Andy Capp
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This article is about the cartoon character. For the 1988 sitcom see Andy Capp (TV series).
Andy Capp is a long-running comic strip character created by Reginald Smythe, seen in the The Daily Mirror and The Sunday Mirror newspapers since August 5, 1957. Originally a single-panel cartoon, it was later expanded to four panels. The character is also licensed as the mascot for a line of snack foods, and a defunct chain of miniature golf courses in Brevard County, Florida. Smythe received the National Cartoonist Society Humor Comic Strip Award for the strip for 1974.
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[edit] About Andy
The name is a play on words; "Andy Capp" sounds like a working-class pronunciation of "handicap", which the leading character Andy is, to most of the other characters. His wife, Florence Capp, is called 'Flo' by all the other characters.
Andy is meant to be a working class figure, located in Hartlepool, Northern England. His hobbies include pigeon racing, snooker, football (which always involves fights with the other players, and frequently ends with Andy being sent off), occasionally cricket and rugby, betting on horses, getting drunk (often falling in the canal or arriving home late as a result), fishing (and not catching anything bigger than a goldfish), womanizing, lying on the sofa, and fighting with his long-suffering wife. Until the 1980s, he was always seen with a cigarette dangling from his lip, until it was deemed politically incorrect. Similarly, he no longer indulges in fisticuffs with Florrie, because of concerns about the depiction of domestic violence, even though their fights were always drawn in a stylised fashion so as to avoid offense, and in any case, Florrie always gave as good as she got. Instead, they now attend marriage counseling. Andy's trademark cloth cap is always pulled down over his face, although his eyes bulge out when he is surprised. It is never clear how he can see where he is going.
Andy and Florrie are always on the verge of poverty. Andy is unemployed and lacks motivation, rent on the house and contents are constantly in arrears, and Percy the rent collector despairs of ever being paid. Their furniture has been repossessed on several occasions. Somehow, they always manage to recover it, and Andy is always able to afford beer and betting (usually by borrowing from Florrie). The strip is almost exclusively shown in one of three locations: the pub (Andy always goes to the same one), the street, or in the Capp's house at No. 37 Durham Street (generally with Andy on the couch and Florrie yelling from the next room). Lesser visited places include the race track (although Andy frequently bets by listening to the radio, thus saving him the trip), marriage counseling (in one memorable cartoon, a panoramic shot is given of the counseling office, with several entire file cabinets dedicated entirely to the Capps), and the football pitch (where Andy is either being sent off, or carried off).
Andy and Flo's best friends are their neighbors Chalkie and Rube White. Chalkie is like Andy, a hard-drinking, hard-scrabble type who can often be seen sharing a pint with Andy at the corner pub; however, Chalkie seems to be more mellow than Andy and more tolerant of his wife. Rube is Flo's confidante, and the two often trade gossip about their husbands' latest escapades. The Vicar is also seen often; Andy despairs of his holier-than-thou attitude, and he is constantly criticizing Andy for his drinking and gambling, and often lets his opinion be known to Flo, who frequently agrees with his assessments of Andy's character. Percy Ritson the rent collector and Jackie the barman are often seen, as well. Flo's mother, an unseen character, is often engaged in conversation at the door, but never actually comes inside or is physically seen in the comic strip. Flo's mum is often the subject of Andy's pointed barbs about her weight and less-than-sunny disposition, but she has been known to give as good as she gets.
In 1981, a stage musical based on the strip had a short run at London's Aldwych Theatre, with songs by Alan Price and staring Tom Courtenay as Andy Capp.
Reg Smythe died on June 13, 1998, and the original strip has been continued in a highly regarded pastiche of his style. For some time the writer and artist were uncredited, but in November 2004 the strip began to carry a credit for Roger Mahoney and Roger Kettle.
Andy Capp is not to be mistaken with the German curler Andy Kapp.
Despite its local milieu, the comic strip is syndicated in 50 countries throughout the world.
Shortly after Reg Smythe died, a campaign was started to have a statue of Andy Capp erected in his, and Reginald's home town, Hartlepool, as a commemorative gesture. However, no local businesses could be found to sponsor the venture, as it was deemed the cartoon was too politically incorrect, and perpetuated a negative stereotype of the northeast. Campaigns are still trying to get the statue of the character erected to this day but public opinion is still split.
[edit] Andy's son
When the children's comic Buster was launched in 1960, its masthead character was entitled Buster: Son of Andy Capp. Buster wore a similar cloth cap to Andy until 1992, but the connection was not recognised in the parent strip and had limited development in the children's comic. Buster did often refer to his father, and he was seen in the comic itself attempting to find a gas leak in three frames of the 18 June 1960 issue. He was also shown in two drawn photographs in the 2 July 1960 issue, the first of which was displayed by Buster's mum with the pronouncement "It's a photo of Buster taken with Andy! You can see he's got his dad's fine straight nose". Buster's mum was often referred to by name and was consistently drawn to resemble Andy's wife Flo.
[edit] Book collections
Several collections of Andy Capp strips have been published by The Daily Mirror since 1962; its more current collections are The Andy Capp Collection: No. 1 and The Andy Capp Collection: 2005, and are widely available.
In the United States, Fawcett published several Andy Capp collections from the mid-1960s through the 1980s. These books are now out of print, though many used bookstores may still have some copies.
[edit] Pop culture
Capp is still seen in pop culture today.
He was involved in an episode of the third season of Family Guy entitled "And the Wiener Is...", when he is seen at the Drunken Clam (with a Cockney accent rather than his native North Country) with Peter Griffin before getting into a fight with Flo when she catches him drinking.
The Goodmark Foods Company manufactures a line of snack products known as Andy Capp's fries.
Brian Johnson of AC/DC also bases his look on the character.[citation needed]
In The Simpsons episode "Marge vs. the Monorail", Homer is seen reading Andy Capp in the newspaper. He roughly summarizes the comic when he laughs and says, "Oh, Andy Capp, you wife-beating drunk!" Homer also lay down on the couch in Andy's characteristic style in "Make Room for Lisa", stating "That Andy Capp was on to something."
[edit] See also
- 91:an (Swedish comic magazine that features Andy Capp)
