Electric Soup
Encyclopedia
Electric Soup is the title of a Scottish
underground comic book
series which was first published in 1989, and ran until 1992.
The title was an anthology
title with its most notable strip being The Greens, ( a parody of The Broons
strip published by D.C Thomson
) which was written and drawn by Frank Quitely
. Other stories were written and drawn by Shug, Dave Alexander, (whose creations The MacBam brothers proved a popular feature) Tommy Somme, Gerbil and others.
Electric Soup was independently published and distributed round the Glasgow
area to start with, but it received distribution though comic books shops before being snapped up by John Brown Publishing
for UK
distribution.
The humour was very Glaswegian in its strips, very akin to how Viz
is full of geordie
humour in many of its comic strips. The title was moderately successful but it was eventually cancelled after 17 issues.
The MacBams storyline was continued in their own title, which lasted for one issue.
A one-off Electric Soup 10th anniversary 18th edition was published in 1999, reuniting all of the original contributors.
The last Greens strip from this one off special was later reprinted in colour in Northern Lightz
, another Scottish
underground comic book
, which carried further adventures of Alexanders MacBams and Shug's Wildebeest characters.
Shug now known as Shug 90 now has his" Electric soup" characters"Rex and Tom/Polis Story and The Wildebeests" published in small press publication Khaki Shorts by Rob Miller.
----
The name "Electric Soup" is originally the colloquial name for the beverage made by infusing milk with town gas which was readily available from broken gas lanterns in the hallways and closes of tenements and flats across Scotland before North Sea gas was used and electric lamps were introduced. "Electric Soup" was commonly made and consumed by tramps, alcoholics and delinquents and was reported to have a mind altering effect.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
underground comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series which was first published in 1989, and ran until 1992.
The title was an anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
title with its most notable strip being The Greens, ( a parody of The Broons
The Broons
The Broons is a comic strip in Scots published in the weekly Scottish newspaper, The Sunday Post. It features the Broon family, who live in a tenement flat at 10 Glebe Street, in the fictional Scottish town of Auchentogle or Auchenshoogle . They are also shown as living on Glebe Street...
strip published by D.C Thomson
D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd
D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, is a publishing company based in Dundee, Scotland, best known for producing The Dundee Courier, The Evening Telegraph, The Sunday Post, Oor Wullie, The Broons, The Beano, The Dandy and Commando comics...
) which was written and drawn by Frank Quitely
Frank Quitely
Vincent Deighan, better known by the pen name Frank Quitely, is a Scottish comic book artist. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with Grant Morrison on titles such as New X-Men, We3, All-Star Superman, and Batman and Robin, as well as his work with Mark Millar on The...
. Other stories were written and drawn by Shug, Dave Alexander, (whose creations The MacBam brothers proved a popular feature) Tommy Somme, Gerbil and others.
Electric Soup was independently published and distributed round the Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
area to start with, but it received distribution though comic books shops before being snapped up by John Brown Publishing
John Brown Publishing
John Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...
for UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
distribution.
The humour was very Glaswegian in its strips, very akin to how Viz
Viz (comic)
Viz is a popular British comic magazine which has been running since 1979.The comic's style parodies British comics of the post-war period, notably The Beano and The Dandy, but with incongruous language, crude toilet humour, black comedy, surreal humour and either sexual or violent storylines...
is full of geordie
Geordie
Geordie is a regional nickname for a person from the Tyneside region of the north east of England, or the name of the English-language dialect spoken by its inhabitants...
humour in many of its comic strips. The title was moderately successful but it was eventually cancelled after 17 issues.
The MacBams storyline was continued in their own title, which lasted for one issue.
A one-off Electric Soup 10th anniversary 18th edition was published in 1999, reuniting all of the original contributors.
The last Greens strip from this one off special was later reprinted in colour in Northern Lightz
Northern Lightz
Northern Lightz was a Scottish adult humour underground comic that ran from 1999 to 2005. Primarily based around drug humour, the title featured underground cartoonists Dave Alexander, Pudsy, Jim Stewart, Jamie Grant John Miller and many others, and could be seen as a partial successor to Electric...
, another Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
underground comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
, which carried further adventures of Alexanders MacBams and Shug's Wildebeest characters.
Shug now known as Shug 90 now has his" Electric soup" characters"Rex and Tom/Polis Story and The Wildebeests" published in small press publication Khaki Shorts by Rob Miller.
----
The name "Electric Soup" is originally the colloquial name for the beverage made by infusing milk with town gas which was readily available from broken gas lanterns in the hallways and closes of tenements and flats across Scotland before North Sea gas was used and electric lamps were introduced. "Electric Soup" was commonly made and consumed by tramps, alcoholics and delinquents and was reported to have a mind altering effect.