Way back in 1992, BEANO and Doctor Who Magazine cartoonist Lew Stringer created a superhero humour strip called “Tough Guy and Scruffy” for a new weekly anthology comic, Triffik! – and now, they’re back, in a “Pay What You Can” digital collection.
Published by Innovative Communications, a company who hoped to emulate the success of the BEANO, edited by Paul Cockburn, the comic lined up some creators to work on it, including, among others, Lew Stringer (drawing “Tough Guy and Scruffy”), Tim Perkins (“Buster Case”, “Hannah Hacker” and “Dinoswords“, and Euan Kerr (“Angry Angus”).
The title a long gestation period – planning began in 1989! – and, reportedly, had a huge launch budget but, sadly, traditional British comic weeklies were on their way out and the comic folded after just twelve issues.
Now however, for its 30th anniversary, Lew has collected his stories into a new, 32-page digital comic – and you can download it anywhere in the world today – but do consider making a “Pay What You Can” price via PayPal at lew.stringer@BTopenworld.com
Not only does this digital collection include all twelve strips that ran in the comic, three on the cover, but background to the making of the strip and comic, character designs – and, as an added bonus, a fun new story, bringing the utterly silly superhero duo into the 21st century with a bit of festive cheer… and heaven knows, we could all do with a bit of that, eh?.
“It’s fair to say that most of you have probably never seen or heard of this strip before as Triffik’s existence was so brief,” says Lew. “Or perhaps you were amongst the readers who managed to catch it over those few weeks? Either way, I hope you enjoy the strips, which are intended for an all-ages audience.”
This is a smashing little digital collection, offering one of the best, crazily inventive strips from Triffik in one place. It’s a shame the title wasn’t a success, but great to see the characters back in (electronic) print!
• Don’t forget to tell Lew what you think of “Tough Guy and Scruffy” here on his blog
This Primordial Edition reprints every episode published, and includes the six never-before-seen episodes created prior to the publisher ceasing publication. More info at the-dinoswords.com
• Check out a Triffik cover gallery here on Comic Vine
Tough Guy and Scruffy © 2022 Lew Stringer
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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.
Categories: British Comics, Comics, Creating Comics, Digital Comics, downthetubes Comics News
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