My Comic-Strip Showcase Interview For ‘The Big Glasgow Comic’.

I was recently interviewed by The Big Glasgow Comic about my comic-strip, Al Cook’s “Necropolis”.
Enjoy!

Al Cook.
Artist/Writer Showcase.

Name:
Al Cook.

Occupation:
Illustrator & Murderer.

Tell me a bit about your comic related work:
I write and illustrate a Horror comic-strip called ‘Al Cook’s “Necropolis”’. It is completely hand drawn with a black BIC biro pen and is set in and around Glasgow’s Necropolis. It started on Halloween, 2010.

Sometimes I think that it’s too sweary but a quick saunter down Glasgow’s High Street proves that it’s nowhere near as sweary as it could and maybe should be. I always tend to fight with myself over things like this. Although, I’ve already covered the subject of Necrophilia. So fuck it.

I’d like my strip to end up one day as a sort of Glaswegian “Tales From The Crypt”. Maybe I’ll rename it “Tales Fae The Crypt”…Heh heh…

Main Influences:
Glasgow, Glasgow Necropolis, night time, prowling around Glasgow Necropolis at night time, drinking red wine. Basically, I like to drink loads of red wine and prowl around Glasgow Necropolis at night time. That’s pretty much my main influences for this comic-strip.

Favourite Heroes?
All the Shakespearos and all the Robert De Niros.

Favourite Villians?
I’ve always liked how The Joker dresses.

Earliest memory of comics?
I never really read comics as a wee boy. I don’t remember them being as available as they are now. That said, I remember buying a few Terminator and Aliens comics in the very early 90’s on the Dark Horse label when I was about 12 because they almost always had cool covers. It was always a bit of a letdown when the inside artwork wasn’t as detailed as the cover but now I get why that is.

Favourite comic?
Well, even as an adult I STILL don’t really read comic books. Someone saw my strip and pointed out a book called “The Bogie Man” by John Wagner & Alan Grant to me. They assumed that I was trying to do something similar with my strip but I’d never heard of it. When I got “The Bogie Man” and read it, it impressed the Hell out of me. The patter, the story, the artwork, the lot! I think it’s a very under mentioned and underappreciated Glaswegian great!

I think the only full mainstream comic book I’ve read is “Watchmen”. I think that it’s a masterpiece. I especially like that it doesn’t treat you like you’re 8 years old. I’m completely uninterested in reading the “Before Watchmen” books.

I like almost anything that comes from the end of Robert Crumb’s pen and I always keep an eye on what he’s up to.

What are you working on at the moment and what is next for you?
Drawing my Necropolis strip with a biro pen is very time consuming as you can imagine so I’m working on a new way of doing it without turning to a computer to do all the hard work for me. I’d also like to develop as an illustrator and especially a storyteller because so far, none of my strips really have stories to them.

The next Necropolis strip has a story to it. It’s called “NAW” and should be available sometime in late November.

I also have a sideline strip about the singer Jon Bon Jovi. It’s called “SHOT THROUGH THE HEART! …The Completely Made-Up Life & Times Of Jon Bon Jovi…” and that’s exactly what it is.

LINKS TO WORK:
* Al Cook’s “Necropolis” can be found HERE

* “SHOT THROUGH THE HEART! …The Completely Made-Up Life & Times Of Jon Bon Jovi…” can be found HERE

You May Also Be Interested In…
* Behind Al Cook’s “Necropolis”: Blood Test
* Behind Al Cook’s “Necropolis”: Nailing Him Up
* Album Artwork: “Love Lust Tales”