As I covered Firework comics quite extensively last year (see here) I won't be going into them in any depth this time round. However, here are two celebratory "Bonfire night" covers for your amusement.
The 1969 issue of Whizzer and Chips above is not only the first Firework edition of that comic but is only the third issue of the long running title. (You'll notice my ten year old self scribbled "No.3" on the cover as IPC never bothered numbering most of their weeklies.) The artwork is by Mike Lacey. Note the kids recklessly holding fireworks in their hands. Whilst some fireworks could be hand-held (thanks to a wooden handle fitted to the end, - yes, wooden, and painted wood at that) the ones in the strip would burn the hands of anyone holding them that close to the flame. Yet as kids we knew that it was only comic fantasy. It's only in revisiting those strips with adult sensibilities and fears that they seem irresponsible. Real kids knew better than to imitate their comic strip equivalents.
Five years earlier, the cover of the 1964 Firework issue of The Beano (drawn by Dudley Watkins) had fireworks going off in all directions. It's a shame that knee-jerk fears of children copying comics led to the Firework issues fizzling out. A rocket streaming across a cover or "BANG!" sound effect was a good way to brighten up a strip.
5 comments:
I agree surely there is a way round it...fireworks should come back to comics..kids love them today....
A super School with special powers could go to a firework display...there water friend wil keep them safe from burns..:)
Peter (at my Mums...can't remember my blog password...)
Nice seeing the Slippy one....
Fireworks are great for action and colour like you say..
BRING THEM BACK!
Now if only i produced more than one comic a year (in fact at the current rate it will be less than that) i could have a go at reviving the firework issue. And the christmas issue with snow on top!
Actually BCM was due an entry on some Victors i found, most of which are christmas issues, perhaps i ought to hold off on that entry until December
The Firework issue may be a thing of the past but the Halloween issue seems to have replaced it. This week's Beano has a spooky theme to most of the strips.
By the way; don't worry, the Christmas comics are still with us, snow on the logos and all. :)
Excellent posters of the old school comics. Any chance of a copy of the firework related front covers? All costs incurred would be settled by Epic Fireworks.
Sorry, I'm not at liberty to provide prints of copyrighted material.
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