Hi.
John Stokes has kindly agreed to do an interview with me. I was wondering if any of you had questions you'd like me to ask?
For those who don't know who John Stokes is here are some links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stokes_(artist)
Here's some of his art on my blog:
http://britishcomicart.blogspot.com/sea ... n%20Stokes
And he's still working. Here's a link to his Classical Comics work:
http://www.classicalcomics.com/books/gr ... tions.html
Cheers.
Questions for John Stokes?
Re: Questions for John Stokes?
Oh well done! I tried tracking him down without success. I would love to know more about his time on the 'Star Trek' strip in 'TV21', which he handled for over 2 years from 1971-1973. I noticed he dropped in the odd alien from the TV series, and wondered if he watched 'Star Trek' for reference, or was he given proper reference material to work from, in those halcyon days before the internet or, indeed, VHS!crow wrote:Hi.
John Stokes has kindly agreed to do an interview with me. I was wondering if any of you had questions you'd like me to ask?
Cheers.
Did he know who was writing the strip, also?
And did he have any views on how his 'Star Trek' strips were coloured? In the States, I think artists mark up colour even though they work in just black and white. Was it the same for his work for IPC, or did the colourists just do what they wanted?
Looking forward to reading the whole interview when complete.
Best of,
Shaqui
Re: Questions for John Stokes?
I've just submitted the first series of questions to JS.
There is still time for your questions.
There is still time for your questions.
Re: Questions for John Stokes?
Thanks Crow, for giving us a chance to put him some questions, I'll look forward to seeing the whole interview, and apologies for not posting any earlier and leaving it to the last minute.
Can you let John Stokes know, that his work on 'Marney the Fox' 1974-6 was truly wonderful, not only did we see the expertly drawn little cub mature over the course of the story but also the other birds and mammals, including badgers, seals, otters, stoats and others were all a feast for many a young Buster fan's eyes, and can be appreciated even more as an adult, too many years later.
Could you ask if John ever contributed any ideas to Scott Goodall, the writer on Marney, regards general plots? Also, how many days would he take to research and pencil/ink the 2 pages every week for just over 2 years? Also, when Marney meets the vixen near the end of the tale, was it Scott and John's decision to end Marney, having covered so many storylines or the editor's to try something fresh (the next week he was doing the War Children) - did John and Scott imagine any other stories that Marney could be involved in? Apologies to John for so many questions, as it was over 35 years ago now. I think most of us feel that John's work is amongst the very best of British comic art - his other work I've seen is first rate.
Can you let John Stokes know, that his work on 'Marney the Fox' 1974-6 was truly wonderful, not only did we see the expertly drawn little cub mature over the course of the story but also the other birds and mammals, including badgers, seals, otters, stoats and others were all a feast for many a young Buster fan's eyes, and can be appreciated even more as an adult, too many years later.
Could you ask if John ever contributed any ideas to Scott Goodall, the writer on Marney, regards general plots? Also, how many days would he take to research and pencil/ink the 2 pages every week for just over 2 years? Also, when Marney meets the vixen near the end of the tale, was it Scott and John's decision to end Marney, having covered so many storylines or the editor's to try something fresh (the next week he was doing the War Children) - did John and Scott imagine any other stories that Marney could be involved in? Apologies to John for so many questions, as it was over 35 years ago now. I think most of us feel that John's work is amongst the very best of British comic art - his other work I've seen is first rate.
Re: Questions for John Stokes?
Hi Crow!
I echo everything that Shaqui and Muffy have said, and apologize for not replying sooner. There are so few of the great British adventure artists from the 1960s still with us that we'd need a veritable doorstop of a magazine along the lines of America's Comics Journal to do full justice to someone like John Stokes. Nevertheless, I've jotted down just a few of the things I'd like to ask him if I ever got the chance. Obviously I don't expect you to pass them all on, but I'd be hugely grateful if he could respond to any one of them.
