Learning from history

This October sees the publication of a new book on the history of UK comics. Titled British Comics: A Cultural History the 320 page hardback is written by James Chapman, a Professor of Film Studies who has previously authored books on film in relation to society.

The book promises to cover the whole history of British comics, from the early days of Ally Sloper to the present day. (Hopefully its conclusions won't be too downbeat and dismissive of current UK comics as some studies have been.)

The book is now up for pre-order at Amazon UK.

Back when the late comics historian Denis Gifford was still with us he seemed to be producing books on the history of comics on a regular basis, from the slim digest Discovering Comics to the weighty International Book of Comics. Back when I was 16 and supposedly revising for my 'O' Level exams at the local library I'd be pouring through Denis' Happy Days, One Hundred Years of Comics instead. It never did me any harm. In fact it inspired me and stood me in good stead for the future.


Since Denis died several years ago there's been much written on specific areas of British comics but not so much about the whole history of the artform. However one such book is Great British Comics by Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury. The large format 192 page softback was published in 2006 but copies are still available (here) and should be essential reading for anyone interested in the background of UK comics.


Here's a few snapshots of some of the spreads from Great British Comics to give you an idea. Every page is in full colour, the research is top-notch, and the book is well illustrated with crisp, clear scans throughout.





Will James Chapman's British Comics book be a match for Great British Comics? No doubt it'll have its own opinions and approach to the history, but that can only be a good thing to broaden one's knowledge of the medium. Roll on October!

This week's Commando comics

Here's a preview of the latest batch of Commando comics, in the shops now. Thanks to editor Calum Laird for the info:

Commando 4407: They Came By Night

Without warning the periscope of a U-boat broke the surface. It turned and focussed on the Locksea Lighthouse. Then, slowly, the glistening, black hull of the submarine came up from the depths.
No one could deny the courage and cool cheek of the Nazi Commander who had made up his mind to capture this vital link in the guiding of our Atlantic convoys.
Then, into what was to be the most fantastic episodes of the war, sailed Skipper Jimmy Cleeves and his RAF rescue launch K20.

Introduction by Calum Laird, Commando Editor

Nowadays Commando writers have it tough. In our 50 years, loads of plots have been used, and they have to try really hard to find a new angle on things. Back in 1961, though, when Commando first broke cover, the writers had a very open field to work with.
So you might think that this sixth story to come out would be very straightforward. If you did, you’d be wrong. It has ships, subs, bombers, recce planes, a lighthouse…and even a carrier pigeon.
Even when they’ve got it easy, Commando authors just can’t help writing cracking stores.

They Came By Night, originally Commando No 6 (August 1961), re-issued as No 2563 (April 1992)

Story: Couglin
Art: Savi
Cover: Ken Barr



Commando 4408: The Cop Who Went To War

Dave Marley was a policeman and proud of it. When the war came, he joined the Military Police and found that a lot of soldiers acted just like the blokes in civvy street who didn’t want to know a copper until they had trouble.
But now there was more than brawls and bank robbers to think about. There were difficult problems to be tackled with the added danger of shells and bullets crashing all around. Yes, it was a tough job, being a Military policeman…

Introduction by George Low, former Commando Editor

The Military Police do a difficult and dangerous job, and it’s not always appreciated by the common soldier, sailor or airman. In the rough and tumble of war, men fresh from action often don’t take it well when a Redcap gets on their case. How to win the doubters over? Prove that you are as tough and as capable of dealing with the enemy as the front-line fighters are.
Roger Montague shows this up well in a crisp 1975 script and Ibanez-Igual did his bit with the line artwork. The cover? That’s Ian Kennedy, of course. He draws a mean motorbike as well as the aircraft he’s renowned for.

The Cop Who Went To War, originally Commando No 982 (November 1975), re-issued as No 2323 (November 1989)

Story: RA Montague
Art: Ibanez-Igual
Cover Art: Ian Kennedy



Commando 4409: Codename: Houdini

Andor Lakatos and his two younger brothers were a popular circus escapology touring Eastern Europe just before the start of the Second World War. When the Germans invaded of Poland in 1939 the three brothers were caught up in the chaos.
Andor, in particular, was drawn against his will into wartime espionage, given the codename Houdini after the great escapologist.
With danger at every corner it seemed unlikely even Andor could escape this murky world of shadows and treachery?

Story: Mac MacDonald
Art: Rezzonico
Cover Art: Janek Matysiak



Commando 4410: “Talk…Or Die!”

