Tuesday 22 July 2008





I was sorting out an old box of comics, as you do (or as I do all the time, to find old gems that I'd forgotten I owned) and I came across the four issues of Killing Stroke. Now, Killing Stroke was the coming together of the best bunch of friends a person could have. It was a follow on from Andrew Yoxall's wonderous fanzine Hardware. Shane Oakley (a crackin artist, click on the link to the left if you don't believe me) and I approached a small company called Eternity (part of the Malibu comics line) in the early 1990's to produce a four issue black and white anthology comic called, you guessed it Killing Stroke. Shane and I were in it, but people like Mark Buckingham (he of fables and Spiderman and Batman fame) Matt Brooker (D'israeli to those in the know) who's done oodles of stuff from The Kingdom of the Wicked to Leviathan and Stickleback for 2000Ad, Den Dilworth (what an artist-excellent-Ben where are you now, eh mate?), Andrew Elliot writer in Steve Bissette's Taboo., Dave Henney (What a funny guy and a good writer to boot.), Chris Przygrodzki (no one draws bendy people like Chris, apart from Frank Robbins) and Andrew Yoxell hisgoodself. We even managed to get an introduction from Jamie Delano (a proper writer). We had a great time putting all this together, and the pleasing thing was that, for an anthology title it sold reasonably well. So, a bit of nostalgia. Right, I'm off to have a cuppa and slice of carrot cake and to read these four musty comics.
cheerio

3 comments:

shane oakley said...

ullo, gary, that seems such a looooooong time back. but still a vivid memory, and mostly a very fond one. like you say, we were all good mates then, and everyone was mucking in, left, right and centre.
and it's amazing how much money we made, considering it was a black and white anthology horror series written and drawn by mostly unknown - in some cases, positively obscure - creators. but you did it, WE did it, and it's summat to be very proud of, cus we weren't just 'talking it', we walked the fucking walk!
shame about my cover though, it's a really shitty job, didn't help that i was colouring it in a powercut - honest! - i was kneeling by the fire grate, using the glow from the fire and a few candles to see what i was doing. obviously, i wasn't seeing too well...
gotta go, how's about putting more of your sketches up?
cheers, shane.

shane oakley said...

this ere blog seems to be nothing but tumbleweed and the howl of a lonely coyote...

David said...

Ayeup Gary, sounds like a good time was had by all in the halcyon days of the early nineties. It was pretty much the same time as I started tinkering around with a pencil in the hope of making some cash. Still tinkering 18 years later, but given up expecting cash ;) Still, as you say, it's more about the like-minded and generally swell guys you meet along the way...

Thanks for poppin by my blog too.

all the best