SMASHER rises again!

No, not Smasher the classic Dandy naughty kid (although he will be back later this year too) but the adventure strip of the same name. The huge Smasher robot, seen in the pages of Victor, and later Bullet, rises again in the current issue of digital comic magazine Comic Review.

As mentioned here a few weeks ago, the Glasgow League of Writers have permission from DC Thomson to resurrect some of the bygone adventure strip characters in new stories for a new generation. Each week a different strip appears in Comic Review (published by Future) and this week it's the turn of Smasher, written by Gordon Robertson and illustrated by 'Cuttlefish'. 

I think it's the strongest of the revived strips so far, and I'd certainly like to see it continue as a regular series. 

The five page preview is in Comic Review No.10, available for 99p when you download the free Comic Heroes app for the iPad and iPhone. Lots of other features in the magazine too, so it's well worth the price.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/comic-heroes-best-in-superhero/id451399751?mt=8 

Strips 78 booklet

Art by DAVE GIBBONS

In the days before Internet social networking, the Society of Strip Illustration (SSI) was an ideal organization for bringing comic creators together to socialize and promote the comics industry. I was a member myself in the 1980s, but a few years earlier, in 1978, the SSI held their first event, Strips 78, in London. Here are a few pages from the accompanying A5 booklet, with artwork rarely seen before outside of the SSI membership. 

Firstly, an introduction from Dennis Hooper, who was the Chairman in 1978 and, as no doubt you'll know, previously the editor of Countdown and art editor of TV21. This is of particular interest as it explains the origins of the SSI and how it grew from the Comics 101 event that Denis Gifford had organized in 1976. (Click to see it larger.)

Now here are some of the pages drawn by SSI members exclusively for the 52 page Strips 78 booklet...

BRIAN LEWIS

BILL TITCOMBE

MARTIN ASBURY

GEOFF CAMPION

DENIS GIFFORD

JOHN M. BURNS

JOHN RICHARDSON

KEVIN O'NEILL

LEO BAXENDALE and BRIAN BOLLAND

MICK McMAHON and DICK MILLINGTON

Finally, the centrespread, showing the names of the editors on the IPC weeklies at the time...

The Beano on Sunday

It's not a newspaper I'd usually buy but this weekend I'll make an exception because The Mail on Sunday on April 6th will contain a very interesting free gift, - a complete 32 page all-new edition of The Beano with a print-run of 1.5 million! All the strips are linked to the current "Gnasher's Gone Missing" story to greater or lesser degrees.

Here's the official press release from DC Thomson:

The Beano has created a special issue that will appear as a free sampler with The Mail on Sunday on 6th April 2014.  The sampler will also be available as a digital edition for Mail Plus subscribers.

DC Thomson Marketing Manager Cathy Frossard said, “This is the first time we’ve sampled The Beano as widely as this and it’s great to be doing so with such a prominent national title.  The Mail on Sunday will open The Beano up to a wide-ranging audience and we’re hoping that, with over 1.5 million copies of The Beano going out with the title, we’ll reach new readers.

“As an additional bonus, we have also agreed for a digital edition of The Beano sampler to be made available to Mail Plus subscribers allowing us to reach online fans too.”

Gnasher is still missing.  The special issue of The Beano will feature a guest appearance by Bear Grylls, when Dennis the Menace calls upon Bear to use his tracking skills to help look for Gnasher.  The sampler will also provide readers with an exclusive first look at a map of Beanotown.  Using a print/online integration app, readers will be encouraged to ‘blipp’ between the print edition and beano.com where the map is hosted.  The map features 75 iconic Beanotown locations including the homes of Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx and The Bash Street Kids.

The Beano Editor Craig Graham said, “We’ve created an amazing special issue of The Beano for this sampling opportunity.  It’s packed with jokes, pranks and laughs – I hope The Mail on Sunday readers can deal with Dennis and his wild ways!”
http://www.dcthomson.co.uk/media/the-beano-samples-with-the-mail-on-sunday

Auction Man

I'm a bit too busy to research and blog about old comics at present, but I hope to do so sometime this weekend. In the meantime, here's a quick plug for the items I have for on eBay this week. Auction ends on Sunday afternoon/early evening for most...

My early fanzines, Metamorph Nos.1 and 2 sold as one item. Very rare (I only printed 150 of each), featuring exclusive art by Mike McMahon, Dave Gibbons, Brian Bolland, Graham Bleathman, plus an interview with Chris Claremont and Steve Englehart (together), and the second and third Brickman strips! (Back when he was called Brick-Person.) Plus other features. Unread. Near-Mint.

Fantasy Express No.4, featuring an exclusive cover by Joe Colquhoun and the only interview ever published with him inside. Plus an exclusive Kev O'Neill back cover.

A page of Vampire Brats original artwork from Buster...

The pencil rough of a Cartoon Network ad I did several years ago.

Plus a couple of other bits that used to belong to my late mum.

Here's my eBay page if you're interested in bidding. All bids much appreciated. Good luck!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/graphite47/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

Comic oddities: ON THE EDGE (1961)

Amongst the numerous joke magazines available in the late 1950s came a curious idea called On The Edge published by a small independent company called Loofa Laughs who usually specialised in cheap jokes for seaside resorts (such as the infamous Nail-Through-Toe trick or notorious Jam Soap bars, banned in Margate in 1955). 

The idea behind On The Edge was extremely controversial. Jack Varney, the publisher, and father of three teenage sons, was well aware that his lads often took the long route on the way home from school in the hopes of finding discarded 'glamour' magazines in the hedges along by the canal. Varney hit upon the idea that if he published a comic full of 'saucy' cartoons and strips (mostly reprinted from American 'humor' magazines) and left them under the hedges along canal routes he could well be onto a winning publication for teenagers and weary shift-workers. Varney speculated that this would eliminate the need for retail distribution and the costly effect of paying newsagents a percentage of the cover price, therefore increasing his profits.

Yet how could such a publication make money? The enterprising publisher decided to fill half of the comic's 40 pages (and part of its cover) with advertisements, bringing in good revenue. He also asked the finders of the comic for a gratuity, - 6d if possible, or whatever they could afford, - to be left under the hedge at the spot where the comic was found.

Unfortunately, unlike the pages of his comic, Varney came unstuck. His plan was too ambitious. After the Margate Jam Soap scandal of 1955 he trusted no one, so he took it upon himself to distribute the 500,000 issue print run by renting a barge and traveling along canals, stopping every 200 yards to carefully place a few issues under selected hedges. With barges restricted to a speed of 4mph, and the time taken to securely tether the barge to the embankment, plus the lure of numerous pub breaks, Varney only managed to hide 200 copies under hedges before he was apprehended by police for littering whilst intoxicated.

In 1961, even mildly saucy cartoons raised the eyebrows of the arresting officers and Varney was charged under the Obscene Publications Act, fined £500, and had the remaining copies of On The Edge incinerated. Devastated by the experience, Varney turned his back on comics forever and returned to the world of cheap seaside jokes, making his fortune with the popular Queasy Sailor puppets of the mid-sixties.

Only a few copies of On The Edge have survived, and none in good condition as there was a rainstorm on the night Varney 'distributed' his copies under hedges. In the end, Varney's idea was as wet as the comics he left behind.