Gallery 4 — The Street                       GOF1182

In 1982, Street Level Ltd, publisher of magazines HIM Monthly, Vulcan, Teenage Dreams and the HIM Gay Library Series, sold the titles to Millivres, publisher of Zipper and other well known gay magazines. HIM Monthly relaunched as more of a lifestyle periodical, less raunchy than its predecessor, and included was a new comic strip by Oliver Frey called THE STREET. For the time, it was a novel idea – a story that would continue every month like a TV soap opera, covering many aspects of gay life. Among other sources writer/producer Russell T. Davies cited THE STREET as an influence on what later became his cult TV series Queer as Folk.

    The comic appeared as three panels spread across three pages of the magazine. Sadly, due to changes at Millivres, Oliver only drew the strip for nine months and so we were left with 27 artwork boards, and now those originals are offered here.

Each panel is painted in monochrome inks on art board (21.5 x 14.5 cm – 8.5 x 5.7 ins). Click thumbnails for a larger image (not on phones).