Home › Fans raise thousands for Frank Sidebottom creator’s "Fantastic Funeral"

Fans raise thousands for Frank Sidebottom creator’s "Fantastic Funeral"

By John Freeman on June 23, 2010

The sad news came out this morning that Chris Sievey, aka Frank Sidebottom, who died on Monday aged just 54, would have a pauper’s funeral.

The comedian’s financial affairs when he died mean that his family were struggling to do him and his memory the justice it deserves – but Frank’s many fans now have a way to contribute to the costs, with over £7000 raised so far.

Jon Ronson, a long time collaborator of Chris’s, asked the family if an appeal could be set up to help them in this hour of need. Graciously Paula Chris’s ex-wife and his eldest son Stirling have given their permission to allow the appeal to begin, and Paypal Donations should be sent to: jonelle1929@gmail.com

As well as his world-famous comedy show, a Frank Sidebottom comic strip ran in Oink! in the 1980s, written and drawn by Chris himself (as Frank, of course).

“Frank Sidebottom never became the huge tv star he deserved to be,” notes cartoonist Lew Stringer in a glowing tribute on his blog. “Television couldn’t pigeonhole someone so unique and he was a performer you either “got” or you didn’t. For those of us who did “get” his comedy he’ll always remain forever fantastic.”

• All donations will be acknowledged. For the latest information on the fund raising visit the Frank’s Fantastic Funeral group on Facebook.

• Frank Sidebottom’s Official web site: www.franksworld.co.uk and Blog

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.