Monday, October 1, 2012

Nuke Noodle-Face Finlayson

I recently discovered a box of Beano and Dandy comic libraries in a cupboard in my parents palatial shack in the woods on the moon. If you don't remember them because you are too young or you have had a brain hemorrhage, they were little booklets of 60 pages or so with longer, crazier adventures of regular Beano and Dandy characters. One of the biggest influences on my work was a particular library featuring Baby-Face Finlayson. It's an odd read to say the least, with a swerving plot and lots of weird jokes. It features a few cameos, too, from Dennis and Gnasher and Black Bob. I have scanned in the whole silly thing, and will be posting them on here over the next few days! That's probably illegal, but I am immune from prosecution as I am a top Governmental Assassin who thinks the cold war is not over.

But first, as a tribute to that character, created by the legendary Leo Baxendale, here's a sketch from a forthcoming episode of my own Nuke Noodle, featuring Baby-Face himself!













9 comments:

Wilbur Dawbarn said...

Ooh, nice one, Alex!
I shall enjoy that old strip later. And your Baby-Face is looking good, too. (That's your drawing, I mean -- I'm not flirting with you)

Andy Boal said...

I might have to choose Brighti's cover over your version, Alexander, but it's easy to decide between your version and Henry Davies (who drew the actual strip) - I'm no fan of Henry's, even when he was only ghosting Ron Spencer and not cutting and pasting everyone!

Looking forward to seeing pages 24-68 and the finished Nuke Noodle!

alexander matthews said...

Hi Andy. Was it Henry who drew it? I was hanging out with him just the other night. Steve Bright drew a lot of the covers for these things-this one has especially nothing to do with the story inside!

I think I make the most of limited skill-I'm nowhere near the level of Bright, and Henry is a brilliant draftsman by the way. I don't blame him for cutting corners. Comics don't pay a lot, you know. Who wrote it, though? That guy's my hero.

Andy Boal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Andy Boal said...

I should keep my mouth shut in case of whom I offend :) I've simply never been a fan of Henry's, and you've no idea how pleased I am that Euan didn't use his muppetesque Calamity James and turned to Tom Patterson instead!

Yes, it's Henry's work. I would guess, with the possibility that I am entirely wrong, that it was probably written by the title's editor, Ian "Smokie" Gray, aka the Loon. He was talked about in memoriam at Comics UK (edited for the link...)

alexander matthews said...

No worries, we all have our personal taste. There a few very popular comic artists who's work I cannot stand.

Where is Tom Paterson these days? Has he retired? Is he ok?

Oliver said...

You can't stand Tom Paterson? :O

Andy Boal said...

Tom Patterson is an absolute artistic genius, but I haven't seen any new work of his except a one-off Fred's Bed in many months. I don't know whether he's not well or anything, but he's well under the radar.

Oliver, reread my comment - I'm glad Euan used Tom's version, not Henry's :)

alexander matthews said...

I love Tom Paterson, but his style is borrowed from Leo Baxendale.