MeFi Projects

Reg Smythe’s Andy Capp was the greatest British newspaper strip of the 20th Century, but few people realise how much of his own troubled childhood Smythe poured into Andy and Flo’s lives. Andy was essentially a portrait of Smythe’s wastrel father, Flo a version of his formidable mother, and their neighbourhood a portrait of the pre-war Hartlepool where Smythe grew up. My new book traces Smythe’s own biography, explores its parallels in Andy’s world, and tackles the strip’s early wife-beating jokes. There’s also a look at how the balance of power has shifted between Andy and Flo down the years and my own analysis of just what made Smythe such an accomplished and stylish cartoonist. [more inside]
posted by Paul Slade on Oct 1, 2024 - 2 comments

It's often struck me that Andy Capp's Reg Smythe and Love & Rockets' Jamie Hernandez share a very similar "toolbox" of cartooning techniques. Here's a few panel-by-panel comparisons I put together to demonstrate the point. Jamie himself addresses my theory in the article's final par. [more inside]
posted by Paul Slade on Dec 5, 2017 - 0 comments