I agree with Muffy that Marney the Fox seemed like a real labour of love. It'd be interesting to know if John considers it to be his best piece of work. It certainly displayed a real flair for drawing wildlife that was also evident in the various marine creatures that populated his Fishboy strips. Did he ever consider giving up comics altogether to specialize in wildlife illustration?
Given the amount of sheer craftsmanship that went into each frame of a strip like Marney I wonder if he ever worried that his attention to detail was damaging his earning potential - especially when someone like Solano Lopez seemed able to churn out about twenty pages a week during the same period!
And speaking of Solano Lopez does he remember anything about this curious strip that appeared in IPC's relaunched Smash! in February 1970? 'Threat of the Toymaker' was the sequel to a popular Buster strip called 'Toys of Doom' from the 1960s - yet while Lopez was the artist for the original series, and took over the revival from the second episode, John was clearly asked to draw (or at least redraw) this introductory installment. What's more this page seems to have been crudely resized by another hand for some reason. It would perhaps make more sense if 'Toyman' was a reprint, but as far as I know this was its first British printing. Realistically I know it's unlikely that John would remember anything about it so many years after the event, but I'd be grateful if he could think of anything that might help to clear up the mystery.
Apart from 'Marney' and 'The Black Knight', John's artwork for 'Britain in Chains' (later reprinted in Smash! as 'The Battle of Britain') has always stood out for me - especially the sequences that took place in real-life locations like Liverpool. Did he use extensive reference for these? Also, how did he feel about taking over a series that Geoff Campion had designed. For that matter, was he aware of the work of other artists like Campion, Eric Bradbury, Mike Western, Frank Bellamy, etc. - and if so did he mainly look upon them as rivals or a source of inspiration?
Finally, I'd love to know how he felt about Grant Morrison's eccentric scripts for the issues of The Invisibles he inked. Was he as confused as me? And how did it feel to be on the 'cutting edge' so late in his career?
- Phil Rushton
I echo everything that Shaqui and Muffy have said, and apologize for not replying sooner. There are so few of the great British adventure artists from the 1960s still with us that we'd need a veritable doorstop of a magazine along the lines of America's Comics Journal to do full justice to someone like John Stokes. Nevertheless, I've jotted down just a few of the things I'd like to ask him if I ever got the chance. Obviously I don't expect you to pass them all on, but I'd be hugely grateful if he could respond to any one of them.
I agree with Muffy that Marney the Fox seemed like a real labour of love. It'd be interesting to know if John considers it to be his best piece of work. It certainly displayed a real flair for drawing wildlife that was also evident in the various marine creatures that populated his Fishboy strips. Did he ever consider giving up comics altogether to specialize in wildlife illustration?
Given the amount of sheer craftsmanship that went into each frame of a strip like Marney I wonder if he ever worried that his attention to detail was damaging his earning potential - especially when someone like Solano Lopez seemed able to churn out about twenty pages a week during the same period!
And speaking of Solano Lopez does he remember anything about this curious strip that appeared in IPC's relaunched Smash! in February 1970? 'Threat of the Toymaker' was the sequel to a popular Buster strip called 'Toys of Doom' from the 1960s - yet while Lopez was the artist for the original series, and took over the revival from the second episode, John was clearly asked to draw (or at least redraw) this introductory installment. What's more this page seems to have been crudely resized by another hand for some reason. It would perhaps make more sense if 'Toyman' was a reprint, but as far as I know this was its first British printing. Realistically I know it's unlikely that John would remember anything about it so many years after the event, but I'd be grateful if he could think of anything that might help to clear up the mystery.
Apart from 'Marney' and 'The Black Knight', John's artwork for 'Britain in Chains' (later reprinted in Smash! as 'The Battle of Britain') has always stood out for me - especially the sequences that took place in real-life locations like Liverpool. Did he use extensive reference for these? Also, how did he feel about taking over a series that Geoff Campion had designed. For that matter, was he aware of the work of other artists like Campion, Eric Bradbury, Mike Western, Frank Bellamy, etc. - and if so did he mainly look upon them as rivals or a source of inspiration?
