A long, long time ago...

[Malc]

Many years ago (about 1997, I think) I tried to get a show up called Desert Island Dick which was designed as a non-dialogue short form animation series.

My D.I.D was ginger-haired and his companion was a malevolent penguin, something like the baddie in the Wallace And Grommitt movie. I'm trying to find the artwork and promo blurb, but I saved it on disks and have to retrieve it.
If I remember rightly, it contained many eerie similarities in style and intent to Roger's outline. Each episode involved Dick dealing with some washed-up item or other but I do remember also that it had a supernatural theme - there was some weird stuff.

[The Peepmaster]

octopus dick

I had to read that twice. Not a very flattering comparison I wouldn't have thought.

[robbie62]

octopus dick

I had to read that twice. Not a very flattering comparison I wouldn't have thought.

some people see only what they want to see

[Rob Baker]

I just saw this on Ebay Roger - is it one of yours?



Congratulations for an amazing 40 years!  Did you ever do any artwork, and what did Andrew do for the Topper?

[Mince]

That cover is stupid.

When he swings that axe, he's going to spill the hot water from the kettle.

And where did the logs come from anyway? I don't see a second tree that's been cut down. And what happens when those logs are used up, which seems soon given that they are burning them to cook dinner.

And that octopus is sitting on a crate. With the weight of the man, the law of centres of gravity tells you the octopus would topple over.

What are cartoonists doing to today's youngsters?

[Roger Kettle]

Rob, I certainly had nothing to do with that cover but there may have been some stuff inside that I wrote.
Andrew---who was originally a letterer---used to illustrate the readers' letters page and then was given a strip called Dopey Joe. The only thing I ever drew for Thomson's was a strip I created about a stoneage footballer by the name of "Klog". It ran in a couple of their publications and had, shall we say, a naive style. Believe it or not, it was later drawn by somebody called Tarquin Thunderthighs III. In order to copy my..er..unique style, he had to draw it left-handed and drunk.

[Vulture]

That cover is stupid.

When he swings that axe, he's going to spill the hot water from the kettle.

And where did the logs come from anyway? I don't see a second tree that's been cut down. And what happens when those logs are used up, which seems soon given that they are burning them to cook dinner.

And that octopus is sitting on a crate. With the weight of the man, the law of centres of gravity tells you the octopus would topple over.

What are cartoonists doing to today's youngsters?

Mince, Superman, Iron Man, Spiderman....... need I say more?

[robbie62]

That cover is stupid.

When he swings that axe, he's going to spill the hot water from the kettle.

And where did the logs come from anyway? I don't see a second tree that's been cut down. And what happens when those logs are used up, which seems soon given that they are burning them to cook dinner.

And that octopus is sitting on a crate. With the weight of the man, the law of centres of gravity tells you the octopus would topple over.

What are cartoonists doing to today's youngsters?

where did he get the tea,and the board to write on and why is the octopus not dead from being out of the water so long he has dried out?

Mince, Superman, Iron Man, Spiderman....... need I say more?

[Rob Baker]

Andrew---who was originally a letterer---used to illustrate the readers' letters page

I bought a couple of Toppers off Ebay the other day just to see what they were like (I used to get The Beano when I was a lad).   I think Andrew's style is easliy recognised in this letters page even way back in May 1974 (issue 1110):


The Editor was impressed with the 'Tall Story' letter. I wonder what the writer is doing now, and would he be embarrased to read it again, all these years later?

[Roger Kettle]

UNBELIEVABLE! Rob, this is just amazing. I've never seen this before. This was just after I left The Topper and one of my colleagues must have stuck this in. They even got the name of my wee village right!

[robbie62]

they should put that story in a MOO-seum

robbie62 london

can i have the stringed animal puppet if this gets published