In the spotlight this month is Steve Kingston, who took over on the Carrie strip in 1977 after the departure of Mario Capaldi. Steve had contributed artwork to Mayfair, and other men's magazines, for several years and had been asked a number of times if he would take over the strip. Steve was easily the most prolific of Carrie's illustrators, drawing well over a hundred strips over ten years. He was paired initially with David Brenner, who was employed by Mayfair as a staff writer.

Kingston's style, particularly in the early days, was more cartoon-like than either of his predecessors and, while he created some highly imaginative perils for our heroine, and produced many fine examples of erotic art, at times the strip appeared rushed and lacked the sort of detail that made Lawrence's work so memorable. It also lacked the kinkiness of Lawrence's work. It has to conceded, though, that Steve had an exceptional talent for depicting see through underwear!!

The men Carrie had met in Lawrence's strips had only one thing on their mind. The humour stemmed from the way in which, most of the time, she got the better of them. Many of Kingston's stories relied solely on Carrie losing her clothes. While this was always a pleasure to witness, it did become fairly routine and it beggared belief when time and again the men Carrie met seemed content to laugh at her predicament without taking any advantage.

There were exceptions - the "Hinge and Bracket" duo (right), who took Carrie in to "dry off" after a soaking, obviously recognised a good thing when they saw it, as did the guys from the bob-sleigh team when they found her with her head stuck in the railings. We also enjoyed Carrie's encounter with a couple of costumed cads from the Civil War society the Sealed Knot. That expression on her face says it all - click the picture to see what she is contemplating then hit the back button and click HERE to see how it turns out. An all time classic story!

Dave Brenner left the magazine during Kingston's run and spent a short time working as a sports reporter for London's LBC Radio. Later storylines were devised by Brian Bower. Bower, who was actually a postman at the time, had submitted a couple of scripts to the magazine which Kingston liked. The two men would bounce ideas around between them. Kingston says that Bower had a real feel for the character and would produce storylines almost effortlessly. Bower went uncredited because Mayfair's editor decided he wanted only a single credit on the strip.

Kingston told us "after illustrating Carrie's adventures for so many years (113 published in total) it is truly gratifying to know that she was appreciated by so many. I certainly enjoyed painting her and indeed she took up a big part of my life as an illustrator. Strange as it may seem, I enjoyed painting her more towards the end, so I didn't get tired of depicting her (mis)adventures every month, just that circumstances took me in a somewhat different direction."

All the images posted in Carrie's Den are already posted elsewhere on the web and are freely available for anyone to access. Kingston still owns all the original art he did for Mayfair along with other men's magazines.

In 1980 Kingston was commissioned to produce a Carrie pin-up Calendar for a company called Gainsborough. For more examples of Steve Kingston's Carrie see this month's "What Carrie did..." Gallery.

The Many Faces of Carrie by Steve Kingston During Steve Kingston's time on the strip at least five different Carrie "Heads" were used.
The first was used from June 1977 (Vol 12) until January 1979 (Vol 14).	The second was used from February 1979 (Vol 14) until February 1981 (Vol 16).	The fourth appeared in November 1984 (Vol 19) and was used for just 6 months until April 1985 (Vol 20).
The head above was modelled on Lesley Chisholm who appeared on the cover of the April 1977 Mayfair.	The third was used from August 1981 (Vol 16)until October 1984 (Vol 19).	The fifth was used from May 1985 (Vol 20)until Carrie ended in June 1988 (Vol 23)

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