This issue's 20 pages featured a variety of adventure strips, not all of them festive, so I've only chosen some of the Christmas-themed ones. Here's a lighthearted Can You Catch a Crook? episode, drawn by Paul Trevillion. Can you spot the clues?
Next up, Fidosaurus by Reg Parlett. These strips were reprinted a few years later in Buster, and retitled Pongo The Prehistoric Pooch...
To place this issue in some sort of historical context, here's an ad it contained for the first film Norman Wisdom did in colour, The Early Bird...
A seasonal true war story in Bids for Freedom. I don't recognise the art style so I can't tell you who drew it unfortunately. If anyone out there knows, please post a comment.
The Guinea Pig, with artwork by Gerry Haylock, has nothing whatsoever to do with Christmas until the final panel when suddenly it's party time! I suspect some slight editorial amendment to the script was involved...
Finally, the back page strip isn't festive whatsoever, but it's such a barmy plot that I couldn't resist including it here. I haven't read too many episodes of Blackbow the Cheyenne but I don't recall this Western strip having science fiction elements in it before. A giant plant-hand tears its way through town, - and that 'Professor Relson' is a dead ringer for William Hartnell's Doctor Who! Brilliant artwork by Frank Humphries.
Where's the next stop for the Blimey-Timey Christmas Time Machine? Find out soon!
7 comments:
This is a lovely seasonal issue Lew. I hand-bound a six month run of Eagle , including this end of year issue , into hard- back book a few years back. Looks a treat. It takes a bit of effort but it's a lovely way to keep these old comics .
Its nice seeing good paper for the comic...lovely grey washes by Reg and colour for cover and pages...
Nice dog party it should of filled the whole page to make it more happier for Christmas...
Always good to see some original Eagle pages, Lew. ( particularly enjoyed that post of yours of the Eagle through the years! )
My uncle used to buy it for me in the late 50's/early 60's, but sadly none of them survived.
They're not too expensive to buy on eBay usually, John. I have about 30 and have never paid more than a few quid for each.
Peter, I think it's a case of being grateful for what we got. Some adventure comics didn't have any Christmas items on the cover, so that issue was exceptional.
Great cover Lew, any idea who drew it?
I don't know but I'll try and find out.
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