still relating a tale.Mind you, it's still not too late to be a wizard.

I suppose you read comics as a kid - so which one was your favourite and why?I couldn't get enough of them. Especially the English ones. There were so many aroundin the 70's - I'm that old - that it was hard to keep track of them all. So I'd gothrough phases where the 2 or 3 I was buying for a bunch of weeks were my favourites.The Beano was the first title I had on order and there was such a sense of anticipationleading up to it's arrival each week. I also bought Whizzer and Chips, Buster and TVComic - for the Doctor Who strip - regulary. Krazy was an absolute sensation when itfirst appeared - hilarious, anarchic and visually inventive. This led to Cheeky comicwhich had quite a unique format built around a central character and demanded anexceptional work-rate from Frank McDiarmid, who drew most of the material. If hewrote the material too then I have no idea how he managed to stay sane. I also lovedthe comics that had a freaky aspect tothem like Whoopee! and Monster Fun.They had a nice bit of spookinesslurking round the edges. As I got a bitolder I grew very fond of Tiger, areliable sports adventure comic, DoctorWho Weekly and of course 2000ADwhich was a complete game-changer.Nothing was the same after that.

Can I ask what your favourite comicwas? 22

My favourite comic? I'm particularlyinto British humour comics, not somuch Adventure comics (like Lion orEagle). And of course now we'reentering a digital age - where web-comics have come into existence!There are some real good ones outthere - I really like the Carrotty Kidwhich Andy Fanton draws, but my alltime favourite is James Turner'sBeaver and Steve - but he neverupdates that anymore - but his workin The Phoenix is brilliant! But actualpaper comic? I'd narrow it down toeither The Beano, The Phoenix orWhizzer and Chips. And since it wasWhizzer and Chips that really got meinto comics - I'm going to go withthat!Great choices, all of them. I’m guessingyou were a Whizz-Kid, like me? Andy’s avery talented and funny chap, as is Steve.It’s so exciting to have The Phoenix aboutand it’s inspiring to see such high qualitywork being showcased each week.

Who was your favourite comic character? Did you write your own comic stripsbased on them?

I loved Dennis the Menace of course but it was usually certain styles of artwork thatgrabbed me, like how the distinctive ones lent characters and their world an extradimension. If I didn’t like the art then I’d give the strip a swerve. With Dennis you hadthat really shaky-looking style back then that struck me as pretty subversive. Denniswas quite a bruiser in those days. The old Davy Law reprints you’d get in the Dennisannuals were fantastic and quite strange in a way. Dennis’s world could be as sparselyframed as a Western movie with these tiny little silhouettes lurking on the horizon. Ofcourse the master of cheeky characters was Leo Baxendale. I was born too late toenjoy his pioneering early work but he still had his moments in the 70s with things likethe Willy the Kid annuals and his Pirates strip. The master of creepy characters wasKen Reid; another comics genius. He did loads of superlative stuff over the years but itwas Faceache in Buster that really stood out for me as well as his brilliantlyunsettling World Wide Weirdies for Whoopee! I also loved Robert Nixon, who took overFrankie Stein, one of Ken’s strips. He had lengthy spells with D.C Thomson and IPC andhad such a classy and ‘friendly’ style. His work was very clean but also remarkablydetailed at times, and crammed with an easy-going energy. This was in the days whenartists were not only drawing several strips a week but also more than happy toembellish them with some wonderfully detailed borders. Glorious feats of imagination..

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As I got a bit older the world of Judge Dreddtrounced over everything else and I wasinstantly hooked. Still am. It’s probably true tosay that nothing’s had as much impact on mecomics-wise as classic Dredd drawn by all thoseincredible artists - especially Mike McMahon,the most original of them all. I could losemyself for hours in his work.

I used to draw these characters endlessly but Ipreferred to write my own original strips thatrarely lasted longer than my attention spanallowed. School-related adventure stuff with meand my friends in. I remember a mate calledMichael Farrell started his own little comiccalled FUDY. It had strips in it called Flop theMop and Nutty Noodles and his Poodles. I wasquite jealous of that.