Finally, I'd love to know how he felt about Grant Morrison's eccentric scripts for the issues of The Invisibles he inked. Was he as confused as me? And how did it feel to be on the 'cutting edge' so late in his career?
- Phil Rushton
Last edited by philcom55 on 26 Sep 2010, 16:16, edited 4 times in total.
Re: Questions for John Stokes?
...By the way Crow, I trust you'll let us know where and when the Interview is due to appear!
- Phil Rushton (hoping this post is more visible than my last one!
)
- Phil Rushton (hoping this post is more visible than my last one!
)-
Lew Stringer
- Posts: 7041
- Joined: 01 Mar 2006, 00:59
- Contact:
Re: Questions for John Stokes?
I'd like to ask John if he worked for any comics that never got past the "dummy issue" stage. I know IPC produced comics that were never published, or were tweaked to become other comics. I was wondering if he did any IPC work that never saw print and, if so, if he recalls the title of the strips or comics?
I appreciate this is a long shot as we could be going back 40 years. I can't remember what I did 40 minutes ago some days.
Lew
I appreciate this is a long shot as we could be going back 40 years. I can't remember what I did 40 minutes ago some days.
Lew
Re: Questions for John Stokes?
Hey Guys.
Thanks for the questions!
The interview will end up on my blog. I'll most definately give you a heads-up when it appears.
Jim.
Thanks for the questions!
The interview will end up on my blog. I'll most definately give you a heads-up when it appears.
Jim.
Re: Questions for John Stokes?
The amazing Mr Stokes certainly got around. Just today I picked up a copy of Action for the Ron Turner 'Spinball' cover - only to find that the centre pages featured John's version of 'Hookjaw'!
- Phil Rushton
- Phil Rushton
Re: Questions for John Stokes?
Action? Saw two 80s annuals in a Debra charity shop today. Didn't buy them though.
-
felneymike
- Fence Sitter
- Posts: 1901
- Joined: 30 Sep 2007, 15:03
- Location: Cambridgeshire
- Contact:
Re: Questions for John Stokes?
One of the very first things i bought when i began collecting old comics was the Action Annual 1982, it's no different to any other IPC boys' annual, the heady pre-ban era was long gone by then! (but being new to it i wasn't aware of that at the time and thought 1982 sounded like it was "ages ago" so it "must be from before the ban!")
Replies to your questions.
Hey Guys.
John Stokes got back to me with the answers to your questions. Here you go:
I would love to know more about his time on the 'Star Trek' strip in 'TV21', which he handled for over 2 years from 1971-1973. I noticed he dropped in the odd alien from the TV series, and wondered if he watched 'Star Trek' for reference, or was he given proper reference material to work from, in those halcyon days before the internet or, indeed, VHS!
As I remember, it was pretty difficult. I was given a paperback about the making of the series, which contained about a dozen small stills from the series. So, using these and whatever photos I could find in Radio Times and the occasional magazine I had to try to get reasonable likenesses and correct-lookind hardware. And Yes, well spotted, I spent lots of time in front of the TV with a pad on my knees, trying to catch a likeness. No VHS with freeze-frame, no Internet! Young artists today don't know they're born!
Did he know who was writing the strip, also?
I have absolutely no idea who the scripts were by. I suppose they must have had a writer's name on them, but it probably didn't mean anything to me, so I promptly forgot it.
And did he have any views on how his 'Star Trek' strips were coloured? In the States, I think artists mark up colour even though they work in just black and white. Was it the same for his work for IPC, or did the colourists just do what they wanted?
We were never asked about the colouring . It just happened. All the colours were pretty harsh and primary, and as often happens, even now, you draw a face with prominent shadowing on one side of the face, and for some reason the colourist takes it into his/her head to put the colour shadows on the other side. Very perplexing. I would rather the series was printed in black and white, But it was always out of our hands, if it was a centre-fold strip, it was coloured. The only exception to this was in the mid to late sixties, when Fleetway experimented with a fluid, which, when painted onto line artwork, would print as a tone, a bit like zip-a-tone (remember that?) not in colour, but it gave the artist a greater control of the final pages. It must have presented printing problems, or was too costly, because it dissapeared before long.
