If the Capp fits...
How our Andy became a huge international draw
Andy Capp has been amusing readers of the Daily Mirror for 60 years now... and really left his mark on millions of fans.
Many ardent followers have shown their devotion by being tattooed with images of our legendary, loveable rogue.
Followers from around the world have flooded the cartoon strip character’s Facebook page and Twitter account with snaps of their bodily inkings.
They pour in from countries including Italy, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Mexico and America.
And the artwork is so great, Andy Capp’s creator Reg Smythe would be proud.
But it’s not just pictures of tattoos of the famously workshy loafer we receive.
Andy has been adopted by fans of football clubs around Europe and appears on a range of banners, flags, scarves and shirts.
He is also on scooter club logos. And pictures of Hartlepool’s antihero have been drawn on anything from beer mats to lampposts, walls to pub shutters and even the bars of an Italian ferry company.
The daily strip’s co-writer Lawrence Goldsmith, who handles the Facebook page, is astonished at the volume of material he is sent almost every day.
He says: “Just when I think there is nobody left that doesn’t have a tattoo of Andy Capp another one will drop into the inbox.
“I always knew Andy was popular in certain parts of the world outside of Britain but I have been astonished to see people actually having him tattooed on their bodies.
“That is the ultimate compliment to the strip. And to see the number of football fans who have taken him on as their mascot is incredible.”
Lawrence adds: “Of course, Andy is the epitome of the working class person and a true fan of the beautiful game, even though he plays it ugly.
“But knowing hundreds of supporters across Europe have adopted him as their mascot and associate with him in such a way is amazing. Reg must be looking down on his old mate with immense pride to see that he has become more than just the comic strip he created.”
There are many who may wonder why Andy Capp is so well-loved abroad, especially by football fans. What makes them pick a layabout from the North East as their mascot?
Author and journalist Paul Slade, who has written extensively on both Andy and Reg Smythe, reckons it’s because in every country he has been published in, ordinary folk greet them as one of their own.
He says: “A 1960s editorial in Istanbul’s Hareket Gazetesi was quick to recognise this. The editor wrote, ‘Andy is as much Turkish as he is English. And he is probably Greek, Italian and Polish too.’
“Andy is known as Tuffa Viktor in Sweden, Charlie Kappl in Austria and Willi Wacker in Germany, where FC Nuremberg fans have made him their mascot.
“Andy’s working class roots led to Nuremberg adopting him.
“Club supporter Christian Moessner told one journalist: ‘He’s straightforward. Someone who stands for his beliefs and loves old-school football. Football without the high-priced tickets only the upper class can afford.’”
Andy’s fans have remained fiercely loyal since Reg Smythe’s death in 1998. Paul Baker, editor of Pennsylvania’s Lebanon Daily News, found this out when he accidentally omitted one of the new team’s strips from his paper in 2010. The result was a flood of what he called “profanity-laced attacks” from readers threatening never to buy the paper again.
It’s not just everyday folk who have taken Andy to their hearts, he also has something of a celebrity following on Twitter, including Dave Davies of the Kinks and Nils Lofgren from Bruce Springsteen’s E Street band.
Lawrence says: “I was bowled over when I spotted Dave was a follower. I am a massive Kinks fan and managed to get in contact.
“I was astonished when he replied that he was a huge Andy fan, as was his dad.” Andy appears in hundreds of newspapers worldwide, most in the US. You can also read him in at least one newspaper in Australia, Thailand, Barbados, Norway, Finland, Dubai, Guyana, Germany, Denmark, Jamaica, Italy, Sweden, Philippines, India, Brazil and South Africa.
Andy features in the Festival of Illustration at Hartlepool Art Gallery, alongside work by artists including Sir Ridley Scott, until August 29. The town museum has an exhibition of Reg Smythe’s life and works. Follow Andy on Twitter @worldofandycapp and Facebook.