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Maybe I had a strange fascination with pensioners back then — who knows? What I do know is that I somehow ended up starting three comic strips starring octogenarians! The first was Wonder Wobbler a caped crusader with a bun, a handbag, and probably a stash of mint Viscounts about her person. She managed to wobble her way through three whole pages before I abandoned her for the next daft idea.
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For ease of reading I've replaced the hand-written text on each page with a typed font.
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After Wonder Wobbler shuffled off stage, I somehow decided the world was crying out for a full‑blown team of geriatric superheroes. Enter The Pensioners (yes, that was the working title — I wasn’t exactly Marvel at this point).
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I gave Wonder Wobbler three trusty companions, each armed with their own “unique” superpower: one was to be a martial arts expert, another an amazing sorcerer. The third… well, let’s just say their greatest strength was remembering where they’d left their glasses.
Sadly, this mighty league of octogenarian avengers barely made it out of the starting blocks. In fact, I only managed a single page before they were unceremoniously abandoned.
Sadly, this mighty league of octogenarian avengers barely made it out of the starting blocks. In fact, I only managed a single page before they were unceremoniously abandoned.
Picture it: a holiday camp swimming pool, me and the kids paddling about, when suddenly—there he was. A bearded colossus, lounging like a walrus who’d just discovered leisurewear. I nudged Jon and said, 'Look, it’s your big fat uncle Weirdy-Beardy!' And just like that, the character was born.
Weirdy Beardy became our go-to for all things daft: the kind of uncle who’d turn up to a barbecue with a kazoo, a ferret named Colin, and strong opinions about custard.
For a change of pace, I thought I’d experiment with the backgrounds in this strip. Instead of drawing them, I used actual photographs and then layered my hand‑drawn characters on top — a sort of “comic meets reality” mash‑up. The settings you see are straight out of my everyday life: my own house, Brimsdown train station, the offices where I work, and even Liverpool Street Station.
Weirdy Beardy became our go-to for all things daft: the kind of uncle who’d turn up to a barbecue with a kazoo, a ferret named Colin, and strong opinions about custard.
For a change of pace, I thought I’d experiment with the backgrounds in this strip. Instead of drawing them, I used actual photographs and then layered my hand‑drawn characters on top — a sort of “comic meets reality” mash‑up. The settings you see are straight out of my everyday life: my own house, Brimsdown train station, the offices where I work, and even Liverpool Street Station.
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Originally, the adventures of Big Fat Uncle Weirdy‑Beardy were meant to take him all over the world. Once he got to London, however, I realised that background photos of planes and famous landmarks weren’t exactly falling into my lap. So Weirdy‑Beardy never ventured further than London, and his adventures came to an end after just six pages — turns out his biggest nemesis wasn’t a supervillain, it was my lack of travel budget.
So there came a day when I needed a ‘between-projects’ project; the kind you poke at when you’ve got five spare minutes, a cup of tea going cold, and absolutely no idea what you were supposed to be doing. Something low-stakes. Something fun. Something that wouldn’t judge me for abandoning it halfway through to alphabetize my biscuit drawer.
"Out There" was born. A space traveller crash-landing on a planet so obscure it doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page. He sets up camp, befriends the locals, and tries to build a new life using only duct tape, sarcasm, and whatever fell out of his spaceship’s glove compartment.
This was to be a series of 4-panel strips, much like a newspaper cartoon. I ended up only making two. But watch this space. There may be more, You never know.
"Out There" was born. A space traveller crash-landing on a planet so obscure it doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page. He sets up camp, befriends the locals, and tries to build a new life using only duct tape, sarcasm, and whatever fell out of his spaceship’s glove compartment.
This was to be a series of 4-panel strips, much like a newspaper cartoon. I ended up only making two. But watch this space. There may be more, You never know.
