Strictly speaking, this isn't a comic. The Wizard was a story paper, full of prose adventure stories, but it's worth showing this copy here if only for the excellent cover by Bill Ritchie. (As most of you will know, Bill was the artist of Baby Crockett in The Beezer and many other strips.)
Inside this 28 page story paper there are several short text stories with various adventure themes and some contained a festive theme, such as this complete story, with art by Fred Sturrock...
Peppered throughout the paper were a few cartoons and a couple of small strips. Christmas Capers is by George Drysdale, and Rocky is most definitely Bill Ritchie's work again. Ah, the old 'holly on the chair' gag. Still used in comics today. (I drew a recent version as part of The Bash Street Kids story in this year's Beano Christmas Special.)
This issue also featured an advert for that year's Black Bob book as an incentive for a last minute Christmas present...
On the back page, another seasonal story; It Looked Like A Cold, Cold Christmas with art by George Drysdale...
All images ©D.C. Thomson and Co. Ltd.
UPDATE: Phil Shrimpton showed me this cover of a 1953 Christmas Topper (the comic's first Christmas issue) by Dudley Watkins which had the same theme as the Wizard cover.
Phil has loads of British comics for sale on his eBay page and it's always worth a visit:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/phil-comics/m.html
There'll be another vintage festive comic in my next post. Any guesses as to which year I'll be visiting?
Here it is! The Dandy Annual 2013 with a great cover by Nigel Parkinson. Time was when comic annuals came out in early September, but now they have a longer shelf life to hopefully maximise sales. (It's certainly worked for The Beano Annual, which has been the top selling annual for the past couple of years.)
Traditionally, annuals were given as Christmas presents, and I know some of you won't be receiving yours until Christmas Day so I'll only show a brief glimpse of some of its pages here to avoid too many spoilers.
This edition of The Dandy Annual is somewhat special as it celebrates the comic's landmark 75th birthday (coming up in December). To mark the event the book brings back a load of classic characters in brand new stories, - Brassneck, Winker Watson, Greedy Pigg, Owen Goal, The Jocks and the Geordies... and even a new adventure with Black Bob!
The Black Bob story is drawn by Steve Bright and he does a fantastic job of ghosting the style of Jack Prout, the original artist. The story is in four single page chapters scattered throughout the book, so each chapter ends on a cliffhanger as the original series often did.
Another classic character making her return is Keyhole Kate, in a nifty modern style by Laura Howell whist retaining the classic character design...
...and I've done a couple of characters too, - The Smasher and Julius Sneezer.
All in all it's a very good annual. Packed with strips that often have around 10 panels a page, which gives a bit better value for money than the average 6 panels a page that many annuals used to offer.
Despite the plan to get it in the shops early, I haven't actually seen it on shelves yet, but it is available to buy from online booksellers Amazon, Speedy Hen Ltd. and The Book Depository (and hopefully others soon). Follow this link to buy your copies (and The Beano Annual, which I believe is also out now):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dandy-Annual-2013-Annuals/dp/1845354877/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342643880&sr=8-1
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Today also saw the beginning of my new six-part strip in The Dandy weekly. The Dark Newt tells the saga of the Protector of the Pond and this week's issue features his origin. That's in The Dandy No.3590, on sale now!
Here's Nigel Parkinson's lively cover to The Dandy No.3572 which is out now. Celeb School has been running for a few weeks now but it's good to see it promoted on the cover, and with a great illustration too. Nigel is a master of celebrity caricatures and the fact that this strip is about kid versions of the celebs makes it even harder to capture likenesses. But Nigel has managed it with ease.
No doubt some readers will be dismayed that seven pages are taken up with a special advertising feature inside for Mario Party 9 but at least it's mainly reprint pages they replace. Anyway, advertising helps keep finances smooth for the publishers so the occasional promo like this does no harm.
It's another cracking issue and well worth a look if you haven't picked up a copy for a while. As well as plenty of funny stuff from Nigel Auchterlounie, Wayne Thompson, Jamie Smart and others there's the return of Black Bob! What? Yes, the Dandy Wonder Dog (and his master Andrew Glenn) make a guest appearance in the Nuke Noodle strip by Alexander Matthews - and it's brilliant!
The last time Black Bob appeared in a humour strip was years ago in One Menace and his Dog, once of the Beano library mini-comics. But this time it's twice as barmy. A few purists will no doubt hate it, but hopefully most comic enthusiasts will see the funny side. Not that it's entirely in-jokey as it also works for readers who have never heard of the clever collie. Worth the £1.99 cover price alone I reckon.
Also this week, Andy Fanton's new series Bad Grandad makes its debut. All good stuff!
Subscribe and get 15 issues for £15:
http://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/Group-Dandy.aspx
The collection of classic Black Bob strips mentioned here in May has now been published and, like the Dandy Wonder Dog of the title, it's a champion.
The Very Best of Black Bob is a solid value for money hardback with 208 pages for £9.99. Compiled by ex-Dandy editor Morris Heggie, who also provides an introduction and background info, the book reprints a good selection of Black Bob strips from the 1950s wonderfully illustrated by Jack Prout. Comic expert Ray Moore provides an index at the back of the collection with story titles, dates, reprint dates etc.
Inspired by the success of the MGM film Lassie Come Home the adventures of Black Bob began as a text story written by freelancer Kelman Frost in The Dandy in November 1944 and then as a picture-strip story in The Weekly News from 1946. These strips were later reprinted in The Dandy.
Black Bob was one of my favourite adventure strips as a young child and my Mum used it to teach me to read before I started school. Even back in the early 1960s the strip looked archaic and seemingly permanently set in the 1940s, but to me that was part of its charm. That and, of course, the clever collie known as Black Bob. I grew up in a house where pets were part of the family so the fictitious Black Bob became a friend along with the dogs and cats of my childhood.
Collies are apparently the most intelligent breed of dog, and I can verify that with the collie-cross dog I had for 18 years whose memory and understanding of language was superior to that of some children. However Black Bob exceeds them all, with his sharp mind and skills able to resolve dangerous situations in tales to delight and amaze. In his very first picture strip we're told "he knew very well how to open a car door" and later goes on to stop a runaway horse, fetch a fire hose to put out a burning rail truck, and fashion a crutch for a disabled tramp.
These heartwarming tales of selflessness and bravery from a dog were, I believe, inspirational for readers of The Dandy. If a "mere" dog could be so noble then surely we, as "superior" humans, could aspire to be the same or even better. Such stories of self-sacrifice and basic goodness were the backbone of Thomson adventure strips, particularly in the Black Bob tales.
Bob is a very sympathetic figure too. Often he becomes separated from his master Andrew Glenn, sometimes lost miles away, and the stories deal with his plight to be reunited with his owner. In this way the stories really pull at the heartstrings, which is not a bad thing to bring out feelings of compassion from the readers.
Of course, all this is assuming the readers actually like dogs. Those vain souls who are indifferent or hateful of animals probably never got the appeal of Black Bob at all and won't see the point of this collection. Perhaps people who don't like "old fashioned" looking strips won't like it either. That's their prerogative (and their loss in my opinion).
However for the rest of us The Very Best of Black Bob is a marvelous book for children, dog lovers, and collectors of nostalgia. I hope it proves to be a success and perhaps, just perhaps, will inspire D.C. Thomson (and Waverley Books) to produce The Complete Jonah next year.
The Very Best of Black Bob published by Waverley Books. £9.99 r.r.p.
ISBN 978-1-84934-028-1
