Cor!! Buster Easter Special 2020: gruesome gurning with Faceache!

April gives us all the chance to flex our funny bones… and boy, do we need the laugh at this most difficult of times! So it’s time for another Cor!! Buster Special, featuring some of the greatest characters from Britain’s golden age of humour comics, all here in brand-new strips from some of the best names in comics today!

Buy now in print and digital >>

(Cover by Neil Googe)

Amongst the delights on offer here in this special, you’ll find, amongst others, the return of Grimly Feendish and Sweeney Toddler, more toothless terror with Gums, and of course, the return of Ricky Rubberneck, the boy with the bendable bonce, as Matt Smith and John Lucas delight us with Faceache‘s malleable madness!

The Cor!! Buster Easter Special 2020 goes on sale Wednesday 8th April 2020 from all good newsagents, whatever comic shops may still be open (please support them however you can!), and through the 2000 AD and Treasury of British Comics web shops.

Matt, John, hello. This year, for the Cor!! Buster Easter Special 2020, you’re the team tasked with bringing back the greatest of gurners to the kids of the world… it’s the return of Faceache.

First of all, it’s a character so beloved by so many, what does it mean to you to be the ones continuing his adventures here?

Matt Smith: It’s been great to get the chance to write a Faceache story – he’s a classic archetype of a British comics character in that he’s always getting into scrapes or causing mischief, but his grotesque ability offers up so many imaginative avenues. Conjuring up what horrible contortion he can turn himself into next is always good fun.

John Lucas: Well, as an American, I’m largely ignorant of British kids’ comics. My first exposure to Brit comics came by way of 80’s reprints of 2000 AD, Warrior, and Eagle, which coincided with the handful of 2000 AD alumni breaking into the American market. That work and its artists, Bolland, McMahon, Davis, Gibbons, Leach, Kennedy, McCarthy, Bellamy, Hampson, blew my mind. It really wasn’t until a few years ago, thanks to social media and the Internet, that I was exposed to Ken Reid’s work, and I immediately loved it. I’m a big fan of American Underground comics and Basil Wolverton and it scratched that same grotesque itch. I still haven’t seen a lot of Reid’s work, but I’ve been made aware of his popularity and importance.

So, short answer long, it’s intimidating.

What’s the story this time round?

MS: Since this was going to be an Easter special, I thought I’d have Faceache trying to snaffle as much chocolate as possible. He uses his gurning powers to scare the kids away doing the Easter egg hunt, but Martha (and her Monster Make-up) have other ideas.

JL: It’s the classic love story of a boy and his chocolates. I have a monster sweet tooth… so it really resonated with me.

What do you think it is about this particular character that really resonated with readers and continues to do so?

JL: Kids love the grotesque. They love monsters. They also love the fantasy of getting one over on the adults. And that’s Faceache. Reid’s masterful cartooning doesn’t hurt.

MS: It’s a typically British comics character that can gurn and uglify himself – like Plug in the Bash St Kids, or Pongo Snodgrass, there’s a unique strain of gargoyle-like characters. They’re so visually arresting, and tap into that sense of anarchy and strangeness that pervades UK funnies.

John, you’ve not only got the difficulty of following on from the incredible Ken Reid, but there’s also the problem of following up the decidedly different art from Steve Mannion on Faceache in the Cor!! Buster Special 2019.

JL: Apparently, I love the pressure/intimidation of following monster talent. I’m a big fan of Steve’s, I have all his Bomb and Dawn comics. They’re gorgeous.

What have I done? Can I have it back? I want to redraw my story. I can make it better.

What was your awareness of the character from your childhood?

JL: Choco goose egg.

And if you did know of Faceache, was there any trepidation on your part about taking the strip on here?

JL: There was, but not half as much as now!

What steps did you take in terms of shaping the artwork? Did you deliberately adjust your style to echo something of Ken Reid or Steve Mannion here?

JL: I didn’t try to ape either gent, because that would’ve been pointless, and a complete failure. Aside from the reference I got from editorial, I found as many clean images of Faceache that I could via Google. Looking at that, I filled a couple of pages just doodling him, trying to capture a likeness, while trying to find me in it. Hopefully, I was able to pull it off. I would’ve loved to have had a little more time to live in it and see where it would’ve gone. Maybe, they’ll ask me back to do more.

Have to say, by the way, the art looks fabulous – Love the image of Faceache stuffing himself on the last panel of page 1.

JL: Thanks, bud. It was a gas to work on. American comics don’t present a lot of opportunities for pure cartooning. I have a deep love of that kind of work. I’m really hoping to do more of that in the future.

And John, for those not familiar with your work, tell us a little about yourself and your work.

JL: I’ve been knocking around in comics for a little over 20 years. I’ve done work, as penciler and inker, for pretty much everyone. I even drew a strip for 2000 AD, around 2003 or so, called Valkyries. If people know me, it’s from my arc drawing Deadpool, or for my years inking on titles like X-force, Ultimate X-men, Conan, Fear Agent, etc. Lately, I’ve been working on independent stuff, things I have more of a hand in shaping, most recently After Houdini and Before Houdini, from Insight Comics. I’m currently working on the most me thing I’ve ever done and I’m in hog heaven. I can’t talk about it, yet.

The next thing I have coming out is a short in Slow Death Zero, a comic celebrating the 50th anniversary of legendary underground publisher Last Gasp.

Thinking ahead, what other characters would you love to get your hands on in the future from the massive archive at the Treasury of British Comics?

JL: As I said, I’d love to do more Faceache. I’d love to draw The Spider. I don’t know all that you have in your stable. I’m sure there are characters and properties I’ve never heard of, but would love.

Have you had any feedback from people indicating that we’ve seen new readers picking the comic up?

JL: I’ve shared a panel or two of my Faceache, and American followers have told me they’ve asked their shop to order copies.

What do you hope to see happening with both the Treasury of British Comics reprint collections and these new re-workings of classic characters in the Cor!! Buster Easter Special?

JL: Personally, I’m hoping to be exposed to a whole new world of comics. I love learning about new old comics.