Korky the Cat and the Kits

[Jay]

I'm needing to know which Kit was which. There was Nip, Lip and Rrip and they had ginger, black and grey fur. Does anyone know which names goes to which colour?

Google and a dozen 1990's Dandys have failed me.

[felneymike]

I was thinking the very same thing today, because my girlfriend will inevitably ask why the cat I had in the 90's was called Rip

Anyway the 1996 Dandy Annual (the only one I seem to have somehow @_@) doesn't give their names in the title, but they are drawn in the order Grey, Black and Ginger, if it's re-used art then the labels would go Nip, Lip and Rrip in that order.

[Peter Gray]

here you go...its on my website
http://petergraysukcomicartists.blogspo ... 0the%20Cat

[Digifiend]

Never mind. I was about to post a link to that same image. Peter beat me to it.

Anyway, Felneymike's order is correct.

[stevezodiac]

Jay doesn't say why he needs to know this. Is he texting us from a rather long ad break on who wants to be a millionaire?

[colcool007]

Jay doesn't say why he needs to know this. Is he texting us from a rather long ad break on who wants to be a millionaire?

I think it's a case of someone asked a fairly easy question [for us] and we don't mind answering. For some of us, the kudos of answering the question can sometimes outweigh the effort of answering.

[Jay]

Thanks Peter. The Dandy's I was thumbing through were from 1998 and had different mastheads.

Jay doesn't say why he needs to know this. Is he texting us from a rather long ad break on who wants to be a millionaire?

Sorry mate, can't tell you. It's a secret held only by a select few which is passed down through the generations. A bit like The Phantom but without the skin tight costumes.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Bob Nixon was such a master of appeal......there's definately a Roy Wilson influence in there, though.....Roy musta bin a firm favourite with the young Bob.

It's a lot easier to do a grotesque or repulsive character, but RTN absolutely nailed 'cuteness' for my money, without his work ever appearing cloying or saccharine.

I've tried cartooning 'cute' looking characters within a few basic lines like Bob done---and getting them natural-looking,----- and it ain't easy!!!!!

[stevezodiac]

Re Cute - Robert Nixon did do a comic strip in the Sun (or Star) many years ago - it was called The Gems and was about a group of kids not unlike the Perishers and Peanuts but drawn in rather fine style.

[Jonny Whizz]

I agree with the comments about Bob's ability to draw characters in a 'cute' way without making the strips too saccharine. I believe this was one of the main reasons why Euan Kerr wanted to bring Bob back to DCT when he became Beano editor.

I too am a big fan of his work - he has always been one of my favourite artists and I was very sad when his Roger strips stopped appearing the Beano (I was only eight, and didn't know that he had died).

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

yes, Steve: I mentioned the GEMS to Trevor Metcalfe on here last week,----he collaborated with BOB on the strip, but the Nixon influence seemed more prominent---- hoping he would provide a link or scan of this 1973 SUN strip.

Sadly, Trev has never re-appeared on the site recently, but who knows/


The GEMS were perhaps inspired by the success of PEANUTS, in which Schulz earned a staggering 30 million dollars per annum at 1970s prices!!!! [he gave a lot to charity, though: so fair play to him].

GEMS only ran a short time for some reason.

Jonny: Bob was never really replaced after his death: I was lucky enough to get a decent look of some of his originals: 'Lord Snooty COMIC LIBRARY no. 100/1987 'Roger' double-spread/ Desperate Dan comic library, mid-80s.I agree his input in UK comics is phenomenal---which is how one DCT Editor described his input to me[very accurately].

The most unusual original artwork I seen by him was a Desperate Dan model sheet to show the Comic Libraries Editor: absolutely impeccable work, and totally unlike his natural style [unlike the finished comic library] : I actually thought it was drawn by Ken Harrison, such was the accuracy [until I was corrected].

[swirlythingy]

I agree with the comments about Bob's ability to draw characters in a 'cute' way without making the strips too saccharine. I believe this was one of the main reasons why Euan Kerr wanted to bring Bob back to DCT when he became Beano editor.

I read that somewhere, too, although I can't remember where. Anyway, there's no questioning that his 80s Roger was a classic - I didn't really like Frank MacDiarmid's version when I first saw it, but then again that could be simply down to the fact I was too influenced by Nixon's (and Barrie Appleby's after him, which was - probably deliberately - very similar).

Interestingly, the 'cute' style (which seemed almost innate, ultimately shining through even in his ghost work) was by far the only style he was capable of drawing in. His first run on Roger the Dodger looked very different - more 'grotesque' and closer to Ken Reid. But that's nothing compared to what can be found on his official website. Check out the paintings!

[stevezodiac]

I finally found an example of the Gems newspaper strip in one of Denis Gifford's ACE fanzines. It is indeed a Metcalfe/Nixon collaboration although I can't see how two artists would draw just a few panels. perhaps Trevor wrote it?

[swirlythingy]

They had a character called Lol? Some things truly are of their time...

[Tin Can Tommy]

There was a character called Lol in the Tracy Beaker TV series on CBBC which was on TV relatively recently and was repeated non-stop on the CBBC channel (and probably still is).