The stories so far...

[Big Jock]

Hello, everyone!

As today is the start of my 25th year as a writer for DCT, I thought it might be of interest to forum readers to see what I'd written and who I'd written it for - at least you can have a guess at the initials of all the artists! This is as complete a list as my memory can make it and includes stories I have only written one script for, as well as ones I wrote over many years. Of all the artists named here, there are only two whom I never met face to face - Mal Judge and John Sherwood. I certainly would have enjoyed meeting them both! Mal lived for a time in my home town of Bishopbriggs, being a neighbour of my mate's wife. Apparently he used to go down the garden to his shed to work 9 to 5 on his pages. By the time I started work, however, he was living in Bournemouth and our paths never crossed.
Some of the other artists are now sadly deceased and I treasure their memories. To all I've worked with and those I continue to work with, I'd have to say it's been a blast and I hope our collaborations were/are enjoyed by all who read them! Here's to the future!

Big Jock.

THE LIST

Beano

Little Plum for R.S.
Biffo for S.B. and D.S.
Baby-face Finlayson for R.S.
Lee’s Fleas for B.D.
Gordon Gnome for E.W.
Emlyn the Gremlin for B.D.
Oscar Knight for D.S.
Little Monkey for B.A. and B.N.
No.13 for J.G.
Calamity James for T.P.
Fatty Fudge for J.P.
Ball Boy for M.J.
Lord Snooty for J.G., K.H and J.D.
Pup Parade for G.B. and D.P.
Tim Traveller for V.N.
Dennis the Menace for D.S., T.P. and B.A.
Bash Street Kids for D.S. and T.P.
Roger the Dodger for R.N., T.M. and B.A.
Minnie the Minx for J.P.
The Numskulls for B.G. and T.P.
Freddie Fear for D.E.
Les Pretend for J.S. and L.H.
Johnny Bean for L.H.
Gnasher and Gnipper for D.S.
Ivy the Terrible for R.N. and D.D.
Billy Whizz for D.P.
Singled Out for T.P.
Pansy Potter for B.G.
Little Larry for T.P.
Danny’s Nanny for D.M.
The Germs for D.S.
Trash Can Ally for B.D.
Vic Volcano for R.N.


Dandy

Sneaker for N.B.
Blinky for N.B.
Brassneck for N.B.
Desperate Dan for K.H. and J.E.
Cuddles and Dimples for B.A. and N.P.
Bananaman for S.B.
Corporal Clott for S.B.
Neville’s Island for J.P.
Brain Duane for T.P.
Hyde ‘n’ Shriek for T.P.
Bradley Bedsock for D.S.
Bodkin’s Moor for N.B.
Jak for W.T.
Ollie Fliptrik for K.D.
Flung Poo
Korky the Cat for D.S.
Dreadlock Holmes for S.W.
Squelchy McPhee for T.P.
Beryl the Peril for K.D. and S.B.
Scoopy the Newshound for G.B.
Winker Watson for T.B. and S.W.
Ten Watt Spot for D.G.


Beezer

Ginger for T.P.
Big Uggy for T.P.
Desert Island Dick for B.W.
Little Mo for J.P.
Old Misery for T.B.
Sting for B.D.
Colonel Blink for G.B.
Mickey the Monkey for J.S.
Willy Nilly for N.B.


Sunday Post

Oor Wullie for P.D.
The Broons for P.D.

[Kashgar]

Hi BJ and congrats on your 25 years of scripwriting for the comic titles produced by the Dundee based fun factory. A very impressive CV. I can guarantee that you will now be heartily pestered for details not only of your work but also for gen on all those artists that you did manage to meet face to face.

[Digifiend]

Gnasher and Gnipper is a DS reprint in this week's Beano - I don't suppose you're the writer Big Jock?

[colcool007]

Congrats BJ. Lasting 25 years in any job is good going. Now to all two of our gurus, key please?

[Big Jock]

Many thanks to you, Kashgar! I did think long and hard about posting in such detail. Hopefully the forum members will be kind with their questions!

Digifiend - the Gnasher and Gnipper is a Barry Glennard (B.G.) reprint and not written by me!

Cheers, Colcool - I stuck to two letter initials for speed. B.N. is Bob Nixon who, admittedly, usually signed his work R.T.N. I've also referred to John Geering as J.G., rather than J.K.G. Sorry for any confusion! If I'd thought more about it I wouldn't have used the pseudonym Big Jock either...

