Writing Modern Concepts into Ginger Meggs
One of the most common questions asked about keeping Ginger Meggs up to date is how I decide which contemporary references to include in Ginger Meggs, and more importantly which ones ‘not’ to include.
The answer, like the process, is complicated.
When Jimmy Bancks died and left a years’ worth of strips in supply, the new artist, Ron Vivian, took over before they used them all up. They started running Vivian’s strips in the Christmas of 1952, and interspersing the strips: One Vivian, One Bancks, One Vivian, One Bancks etc. The rationale was reportedly that they didn’t want readers to be upset to see ‘new’ Ginger Meggs and stop reading; they were very gradually introducing the new cartoonist’s Ginger to the enormous readership- all of whom were very loyal.
Making ‘any’ change to Ginger Meggs with such a long and valued history is a big consideration, so when the time came to introduce things like smartphones, laptops, and drones… it was a lengthy consideration. There are certain references that are ephemeral, and by definition will not age well (ie. memes, viral YouTube videos like Gangnam Style or Baby Shark) that I avoid including in the strip. This isn’t done to airgap Ginger’s world from reality; it’s more to preserve the feeling of ‘capturing the spirit’ of the time itself, rather than hyper-specific events. People come to the comics page for respite from the news of the day, not to embed themselves in it. There is a delicate balance to be perfected.
Such was the hesitation to make these kinds of updates, Ginger didn’t even get a smartphone until very recently. He’s not a rich kid, so the first sign of a smartphone or anything of the sort was first introduced with Fitzzy (Cuthbert Fitzcloon) who is a bit more ‘well off’ than the rest of the kids.
Since then, some characters have developed more of a predilection for burying their noses in their smartphones (I’m looking at you, Penny and Fitzzy). To any criticism of introducing a smartphone into Ginger’s world, I would say this: Show me a kid in 2021, and I’ll show you a smartphone.
Not only would they be able to operate it, but they probably know more about it than their parents. It’s just one of those universal truths that have crept their way into our modern lives and would be more overt an omission than an inclusion.
Over the past century, Ginger has done everything from meeting the great cricketers of the world like Don Bradman, to the biggest Aussie actors like Hugh Jackman. He’s done remote schooling on his laptop during a global pandemic and survived more bushfires and wars than any Aussie digger. There are many years yet to come for our littler ginger-headed feller.
