np www.​bean​otown.com

Intro­duc­tion (Intro­duced by Nigel Parkinson)

Nigel Parkin­son. Comics, car­toons, illus­tra­tion, that sort of thing, mainly. Started draw­ing 1962. Started school 1964. Started draw­ing comics pro­fes­sion­ally 1980. Haven’t stopped yet. Stopped school, though. Quite a while back.

I’ve drawn for a few comics, most notably: COR!!, Whizzer and Chips, Fast For­ward, Thun­der­birds, and of course The Dandy and The Beano, where I draw any­thing they need draw­ing, usu­ally Dennis the Menace, although I love draw­ing the Bash Street Kids! Other stuff? Yes, a fair amount; one that’s quite inter­est­ing is a Kaiser Chiefs single cover in 2007.

Does the Beano keep all their artists locked in cup­boards, only feed­ing them and taking them for walks when needed?

No. Not ALL of them.

How much and on what terms do you get paid?

Paid per page, upon deliv­ery of the art­work. Less than you’d think, maybe, but Thom­sons pay very promptly. That counts for a lot with me. (Some pub­lish­ing com­pa­nies pay many months later and far too many just never pay. As if a com­mit­ment to pay illus­tra­tors is a luxury they can choose to write off if the chair­man really needs that new car. This has hap­pened far too often. Not only to me! Thom­sons are not like that and I respect them for it)

Do you ever do com­mis­sions or adver­tis­ing work out­side of the British comic industry?

Yes, yes, yes! I’ll basi­cally do any­thing if I like the project or the people behind it or the pay’s right.

Apart from art and illus­tra­tion what other things are you into?

I’m not really ‘into’ art and illus­tra­tion, I never stud­ied it, I just do it because I enjoy it. But to answer your ques­tion, there’s very little I’m NOT into!

Who are your favourite artists/illustrators alive today?

Alive today. That excludes so many of the best ones! But – Mike Noble, fault­less; Leo Bax­en­dale, hilar­i­ous. And Steve Ditko. Of course. I dare­say they’re pretty much unknown out­side comics!

Do you ever wish you were work­ing for 2000AD?

How nice of you to be con­cerned that I might be unsat­is­fied at The Beano and have unful­filled ambi­tions! The answer is no.

If you had a choice to become the artist in res­i­dence of any inter­na­tional com­pany in the world – who would it be?

Artist in res­i­dence sounds like I’d have to go some­where and set up an easel. I’m happy doing what I’m doing and where I’m doing it. Although…

If there was a live action Bash Street Kids move in pro­duc­tion, would you take a cameo role in it, or curse the earth walked upon by the person who allowed it to happen?

I’ll be Teacher. Not really a cameo, but, hey!

Is there anyone you would like to work with?

Never thought about it. You mean like a par­tic­u­lar writer? Got some­one in mind? Or do you have a mental pic­ture of me and Lucien Freud doing a mural of Minnie the Minx?

What’s next in the pipeline for Nigel Parkinson?

Well you never know, but as The Beano is 52 weeks a year, with annu­als and Month­lies and so on, I guess the answer is: The Beano. But, as I say, I’m open to offers!

Harry Potter or Dennis the Menace?

Chalk or cheese? Mild or Bitter? John or Paul? Books or comics? No need to choose, you can have both, you know. In fact, it’s essential!

Gnasher or Gnipper?

I think you’ll find it’s Gnasher AND Gnipper!

Cat­a­pults or Cow pies?

It depends if you’re hungry or really annoyed at a tin can on a wall.

You can see more of Nigel Parkinson’s work at
www.​bean​otown.com

Related News

• LCS INTER­VIEW :: Jock
• LCS INTER­VIEW :: Tony Weinstock
• LCS INTER­VIEW :: Kevin O’Keefe

Cats: Editor's Choice, LCS Interviews
Tags: advertising work, Interviews, Kaiser Chiefs, Leo Baxendale, Lucien Freud, Mike Noble, Nigel Parkinson, Parkinson's, Steve Ditko, www.beanotown.com