Fact File...honest!

Cats Comic Subscription...

Meanwhile, back at the strip...

Before we go back in time and join the pink coated human and the fur clad fool, this is a good point to mention that it was a real pleasure to work on a publication that included artwork by Lew Stringer. As the last post will show, readers had the fun of seeing Robo Capers.

We've been blessed over the years in the UK with a cavalcade of fine humour cartoonists, each one leaving their mark on our conscience and the printed page, true to say that Mr Stringer is certainly along with the best. Let's read on...

Thanks, Jamie...

Shes wants a...KERMIT!

In the early days of the characters life, whilst appearing as a daily newspaper strip, I was approached by a toy company showing interest in producing a Matt soft toy. It seemed like a good idea at the time, something like how the charge of the Light Brigade was for recruitment drives! So the great day came. Following a colouring competition, the 12 winners gathered at the toy company in order to receive their very own Matt toy. Local press were present, pictures were to be taken, what could possibly go wrong? I remember that the little girl was called, Nicola. She was the last to be presented with the toy. All seemed to go well...until she began to utter those words which have haunted me ever since, " I don't want this, I want a Kermit!" At which point, mummy dear attempted to calm the sweet child down. "But, this is a toy factory, and I WANT A KERMIT!" continued Nicola. Finally, the wonderful youngster left, minus one green frog.

However, the plus factor for any cartoonist is when you check out the letters page of whichever comic you happen to be working on, to discover that a young reader has taken the time to either write in or draw a picture of your character. It's just one of the many things that make the job worthwhile.

Distasteful Flea Carrier!...

Intergalactic Egg Cup...

By now, you're rightly saying to yourself, 'Is this guy on something? What the 'ell is a Lobb?' Truth is, when these intergalactic egg cups were created wwaaayyy back in '76, just a minute, I hear you say, this strip didn't come out until 1984! True, says I, how so, says you? ( Oh, my God, I've changed into Capt. Jack Sparrow! ). Remember at the beginning of this Blog, I mentioned that I once produced a young children's series, Wishy, Washy and Wig, well, in one storyline, I designed a group of er...intergalactic type egg cup characters, whose name happen to be, Lobbs! Because I didn't use them, I was always looking out for the right moment to introduce them into a comic strip, and the rest as they say is history. Hope that all makes sense...

Er...Lobbs!

Yep! I'm still trying to remember where the name came from. Er...maybe we could move on.

Humph meets the Lobbs!

The Lobbs! Well, it kinda felt right at the time. I would really like to say that the name was taken from the surname of a dear old friend of mine, or that it was a wonderful little place I once stayed in when I was a child...or perhaps it's an old celtic word meaning 'he who has piles!' sorry!

Putting the cat out...

Whilst visiting a convention, someone kindly mentioned to me that when they were younger, they would collect each Matt and the Cat strip and place it on their bedroom door, by doing so, creating one large story. Okay, the cat is about to be put out, didn't think that after all these years we would be following the cat and his hope to post his comic subscription...so, let's read on! In order to take you back to a time when comics were cheaper to purchase, and in the midst of enjoying Transformer adventures, you were also introduced to a boy, a cat and a whole host of strange characters, I'm posting on the blog just the first few original Matt and the Cat strips for your enjoyment. This is to be followed by a brand new 23 page adventure of Humph the Cat. It's simply my way of saying thank you to all those who read the strip back in the 80s and kind enough to write about it.

And so it begins...

I still get a good feeling deep inside when I see the cover of Transformers issue five. It was the 17 November 1984,...so what's over 22 years between friends?

It's November 1984...

When Sheila Cranna at Marvel UK accepted the new humour strip, Matt and the Cat, it allowed the characters to become much more versatile and to develope in a new format. Because of the theme of the Transformers comic, robots and space travel became the background for the storyline. But the real fun was that instead of playing the role of a subsidiary character, Humph The Cat became the main player. The door was now open to fresh ideas and a robot called...Olia-cym!

Humph strips...