How about you, who’s your favourite artist?

I have loads of artists who I really look up to! There are over 80 years of comics togo through - it's hard to choose really! I don't really see what all the fuss is aboutDudley Watkins - I have replica copies of the first Oor Wullie and Broons booksand I don't find his drawings all that great, although I’m growing more to hiswork over time. I do love Ken Reid's stuff though! He's really good at drawingmonsters and horror stories, it's a pity he's no longer with us. But my all timefavourite has to be Tom Paterson. I must have spent many hours drawing andtracing his art! He just crams so much detail into every box, I've always likedCalamity James, but Sweeny Toddler was my favourite of all his strips.

I have to agree with you about Tom, he’s a supremely gifted and energetic humorist whohas the rare knack (like Baxendale and Reid) of being able to make you laugh at theactual appearance of the character before you’ve even reached the jokes.

And you can draw - who and what have you drawnfor over the years?My cartooning has tended to pootle along in thebackground really. A few local newspaper strips anddesigns for businesses. A little publishing work.Commissions of caricatures. It was weird because lastyear the Harry Hill scripts and Starburst strip arrivedcompletely out of the blue. I’d been away from drawingon a regular basis for over 20 years. It’s hard to believethat it’s been that long, as it’s my first love, but I’vebeen involved with other creative pursuits in themeantime. Too many hats as always.

So when was your first published art?

That would’ve been around 1989. There were two weekly Eastbourne papers called theHerald and the Gazette. I did a humorous cartoon for the Herald on a Saturday basedon some ‘amusing’ local news item like a Banger-Racing Bishop. On Wednesdays theGazette had a feature called Strange Tales from Around the World where the Editorwould give me a copy of the National Enquirer and tell me to pick a story from it toillustrate. Stuff like ‘Alien Baby Found on Everest’. Crappy things like that but goodfun to draw and a chance to go to town a bit and get a bit more 2000AD with it all.I think back to those days often because artistically my style hasn’t changed thatmuch. The main difference being that the pay was much better. And it was still rubbishback then!

And what about writing?

I ghost-wrote a kid’s book for a well-known sports personality about 8 years ago. I’vealso had film reviews published. Back in the 90s a TV series I wrote with a mate wascommissioned by Channel 5. Because we were new to the game it was over-developed tohell and after a lot of hard work it was dropped. Lesson learnt: stick to your guns.

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When did you first appear in comics?

February 2011. I wrote a 4 page Harry Hill strip thatNigel Parkinson developed into a 12 pager. The openingframe had Harry with a large singing boil on his face -Susan Boyle. I managed to get Doctor Who in there too -all 11 versions!

Did you enjoy writing the Harry Hill scripts and seeingthem published?I can’t tell you what a thrill it was to see that first stripappear whilst getting a credit for it. And I absolutely lovedwriting them; I loved the freedom to go wherever I wantedwith it whilst sending-up celebrities. It took me back toreading Cheeky comic as a kid because here was a weird-

looking fella wisecracking his way through an abundance of larger-than-lifecharacters. But I’m sorry to say that the money was absolutely abysmal. I nearlycoughed up my kidneys when I was told how little they paid. If you want to get byworking for The Beano and Dandy then write and draw the strips, or just stick to thepictures cos the writer gets nowt! Fair enough, the art takes longer, but the Harrystrip required an awful lot of gags - or a lot of awful gags - and it wasn’t ever acase of 6 or 7 panels leading up to one punchline. More like 24 gag-crammed panels! Soit ate into more time than was economically viable but I loved writing them so I did asmany as I could - about 12 or 13 I think.

