Andy Meanock talks to me.....

Andy Meanock is an extremely talented illustrator. On a personal note I am extremely envious of any man that rocks a beard better than me. He has been published by The '77 numerous times. Yet I am sure there is more that this very fine and gentle man.

Discolure is required: In the interests of full disclosure it must be stated Andy and I have worked together on a comic strip that will hopefully see print in due course. I will be unbiased, and this interview is purely for fan's of Andy's work.

Before diving into talking about his art I asked Andy to tell me a little bit about himself. As with his art, he did not disappoint. This is what he had to say: I have edited slightly here. Purely to make it easier to read.

1. "I have 3 dogs,one border collie that’s 13 named zeppelin,one small grey whippet named mouse 10, one black whippet collie lurcher named Lola 2."

2. "I love a curry with all the nuts Naan, poppa doms etc. I  love Thai too. I don’t cook. Love wine. Red for winter, prosseco or white for summer, if in a pub craft ale, IPA or San Miguel."

3. "Most modern movies leave me cold. I'm not a fan of Disney franchises, to me they take classics then milk the cash cow until it barely represents the once fine franchise it was, be it Marvel or Star Wars, both are ruined by woke culture and are money over content."

4. "The Shining and American werewolf in London are my all time fav horrors I grew up from with from the age of 8. Watching Hammers' and Universal classic horrors. I'm not a fan of digital art at all and AI can eat a bag of dicks too. If not drawing or painting then playing guitar and harmonica and singing, music and art rule my world. I love metal and punk,funk,blues,folk, out of new music ie todays new music. Sleaford mods are brilliant bit like grime,garage,Brit punk, great stuff.

Andy: I hope that helps. 

Paul: It certainly does! Moving onto comics I like to start at the beginning. I ask simply, what were the first comics you enoyed? Where were they from and how much did they cost?

Andy: Local newsagent/corner shop. Beano,Dandy,Whizzer 'N' Chips. Prob 20-30p kids comics.

Paul: Can you name any comic or artist that especially inspired you to become an artist yourself though?

Andy: Looney tunes cartoons made me want to draw cartoons ,Jim Davis Garfield creator /artist,Charles Schulz snoopy, Calvin and Hobbs the ones that used to come as a free mini comic back in th 80s with the Mail on Sunday made me start creating my own characters and drawing comics. When I was four we rented a hoIiday flat off an old guy that drew and one day he saw me drawing, probably kiddy scribbles. He showed me a pencil drawing of a tiger he did and it was photo realistic, it blew my mind.

Paul: You mentioned a drawing of a tiger blew your mind. Does that mean you are a fan of Calvin and Hobbs?

Andy: It was a drawing the old guy that rented out the holiday flat that drew it. Garfield, Snoopy and Calvin and Hobbs made me want to draw my own comics.

Paul: Would it be a fair guess to say you have a decent collection of books (almost a library) of the artists that inspired you?

Andy: Defo, five large boxes of DC, Marvel and 2000ad and three boxes of vintage 40s horror and sci fi comics, two shelves of graphic novels ,two shelves of books on artists and musicians.

Paul: As an artist would you descibe yourself as self taught, or have you had (for lack of a better description) a "formal" art education?

Andy: Self taught!

Paul: As an artist how do you define yourself. If at all. Are you comic artist? A caricaturist? A cartoonists? If you had to pick one which do you prefer?



Andy: I’m all of the above but if I could only do one it’s a tie between cartoonist and comic artist ,probably comic artist as it seems to come easy to me and I always love doing it, caricatures is bread and butter.

Paul: To do a caricature does it help to meet the person? Is it a little like making a portrait painting? Can you name any people you'd love to try to illustrate? The new King? Steve Bull? Tom Cruise? For random examples?

Andy: None of the above lol they’re all dicks, except Steve. Nope I do caricatures from photos as well as on the spot. I just look and draw. I would love to draw someone like Steve Tyler from Aerosmith or Keef Richards, Alice Cooper, Dave Grohl just folk I admire and would like ten mins to chat with.

Paul: So, how did you start working with the '77 crew? How did that happen?

Andy: I did a caricature for Dave Bedford's wife for him, her and their daughter from a photo from his wife’s phone. Months later I think he friended me on Faceache. I carried on posting out my work and one day he got in touch and asked if I was interested in pitching a story. I didn’t have anything at the time but said I’d keep it in mind. A while after that he messaged again to say he had a story that would fit with my style etc. Any writer can send me a script to look at. Low and behold it was Bambos, I recognised his name from Marvel and DC, look up his instagram profile which was all covers or comics he either wrote, pencilled or inked. I realised I had nearly all of them. So I jumped at the chance.

Paul: Could you tell me about Mister Meeker and how it was created? AND for that matter what the furure holds for the strip?

Andy: Bambos wrote it and handed me the script with character descriptions. I recalled my hammer horror history and designed them based upon that, hoping Bam and the team would like the whole story. It is 48 pages to be collected into one volume.

Paul: As part of the '77 team have you enjoyed going to conventions? Is that part of being an artist you enjoy?
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Andy: I haven’t been to comic cons since 2019 where I was selling prints of my work and drawing on the spot caricatures, which is very lucrative. I love comic cons, I just have to try not to spend more than I make lol. I will be doing one this year. I do like to meet people that appreciate what I do.

Andy: Bambos wrote it and handed me the script with character descriptions. I recalled my hammer horror history and designed them based upon that, hoping Bam and the team would like the whole story. It is 48 pages to be collected into one volume.

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.Paul: As part of the '77 team have you enjoyed going to conventions? Is that part of being an artist you enjoy?

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Andy: I haven’t been to comic cons since 2019 where I was selling prints of my work and drawing on the spot caricatures, which is very lucrative. I love comic cons, I just have to try not to spend more than I make lol. I will be doing one this year. I do like to meet people that appreciate what I do.

Paul: Do you have any fun convention stories you are allowed to share?
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Andy: Not really, once I start doing caricatures it doesn’t stop so I’m flat out and I'm always the last to leave, so I’m pretty much head down drawing throughout. I might blag half hour to go to the loo, eat and do a quick look around an buy.

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Paul: What comics do you read to enjoy these days? 

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Andy: Last time I bought a comic was a Jamie Hewlett art book, and Scotti Young art book. The last graphic novels were Bear Immortal by Jamie Smart and Ubu Bubu also by Jamie Smart. I prefer none of the mainstream stuff.

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Paul: In that case do you an opinion about digital comics? Do you prefer reading a paper comic or graphic novel, or have you tried reading comics on a tablet or a laptop?

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Andy: I’ve only ever sample read ones on a selling site so I could see the art and flick through five pages, but it’s not the same at all. I like to physically hold it and flick through pages, physical over digital everytime!

Paul: I appreciate you may not be a fan of superhero comics, but I have a daft question I like to ask please. If you could have any superpower what might it be?

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Andy: Wolverine's adamantinium skeleton and healing factor.

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Paul: What does the future hold for Andy Meanock? What might you be doing in say perhaps five years time? Is there anything you would like to shamelessly promote?

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Andy: Hopefully more publications, leaving the shop to solely do art for a living at last. Fingers crossed investments made by pulling money out of failing banks to invest will pay off. I may even leave for warmer climates.
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Paul: Thank you for your time Andy.