Tuesday, February 03, 2015
Beano bits and bobs from the 1950s
My thanks to Jimmy Tweed again for sending me more comic scans from his collection. There's some fascinating items here that I've certainly never seen before.
Above is an early appearance of Dennis the Menace gatecrashing Biffo the Bear's cover strip in 1952. We all know that Dennis eventually gained the cover slot in 1974 but back then he was just an interior strip. Considering that Dennis the Menace had only started in The Beano the year before, I'm guessing that this 1952 strip is the first time he'd appeared on the cover. A sign of his immediate popularity perhaps, and a foreshadowing of great things to come! The brilliant Dudley Watkins drew Dennis a bit bulkier than his regular artist Davy Law did, but it's a great strip all the same.
Moving on a few years and here's a 1958 cover with Dennis making another appearance! Again, artwork by Dudley Watkins who drew him closer to the traditional version this time. (Although to be fair, like most comic characters, the design of Dennis did fluctuate a bit even under Davy Law until he settled on a comfortable design.)
As a bonus item, here's a Dennis the Menace strip by Davy Law from the back cover of The Beano from late August 1955, ending with an ad for the very first Dennis the Menace Annual. (Proving that annuals have always been published several months before Christmas, although these days they come out even earlier, in July.)
Above is an early appearance of Dennis the Menace gatecrashing Biffo the Bear's cover strip in 1952. We all know that Dennis eventually gained the cover slot in 1974 but back then he was just an interior strip. Considering that Dennis the Menace had only started in The Beano the year before, I'm guessing that this 1952 strip is the first time he'd appeared on the cover. A sign of his immediate popularity perhaps, and a foreshadowing of great things to come! The brilliant Dudley Watkins drew Dennis a bit bulkier than his regular artist Davy Law did, but it's a great strip all the same.
Moving on a few years and here's a 1958 cover with Dennis making another appearance! Again, artwork by Dudley Watkins who drew him closer to the traditional version this time. (Although to be fair, like most comic characters, the design of Dennis did fluctuate a bit even under Davy Law until he settled on a comfortable design.)
As a bonus item, here's a Dennis the Menace strip by Davy Law from the back cover of The Beano from late August 1955, ending with an ad for the very first Dennis the Menace Annual. (Proving that annuals have always been published several months before Christmas, although these days they come out even earlier, in July.)
David Leach tells it like it is
Comic artist, writer, animation artist, colourist, editor, David Leach has had quite a career and he's been interviewed by Alex Fitch about it on Resonance FM. There's a podcast of the interview now available for you to listen to here:
http://podcasts.resonancefm.com/archives/12472
I've known David for nearly 30 years since we were contributors to Oink! comic and I count him as one of my closest friends in the comics industry. (I went to his wedding many years ago too.) So I'm pleased to see him receive some recognition on Resonance FM. The interview reveals him to be as straight talking and enthusiastic as ever - and it's funny too, so have a listen.
http://podcasts.resonancefm.com/archives/12472
I've known David for nearly 30 years since we were contributors to Oink! comic and I count him as one of my closest friends in the comics industry. (I went to his wedding many years ago too.) So I'm pleased to see him receive some recognition on Resonance FM. The interview reveals him to be as straight talking and enthusiastic as ever - and it's funny too, so have a listen.
Sparky firsts!
A couple of weeks ago for the comic's 50th anniversary I showed a selection of early pages from Sparky on this blog. I mentioned I didn't have issue 1 but Blimey reader Jimmy Tweed has kindly sent me scans of the front and back covers. Sparky strip artwork is by Ron Spencer.
Obviously I can't show a strip like that without comment. The interesting, and alarming, thing about this first Sparky strip is that the character is talking in that stereotypical way that was becoming outdated even by 1965 when this saw print. A small compensation is that from the following week, when Sparky moved to the front cover, his dialogue was in perfect English. Too bad his visual design remained based on that of 1930s character Sooty Snowball. It may seem hard to believe today that this strip debuted in the same time period that the Civil Rights movement was often in the news. Yet sadly this sort of caricature was still seen in strips, and in gag cartoons in newspapers and joke books in the sixties.
I'm sure no one was being intentionally racist. People are products of their times, and Sparky, like Stymie and his Magic Wishbone of decades earlier, wasn't intended as a malicious caricature. All the same, I can't help wondering how young black readers felt, already struggling to be accepted as equals, to see this over-exaggerated grass-skirted character on the covers of a new comic interacting with all-white characters who were drawn semi-realistically.
Race relations became a huge and important talking point in the sixties of course and eventually caricatures like Sparky were considered out of touch. The character was gradually phased out of the comic by the end of the decade. Sparky became a much better comic without him.
My thanks again to Jimmy Tweed for sending me these fascinating scans of comics history.
Obviously I can't show a strip like that without comment. The interesting, and alarming, thing about this first Sparky strip is that the character is talking in that stereotypical way that was becoming outdated even by 1965 when this saw print. A small compensation is that from the following week, when Sparky moved to the front cover, his dialogue was in perfect English. Too bad his visual design remained based on that of 1930s character Sooty Snowball. It may seem hard to believe today that this strip debuted in the same time period that the Civil Rights movement was often in the news. Yet sadly this sort of caricature was still seen in strips, and in gag cartoons in newspapers and joke books in the sixties.
