I did a one-off gag featuring a gunfight between two ageing gunslingers (the gunfight went on for hours because they kept going to the toilet). I fully intend to use Malc's idea of an old gunfighter in a week-long series but haven't quite got it right in my head yet. Sometimes I will toy with an idea for months before it finally clicks into place.
Not long after I started writing Horace, I introduced a "medicine man" character. I soon realised that he could easily turn into The Nomad and I changed his personality.
I am the first to admit that I am a limited writer. My basic premise is to take an established hero, churn out a wimpish version then throw in some peripheral loonies! Because of this, there are bound to be similarities in the strips I write.
Andy Capp is a bit different. The characters had already been put in place by the wonderful Reg Smythe. In the beginning, I tried very hard to copy Reg's humour but, inevitably, my own style soon kicked in. While I'd like to think I still capture the essence of Andy, there was a depth to Reg's writing that I don't even come close to. He had a brilliant way of conveying the love between Andy and Flo---despite the warring facade---that is simply beyond me. My stuff makes it look like like they hate each other and it drives me mad that I can't capture that magical, and essential, element of underlying devotion.
I also have to work extremely hard not to turn Andy's mate, Chalkie, into Dennis!
