Comics UK

Yeah, Wenlock and Mandeville is quite frankly boring, but that's not Nigel's fault, it's just the concept.

I agree. I think one of the main problems with Wenlock and Mandeville (apart from the mascots themselves being fundamentally rubbish) is that there are hardly any attempts at jokes within the strips. I wouldn't mind it so much if the strips at least tried to be funny, but instead they simply promote the various Olympic sports - just about every strip mentions that the particular event the mascots try is in both the Olympics and Paralympics, and the plots are very similar and predictable.

I think that is down to the Olympics people - they pay for it, they call the shots, even if they're poor ideas.

Geoff Jones and Patrick Williams also did adverts.

I'm surprised people here think comic artists only do comics. Most are commercial illustrators who will turn their hands to anything that pays. I don't mean that to sound mercenary but I'm sure those who work in the field will confirm it. If you're a freelance, you work from commission to commission. Comics may be regular work but in real terms the rates of pay never kept up with the cost of living, and advertising pay was always far more lucrative. That's why many left comics and turned to advertising, or storyboarding (like Martin Asbury) or other illustrative work.

Found this Terry Bave piece in Roy of the Rovers dated 23 August 1986.

Good find Steve...
Clumsy Colin did the same kind of thing with skips..its on my blog somewhere..

BristleKRS wrote:Years back whilst in some doctor's waiting room or other I spotted a couple of leaflets with some suspiciously familiar-looking artwork...

Step forward Ian Gibson!

I contacted Ian Gibson about this, and he swears it's not him - though he was impressed that someone went to the trouble of trying to replicate his style!

Its VERY Gibson though, ininit!?

There used to be some public information leaflets going around, courtesy of the Lifeline Project, about such things as sex, drugs and alcohol, with comics in their leaflets giving out all the information. When I was reading them at the time I thought they might've been by Hunt Emerson, although from the small images I've found online I'm not so sure now:

David McDonald wrote:Its VERY Gibson though, ininit!?

GIBSONESQUE is a state of the Art well worth aspiring to, Methinks---Q Twerk!

BristleKRS wrote:

BristleKRS wrote:Years back whilst in some doctor's waiting room or other I spotted a couple of leaflets with some suspiciously familiar-looking artwork...

Step forward Ian Gibson!

I contacted Ian Gibson about this, and he swears it's not him - though he was impressed that someone went to the trouble of trying to replicate his style!

Arkensword no.15 featured a wide ranging interview with Ian in which he revealed that he did produce a number of public information pamphlets at one point. Here is a sample page that was reproduced, along with a short extract from the interview itself in which he described his attitude to advertising work:





(Copyright: Paul Duncan, Ian Gibson and Lambeth Council presumably)

- Phil Rushton

That last strip was most definitely Gibbers!

Nice Frank Bellamy circus poster. I know there are a few samples around but for those who have not seen them here is a nice example.

There are also variations on this theme, eg an elephant instead of car.

Wow! I've never seen that before!!!

philcom55 wrote:Wow! I've never seen that before!!!

Phil, I'm ashamed of you! It's taken me a while to catch up, but have you not looked at my old blog before? Maybe I shouldn't be so modest? Bellamy did 3 that I know of, although when I approached the circus on Midsummer Common, Cambridge and was greeted with deep suspicion ("what does the spotty teenager want?") I was only given two!
Norman