I'm sure no one was being intentionally racist. People are products of their times, and Sparky, like Stymie and his Magic Wishbone of decades earlier, wasn't intended as a malicious caricature. All the same, I can't help wondering how young black readers felt, already struggling to be accepted as equals, to see this over-exaggerated grass-skirted character on the covers of a new comic interacting with all-white characters who were drawn semi-realistically.
Race relations became a huge and important talking point in the sixties of course and eventually caricatures like Sparky were considered out of touch. The character was gradually phased out of the comic by the end of the decade. Sparky became a much better comic without him.
My thanks again to Jimmy Tweed for sending me these fascinating scans of comics history.
Monday, February 02, 2015
Forgotten UK Superheroes: LIEUTENANT LIGHTNING
There have been many British superheroes over the years. Some of them forgotten, some of them deservedly forgettable. Case in point, Lieutenant Lightning from Smash! Annual 1969. A one-off strip exclusive to that annual, never to be revived. Spider-Man it's not, but it's an entertaining enough story and no worse than some B-list American superheroes of the time. The redeeming factor is the excellent artwork by the always-reliable Tom Kerr. An artist who always mastered whatever theme he was given, whether it was mystery, western, humour, action, - or in this case superheroes.
Sunday, February 01, 2015
Comic Oddities: MELVIN'S MONEY FUN (1981)
Some comics slip under the radar because they're not available in newsagents or the usual outlets. One such comic was Melvin's Money Fun No.1, published by the Department of National Savings, and intended to encourage children to set up an account. Apparently it was given away at promotional stands, events and suchlike.
The 8 page glossy comic was edited by Denis Gifford and featured a fine selection of top comic artists. The cover strip, Chubby the Cub, was drawn by Chas Sinclair. One of his previous strips had been Basil Brush for TV Comic, and a few years after Money Fun he'd be drawing strips for Oink!
On page 3, Denis had commissioned the talents of veteran artist Wally Robertson to illustrate the return of classic 1950s character Sheerluck Jones...
Across the centre pages was a well illustrated adventure tale, Saved from the North Sea! drawn by Jim Baikie, perhaps best known for his artwork on Skizz for 2000AD...
Denis managed to fit in some of his own artwork too, contributing a half pager reviving his Koo Koo characters that had appeared in Whizzer and Chips in 1969...
It's curious that there were so many old characters turning up in Money Fun. In Kiss of Life Kitty, drawn by the brilliant Brian Walker, we saw the return of Laurie and Trailer, Alfie the Air Tramp and others from the pages of the original Chips. Even Weary Willie and Tired Tim cameo in the final panel...
The back page was a glorious finish to the comic by Basil Reynolds, proving that he was a master of both realistic and cartoon styles. Again, more old characters are brought back, with the return of Skit, Skat and The Captain from the 1930s in a brand new strip...
All in all, a very nicely produced comic. The constant references to National Savings get old very fast but the appeal is in the novelty of the comic and its superb artwork. Denis sent the issue to the subscribers of his Association of Comics Enthusiasts (A.C.E.) newsletter, which is how I obtained a copy. In the accompanying newsletter, Denis explained the genesis of the project so I've reproduced that here for you to read. As with all images on this blog, click on it to enlarge...
The 8 page glossy comic was edited by Denis Gifford and featured a fine selection of top comic artists. The cover strip, Chubby the Cub, was drawn by Chas Sinclair. One of his previous strips had been Basil Brush for TV Comic, and a few years after Money Fun he'd be drawing strips for Oink!
On page 3, Denis had commissioned the talents of veteran artist Wally Robertson to illustrate the return of classic 1950s character Sheerluck Jones...
Across the centre pages was a well illustrated adventure tale, Saved from the North Sea! drawn by Jim Baikie, perhaps best known for his artwork on Skizz for 2000AD...
Denis managed to fit in some of his own artwork too, contributing a half pager reviving his Koo Koo characters that had appeared in Whizzer and Chips in 1969...
It's curious that there were so many old characters turning up in Money Fun. In Kiss of Life Kitty, drawn by the brilliant Brian Walker, we saw the return of Laurie and Trailer, Alfie the Air Tramp and others from the pages of the original Chips. Even Weary Willie and Tired Tim cameo in the final panel...
The back page was a glorious finish to the comic by Basil Reynolds, proving that he was a master of both realistic and cartoon styles. Again, more old characters are brought back, with the return of Skit, Skat and The Captain from the 1930s in a brand new strip...
All in all, a very nicely produced comic. The constant references to National Savings get old very fast but the appeal is in the novelty of the comic and its superb artwork. Denis sent the issue to the subscribers of his Association of Comics Enthusiasts (A.C.E.) newsletter, which is how I obtained a copy. In the accompanying newsletter, Denis explained the genesis of the project so I've reproduced that here for you to read. As with all images on this blog, click on it to enlarge...
UPDATE: Thanks for the reminder from John Wigmans that there was a second issue of Melvin's Money Fun published two years later in 1983! Peter Gray covered it on his blog several years ago...
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