Muffy
Thank you very much for the kind words about 'Marney the Fox', Muffy. I really enjoyed researching all the 'nature' details for all the wildlife and the backgrounds, and in a way, it felt more like the kind of drawing from life that I had been taught at Art School than the ordinary stuff of comic art, which is as much about style and artifice as it is about the real roots of drawing. That was refreshing, and I hope it fed back into the later stuff I did,
Contributing to the script and the storyline was never a possibility, given the way we worked in those days. The weekly publication date was a stern taskmaster, especially as I had other stories that I was working on during the period that I worked on 'Marney' It is quite amazing that, despite the fact that we worked as a writer/artist team for nine years, Scott and I never once met, or even corresponded, except through the scripts. As I explain to Jim in the forthcoming interview, I often had to start, finish and post a two page episode on the same day. I probably didn't do this often with 'Marney' because of the massive volume of reference needed, and all that background detail in the panels, but I shouldn't think I could have ever afforded the time to take more than two days on an episode without getting seriously behind with something else.
As far as I know, it was always the plan to take Marney's story from birth to adulthood. I expect the decesion to finish where we did was taken by Scott and Len Wenn, the editor. I think 'The War Children' was very close to Scott's heart, too. I half remember Len telling me he had some connections with the Channel Islands, where the story was set, so there could have been an element of autobiography in there. I wonder if anybody knows anything about that?
Thanks again for your interest, Muffy.
Warmest regards,
John.
philcom 55
I feel a bit uncomfortable with the role of 'oldest surviving example', especially as I haven't made my mind up about what I'm going to do when I grow up.
You're right, it was a labour of love, and I hope it comes through that whatever the pressure of deadlines, I was determined to put everything into those pages that they seemed to need, regardless of the expence in terms of time spent on them. Even now, I think it ranks as one of my top three jobs in terms of enjoyment and satisfaction. I guess I must have flirted with the idea of branching off into wildlife painting, but the everyday battle of doing six or more pages a week didn't allow for it to be more than a pipe dream.
As to your question about earning potential. Spot on! I read once, I think in an interview with Cam Kennedy, but I'm not sure, the sterling piece of advice to young artists to cultivate a simple style that could be quickly executed, and he quoted Schultz, of 'Peanuts' fame as an excellent example. Even now my wife looks over my shoulder at some madly complicated peice of work and asks "How much are you getting a page for this?" But on the plus side, I don't expect I would have teamed up with Phil Jiminez if I hadn't been able to follow the fantastically complex pages he produced for 'Tempest' or 'The Invisibles', would I?
The fantastic output of Spanish and South American artists working for IPC at that time is because a lot of them employed studios of artists who would ink, fill in backgrounds, etc, for them. I remember an editor telling me that when he complained to one Sothy American artist that the quality wasn't what it once was, the artist shamefacedly admitted that he hadn't touched the pages for more than a month, and would start having more input in future!
I'm not saying that Solano Lopez was one of those. I do remember doing issue one of the 'Toymaker' story. It was always going to be a one-off. For some reason Solano was'nt able to do it in time, I think he was moving or something like that. Was that when he moved back to Argentina? Probably not, I think that was 1975 or 76. As to the resizing, that happened a lot. In this case it may have been a result of moving to a comic with a different page size? I really don't know. It certainly wasn't a reprint.
Many thanks for the questions and the kind words,
All the best,
John.
Lew Stringer.
In all the years that I worked for Fleetway/IPC I never recall a case of a story or issue not being published. Did that happen often, Lew? Do you know of titles of stories or Comics? I certainly haven't got any pages in my collection that were drawn and not used. Come to that, I haven't got a single page of original art from all those hundreds of pages I produced for IPC. It just wasn't the habit of publishers to return artwork in those days. It's a bit galling to see them up for auction on E-Bay from time to time. Things changed when I began to work for Dez Skinn and Marvel UK. I have quite a bunch of 'Black Knight' pages and most of 'The legend of Prester John'
philcom, Digifriend and felneymike
Annuals are a great scource of nostalgia, aren't they? I'm often leafing through one in a charity shop or Boot Sale, and think"My God, did I do that?"