[Digifiend]

Why not? As far as I can see, you named yourself after the leaders of the Jocks from Dandy's Jocks and Geordies strip - nothing wrong with that.

Easy to mix up an early Glennard G&G with Sutherland's strips - he didn't change the style of artwork until later.

[Jonny Whizz]

I think Barry Glennard took over Gnasher and Gnipper about 1993. Certainly, in the 1993 annual, they were drawn by David Sutherland. Glennard ghosted Sutherland's style for a number of years, and it is very difficult to tell between them, unless you're 'in the know'. However, the style definitely changed in early 2001. I have some (non continuous) Beanos from then - an old style strip appeared in issue 3054 (January) and in issue 3057 (February), the strip was clearly Glennard's own style, signed 'B.G.' - he didn't sign it prior to then. In the Beano book 2002, the Gnasher and Gnipper strip is drawn in Glennard's Sutherland-esque style, and in the 2003 annual, they were drawn in the later style.

[colcool007]

Many thanks to you, Kashgar! I did think long and hard about posting in such detail. Hopefully the forum members will be kind with their questions!

Digifiend - the Gnasher and Gnipper is a Barry Glennard (B.G.) reprint and not written by me!

Cheers, Colcool - I stuck to two letter initials for speed. B.N. is Bob Nixon who, admittedly, usually signed his work R.T.N. I've also referred to John Geering as J.G., rather than J.K.G. Sorry for any confusion! If I'd thought more about it I wouldn't have used the pseudonym Big Jock either...

BJ, happy either way. I'm not as au fait with the humour artists so any commom system of identifying them (eg Bob Nixon rather than Robert Nixon) is fine by me.

[Jonny Whizz]

A question for you Big Jock:
What was/is your favourite character to write for? (also what was/is your least favourite?)

In the History of the Beano, Euan Kerr said he liked writing for the Bash St Kids more than Dennis, citing that an important factor about the characters was to make them the sort of people readers would want to have as friends, thus complicating it to make sure that he was naughty enough without being completely bad. He also said that he feels a certain amount of attachment to Baby Face Finlayson and Calamity James, two strips he was heavily involved in the creation of.

[Digifiend]

I think Barry Glennard took over Gnasher and Gnipper about 1993. Certainly, in the 1993 annual, they were drawn by David Sutherland. Glennard ghosted Sutherland's style for a number of years, and it is very difficult to tell between them, unless you're 'in the know'. However, the style definitely changed in early 2001. I have some (non continuous) Beanos from then - an old style strip appeared in issue 3054 (January) and in issue 3057 (February), the strip was clearly Glennard's own style, signed 'B.G.' - he didn't sign it prior to then. In the Beano book 2002, the Gnasher and Gnipper strip is drawn in Glennard's Sutherland-esque style, and in the 2003 annual, they were drawn in the later style.

Sounds like this week's reprint is from some time between 1993 and 2001 then. This particular strip is unsigned. In fact, I never realised the artist had changed at the time until the style changed - I suppose the reason it eventually changed was because Sutherland was no longer drawing Dennis.

[Big Jock]

Hi Jonny Whizz,

I'd have to say that the jobs I looked forward to writing most were Minnie the Minx for Jim Petrie and Les Pretend for John Sherwood. I liked Minnie's imagination and flights of fancy and the relationship she had with her dad - he was obviously meant to disapprove of her antics but I felt he was really very proud of her! Les was silly and daft but with a tremendous imagination at play and was great fun to do. I really enjoyed writing text versions of the Bash Street Kids and Dennis for the various annuals, so writing Bradley Bedsock for David Sutherland was a real treat. You definitely feel a real affection for the stories you create yourself!
As for the least favourites? At risk of offending any artist I worked with - I LOATHED Lord Snooty! I wrote it for years and did my best with it but I just couldn't stand the character, to my mind a Little Lord Fauntleroy spoof from the 1930s! Biffo, the ghastly bear was another piece of torture! Who was Buster? Why did he have a human aunt? His nephews? I managed to change it to an everyman/bear story with no dialogue with Sid Burgon. Finally, Ollie Fliptrik did nothing for me - it was always difficult for me to write. You always look for a hook to give you ideas, such as the modern Brassneck having a Fry & Bender relationship with Charley Brand or Johnny Bean living in a village where everyone but him is clearly deranged, but Ollie was good at skateboarding and therefore 'cool' by definition rather than personality.
These are merely my views and Ollie was fairly popular, indeed a lot of stories I personally liked such as Calamity James or Hyde 'n' Shriek, didn't prove all that popular with the readers.
At the end of the day, you have to be flexible and prepared to throw the baby out with the bath water, as you are not writing to please yourself, you are writing to entertain the most important people of all - the readers of the publication!