I always looked forward to seeing how Nigel translated the strips - very rarely would hestick precisely to what I’d written, which could be a source of delight or frustrationdepending on what he’d added or omitted - but I took the view that any ideas thatdidn’t make it could be used again elsewhere. The strip I sent you, the 4-page ‘Bubbles’one, followed my script very closely apart from a few panels. I was pleased with thatone because it played with the form a bit and had a lot of inventiveness with speechballoons. I was bowled over by Nigel’s ability to present all that detail with suchhumorous clarity. I think he did some amazing work on the strip over the year that itran and it’s such a shame that it had to finish so suddenly. I’d written a couple ofscripts that never got used, including a Christmas one that I’d been hoping to see inprint for some time. You can’t beat a good Chrimbo strip.

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Unseen Harry Hill stories! - evergoing to show anybody them or willthey stay hidden for years untilpeople so badly want them that thegovernment is forced to buy themfor millions of pounds?

The latter, definitely. But I’d happilysettle for a crate of ale as payment.Actually, Nigel and I may try and dosomething else with those scripts oneday. Work them around anothercharacter perhaps.

How do you lay out a script for acomic? Do you write it out or drawit?In the enclosed example you can seethey’re a bit like a film script. I tend tostick to the model that 2000ADrecommends - you can see it in theirwriter’s guidelines. Lay it out clearly andthen it’s much easier to edit and make notes as you go along. I’ve still got some old2000AD scripts that Alan Grant kindly sent to me back in the 80s and the layout’snot that different. With the Starburst strips I always write them first. Then it’spencils, inks, colour, paracetamol.

And you've got a new book coming out soon called Worrisome Wilf. Could youtell us a bit more about that?

I wish I could but it might get me intotrouble! The short answer is that Wilf, thefirst in a planned series of kids’ books abouta nervous lad with an overactive imagination,was due out last October but suddenly therewas a rash of unexpected disagreements withthe publisher. Ultimately both parties agreedto disagree, and me and Martin, whoillustrated it, are currently taking the projectelsewhere. It was a real kick in the nuts whenit happened, especially after we’d spent agesdeveloping it, but we believe in the work andWilf will get out there one day I’m sure. Itcan be tough, but that’s life sometimes - aright fickle old pickle.

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Now that Harry Hill has come to an endwill you still be writing for The Dandy oris that it?That’s it for now but mainly becauselooking after a young baby takes up somuch time. It’s tricky enough making roomfor a monthly Starburst strip at the mo.But I’d like to return to The Dandy andwork with Nigel again later in the year.I’ve got plenty of strips planned that I’dlove to draw too.

How exactly did you get 'discovered' bypublishers like D.C Thomson?

It was a pure fluke that happened completely out of the blue. A good mate of mine was ata party and was introduced to Nigel, who explained that he was looking for a writer to helpout with the Harry strip, as he was getting rather snowed under. My friend recommendedme so I then contacted Nigel, told him about my background and pointed him to my websitewhere he could see examples of my writing style. He then sent me some finished pages offorthcoming scripts so that I could get a feel for what was required whilst seeing what themesto avoid for my own scripts. Then I wrote the above-mentioned 4-pager that was expandedinto a 12 page special.

How long does it take you to write a script?

After the idea’s rattled around for a while a rough page can be written in an hour ortwo but that would often be longer with the HH scripts - allowing for all the gags andthe high frame count. Then I’d go through it many more times before submitting so Icould always look for ways to either edit things or cram in an extra pun or joke. Italways helps to leave your work for a day or so if possible so you can come back andlook at it with a fresh perspective. I was happy if I could write a 2-pager in a dayalthough when pushed I could come up with 4. The Doctor Who strip is a bit quicker towrite as it’s less frame-intensive and gag-packed, and I tend to revise the content atboth the pencil and inking stages. The drawing always takes far too long.

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Do you have any advice for any writers or cartoonists out there wanting to gettheir stuff published?

Stick to your guns and trust your instincts. Feedback can help but I find that toomany opinions confuse and kill the spark. Don’t get distracted like I did and try to doeverything, pursuing other avenues, all at once. Keep reading comics. Get away fromthe desk when you can. Breathe in fresh air. As my partner Emily says, 60% of yourbody is water and if water stays still for too long it goes stagnant. Get a website.Stay the course. Take heart from your rejections - it’s something that every creatorhas to go through. And keep smiling! As the fortune-cookie says: ‘Victory belongs tothe most persevering.’