It seemed a straightforward job, risky but straightforward. Flying a helicopter full of gold out of South Vietnam before the advancing North Vietnamese army got their hands on it.
As an ex Australian Air Force chopper pilot, Brendan Beckett thought the job would give him no real trouble. So how did he come to be tied to a post, knee-deep in rising water? Well, it’s a long story.

Story: Tom Hart
Art Benet
Cover Art: Benet

http://www.commandocomics.com

Deviant Dabbles

I've recently joined DeviantART, the online arts community. I'm not sure why I didn't join years ago really, as I've been amazed at the quality and variety of art displayed there. It's good to see a few of my comic mates there too and to see what they've been up to. It's like an online convention!

My page is still in development as DeviantART is still new to me so I'm finding my way around there when I have time. I've uploaded a few pages you may not have seen before, so visit my gallery and click on the images. (Then click on them again to view them larger.) I'll be posting more material there soon.

http://lewstringer.deviantart.com/

It's likely that from now on if I want to promote my own work I'll be using DeviantART instead of this blog. The original idea of Blimey! was to focus on British comics of the past but recently it's veered off course a bit with a focus on new comics. I have a couple of books kindly sent to me for review, and I'll be blogging about those soon, but after that Blimey! will have a little revamp and return to its original objective of concentrating on vintage British comics. (Although the plugs for a few current titles such as Commando and the upcoming Spirit if Hope book will continue.)

Record Commando

As reported in previous posts, DC Thomson's Commando comic chalks up its 50th anniversary this year, and the actual 50th birthday issue (entitled Misfit Squad) is on sale now. As part of the continuing celebrations, today's edition of the Daily Record features a two page spread interviewing the current editor Calum Laird, former editor George Low, deputy editor Scott Montgomery, and one of the regular writers Ferg Handley.

It's great to see such a positive item on British comics in a newspaper and its level-headed tone acts as a good balance to the scaremongering tactics of some other newspapers.

You can read the Daily Record article on their website here.

Daily Mail's attack on Clint provokes tepid response

Nicknamed "The Daily Hate" in some quarters because of the "not in my backyard" slant of its articles, the Daily Mail has once again targeted comics. Last time it was taking a pop at The Beano for being too politically correct. This time it's attacking Clint for being just the opposite. (Make your mind up Daily Mail!)

On the Mail Online website yesterday the paper ran with the headline "Controversial comedian Jimmy Carr writes sick comic strip depicting gun massacre". (Full points to the Mail for getting "sick" and "controversial" in one headline, although that's not too difficult when the headline runs to 11 words.)


The story in question was a complete strip in Clint No.9, published this week, plotted by comedian Jimmy Carr with art and dialogue by Ryusuke Hamamoto. In the strip, a high school student casually guns down his teacher and his classmates. At no point is the reader expected to relate or admire the killer, and it doesn't end well for him. The twist in the final panel is telegraphed by the story title Beat My Score so the worst that one could say about Carr's plot is that is was predictable.

The Mail neglects to mention that Clint is an adult comic, although that's not really relevant to their story. The point of the paper's attack on the comic (which they call a "magazine" throughout the article) was to claim that Carr's strip "will horrify the families of school shooting tragedies such as Dunblaine and Columbine". This completely misses the point that the strip was about how desensitized the killer in the strip was, not that it sided with his actions, but newspapers like to put their spin on things to froth up public opinion, comfortable in the knowledge that some of their readers won't check out the facts.


However in this case, public opinion seems fairly indifferent for once. Comments on the Mail's website ranged from a few typically outraged knee-jerkers "What a toilet society we've become", to reasoned responses "Seriously, this is so uncontroversial" and brilliantly satirical comments "I haven't read it, I don't fully understand the medium of comics, I don't really 'get' satire, I don't like comedians - yet somehow I find myself outraged".

A few readers also congratulated the Mail for bringing Clint to their attention so they could seek out a copy. Epic fail, Mail! Perhaps instead of targeting Jimmy Carr the anonymous "Daily Mail Reporter" should have thumbed through the comic a bit further, where they'd have seen someone being shot in the gut, someone else getting knifed in the throat, and a 12 armed prostitute sexually satisfying a chimpanzee.

This is of course a lame attempt by the Daily Mail to whip up controversy where none exists, which is what the paper tends to do. However the more serious implication is that there are some subjects that comics shouldn't touch. This is an attitude that has held back British comics for far too long already, and although Beat My Score isn't really an outstanding comic strip I see no good reason why it shouldn't appear in an adults-only comic.

Unfortunately for the tabloids, they'll have four less chances a year to be outraged at Clint from now on as the 100 page comic has switched from 13 to 9 issues a year frequency. http://titanmagazines.com/t/clint/