Myself and the FPO spent some time yesterday sorting out some of the crap that was in the garage, resulting in me bringing in a load of boxes to see what was in them, to check if they were water damaged, as the door has been broken for ages.
There was some damage to old press reports for bands, but other than that, it was like being in an ideal junk sale, as l had forgotten about lots of the boxes contents, and of course they were originally stored away because they were items l wanted to keep in the first place.
I now have crap all over the house which l have been slowly working through, and you can expect plenty of scans and photographs of the crap in the near future, starting with these editions of 'Doodle Bug', a comic that l got involved with in 1987, and helped to start off and sell, mainly around the Catterick Garrison, Richmond and Newcastle area, with the main man and main artist himself, Royston Robertson.
I think l can safely say that it would not have been put together if l had not met and advised him (at Colburn stores), but once underway, he was the main ideas man and artist, and did most of the work. Looking at them now (and even at the time) there was a lot of room for improvement, but there was some great ideas and it was fun thing to do.
Only eight editions (I think) were put out, but the others must still be in the garage (trust me, there's still plenty more crap out there).
I am glad to say that Royston has since managed to make a career as a cartoonist, and books of his can be purchased from his site, which can be found here. If asked nicely, he might even sign them for you.
toodle pip
4 comments:
Hi Jamie, yes I think it's fair to say you got the ball rolling. As I recall, we met when I was getting strips photocopied to send off to magazines (to be rejected!) and you suggested putting them together in a magazine myself and offered to help.
I still look back on it fondly (even though, as you say, it's a mixed bag). And having that success, albeit on a small scale, was definitely key in planting the seed of being a cartoonist in my head.
I did my own page on DoodleBug a while back here: http://www.roystonrobertson.co.uk/doodlebug.htm
It even crops up on eBay occasionally: http://www.roystoncartoons.com/2012/05/noted-illustrator.html
One point on which your memory is failing though ... it's Robertson not Robinson!
Your memory is correct, and mine isn't too bad with certain things, it's my typing that lets me down. My best friends name is Robinson so it must have been a slip of the keys as l tried to type too fast (and not checking it over enough afterwards).
It is now corrected. Also,I have spare copies, so if you want some let me know.
Damn! I just thought. I should have changed the spelling first and then said my memory is fine but your eyesight is going, as it is spelt correctly. That will teach me to type without thinking first (as usual).
I've got copies, thanks. A couple of each, I think. Still got all the original pages somewhere too. If a copy of the comic sells for £8 on eBay, the original pages could do for, I dunno, £8.50?!
Keep up the good work. I don't just look at the posts that are about me, you know ;) My own blog (roystoncartoons.com) has to stay mainly cartoon-focused, but I've been toying with the idea of doing one like yours where I post whatever I feel like. Maybe one day I'll get round to it.
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