Monday 25 April 2016

Splank! and The Grumpy Penguin

A few days since my last post and I've been busy researching something that connects Hammer Horror Films, The Two Ronnies, John Lennon, Buster (the comic) and stamp collectors.

This morning I received a lovely piece of art relating to a project I've hinted at a few times already, the idea is for a revival of Splank!* later this year with the marvel Superhero strips replaced with some home-grown adventure stories.  One character being developed is "The Grumpy Penguin" and the artist here is one Stanley Robinson.



The idea for the Grumpy Penguin developed out of this short film, produced by my nephew for his 'A' level in 'Moving Images' a few years ago.  Somehow he persuaded me to play the part of Peter.  I hope you enjoy it and if you do I will pass on your good wishes to Jake Desmond who you can visit on his "JakesHomeVideos" YouTube site.



So from there, discussions with a couple of friends, Semtex Stan and Seedy Bob - both of whom appear in the film, got out of hand and ideas for comic strips were developed under the influence of strong painkillers and rye whiskey.  (I find Rittenhouse Rye 100 proof to be best for creativity).

Characters were developed, each based on the personalities or foibles of myself, Stan and Bob and a few artists were involved.  I'm saving the names of some of the artists involved for future posts but they include one of my heroes from the comics of my childhood and one of the funniest cartoonists ever come out of Northern Ireland or anywhere else come to that.

Over the next couple of weeks I'll be publishing more details of what we are after and some more preliminary artwork.  But if any artists or writers are interested in getting involved with Splank! the comic, please do get in touch using the splank@boxofrainmag.co.uk address.   We already have some fantastic people involved, but more of that in future posts.

Now, back to my research.


*See post number 1 for the history of Splank!, the lost Irish Comic.


 

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