John Stokes got back to me with the answers to your questions. Here you go:
I would love to know more about his time on the 'Star Trek' strip in 'TV21', which he handled for over 2 years from 1971-1973. I noticed he dropped in the odd alien from the TV series, and wondered if he watched 'Star Trek' for reference, or was he given proper reference material to work from, in those halcyon days before the internet or, indeed, VHS!
As I remember, it was pretty difficult. I was given a paperback about the making of the series, which contained about a dozen small stills from the series. So, using these and whatever photos I could find in Radio Times and the occasional magazine I had to try to get reasonable likenesses and correct-lookind hardware. And Yes, well spotted, I spent lots of time in front of the TV with a pad on my knees, trying to catch a likeness. No VHS with freeze-frame, no Internet! Young artists today don't know they're born!
Did he know who was writing the strip, also?
I have absolutely no idea who the scripts were by. I suppose they must have had a writer's name on them, but it probably didn't mean anything to me, so I promptly forgot it.
And did he have any views on how his 'Star Trek' strips were coloured? In the States, I think artists mark up colour even though they work in just black and white. Was it the same for his work for IPC, or did the colourists just do what they wanted?
We were never asked about the colouring . It just happened. All the colours were pretty harsh and primary, and as often happens, even now, you draw a face with prominent shadowing on one side of the face, and for some reason the colourist takes it into his/her head to put the colour shadows on the other side. Very perplexing. I would rather the series was printed in black and white, But it was always out of our hands, if it was a centre-fold strip, it was coloured. The only exception to this was in the mid to late sixties, when Fleetway experimented with a fluid, which, when painted onto line artwork, would print as a tone, a bit like zip-a-tone (remember that?) not in colour, but it gave the artist a greater control of the final pages. It must have presented printing problems, or was too costly, because it dissapeared before long.
Muffy
Thank you very much for the kind words about 'Marney the Fox', Muffy. I really enjoyed researching all the 'nature' details for all the wildlife and the backgrounds, and in a way, it felt more like the kind of drawing from life that I had been taught at Art School than the ordinary stuff of comic art, which is as much about style and artifice as it is about the real roots of drawing. That was refreshing, and I hope it fed back into the later stuff I did,
Contributing to the script and the storyline was never a possibility, given the way we worked in those days. The weekly publication date was a stern taskmaster, especially as I had other stories that I was working on during the period that I worked on 'Marney' It is quite amazing that, despite the fact that we worked as a writer/artist team for nine years, Scott and I never once met, or even corresponded, except through the scripts. As I explain to Jim in the forthcoming interview, I often had to start, finish and post a two page episode on the same day. I probably didn't do this often with 'Marney' because of the massive volume of reference needed, and all that background detail in the panels, but I shouldn't think I could have ever afforded the time to take more than two days on an episode without getting seriously behind with something else.
As far as I know, it was always the plan to take Marney's story from birth to adulthood. I expect the decesion to finish where we did was taken by Scott and Len Wenn, the editor. I think 'The War Children' was very close to Scott's heart, too. I half remember Len telling me he had some connections with the Channel Islands, where the story was set, so there could have been an element of autobiography in there. I wonder if anybody knows anything about that?
Thanks again for your interest, Muffy.
Warmest regards,
John.
philcom 55
I feel a bit uncomfortable with the role of 'oldest surviving example', especially as I haven't made my mind up about what I'm going to do when I grow up.
You're right, it was a labour of love, and I hope it comes through that whatever the pressure of deadlines, I was determined to put everything into those pages that they seemed to need, regardless of the expence in terms of time spent on them. Even now, I think it ranks as one of my top three jobs in terms of enjoyment and satisfaction. I guess I must have flirted with the idea of branching off into wildlife painting, but the everyday battle of doing six or more pages a week didn't allow for it to be more than a pipe dream.
