Over the years I’ve always designed my own website. Starting in 2000, I used the Desktop Publishing package Serif PagePlus to design my original site. Then I progressed to learning HTML and making use of numerous other website designing packages. I’ve gone through versions which used ‘Flash’, though these days its not considered very secure, which is a shame, but that’s how things change.
Whilst I’ve never claimed to be a massive expert in the field, I’ve always been happy with what I’ve done at the time. With that in mind, my friend Phil Whitmore, who was part of my UpAndHappy! Radio Show team, wanted some help with updating a couple of his own websites. Phil is a writer and has created a number of weird and wonderful characters. Two in particular featured on the UpAndHappy! Radio Show.
Firstly Mr Custa is an “…intergalactic rock star and kicker of alien butts…”. He was created by Phil many years ago and for UpAndHappy! Phil produced 20 complete series of radio adventures featuring Mat Cobb in the title role. Since the radio show ended, Mr Custa has featured in animated adventures and then a series of professional comic book adventures.
The original Mr Custa site was created by a friend of Phil’s during the production of the original radio series. It’d had minor updates over the years, but now Phil felt it needed a proper update, not least to feature the professional artwork which had been created for the comic book adventures.
Phil asked me – and I thought the best way to go would be to feature as much as possible of the glorious artwork by the talented artists Mychailo Kazybrid and Bambos Georgiou. Colourful and vibrant were the order of the day – and I think we’ve achieved that.
One of Phil’s other characters is Dr StrangeGlove – a Doctor in a lab coat who wears a single Strange Glove (actually the hand from a gorilla costume). Dr.S was created one week by accident during a particularly silly edition of UpAndHappy!
The character began to introduce listeners to his ‘World of the Strange’, which then evolved into numerous series of weekly sketches – which featured me – as ‘Lee B‘!
Eventually these characters were also cartoon-ised by the very same artist who had taken on the mantle of the Mr Custa comics – Mychailo Kazybrid – and the character of ‘Lee B’ lives on!
Both websites feature pages where every single episode and sketch produced can be listened to (and in some cases viewed too!).
I’m very proud of them – have a look and see what you think – and maybe give me a shout!