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Big Jock: it always impressed me how BEANO/DANDY writers came up with endless variations on a seemingly 'limited' theme. I can write one-off gags/short scripts if I have unlimited boundaries, but I always marveled at how a strip such as BILLY WHIZZ for example always came up trumps with new avenues on the 'speed' theme with apparant ease, within 'traditional' boundaries.

How on earth writers on KEYHOLE KATE came up with decades of variartion on the keyhole theme was a total mystery to me: as I've said, I can write if I can 'go anywhere', but these were/are very traditional strips that had to be acceptable to a wide public who expected recognizable themes/humour.

I was reading recently that OOR WULLIE and THE BROONS was much more difficult to write for than most would imagine, often taking days to come up with a workable story.

I am going to get the obvious question out of the way first [I'm sure you're tired of hearing this old chestnut}:

'where do you get your ideas from?'

I do remember one DCT Editor quite literally carrying a 'gag book' [actually LABELLED such!] around with him.

[Peter Gray]

I loved the writing in Calamity James..

Minnie, Bash street, Dennis the Mencae were always different every week..love them for it..

Les Pretend had some great surrealness in it..


It is amazing how you do it..and other writers..

loving the writing in Fred's Bed and Johnny Bean the best at the moment.

On another note how on earth did they write Slippy the snake with Sid!!! for sooo long...

[Big Jock]

Hi ISPYSHHHGUY!

The 'where do ideas come from?' question!


I can't say there is a particular method, I can only tell you how I go about it. You have to have imagination and trust in your own judgement of what is or isn't funny in the context of each story. For me, the crucial thing is always having deadlines to write to - it's a cliche but very true, that necessity is the mother of invention! Knowing that an artist is waiting for a story in order to earn their living is a powerful incentive to creativity! I try to read as widely as possible and pick up snippets here and there from newspapers and television, sometimes a story will enter your head fully formed and on other occasions it can be like drawing teeth! One thing I always try to make happen is have the characters do something I (as a reader/fan) would like to see them do. Another tip is to write down bits of conversation between the characters and then add the action to support it. I have a pad with lots of two and three picture sequences with various characters that can be adopted into complete stories at later dates. Oh, and don't wait for inspiration to strike - you'll never get anything done! It's perspiration not inspiration 90% of the time! You have to sit and force yourself to write, even if you know what you're putting down is rubbish. Often, the sheer act of writing will loosen up the creative process enough for a gem to appear!
As far as The Broons and Oor Wullie go, I was very nervous before I'd written any and didn't think I'd be able to do it. Actually, once I started, I found them comparatively easy. I was able to raid my childhood memories of a typical Scottish upbringing and Wullie is just like any other imaginative child with a group of friends. I tried to focus on a different member of the Broons clan with each individual strip. One week, Hen would be the centre of attention, next time the Bairn and so on.
Regardless of how long you have been doing the job, or whatever standard you may have reached, you always have to be prepared for rejection. You might think you've written a quite brilliant effort but the Editor (or whomever your client may be) might disagree! Re-writes and refusals are all part of the game.
So, to summarise! Try to read widely, see what others are doing, set yourself deadlines, force yourself to sit down and write, have the courage of your convictions and don't be upset by rejections!

Hope this has been explanatory and helpful. Big Jock.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

thanks, Big Jock; I agree that sometimes reading newspapers-----or hearing a term mentioned on TV, radio, or from passers-by in real life can often inspire an imaginitive gag. I didn't watch telly, so I'm missing out on a lot of inspiration for ideas there......sometimes I find a gag will 'half-work' [if that makes any sense]; often there is a germ of an idea trying to get out: sometimes it's best to write this down, forget about it and revisit it later, when a fresh viewpoint can strengthen the idea.

Like any form of talent, [whether writing comic stories or playing football] I feel there are days when quality flows naturally: other times, inspiration is just not forthcoming.

I feel that the best stuff usually springs from an outrageous, imaginitive idea that has to be adapted into a 'workable' format.

Great to hear your views on comic-writing: that's a very impressive roster of work you have outlined above.