Sense of Humor

If I had to choose 1 strip that sums up my comic strip I would probably choose this one. Not necessarily because it's the funniest (although I do like it) but for me it says a great deal about who Ollie and Quentin are and the kind of humor I like.

"Where do you get your ideas?" #568

I write my strips in coffee shops on a Thursday. I normally come home for lunch but a couple of weeks back I decided I'd buy a panini instead. Ollie's first speech bubble is exactly what I said to myself after I'd eaten it.

Today's Sunday Opening Panel

In case you read today's strip online here's the opening panel that (annoyingly) gets dropped.

Text and Voices

I like seeing my strip translated into Swedish. Somehow the language really suits Ollie and Quentin. It's a shame that they haven't chosen to use different typefaces for the different characters. I'm not sure anyone's ever noticed but I have different fonts to reflect the voices of the different characters. I think it's because I come from a graphic design background where I had to choose typefaces to reflect certain products and particular messages. Quentin's font is meant to reflect his slightly croaky shouty voice. Ollie's is a calmer quieter font. Nobby has a traditional comic strip typeface and all other characters such as eggs, cockroaches, flies, spiders etc have a childish scribbly typeface. As if they've only just learned to speak and their voices haven't fully developed yet.

Spot the Mistake

My daughter and I went to an open day at the fabulous Royal College of Music in London yesterday. (Boy is there some musical talent studying there). On our way back to the underground station we saw this London Bus on the road. Can you mot the spistake?

Earth Day

This is the first of two Ollie and Quentin Earth Day strips this year, the second being er...tomorrow. I quite enjoyed thinking about environmental topics so might try and do a whole week next year. Happy Earth Day Everyone!

Please recycle this strip when you've finished with it.

Animating Stand Up v Comic Strips

This is brilliant! Animating stand up comedy really works.

It got me thinking about animating comic strips. IMHO I don't think it ever works. Whenever I see an animated comic strip it just falls flat for me. I think our art is to make the reader work a little for the punchline. We set them off and there are a few pointers along the way but they should do the rest. They should fill in the movement, the voices, the timing, they have to 'get' the joke themselves not let someone else do the work for them. Animation is a whole different ball game and an art of its own. Of course you can take the characters of a great strip and turn it into a great tv or movie animation (I'm looking forward to seeing the Pooch Cafe animation) but, for me, animating individual jokes just isn't as funny.

PS. I hope the creators of the fantastic strips that are being animated at the moment don't take this as a criticism of their strips. Their work is the best out there and deserves any extra effort and attention given to it. It just doesn't work for me:)

Feathers McGraw

I don't mind admitting that I'm a huge fan of Wallace and Gromit, especially the incredibly brilliant "Wrong Trousers". Although not intentional (honest) I can see some similarities between Feathers McGraw and Ollie. Both look somewhat like a skittle or ten pin, have dots for eyes and no mouth. Ollie, however, is not so evil.

Wallace and Gromit Rocket

Now, where have I seen that rocket before?

"Where do you get your ideas?" #582

Today I took delivery of an iphone. Ooooooh!

Uncle Derek

Uncle Derek is my Uncle Derek, sadly no longer with us. Christmases just aren't the same without him.

(Oh, and that comma in the last panel was added by someone else which is why the "Ooh" is touching the keyline. Must have a word with them about centering text).

Me? Fussy?

Sunday Title Panel

Comics Kingdom and a lot of newspapers drop the title panel on Sunday strips which is a shame when you've gone to great lengths to produce such an enticing, attractive and detailed opening frame as today's.

Website Samples Update

Click here to see a whole load of new Ollie and Quentin samples.

Ollie and Quentin in Sweden

For the Swedes amongst you here's an Ollie and Quentin strip that's been translated and used as one of the samples for readers over there to vote on. The samples make me cringe as they are taken from my first few weeks in syndication. One or two stand the test of time despite the awful artwork. Can you guess what this joke is?

Update:
I think I got that wrong. It looks like O&Q are running continuously on that site. My guess is they're using the older strips to set the scene rather than come in where we are at the moment. My editor said that might happen sometimes.