BEANO fireworks fun in 1964

Years ago, comics would celebrate Bonfire Night by giving many of their strips a fireworks theme. Visually, they livened up the pages, although some stories had a naive recklessness about the use of fireworks. Such strips are a thing of the past now of course, replaced by Halloween (an equally visual theme). 

Here are a few pages from The Beano dated November 7th, 1964 (which went on sale Nov.4th 1964), starting with a Biffo the Bear cover by Dudley Watkins. (Remember to click on the image to see them full size. I know it might be obvious to most of you, but new visitors sometimes complain that images are too small to read.)

Not every strip in this issue carried a fireworks theme, but here's Little Plum, drawn by Ron Spencer. Why would Native Americans be celebrating Bonfire Night? Anything can happen in comics...

The Bash Street Kids compete with other schools to win best Guy Fawkes. Whatever happened to Blob Street and Plonk Street? Art by David Sutherland...

On the back page, Dennis the Menace, in those pre-Gnasher days, drawn by David Law...

Wishing you (and your pets, if you have any) a safe and happy November 5th.

50 year Flashback: BEANO SUMMER SPECIAL 1967

When I was a kid, I'd wait until I was on holiday to buy the latest summer specials. Picking up this Beano Summer Special from a stall on Blackpool prom in 1967, accompanied by the sea air and the sounds of seagulls and trams, was all part of the holiday experience. It also provided something to read in the guest house during the inevitable rainy days. 

Let's take a look at a few pages from this wonderful special. The cover artwork is by Dudley Watkins, showing a seemingly reckless Biffo the Bear leaping off the pier, but there's a safe resolution on the back cover...

Inside, the 32 tabloid sized pages were packed with all-new strips and features. The layout was often interesting, with strips sharing space, such as this spread with Punch and Jimmy by David Jenner alongside Dennis the Menace by David Law...

Most of the strips had a holiday theme of some sort. This Roger the Dodger page by Robert Nixon shows an old-style railway carriage and a stereotypical boarding house landlady...

This special had a good selection of adventure strips too; General Jumbo, The Q Bikes, and a great full colour centrespread with The Iron Fish, drawn by Sandy Calder...

A really nicely illustrated Lord Snooty and His Pals story by Dudley Watkins...

A very funny Dennis the Menace page by David Law...

...and what I think may be the very first Bash Street Dogs story, simply titled Dogs' Tale. The dogs had appeared in a few Bash Street Kids episodes in the weekly, but this is months before they achieved their own Pup Parade strip. You'll notice that they look a little different to how they appeared in the regular series. Art by David Sutherland...

That was a few pages from the 1967 special. Don't forget that the current Beano Summer Special is in the shops now!

Cover by Nigel Parkinson

All artwork in this post ©D.C. Thomson and Co. Ltd.

Christmas comics: THE DANDY (1966)

This Christmas issue of the much-missed Dandy was published exactly 50 years ago today. (Despite its cover date it was published on Monday 19th December 1966.) Full of traditional festive fun, the cover star was of course Korky the Cat, drawn by Charlie Grigg. That final panel covers a lot of the sort of presents that children would have had back then, although for commercial reasons the biggest toy of 1966, Action Man, isn't amongst them. Perhaps Korky was holding out for an Action Cat instead. 

The Dandy only had 16 pages a week in the 1960s, but it made the most of it, with Desperate Dan for example having 19 panels on one page. Artwork by the legendary Dudley Watkins...

D.C. Thomson always did compelling adverts for their annuals, as this one proves. A simple but lively layout that made the book a must-have Christmas present. The price of 8/6d (42 and a half pence) seemed expensive then...

The centre pages at this time were always taken up by Corporal Clott, drawn by Davy Law. Genuinely funny stuff...

The Smasher, by Hugh Morren. (For the Smasher's latest exploits, which I've drawn, see this year's Dandy Annual.)

Finally, in this selection, the popular Brassneck, illustrated by Bill Holroyd, one of the best (and often underrated) artists that worked in comics...

The sad thing is that all of the artists who drew these strips have passed on now, but at least they leave behind a legacy of laughs and wonderful artwork we can still discover and appreciate. 

Tomorrow; a journey even further back in time! See you on Tuesday!

Firework comics: THE BEANO (1966)

I thought I'd already blogged about this issue years ago but apparently not, so here we go with a bonus addition to my retrospective of firework-themed comics. My apologies for the tattyness of this 1966 Beano. It's one I had before I started looking after comics properly so the cover became a bit damaged back in the sixties. Still, it looks like Biffo's banger blew off a chunk of the cover so I'm claiming it's art, mate. Artwork by Dudley Watkins.

I kept this issue as it meant a lot to me. Fifty years ago, when I was seven years old and had this comic, my mum was in hospital for a serious operation so my dad and I went to live with my grandad and my aunt for a couple of weeks. Fortunately my mum made a complete recovery and lived for another 47 years after that, but I still vividly remember reading this issue at my grandad's house and having fireworks in his back yard. I asked my dad to send a rocket over towards the hospital side of town, hoping my mum would see it. (She didn't of course, but she told me she did when I visited her to cheer me up.) Precious memories of people all gone now, sadly.

Anyway, back to this issue, which is why you're here. Several fireworks-themed stories appeared that week in 1966, such as this Billy Whizz story. Art by Billy's original artist, Malcolm Judge...

