Thanks for the kind words, folks. I've been wanting to write a substantial piece about Andy Capp and Reg Smythe for well over ten years now, and I'm glad I finally got it out of my system. It's been very well-received so far, both by Andy's fans and by professional cartoonists and comics journalists.

I can only apologise for the Wearside/Tyneside error, Bainbo, and plead my background as a life-long Southerner in mitigation. If you'd like to drop PlanetSlade a line correcting my mistake, I'd be delighted to run your letter on the site's Correspondence pages. Feel free to be as rude about my ignorance as you wish!

You'll find an e-mail link here: http://www.planetslade.com/contact.html.