Reuben Entry

Here's Ollie and Quentin's entry for the 2009 NCS's Newspaper Comic Award whose Reuben's ceremony was held last weekend. I know we didn't come first, second or third but perhaps the respectable 248th place was ours and we don't know it yet.

La Tomatina

La Tomatina is a mass tomato throwing festival in Buñol, Valencia in Spain which happens every last Wednesday in August. There are a number of theories as to how this tradition originated but one of the most popular is that disgruntled townspeople attacked city councilmen with tomatoes during a town celebration and it was enjoyed so much that it was repeated every year since (although banned under the rule of General Franco). Apparently women have to wear white and guys must go shirtless.

I've never been but, boy does it look fun!

Ironing Surf Board

Today's comic is a reworking of an old idea first drawn up in 2006 (pre-syndication) when Ollie was Eric and Nobby was the bearded Stormy Stan the Lifeboat Man. Not sure it was a particularly good joke then either.

Samples Update

I've updated the Ollie and Quentin website with a handful of new samples. Click here to have a look.

Ollie and Quentin on Facebook

Don't laugh but I've created an Ollie and Quentin Facebook page. I know, I know. I'm a Facebook novice but am interested to see what can be done with it with regards to my comic strip. If you're a Facebook user and know what you're doing head over to the O&Q page and prod me or poke me or whatever it is you do to say hello.

Sunday strip in full

Albatross: The Series

Carry On Sergeant

We moved to our lovely house last november. It's part of a converted army barracks and I discovered today that it was used in the very first Carry On Movie "Carry On Sergeant" made in 1958. That's before I was born. I think that's hilariously fantastic!

If you watch this YouTube clip that's my house on the end in the opening shot. The parade ground has gone and it now has a pretty front garden. There's a door in the left hand window too.

Steven Seagal

I loved the idea that Ollie's hero was Steven Seagal but the name was too close to 'Seagull' and we thought it might be distracting. I spent ages thinking of a replacement but nothing worked nearly as well. Bruce Willis is an ok alternative but he's more likely to be Quentin's hero because they look so similar.

And that's true about acting like an idiot when you meet someone famous. I'm six and a half feet tall and once met a famous, but very short, actress and all I could say was "You're short aren't you?" Gaaaaaaah, still makes me cringe today.

Teenagers and Underpants

I can't understand those kids walking about with their underpants on show. We always shout "I can see your underpants!" when we see them. A couple of weeks ago I saw one of these baggy-trousered teenagers emerge from a computer games store and sprint up the road. However, his trousers were so low he only got ten yards before they tripped him up and he went down face first into the sidewalk in the shape of an inverted 'V' leaving his now completely bare butt on show to the world. Honestly, you could have parked your bicycle there. Much hilarity from all us over 40's in the busy street.

Sun Dried Day strip in full

Sun Dried Day, Mournday, Chewsday, When's Day?, Thirst Day, Fright Day, Sat On Day.

Historic Lincoln

Just spent three fab days in beautiful Lincoln, a city I've never been to. Full of lovely old buildings it has one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Europe and a Castle that houses one of the four copies of the Magna Carta (1215). This historic document influenced the development of common law and many constitutional documents, including the United States Constitution.

Now I'm back I've just inked and colored six daily comics in one day which is a record for me. Time for a beer.

Tendonitis

We moved house last November and I had to carry box after box after box up into our new attic. A few days later I noticed my elbow was quite sore and now, six months later, it still darn well hurts! Anyhoo, that's how I got this idea.

...and I STILL don't understand why the drop panel is dropped online!

Banjo

It looks like I have something against banjos but I really don't. They're just an easy target for which I apologize. I like folk music and one of my favorite bands at the moment is the fantastic Mumford and Sons. Check 'em out.

May the Fourth be with you

It's Star Wars Day (May the 4th) so I've dug around and found three Ollie and Quentin's that mention Star Warsy type stuff.

I'm Spartacus

Today I get to reveal Quentin's middle name and their full address. Wish my middle name was Spartacus!

Ray Harryhausen

When I was young one of my neighbors owned a film studios in Shepperton, England. His name was Benny Lee and his company was Lee Electric Lighting. My brother and I were good friends with his sons, Mark and Adam, and one day we visited some studios to see an animator at work. I remember this kindly, balding man being very patient with us kids as we charged round his studio feasting our eyes on all his amazing models. I also remember being fascinated by a foot high model of a man with a spear in his belly. At the time the animator was working on a scene where a baboon was playing chess. I recall being quite disappointed it wasn't something more gruesome like a Minotaur chewing a Dinosaur or something... (I was young). He told us the movie was going to be called 'Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger' which I thought was a pretty cool title. Anyway, years later I realized just who it was we met. Yup, Ray Harryhausen! How lucky was I?

Lederhosen

Some of the picture research I do throws up some ghastly and obscene photographs. Googling 'Lederhosen' produced one of the worst yet.

Sunday strip in full

A tricky strip to get right. I spent minutes researching fart noises to find out how you spell the noise a deflating balloon makes when it whizzes around a room. I went for "PFFTHHHHH" but it could so easily have been "PBBLLLTHHH" or "THHHLLLLTHWYP".

Happy 50th Birthday Tim

Tim is my cousin and best friend. It's his 50th Birthday Party tonight. Some of the happiest times of my life have been with my cousins. As kids they lived on a fantastic farm where we'd go and stay for the summer. Here we are with the Go Kart Tim owned. That's me at the back. One of the funniest things I ever saw was Tim careering out of control into a field with only his red crash helmet visible as it cut a path through the long wheat. Happy happy pre-deadline days.

Happy 50th Tim!

Happy Earth Day

Forgot to do an Earth Day comic this year (yeah, I know) so here are a couple of last year's offerings. Happy Earth Day everyone.

What are the chances?

On October 9, 1972, the mathematician Dr Jeffrey Hamilton from Warwick University wanted to show his students the effect of chance by tossing a coin. Taking a 2p coin out of his pocket, he tossed it, then watched as it hit the floor, spun round and came to rest on its edge. Dozens of students witnessed the amazing event, and after a stunned silence they all broke into wild applause. As well they might, for you don't need to be a distinguished Cambridge mathematician to postulate that none of them will see such an event again.

(In the 1993 European Journal of Physics Sir Hermann Bondi arrived at a formula which predicts that the chances of a coin landing on its edge is less than 1 in 2000).