Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

For publications about British Comics and Story Papers; blog updates, heads-up to relevant websites etc!

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Captain Storm
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Re: Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

Post by Captain Storm »

Peter,you always manage to brighten my day :) I think it is incumbent on all the experts to support this new venture.The Yanks led the way years ago-even letterers and colorists were mentioned.....something John Wagner took on board with 2000ad.I believe Battle extended this generosity towards their staff.Whatever reasons DC Thomson and Fleetway had(protect identity of creators lest other side poaches them)they have left a legacy of a minefield which will take years to unravel!!!!!!!!!!!!
For shame... :oops: ...with hindsight of course.Ah,I can see it now......hmmmm....Artist XYZ...what did he draw and in what comics...oh yeah!!!!!.....great Database m'lud!!!It's time to bring our past out of the past and screaming into the 21st Century.Kudos all round!We're on he cusp of a new dawn....recognition!All the guys/gals who worked on British comics down through the years deserve it.I also mentioned a while back that any radio/t.v. interviews should be archived here as well but that met with a few smiles.....it's all pertinent folks....Don't expect me to agree with everything you say,much as I respect your expertise...directed at nobody,period!......Can't wait for this to kick off.....What's more amazing is that my annoying habit of bugging Artists/Writers seems to be paying off....some are actually responding!!!!!The future is bright,the future is ours for the making and the taking.....Commercial break now follows.... :tongue:

Lew Stringer
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Re: Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

Post by Lew Stringer »

Captain Storm wrote: I think it is incumbent on all the experts to support this new venture.
Many are already doing their bit with blogs, books etc. Surely it's up to whoever will run your proposed database to collate the data they need from such sources and put it online themselves. Why not give it a go Captain? :)

Lew
The blog of British comics: http://lewstringer.blogspot.com
My website: http://www.lewstringer.com
Blog about my own work: http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com/

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Captain Storm
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Re: Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

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If only I didn't have to work Lew :lol: If Al could put in place a basic structure with editing rights granted to all members then we each could add on the fly what we know.I imagine a table with A-Z comic titles which when clicked on lead to that comics strips with boxes for Artists,Writers,etc and dates and so on.Sort of a searchable relational database so for example,somebody wanted to gen up on Carloz Ezquerra...enter the name and hey presto...Strontium Dog from Starlord,Major Easy from Battle..with dates etc,..likewise....Dennis the Menace.....bbbbding!...Comic Titles,Writers,Artists,dates...
I think it can be done if the proper structure is in place.And with the amount of knowledge here,it wouldn't take too long for it to be collated into a nice reference work....a live Wikipedia of our own :cheers:
So in short if Al puts one together,I for one will put up what small info I have,mostly to do with Adam Eterno(with a great deal of help from the folks here I might add :notworthy: )and Starhawk.
:xfingers: :xfingers: :xfingers: :xfingers: :xfingers: :xfingers: :xfingers: :xfingers:

your Cuddly Cap!

Lew Stringer
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Re: Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

Post by Lew Stringer »

Captain Storm wrote:If only I didn't have to work Lew :lol:
But that applies to all of us. It's all very well saying someone should do something but anyone so inclined already is putting their info on the web, including your good self of course with your excellent Adam Eterno site.

We already have a database of sorts, by searching Google. Yes, it'd be nice to have everything in one place and with accurate info, so in time perhaps someone will spend the time collating it into a database. At the moment though there's already more info on British comics available than there has ever been, which is a significant improvement over the situation of 10 or 20 years ago or more.

Lew
The blog of British comics: http://lewstringer.blogspot.com
My website: http://www.lewstringer.com
Blog about my own work: http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com/

dennis the menace
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Re: Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

Post by dennis the menace »

al should start a wiki basically wikipedia started this thing called wikis wich you can join up for and edit

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Captain Storm
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Re: Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

Post by Captain Storm »

What about a Yahoo Group that could be an extension of the ComicsUK site?I tried a few online Database Systems and believe me adding data nearly caused me to loose more hair than I would like to!But the Yahoo option allows the setting up of tables which are searchable and printable.Maybe more simple than a traditional database and perhaps not as relational but easier to set up and maintain.I'm off on a weeks holliers now,but when I get back I'll have a crack at it.Perhaps people can post their info their or add it.You'll see what I mean soon.It's worth a try. :xfingers:

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Captain Storm
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Re: Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

Post by Captain Storm »

Ok Lew,I've created a new Yahoo Group here.From the outset let it be known that this is not meant to poach any members away but is simply an experiment to see how far we can take the Database thingy.Anybody can leave msgs and start a DB if they so wish.It's an open group so dive right in.Chat soon.Now where's me beer :cheers: Oh there is it :lol:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/britishcomicsdatabase/

Let's try this!!!!

