PETER ROCK

Peter Rock works for a UN Department of Scientific Investigation. i.e. He's a 'trouble-shooter' and Ambrose is his side-kick. Frank wrote that alternatively the pair could work 'for a private firm in the same capacity'.

The strip, intended for a daily paper, was to be, Frank said, 'of the most superior and luxurious kind. Me at my best'. Drawn in black and white, this twin-portrait, is a separate frame, created to help sell the work. Colouring, done much later, is by artist and Hampson fan John Ridgway.

A note to the purists

This version of Peter Rock was 'doctored' in 1996 in an attempt to persuade You Magazine, (The Sunday Mail colour supplement) to publish it.

They reproduced one frame.

The date of events - originally 2000 - was put forward. Some frames were omitted to speed up the story, and the printed title and first frame were added. Alterations like this break every rule in the archivists' book, but if Peter Rock had finally appeared in a national newspaper it would have been a great feather in Frank Hampson's (heavenly) cap.