Panto Pranks had the same publisher as its predecessor, (The Hotspur Publishing Co. Ltd. of Manchester) but was a slicker affair. Although only having eight pages, it was printed entirely in bottle green ink throughout (with orange spot colour on four pages) in the more expensive photogravure method (like Eagle, TV21, early issues of Wham! etc).
The entire comic was completely designed, written, and drawn by Denis Gifford, a comics all-rounder long before most of us were born. Some of the gags were a bit creaky even for 1949, and the connection to pantomimes somewhat tenuous in places, but it's still an interesting example of the post-war British independent comic. (And unlike most of today's indie comics, this would have been sold in newsagents, back when such retailers were eager to satisfy the demands of kids thirsty for comics.) Here are a few strips from this one-off comic...
Heh. Penniless Pete is basically the Dandy's Izzy Skint. But Izzy was from the 70s so Pete came first.
ReplyDeleteGifford is mostly remembered for his books about the history of comics, but he himself was a pretty good cartoonist. Strong style that doesn't look like anybody else - I love his stuff, either the early ones like those or his later pages. It's always a treat to see stuff from him that I don't know - so thank you Lew !
ReplyDeleteYes, Denis was very talented indeed. I loved his artwork and his history books. I doubt this blog would even exist without his books inspiring an interest in British comics history when I was a child. I knew Denis personally in the 1980s as he was one of the comics crowd who'd have a drink in the Westminster Arms after a comic mart.
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