Thanks for talking with us Séan.

My pleasure.

A full Harry Hill script plus the finishedcomic strip will be posted as a separatepublication on our Issuu page soon. Tofind it, do one of two options:

1. Search 'laughterhouse' (ourproduction name) in Issuu and click on'people'. We are the top result, and allour publications should come up.

2. When reading an issue of AtomicComic, click on the name'laughterhouse' above the issue. Thiswill take you to our home page, whereyou can find all our documents.

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Auction Watch- by George Shiers

Vulcan was originallyreleased in Scotland only fora test run, before beingreleased to the rest of theworld (and in Scotland onceagain). The first issue of theScottish edition is justabout impossible to comeby, so when the near mintone with the original freegift on the left was put oneBay bidding quickly pickedup! Even so, I'm surprised tosee it sell for £255!

The Whampire Bat seen above was givenaway with Wham issue 15, and came withthe original pouch. It sold for £10.50.

Above: The Vulcan free gift -Gruesome George!

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Viz issues two andthree were alsouploaded to eBay,with issue twoselling for£413.99 , andissue three for£235.99.

Original Fudge annuals are hard to comeby, and feature some fantastic early workfrom Ken Reid! To your left is a photo ofthe front cover of the second book,published in 1941, which sold at auction for£107.

The Cor!issue one onthe right isin nicecondition,with verywhite pagesand only one

fault (creasing on the left), but stillmanaged to sell for a nice £45.66!Although there isn't room for images ofeverything, here are a few more auctionresults. Action issue one in VG+ conditionsold for £22, the 1940 Dandy annual inpoor - good condition sold for £193.54 andthe 1943 Dandy book in similar conditionsold for £142.66.

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Mega!Mega! is a newcomic/magazine to bepublished for the first timelater this month. Going bythe front cover, which you cansee on your left, thepublication does look verysimilar to Toxic, althoughmaybe with a few more comicstrips (we can't say yet, asthe first issue is yet to bereleased).

The cover, unfortunately, is amess. It is very difficult totell which word is the title,and images have beencrammed into every spaceavailable, making it look fartoo busy and bright. Maybethis is just a first draft thatwas released, and I really hopethat Immediate Media, who

publish the magazine, fix the cover before it is released.

Mega! issue one will be released on 6th February for and will cost£2.99.

Man From Space IsOut Of This World!

So if you've never read Man FromSpace, now is the time to start! Keepchecking for updates at the Man FromSpace website:

www.manfromspace.co.uk

or follow Marc himself on Twitter,where he will no doubt be revealing thelatest news:

@MARCmakescomics

by George Shiers

First of all, I'd like to apologise for theawful pun in the title, but this articlebrings some exciting news about ManFrom Space, a small press comic createdby Marc Jackson. Marc has being givingus little clues towards what could behappening to Man From Space online forsome time now, but we've never reallylearnt too much. However, we can nowreveal that this month brings the launchof the all new Man From Space web-comic. The comic brings a new look anda new story and Marc promised that itis going to be "all awesome"!

Above and Left: Sneakpreviews of the newlook Man FromSpace! The aboveimage is exclusive toAtomic Comic!

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REJECTED!REJECTED! is our aim to collect heaps of rejected comic strips, drawings or ideas,and publish them for the first time!

This month's rejection is this Korky the Cat strip by Phil Corbett, featuring theWashi Monsters (Washi - Moshi, geddit?)! Enjoy!

About Us!

We would also like to thank Will Barber -Taylor, who wrote the four page article 'TheChanging Face Of Dennis The Menace', whichI'm sure you'll all agree was a fantastic, wellresearched read!

To help us say thanks to Will, be sure to followhim on Twitter if you have and account:@Blackadder345

And Thanks To...

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