Announcing BUSTER comic... in 1960
From my blog's archives, here's how Buster comic was announced to readers of the Daily Mirror. The full page advert above appeared in the Mirror dated Monday 23rd May 1960....
...but two days before that, on Saturday 21st May 1960, this news item was the first announcement of the character...
Update: To explain further, back in 1960 the Mirror Group owned Fleetway, so this was a legitimate connection. However, I understand that Reg Smythe (Andy Capp's creator) wasn't happy about it so he never put Buster in the Andy Capp strip. Buster dropped the "Son of Andy Capp" sub-title after several months, but the comic continued until the last week of 1999, just five months short of its 40th anniversary! One of the longest-running comics in history.
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What were they thinking?! If Andy Capp was Buster's dad then that means Andy and Flo...
ReplyDeleteAlways interesting that Buster was very much aimed at the Parents for them to buy it for the kids, more then the normal way of 'appeal to the kids, who beg the parents for the comic.
ReplyDeleteThat might explain why the 'bleeper' is drawn and labelled to give... very weak and feeble 'bleep's..
okay, now the more interesting bits.. While they dropped the name but kept some brief references (shame his Aunt Mandy didn't appear ^_^), the question seams to be.. who's idea was this? Buster was IPC, then Fleetway then Egmont UK, The Daily Mirror is nothing to do with them.. (and there seams to be some rumour that Reg Smythe didn't like the idea of Buster but I can't confirm this..
Anyway, it seams interesting.. Did Daily Mirror/Mirror Group decide to license Andy Cap for a comic and took it to IPC or did IPC come up with an idea and went to Mirror to see about some license deal or what.. it would be interesting..
Lots of comics advertised in the Daily Mirror back then. It was just another method to reach potential readers, in the same way that all new comics and free gift issues where advertised on TV in the 1960s and 1970s.
ReplyDeleteAt that time, the Mirror Group, who owned the Daily Mirror had bought Amalgamated Press in 1958, renaming it Fleetway. So, yes, Buster and the Daily Mirror had the same owners.
Fair enough, It was more how the advert was written, like it was very much aimed at the parents where a lot of the ones I've seen are more aimed at the child, but if you are going to do it in the mirror, might as well do a more parent based one..
ReplyDeleteCompletely forgot, for some stupid reason, that one of the things the mirror group did in the 60s was to created IPC as a holding company for a lot of the ones they brought..
Yes, that ad was aimed at parents but similar ads in comics were aimed at kids. They had the good sense to pitch adverts for comics at different demographics back then.
ReplyDeleteAm I right in thinking that when Buster's parents eventually appeared in the strip, they weren't Andy or Flo?
ReplyDeleteNot sure at the beginning, as I *think* Andy was partly seen exiting a panel, but certainly later Buster's mum didn't look like Flo and was a single parent.
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