Comics UK

While I was searching for an issue of Whizzer & Chips I unearthed my Hoots (ooh, Matron) anyway I was wrong when I said I had a full set - I actually have two full sets - in mint condition. Also five first issues (with gifts). Thinking about it I assume at the time I had bought a full set of Cracker, which lasted 89 issues? and, when Hoot came out, I must have figured it would also have a short run so why not buy two of every issue. One set to keep and one to sell. I won't be putting them on ebay any time soon though. But it all helps to keep me after I retire.

I am still trying to find out who drew the strip Sam's Secret Diary. The same artist also drew Spotted Dick (not for every one but a considerable amount) and the one-off strip The Old Ones.

Previously I thought the artist may have been Steve Bright but there are definite differences between this artist and Steve Bright because Spotted Dick looks noticeably drawn by a different artist in issue 11 (which I know was all done by Steve Bright) than when he is drawn by the Sam's Secret Diary artist.

There was an earlier suggestion in this thread that John Aldrich drew a number of Spotted Dick strips, as a number of Spotted Dick strips were done by the Sam's Secret Diary Artist I wondered whether he was the Sam's Secret Diary artist. However after finding this example of some of John Aldrich's work it doesnt look like his work on Sam's Secret Diary however it does look like a similiar style to some of the Spotted Dick strips where I am not 100% sure it was by Barrie Appleby.

Here is an example of the work of this artist (it's part of the Header which appears on each Sam's Secret Diary strip)

Jerry Swaffield, who also drew Simply Smiffy for the Beano.

A search for John Aldrich on this site brought up this thread which seems to confirm that John Aldrich did do alot of the Spotted Dick strips and it also confirms that Jerry Swaffield did some of the Spotted Dick strips as well which backs up the idea Jerry Swaffield drew Sam's Secret Diary. Looking at a Simply Smiffy strip from the 1987 Beano Book that strip is definitely by the same artist as the one who did Sam's Secret Diary.

And Swaffield definitely drew Simply Smiffy, so I think you just confirmed that he did SSD too.

Peter Gray wrote:Steve Bright drew the whole of Hoot for the pantomine issue even Hoot Squad...which show how brilliant steve is at ghosting But still his own work at the same time...

Are you absolutely certain about that? Because when Snackula appears, he looks so different to everyone else, so uniquely Mostyn-ian...

Absolutely dead cert. Brighti is that good.

Sometimes with Steve it's the secondary characters who give it away. Classic example was his wonderful Black Bob work in the Dandy Annual 2013 - only giveaway was the face and mouth of one of the baddies.

He's FANTASTIC! I can usually tell his stuff straight away by looking at the character's teeth, but his ghosting of Mostyn and Geering is more-or-less perfect. Colour me impressed