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Beau Peep Notice Board => Saloon Bar => Topic started by: Rob Baker on February 06, 2012, 08:25:40 PM

Title: The Devils
Post by: Rob Baker on February 06, 2012, 08:25:40 PM
Coming soon to a Beau Peep site near you....
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devilsblurb1.jpg)
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Roger Kettle on February 06, 2012, 09:20:23 PM
There should be some ominous music to accompany this. I'll talk about these strips after Rob has posted them. 1984/85, I believe.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Rob Baker on February 07, 2012, 06:14:57 PM
Still coming soon to a Beau Peep site near you....

(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devilsblurb4.jpg)
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: The Peepmaster on February 07, 2012, 06:39:31 PM
Satan and Tomkins! I love it already. How many strips were there?
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Roger Kettle on February 07, 2012, 09:19:20 PM
It ran for two years, Nige, until I pulled the plug on it. To be honest, I never felt that the strip worked that well. Within the confines of a family newspaper (even the Daily Star!), the "nastiness" of the characters had to be toned down and my writing of it became pretty repetitive and safe. It just didn't turn out the way I'd planned so I decided to call it quits. I seem to recall I gave the Devil a cat called "Ratbag" and that was the best bit of it----which shows you what the rest was like!
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Mince on February 07, 2012, 09:28:55 PM
Did you write or think of any nasty but funny strips that did not get published?
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Roger Kettle on February 08, 2012, 09:03:28 AM
Well, that was the trouble, basically. You couldn't have the Devil doing something REALLY evil and the whole concept got watered down. I just didn't think it through and it all became a series of pranks and lame insults.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: The Peepmaster on February 08, 2012, 10:10:32 AM
Yes, but you get away with Horace not doing anything really courageous!
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Mince on February 08, 2012, 12:17:13 PM
it all became a series of pranks and lame insults

Oh, so it was based on Peepmaster?
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Rob Baker on February 08, 2012, 08:05:20 PM
Penultimate teaser....

(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devilsblurb3.jpg)
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Roger Kettle on February 08, 2012, 09:24:14 PM
Rob, like the Daily Star, you have built this up WAY too much!
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Mince on February 09, 2012, 09:45:06 AM
Rob, like the Daily Star, you have built this up WAY too much!

I didn't know Rob built up the Daily Star.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Rob Baker on February 09, 2012, 07:24:13 PM
Rob, like the Daily Star, you have built this up WAY too much!
Nooooo.  There's one or two very good strips....

Rob, like the Daily Star, you have built this up WAY too much!

I didn't know Rob built up the Daily Star.
Well I couldn't do much worse a job.


Last teaser:

(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devilsblurb2.jpg)

Did you see what I did with the teasers countdown (ok, admittedly I was a day too early with the last one) -- The Devils were first published on 11th Feb 1985.  Anyway, look in again on Saturday -- 22 years to the day since Strip Number 1.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Mince on February 09, 2012, 07:36:52 PM
Lost interest now.  8)
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Rob Baker on February 11, 2012, 05:35:01 PM
With the kind permission (and, I feel, certain reluctance) of Lord Kettle of Dundee, we present the first few 'The Devils' strips, which started publication in the Daily Star on Monday, 11th February, 1985.   Apologies for the quality (scans I mean, not jokes).

(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils1.jpg)
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils2.jpg)
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils3.jpg)
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils4.jpg)
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils5.jpg)
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils6.jpg)
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils7.jpg)
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Mince on February 11, 2012, 05:54:34 PM
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils1.jpg)

Notice how Andrew Christine left a gap in the U so that it looked like LI.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Roger Kettle on February 11, 2012, 09:10:31 PM
I believe there is a comic called "CLINT"----based on this well-known printing possibility. For those of you not familiar with the problem, the letters "L" and "I" can close up to form a "U" when reduced for publication. When I began my career in children's comics, we were advised to avoid the words "CLINT" or "FLICK". If the latter was unavoidable, it ususally appeared as "FL ICK". Flicking unbelievable.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Roger Kettle on February 11, 2012, 09:45:19 PM
Can I just add that it's really weird looking at this stuff again---it was written more than a quarter of a century ago. Even though I was eight years old, it's pretty poor.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Bilthehut on February 11, 2012, 11:49:04 PM
The '3-2-1' and political conference made me chuckle.  Thanks, Roger ... And Rob for resurrecting the Devils.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Rob Baker on February 13, 2012, 06:47:39 PM
A few more.....and the first appearance of the aforementioned Ratbag.

(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils8.jpg)
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils9.jpg)
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils10.jpg)
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils11.jpg)
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils12.jpg)
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Mince on February 13, 2012, 07:00:18 PM
Rob, who paid you to collect all these over the years?
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Rob Baker on February 13, 2012, 07:27:53 PM
I believe there is a comic called "CLINT"----based on this well-known printing possibility. For those of you not familiar with the problem, the letters "L" and "I" can close up to form a "U" when reduced for publication. When I began my career in children's comics, we were advised to avoid the words "CLINT" or "FLICK". If the latter was unavoidable, it ususally appeared as "FL ICK". Flicking unbelievable.
Strip 3 (Tarq's artwork)
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/strips/scan0006.jpg)
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Mince on February 13, 2012, 08:09:53 PM
He's just copied off Christine.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Roger Kettle on February 13, 2012, 09:27:13 PM
Tarqs nobly stepped in when Andrew had cracked a couple of ribs and did a superb job. The boy has talent.
I know I've said this before but it IS really strange seeing this stuff again. With a few exceptions, I never felt that these strips ever worked. Nice idea---shame about the actual content.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Tarquin Thunderthighs lll on February 14, 2012, 01:33:24 AM
He's just copied off Christine.

