Two of Scotland's most famous comedy creations have been given the comic book treatment as the stars of Still Game take to the page.
Jack Jarvis and Victor McDade, along with some other Craiglang favourites, will appear in cartoon form in He Who Hingeth Aboot Getteth Hee Haw.
The comic book will feature illustrations of some classic episodes from the series, which ran for nine series between 2002 and 2019.
Artists include Dean Rankine, whose credits include The Simpsons, Futurama and Rick & Morty comics and Jamie Buchanan who has worked on shows for Disney and Nick Jr.
Motherwell-based Gary Welsh, who was the artist for 'Faimly' and 'Scones' has worked on Judge Dredd Magazine, The Broons and Oor Wullie.
The cover artist and main character designer, Steve Bright, is the co-creator of Bananaman and has produced hundreds of pages for The Beano and The Dandy.
Co-star and Mr Kiernan, who played Jack, said: “Greg and I are huge fans of things like Oor Wullie. Greg has a Marvel connection and has always collected comics. Gordon has taken our idea to see Jack and Victor and all the Still Game gang in comic book form, and turned it into something wonderful.
A scene from the Still Game comic book (Image: Wattie Cheung)
“We have a long history in Scotland of waiting for Christmas to get an annual, then spending an hour on Christmas Day in a corner reading it. It’s an old fashioned idea in that respect, back to roots, and I love that about it.
“It’s an incredible road to be on. We had an idea, we wrote it into a script, it became a sit-com and now it has become a comic book.
"We’re really happy with it. And I love how my wee cartoon guy looks.”
Mr Hemphill added: “The comic version of Still Game has its own flights of fancy. There are things in the comics which the cartoonists have put in which didn’t exist either in our head or in the TV show. So there are loads of Easter eggs in there for readers. Working with Gordon and his team on the comics was like seeing Still Game with fresh eyes.
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"The results are super-exciting, the new version of the characters look adorable. And we don’t have to spend an hour and a half in the make-up chair.”
Former DC Thomson Heritage Editor, Gordon Tait has worked on iconic comic book titles like, Dennis & Gnasher, Oor Wullie and The Broons. He said: “We wanted to keep it a secret for a while. A few of the artists we approached were really busy and in high demand, but the minute they found out it was for a Still Game comic book, they signed up right away.
“Not every TV show will lend itself to the comic book treatment, but Still Game has been perfect.
"It’s the most ambitious project that I have ever worked on and the most creatively rewarding one too. We’ve already started work on the second book.”
The move into the world of comics is far from the first time Jack and Victor have ventured beyond the televisual world of Craiglang.
In 2021 a Still Game blended whisky was released, with Still Gin arriving the following year.
The trademark for Jack and Victor Blended Whisky was opposed by American bourbon giant Jack Daniel's, but the UK Intellectual Property Office found in favour of Mr Kiernan and Mr Hemphill.
Also available is a Jack and Victor chilli and garlic sauce, and Still Game has been brought to the stage for a series of hugely successful live shows, playing to a total of 500,000 people across fifty shows between 2014 and 2019.
All episodes of the TV show were written by its stars, who brought the characters to life along with Gavin Mitchell as Boaby the Barman, Paul Riley as Winston Ingram, Mark Cox as Tam Mullen, Sanjeev Kohli as Navid Harrid and Jane McCarry as Isa Drennan.
Still Game ended in 2019 with an emotional final episode which envisioned the deaths of the main characters from the series.
The show was named Best Entertainment Programme at the Scottish BAFTAs on six occasions, with its return from a long hiatus in 2016 attracting an audience of 2.3m.
The comic is available to pre-order here
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