As to your question about earning potential. Spot on! I read once, I think in an interview with Cam Kennedy, but I'm not sure, the sterling piece of advice to young artists to cultivate a simple style that could be quickly executed, and he quoted Schultz, of 'Peanuts' fame as an excellent example. Even now my wife looks over my shoulder at some madly complicated peice of work and asks "How much are you getting a page for this?" But on the plus side, I don't expect I would have teamed up with Phil Jiminez if I hadn't been able to follow the fantastically complex pages he produced for 'Tempest' or 'The Invisibles', would I?
The fantastic output of Spanish and South American artists working for IPC at that time is because a lot of them employed studios of artists who would ink, fill in backgrounds, etc, for them. I remember an editor telling me that when he complained to one Sothy American artist that the quality wasn't what it once was, the artist shamefacedly admitted that he hadn't touched the pages for more than a month, and would start having more input in future!
I'm not saying that Solano Lopez was one of those. I do remember doing issue one of the 'Toymaker' story. It was always going to be a one-off. For some reason Solano was'nt able to do it in time, I think he was moving or something like that. Was that when he moved back to Argentina? Probably not, I think that was 1975 or 76. As to the resizing, that happened a lot. In this case it may have been a result of moving to a comic with a different page size? I really don't know. It certainly wasn't a reprint.
Many thanks for the questions and the kind words,
All the best,
John.
Lew Stringer.
In all the years that I worked for Fleetway/IPC I never recall a case of a story or issue not being published. Did that happen often, Lew? Do you know of titles of stories or Comics? I certainly haven't got any pages in my collection that were drawn and not used. Come to that, I haven't got a single page of original art from all those hundreds of pages I produced for IPC. It just wasn't the habit of publishers to return artwork in those days. It's a bit galling to see them up for auction on E-Bay from time to time. Things changed when I began to work for Dez Skinn and Marvel UK. I have quite a bunch of 'Black Knight' pages and most of 'The legend of Prester John'
philcom, Digifriend and felneymike
Annuals are a great scource of nostalgia, aren't they? I'm often leafing through one in a charity shop or Boot Sale, and think"My God, did I do that?"
Re: Questions for John Stokes?
John Stokes sent me another message over the weekend regarding your questions:
One thing that I forgot to say to Muffy and philcom 55 was that 'Marney
the Fox' held the distinction of being both the favourite and the least
favourite story in 'Buster' reader's polls at the same time. It was a
'Marmite' story, you loved it or you hated it! Maybe that was why it only
lasted two years.
One thing that I forgot to say to Muffy and philcom 55 was that 'Marney
the Fox' held the distinction of being both the favourite and the least
favourite story in 'Buster' reader's polls at the same time. It was a
'Marmite' story, you loved it or you hated it! Maybe that was why it only
lasted two years.
Re: Questions for John Stokes?
Superb interview Crow. Thanks so much to John Stokes for answering all those questions, from 35 years (plus), really makes you remember your childhood, and all those beautifully drawn comic strip panels.
Re: Questions for John Stokes?
Absolutely fantastic! Thanks to John for such an informative response, and to yourself for making it possible Crow - it's so nice when one of your childhood heroes turns out to be as gracious as they are talented! (Oddly enough he even answered one question I'd forgotten to ask with his reference to Fleetway's use of craft-tint style paper).
I'm now more convinced than ever that someone really needs to reprint the complete 'Marney the Fox'! (At least the John Stokes version). Incidentally, did you know that the character was subsequently revived in full color during the 1980s in stories that were aimed at younger readers?
- Not John Stokes art unfortunately, but it is gorgeously painted. Does anybody know the artist?
- Phil Rushton
I'm now more convinced than ever that someone really needs to reprint the complete 'Marney the Fox'! (At least the John Stokes version). Incidentally, did you know that the character was subsequently revived in full color during the 1980s in stories that were aimed at younger readers?
- Not John Stokes art unfortunately, but it is gorgeously painted. Does anybody know the artist?
- Phil Rushton