Congratulations, Mincey! There are few who manage to grasp the concept of ghosting a long-established cartoon strip quite so readily.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Rob Baker on February 14, 2012, 01:50:39 AM
I know I've said this before but it IS really strange seeing this stuff again. With a few exceptions, I never felt that these strips ever worked. Nice idea---shame about the actual content.
May I humbly disagree?  Your ‘Devil’s’ scripts reminds me of when you did Andy Capp – it seems to me that you weren't ‘constrained’ (if that’s the right word) by a 6-strip story, or ‘episode’,  and you just let the gags flow. I defy anyone not to laugh at Ratbag, after a long pause, saying ‘What are you waiting for - a song?‘
And Andrew seems to be in his element -– there are many, many, different ‘incidental’ characters he’s created during the run, and the expressions on their faces are brilliant. Just look at look at Eric Smith, as an example, above. 
Mince asked who paid me to collect these?  Well, I know a lot of work went into creating these strips and it saddens me to think they were only seen once, on the day of publication, as you say, a quarter of a century ago.  So, just like UK Gold, I thought it’s time for a repeat.
Trust me Roger, there’s some real crackers there. So, if you’ll allow me, I’d like to select a few of my favourites and put them up over the coming weeks, as an occasional treat for Kettle and Christine's legion of fans.
And if you say no, I’ll set Mincey on you....
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Roger Kettle on February 14, 2012, 11:10:31 AM
Anything but that.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Rob Baker on February 15, 2012, 04:22:20 PM
I believe there is a comic called "CLINT"----based on this well-known printing possibility. For those of you not familiar with the problem, the letters "L" and "I" can close up to form a "U" when reduced for publication. When I began my career in children's comics, we were advised to avoid the words "CLINT" or "FLICK". If the latter was unavoidable, it ususally appeared as "FL ICK". Flicking unbelievable.
Another example appears in the last panel of this old 'Mr Crabtree Goes Fishing' strip which, coincidentally, was re-printed in yesterday's Mirror...

(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/misc/crabtree.jpg)
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: The Peepmaster on February 15, 2012, 05:21:45 PM
Wow. My late father used to love those Mr Crabtree strips. I remember he collected the books. Beautifully drawn.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Rob Baker on March 16, 2012, 05:19:30 PM
A few more early Devils' , just to annoy Roger..

(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils21.jpg)
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils22.jpg)
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils23.jpg)
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils24.jpg)
(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/the%20devils/devils25.jpg)
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Roger Kettle on March 17, 2012, 08:58:50 PM
Yet AGAIN, let me say how weird it is to see this stuff---it's been erased from my mind  along with strips like "Titus the Newt" and "Mildew" which floated around the Sunday tabloids for a while. I'm a cartoon whore, me.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Jack on March 21, 2012, 09:57:12 PM
"Titus the Newt"?
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: The Peepmaster on March 22, 2012, 09:14:27 AM
"Cartoon Whore" could be an interesting concept...
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Roger Kettle on March 22, 2012, 09:22:56 AM
It ran in the News of the World for a couple of years, Jack, back in the early eighties. Basically, it was about a newt called...er...Titus who was permanently drunk. The kind of strip that, these days, would never have been published. Not my finest hour but Andrew produced some great artwork for the pond/woodland setting.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Roger Kettle on March 22, 2012, 09:27:21 AM
"Cartoon Whore" could be an interesting concept...
We all had to make a living, Nige! Back in those days, I was writing for children's comics, men's magazines and anything in between that would pay me!
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Jack on March 22, 2012, 01:57:25 PM
It ran in the News of the World for a couple of years, Jack, back in the early eighties. Basically, it was about a newt called...er...Titus who was permanently drunk. The kind of strip that, these days, would never have been published. Not my finest hour but Andrew produced some great artwork for the pond/woodland setting.

Time for Rob to start a new thread, methinks.  ;D
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Rob Baker on March 24, 2012, 09:34:29 PM
It ran in the News of the World for a couple of years, Jack, back in the early eighties. Basically, it was about a newt called...er...Titus who was permanently drunk. The kind of strip that, these days, would never have been published. Not my finest hour but Andrew produced some great artwork for the pond/woodland setting.
Time for Rob to start a new thread, methinks.  ;D
We didn't get the Sunday papers in our house at that time (my old man said they they were a waste of money as they were only full of adverts) so unfortunately I know nothing about Titus the Newt.  I couldn't find anything on the interweb either, but I did find an example of Mildew:

(http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk284/nomad2010/mildew.jpg)

I'd love to see some more of these, and any of Titus...

Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Jack on March 25, 2012, 09:34:15 AM
...unfortunately I know nothing about Titus the Newt.

What?! And you call yourself a stalker...  ;D
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: The Peepmaster on March 25, 2012, 10:15:28 AM
I'd love to see some more of these, and any of Titus...

The titus are usually on page 3.
Title: Re: The Devils
Post by: Malc on June 04, 2012, 11:42:57 PM
One of the concepts I developed for Cosgrove Hall (post Dangermouse and Duckula) involved three little penguins as the earthly, but unwilling, servants of Beelzebub. One of the penguins was a Harpo-type character, who only spoke in tweets and honks, whereas the other two spoke normally. The penguins decide that the Devil is a horrible man who they don't want to work for, so they abscond to live as bikers Hell's Penguins, much to the Devil's fury, and he pursues them.
It was felt that the Devil aspect, with open mentions of Hell would render the series unsaleable in the US, so we kept the Hell imagery but substituted the Devil for The Chairman.
With even more concessions, Hell's Penguins became Avenger Penguins and eventually the penguins became idiotic but golden-hearted bikers, pursued by an evil entity for no apparent reason. No wonder it didn't garner much of a following.