The Christmas BEEZER (1989)

In 1981, The Beezer had shrunk from a 16 page tabloid to a 24 page A4 comic (same size as The Beano) and in doing so had lost some of its charm. Nevertheless, it was still a good comic, as this Christmas issue from 1989 demonstrates.

The cover is by Robert Nixon, an excellent artist who had worked for DC Thomson in the 1960s, jumped over to IPC in the 1970s, and returned to Thomsons again in the 1980s. It was a time when some much sought-after artists such as Bob Nixon would work exclusively for one comics company or another.

Here's a handful of festive strips from inside. Firstly, Colonel Blink, drawn by the often under-rated George Martin...

A nicely designed Baby Crockett spread by Bill Ritchie...

Another Bill Ritchie page, Pam and Scratcher...

A wonderfully seasonal Pop, Dick, and Harry page by Brian Walker...

The bizarre Phoot and Mouse by Tom Paterson...

...and on the back page, Sting by Bob Dewar...

Another Christmas comic soon! Which year will the Blimey-Timey Machine end up in next? Hang on for the ride and find out!

Christmas Comics: BIMBO (1961)

Remaining in 1961 for now here's a blog post on Bimbo comic celebrating its first Christmas (unless the previous week's issue was also seasonal, as had been the case with TV Express). Bimbo was DC Thomson's comic for early readers, preparing them for The Beano when they were a little older. (Personally I rarely bothered with "nursery comics" as they were known, going straight to The Dandy and TV Century 21 instead).


The front and back covers were by the great Dudley D. Watkins, artist of Desperate Dan and The Broons amongst many others. With a skilled, adaptable style he could turn his hand to comics for any ages and was perfect for the Tom Thumb strip.

Only 6 of Bimbo's 20 pages were in full colour. Here's the Cinderella centrespread strip, expanding on the original fairytale with Cinders meeting other fairytale folk. I don't know who the artist is unfortunately but it's a nice job.


Here's Bimbo himself, yes it's a boy, back in the days before the name took on another meaning. Artwork by Bob Dewar...


Bill Ritchie had two pages in the comic. One was Baby Crockett and the other was Pip the Penguin. Most of you are familiar with the former character, so here's Pip...



Next: Forward in time... but to when?