I quickly figured out that the best way for me to produce daily strips was to write and draw them as a batch, that way a theme could be inserted, allowing the strip to carry it for the week. I found this approach really helpful as one of my big commitments in those days was to Yorkshire Television.

I became involved in producing full colour cartoons for the Calendar program. I'd get a call, sometimes around 2.00pm, asking for at least four cartoons. These would all be based on various news items. The deadline could be just after 4.00pm and to be collected by courier for that evenings show. As the jobs were frequent, it made sense to work on the daily strips within a fixed timescale, always trying to keep a month in front.

Therefore, here's a few more strips which appeared in both the Bradford Telegraph & Argus and Manchester Evening News.

Well, that hurt!...

Okay, so this is only the early stage of putting together my blog, but already memories of creating what proved to be a fun strip are flooding my mind. So, let's begin with a little bit of background. It's 1979, and much to everyones surprise, I've found the perfect working place in the house...the broom cupboard! Yes, I did say the broom cupboard! It happened like this, a friend at that time mentioned that it would be impossible for anyone to work in such small and cramped surroundings, but I was to prove him wrong. In fact, I proved him wrong for the two years that were to follow. True to say that if I stretched out my arms, I touched all four walls. I kid thee not, true believer, I in no way exaggerate when I say that within the somewhat limited area of space, I put a desk with drawing board, small filing cabinet...the sweeping brushes moved out and the artist's brushes moved in.

It's quite common for characters to be based on people or pets, and this was to be of no exception. I'd originally rescued the cat as a kitten from someone wanting to name him, Elvis! He had a mountain of personality and loved to sit by my drawing board whilst I worked. He also had the strange habit of sleeping in odd places, usually on his back with his large feet up in the air. It was during one of these occasions that whilst walking down the stairs, I happened to begin to stand on the cat! My fault as I was looking at a book cover at the time. I felt my foot slowly start to touch his feline tum, suddenly aware of what was about to happen, I pulled back, twisted awkwardly and fell down the entire flight of stairs. I guess I was lucky in that I came out of it with two broken ribs. The following night, Humph jumped onto the bed, equally bouncing on to my chest. He was so pleased to see me, happy memories!

The Early Days

Where to begin? Whilst living in Birmingham in the mid-seventies, I had started working on what became the beginning of a variety of cartoon characters and the early stages of my work in the cartoon/comic industry.

Wishy, Washy & Wig were created predominantly for young children as a programme which was transfered from AV/Video to cable Tv. Because of my first love towards comic books, the intension was to take the characters and produce them as a cartoon strip. It was still to be some time before they would appear in a young readers comic for 11 years. Following a number of phone calls, I was pleased to meet up with a really great guy who was the features editor of the Bradford Telegraph & Argus newspaper. The original reason for the meeting was to look at the samples of the Wishy, Washy & Wig cartoon strips, but to my amazement, what happened next was the start of a new character that was to play a main part in my life. In the midst of the pages was a small sketch that was the basis of a new idea I was kicking around. Whilst from a visual point of view, it wasn't too descriptive nor dramatic, but it was enough for the editor to say that if I could take and develope the character into a strip, he'd go for it. Needless to say, I agreed and what followed was the first of a daily cartoon strip entitled Matt which ran for six years in the Telegraph & Argus and later with the Manchester Evening News.

The main core of the cartoon was the interaction between children, and whilst its influence came from the more famous strip from across the pond, Charlie Brown, I wasn't short of much needed ideas, as my older sons were both of pre-school age at that time. However, as the weeks went by, I realised two things about doing daily strips, firstly, it was like birth, once you've taken your first breath, you're committed for life, and secondly, I required a new ingredient. This was to come in the form of a feline with silly big feet and cheeks, a love for comics and a real attitude, he was Humph The Cat!

Okay, so a number of things have changed over the past few years. At the time of writing this, sons, Matthew and Nathan are 30 and 27, with little brother, Jakob age 2. The cat on whom the cartoon was based upon has sadly gone to the cat basket in the sky, but thanks to both the newspaper strips and more importantly, a great british comic, The Transformers from Marvel UK, over the pages of this Blog, we can enjoy both past and future artwork involving everyones favourite feline.