Ogri is a cartoon character of a British rocker-style biker created by English cartoonist and illustrator Paul Sample in the 1970s for Bike magazine in the UK until January 2009, when it was dropped but quickly taken up by Back Street Heroes, the custom motorcycle magazine. Four book collections of Ogri strips have been produced, and a VHS video. Ogri is a tough leatherjacketed biker with Thor-like wings sticking out of his helmet. The actor Ewan McGregor is a fan and owns an Ogri leather jacket, bought from Paul Sample on eBay.
Paul Sample draws in black ink line, as well as colour, in a style similar to Robert Crumb. As with some other cartoonists, such as Carl Giles, a lot of the pleasure in the cartoons comes from looking at the detail in the cartoon frames; there is almost inevitably a subplot going on. The funny and well observed stories about British bikers usually take place within one page, though 2 pagers are sometimes drawn.
Several compilation cartoon books collecting the strips have been published in the UK. Sample also produces a variety of Ogri-related memorabilia, including T-shirts, coffee mugs, posters, greetings cards, and badges. The Paul Sample archive, including many original Ogri strips along with other Paul Sample artwork, was auctioned in Shrewsbury in January 2010. There is also an Ogri Motorcycle Club (Osnabruck Garrison Riders Institute), founded in Germany in 1978 when all the members were serving in the Army or RAF.
Read more about Ogri: Ogri Himself, Ogri's Bike, Engineering, Law and Order, Kickstart, Malcolm, Mitzi, Appearances Outside The Comic World, Published Work