Questions for John Stokes?

[Lew Stringer]

Marney the Fox is astounding. It'd be nice if Egmont could collect it into a children's book.

[philcom55]

It's great to have the opportunity to talk to you all.

It's fantastic to see you here John!

As a matter of interest, here's a partial scan of the original art for one of Geoff Campion's 'wash' panels for the Lion series 'Britain in Chains' - a strip you later went on to make your own:



...It's interesting to see how all these can be recognized by their slight sepia tone, though whether this was there originally or has just developed with age I not sure.

...And while I'm at it here's an original piece of art from Marney's little-known 1986 revival in full colour. I wonder if you have any idea who the painter was, or whether Scott Goodall carried on writing it?



- Phil Rushton

[philcom55]

It's great to have the opportunity to talk to you all.

It's fantastic to see you here John!

As a matter of interest, here's a partial scan of the original art for one of Geoff Campion's 'wash' panels for the Lion series 'Britain in Chains' - a strip you later went on to make your own:



...It's interesting to see how all these can be recognized by their slight sepia tone, though whether this was there originally or has just developed with age I not sure.

...And while I'm at it here's an original piece of art from Marney's little-known 1986 revival in full colour. I wonder if you have any idea who the painter was, or whether Scott Goodall carried on writing it?



- Phil Rushton

[Raven]

How nice of you to join us, John. Buster was my weekly as a boy so I thrilled to lots of your work, and - to name just one - especially have lots of nostalgic affection for a certain Denizen of the Deep.

We were recently discussing here Buster's interesting move towards serials with one page instalments towards the late Seventies, like Lenny the Loner. Did the editor ever discuss with you the reason for this shortening in length and were you fond of these one-pagers yourself? Not to worry if you don't recall after all these years!

Thanks for giving us so much pleasure over the years. Or, as Fishboy might put it, "Opple blubble! Waaooggle-obblob!"

[John Stokes]

Hi everybody, I will try to answer you all in this one text, as I am apt to mis-enter my password.
Steelclaw.
I did a few football stories, some for 'Scorcher' some for 'Score' before they became amalgamated and some for 'Roy of the Rovers' later on. Thanks for looking out the pages from 'Buster', I think that 'Marney' episode was the first one I tried spatter and spray on.

Peter Gray.
Great picture of a fox, Peter. I used to struggle to catch that feral expression that wild animals have ( our cat is a tamed feral, and even she has it ) but you've caught it straight off. Be sure to show us the Owl when it's done.

Philcom 55.
Great to see that panel of the great Geoff Campion. He was really good, wasn't he? I had forgotten that 'Britain in Chains' started off with tinted intro panels, they had been abandoned by the time I took over the series. I think the sepia effect is merely the result of aging, Phil, I myself am showing the same symptoms! The Marney original is great, too. You must have quite a collection of original artwork.

[John Stokes]

I ran out of space....

Raven.
I can't recollect any one-page stories that I did. They must have been when I had moved on from 'Buster' I think it must have been quite restricting for both the writer and the artist.

Thank you all for the responses and the interest, you can't know how humbling and gratifying it is to think that work from all those years is fondly remembered.
Warmest regards,
John.

[Digifiend]

Ran out of space? There's no limit to how long each post can be, John.

[Peter Gray]

Thanks John..that made my day...
I'll get drawing soon on the owl..

http://petergraycartoonsandcomics.blogs ... n%20Stokes
John Stokes Buster's Maxwell Hawke (30th October 1965 - 3rd September 1966)

[steelclaw]

Thank you all for the responses and the interest, you can't know how humbling and gratifying it is to think that work from all those years is fondly remembered.
Warmest regards,
John.

We will never forget

Peter very nice picture of a Fox hurry up and draw an Owl so we can see that as well.

[John Stokes]

Peter, Your blog has cleared something up in my mind. I have seen on various blogs references to my drawing Maxwell Hawke in the sixties, and thought to myself " You poor old ferret, you're losing it! You don't remember a thing about that, do you?" And I now realize, after following the link on your blog, that I don't remember it because I didn't draw it! Those pages are not by me. They're too good, for one thing. in 1966 my stuff was much clunkier. Thanks for setting my mind at rest.
Now, back to that owl!
All the best,
John.

[Peter Gray]

I've updated the blog post to say it wasn't drawn by you after all.I wonder who did it?

http://petergraycartoonsandcomics.blogs ... -30th.html

I almost feel like drawing the owl now..even though its late..got a photo ready to use..

[Peter Gray]

I've drawn half hour worth.too tired to draw more..been a busy day..

[Muffy]

Nice one Peter. This is turning into quite an inspirational post for bird and animal illustration, with me attempting to join in with one of my pencil/ink attempts

[John Stokes]

You people are too damn good! Think of my inferiority complex, won'tcha? I really didn't mean to keep you up all; night, Peter. I saw the half-finished drawing this morning, but couldn't manage to post a reply. It's looking good!
Muffy, that is excellent! Great action. Keep up the good work.
All the best,
John.

[philcom55]

you can't know how humbling and gratifying it is to think that work from all those years is fondly remembered.

Over the years your work might never have received the sort of rewards it really deserved but you can be proud of the fact that you touched the lives of countless youngsters along the way. Though I'm now in my late fifties I can still remember the thrill my nine-year-old self got from reading about Vic Gunn's epic struggle against the evil Baron Rudolph in the pages of Lion during the 1960s ( in fact some of those locations looked so authentic it's hard to believe that Sixties Britain really wasn't the scene of a bitter civil war! ):









...But of course it doesn't end there. The contributors to Comics UK represent a wide range of age groups which also include forty-somethings who grew up with Fishboy and Marney the Fox in the 1970s, thirty-somethings who thrilled to the adventures of Marvel's Black Knight in the 1980s, twenty-somethings (on both sides of the Atlantic) who will always associate your name with DC's L.E.G.I.O.N. and Tempest (not to mention The Invisibles) - and, hopefully, even as I write this there is a whole new generation of children being introduced to the joys of classic literature by your wonderful graphic adaptation of Great Expectations.

I reckon that's quite some legacy for a life spent quietly working away at your drawing board!

- Phil Rushton