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Captain Storm
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Re: Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

Post by Captain Storm »

Dennis the Menace said:
al should start a wiki basically wikipedia started this thing called wikis wich you can join up for and edit

Erm I think I mentioned that already!Plus it is more time consuming than you would think.No slight intened Bud :wink:

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Re: Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

Post by felneymike »

Actually i think a Wikia wiki might be a good idea, the Yahoo groups i have seen have looked a right mess, and they way thier message boards work is terrible. A specific wiki dedicated to British comics and Storypapers by issue/story/character/writer/artist rather than just articles with a brief overview of the title would work a lot better. But then i've never had to set one up.
Surely, though, there's a default template and 'look' to them that will 'do' until something better can be made? just as long as it's there and people can start laying down information in it, i'd be willing to do my bit on the Union Jack, Boy's Friend and Wizard front for the issues of those papers i own...
I reckon articles could be on the title (with the history/publishers of it) and then pages created for every issue with the publication date, price, stories and other interesting notes (ie a price change, format change, merge or introduction of a new story of importance). The stories themselves could then link to pages about the story itself which gives the issues it appeared in (as a range, or "all of them" or "most since..." where nessescary), the writer, artist, colourist etc, maybe a brief bit about the storyline/characters/situations (depending on it's nature). The names of the writers, artists etc could then link to pages about them which also mentions the more important/significant stories they worked on.

Actually... that does sound a lot of work!

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Al
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Re: Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

Post by Al »

This topic has been split and has now moved to http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/Forum/viewtop ... 134&t=1901

Al

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Peter Gray
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Re: Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

Post by Peter Gray »

My new posts for next month will cover the covers of Buster 1989 1990 1991 1992..

So the start of the Buster cover database..
Already posted is 1987 and 1988

If all goes well I may continue up to 2000 and then start at 1973 when Reg Parlett started...the 1960's I can't do as I have hardly any of those. Also a bit tricky to scan due to the size.
Comic covers are used a lot for ebay.all I'm doing is collecting them together ...which is handy for collectors to see whats missing in there collection and also nice to see..

Hope to do lots of posts a month.

Corrected my post on Grange Hill Juniors..and added credit to them for pointing out my error and who the real artist is..
Last edited by Peter Gray on 05 May 2008, 23:43, edited 1 time in total.

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Peter Gray
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Re: Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

Post by Peter Gray »

See lots of Creepy Creations at the blog.thanks to cobweb blog which shows comic horror comic characters...horror adverts etc...

http://petergraycartoonsandcomics.blogs ... Ken%20Reid

very creepy some of those....Ken Reid is our British Dr Seus with a dark twist..

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Re: Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

Post by Kashgar »

Hi Peter,
Re George Cobb. George still works on the Beano as chief sub-editor under Alan Digby. Indeed, if you managed to catch the scottish leg of BBC 2's 'Comedy Map of Breat Britain' two Saturdays ago in the five minutes devoted to 'The Beano', when Alan Digby entered the Beano office George was sitting at a desk in the background.

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Peter Gray
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Re: Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

Post by Peter Gray »

Thanks Kashgar I'll add it to the blog about George writing Billy Whizz

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Peter Gray
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Re: Peter Gray's cartoons and comics blog ....Whats New!

Post by Peter Gray »

A very sad time for me and my family.

A tribute to my Dado at my blog.

He died very quickly from aggressive cancer at the age of 68. I'll remember him with a smile. Very gutted.

He was a graphic designer, painter and cartoonist.

Its in the blood. I've got my BA Hons degree in Graphic design and also a cartoonist.
A Christian man to the end. So I'll see him again in heaven.

All Dads should draw cartoons with there sons.

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