Journalist Paul Slade has self-published The Redemption of Andy Capp, a collection of eight comic-related writings, nearly half of the book taken up with the lead essay about Reg Smythe’s classic Daily Mirror newspaper cartoon strip, ranked one of the ten best essays of its year by Longform.com.
The essay successfully puts “Andy Capp” in a new light, and smashes a few myths about the strip.
“Andy Capp is often dismissed as nothing but the exploits of a wife-beating drunk,” Paul Slade says. “It deserves better.
“[The Redemption of Andy Capp] is an appreciation of Andy Capp’s creator, Reg Smythe and his skills as a world-class cartoonist. There was far more to the strip than people realise today.”
“Reg Smythe was the greatest British newspaper strip cartoonist of the 20th Century – and second only to Peanuts’ Charles Schulz on a global scale. So why don’t we treat him that way?” his essay opens.
In an interview for The Hartlepool Mail earlier this month, published where Smythe was born and an Andy Capp statue stand, Paul explained: “I’ve been a fan of Smythe’s ‘Andy Capp’ strip ever since relatives would buy me the collections for childhood birthdays, and was sorry to see it so often dismissed today.
“”When Homer Simpson called Andy a ‘wife beating drunk’ in a 1993 episode of The Simpsons, it convinced a whole generation there was no more to Smythe’s work than crude misogynist jokes. I wanted to show people that simply wasn’t true.”
Reg Smythe, who created “Andy Capp” in 1957, personally writing, drawing, inking and lettering every line of the 15,000 Andy cartoons he produced over the following 40 years. During that time, he was hailed as a master by his peers.
When he died in 1998, the strip was syndicated to 1700 newspapers – 1000 in America alone – translated into 14 languages and read by a combined audience of 250 million people in 52 countries round the world.
“Andy is as much Turkish as he is English,” one Istanbul paper wrote. “And he is probably Greek, Italian and Polish too.”
Incredibly, Paul notes Smythe’s “Andy Capp” strips were collected in 62 books – and yet, every single one, unlike Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts” or “Hagar the Horrible”, which have similar longevity and syndication success, are out of print.
“What few people realise is how much of his own troubled childhood Smythe poured into his characters’ lives,” Paul notes, successfully charting the development of the character in his essay, noting how Andy has changed down the years, as has, thankfully, society. “Andy was a portrait of his own wastrel father, Flo a version of his formidable mum, and their surroundings a faithful depiction of the pre-war Hartlepool neighbourhood where he grew up. This book’s opening chapter sets out Smythe’s biography, explores its parallels in the strip, and considers Andy’s early days as what Smythe admitted was ‘a right little bully’.
“There’s also a look at how he steadily shifted the couple’s balance of power to Flo, some analysis of his key techniques and insights from the two cartoonists who continue Andy’s strip today.”
Although I read the essay online some years ago, it’s a brilliant read as part of this fascinating book. It’s a shame it isn’t illustrated, but Paul’s prose is so evocative and such an interesting and entertaining read, you’ll soon be captivated by the story he tells.
I’m in agreement with comic archivist Paul Gravett, who recommends The Redemption of Andy Capp as “a rich, revelatory study, which has transformed my understanding and deepend my appreciation of this often-maligned British comic strip.”
The Redemption of Andy Capp also includes other writings by Paul, including a history of comic book lawsuits, Tintin and more, a celebration of the comics form that’s well worth a read.
Paul Slade has been a London-based journalist since 1982. During that time, he’s written for The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Guardian, The Times, The Observer, The Sunday Telegraph, The Independent on Sunday, The Sunday Times, Mojo, Fortean Times, The Idler, Time Out, fRoots and a host of other publications. In 2005, he started making occasional documentaries for BBC Radio 4, covering subjects like a forgotten radio hoax of 1926 and the craze for “dirty blues” lyrics in pre-war America.
On his PlanetSlade website, awash with “pet project” you’ll find his guide to some of the world’s most fascinating Murder Ballads, a series of Secret London’s forgotten mysteries and, in the section he’s cunningly titled Miscellany, “anything else I damn well feel like including,” Paul says, including his Andy Capp essay, and much more.
“My aim is to combine the old-fashioned virtues of traditional journalism – proper research, clear writing and a habit of checking my facts – with the global distribution and ease of access which only the internet can provide.”
• The Redemption of Andy Capp is available here from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
• Check out the PlanetSlade website at planetslade.com | Follow Paul on X
• Rick Geary, Roger Langridge, Gerhard, Hans Rickheit, Karl Stevens and Nick Gowman have all produced bespoke cartoon art for PlanetSlade over the years. You can see it all gathered together on a gallery page
With thanks to Paul Gravett for the heads up
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as 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, British Comics - Newspaper Strips, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features, Reviews
Andy is surely the British equivalent to Peanuts. I always resonated with his roots in a working class culture I grew up in. Even then, he was an “Everyman” who could as easily been from Leeds or London as his Hartlepool home.
Like certain Viz characters , though , once you know that home is the North East , it is hard not to hear the lilt in the accents as you read , Pet…
Shame that the early book collections are out of print, but these, of course depict Andy not only as a heavy drinker but…a smoker…and we can’t allow our icons to be so wreckless , now , can we ?