The Bash Street Kids story that week was a delight, with a bizarre instance of them sharing the same dream! Art by David Sutherland...

On the back page in those days before he graduated to the front cover, Dennis the Menace, drawn by Gordon Bell doing a fill-in for Davy Law...

I hope you've enjoyed this year's selection of fireworks comics. Wishing you a happy and safe November 5th! 

The Beano of 1960

In 1960 The Beano increased its page count from 12 to 16 pages but was still well short of its pre-war size of 28 pages. Nevertheless, the quality of the contents was at a high, with its leading cartoonists at the top of their game. Here's a few pages from issue No.957, dated November 19th 1960 (on sale Wednesday 16th November.)

Biffo the Bear on the cover was of course by Dudley D. Watkins, while on page two, Dennis the Menace was still drawn by the strip's original artist Davy Law...

Fans of Leo Baxendale were blessed with no less than four regular pages by him at this time; The Three Bears, Little Plum, The Bash Street Kids, and Minnie the Minx. Here are a couple of them...

The Beano carried several adventure strips in those days. The most notable in 1960 being The Great Flood of London, drawn by Dave Sutherland across the centre pages in full colour...

Residing on the back page was the marvelous Jonah, by Ken Reid... 

The Beano is still around today of course, now 36 pages, and still published every Wednesday. Never Be Without A Beano!

This week in 1962: THE TOPPER

The Topper had a very long run, from 1953 to 1990, then was relaunched as The Beezer and Topper from 1990 to 1993. For most of its original run, The Topper was a large format, A3 sized comic, unmissable on the stands. 

Here's a few pages from issue No.491, that was on sale this week in 1962. The Mickey the Monkey cover strip is by Dudley Watkins, albeit in quite a loose style for him. (Understandable, considering he was drawing at least half a dozen regular pages a week at this stage.)

In her usual position on page two was Beryl the Peril, drawn by Davy Law. The last panel may seem alarming to modern sensibilities but many strips ended with the child being beaten in those days. The humour came from the inventiveness of the deed but it happened so regularly it sometimes felt like a lazy solution to a story. 

The Topper only had 12 pages a week in these (relatively) early issues. (It increased to 16 in 1964.) In the centrespread of this edition was the second chapter of the adventure serial The Last Warriors, drawn by Ron Smith. Stunningly detailed artwork...

One of the comic's most popular strips was Send For Kelly, drawn by the brilliant George Martin. Secret Agents were in vogue in the 1960s and this series was not only a great spoof of the genre but a superb strip in its own right.

For many years, The Topper ran Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy strip in its pages, reprinting the American newspaper strip. In 1962 it was also featuring another U.S. strip from the Sunday papers; The Katzenjammer Kids, renamed The Bustem Boys for British readers...

On the back page of this issue, Dudley Watkins' glorious adaptation of Treasure Island, - but this too was a reprint, as it had previously appeared in The Topper in 1953... and before that in The People's Journal in 1949... as well as being collected in book form in 1950 and 1959. A popular strip! (Source of that info: Topper Tales by Ray Moore.)

The Topper was a great comic, and a favourite of mine in the late sixties. Long gone now, but still fondly remembered by many.  

The Easter BEANO (1967)

This year's Easter issue of The Beano will be out on Wednesday but for today, let's look back at a few pages from the issue of 49 years ago in 1967.

The Beano No.1288 dated 25th March 1967 (on sale March 22nd) had the regular Biffo the Bear strip on the cover by Dudley Watkins but with an Easter egg design to the panels. A simple but eye-catching cover. 

Inside, the theme of the Easter hare is used in the Billy Whizz strip drawn by Mal Judge...

In their usual centre page position, The Bash Street Kids with great artwork by David Sutherland...

That week's Minnie the Minx pages by Jim Petrie were fun as always but the most memorable thing about this issue was right underneath the Minnie strip; our very first glimpse of British superhero Billy the Cat in a teaser ad for his series that would begin in the following issue.

On the back page, great stuff by Davey Law with Dennis the Menace and an ostrich. Easter Eggs at 5 shillings (25 pence) each! I've no idea how much they cost now but it's sure to be a lot more than that. Then again, the average wage was only about £20 a week then!

Oor Wullie and The Broons are 80 today!

It's true! On this day in 1936 The Broons and Oor Wullie made their debut in the Fun Section of The Sunday Post. The great Dudley Watkins illustrated their weekly escapades until his untimely death in 1969 and since then a number of artists such as Ken Harrison and Peter Davidson have imitated his style. Both strips are still running today! 

Unfortunately I don't have much time this week to write a longer article but this remarkable achievement is being talked about elsewhere including the BBC News:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-35753943

Happy 80th birthday to A'body's Wullie and Scotland's Happy Family That Makes Every Family Happy! 

The Christmas BEANO (1967)

Published on the same day as the Christmas issue of The Topper I showed here the other day this festive 1967 edition of The Beano was packed with seasonal stories. The cover by Dudley Watkins is superbly designed, incorporating a 'Merry Christmas' message in the centre of the page whilst still being part of the strip.

Inside, Billy the Cat showed off his all-white 'snow-cat suit' for the first time. Usually of course Billy was dressed all in black. Art by Dave Sutherland.

Here's Little Plum! Art by Ron Spencer.

The Beano featured two adventure strips every week at this time, with the other being The Q-Bikes. Art by Andy Hutton.

On the back page, Dennis the Menace in his regular slot. Art by Davy Law.