This issue would have arrived in the shops on Monday 6th January 1964... which I've since discovered was the day I started school! Coincidence? I doubt it. I think it's highly likely my mum bought me this comic as a reward for my first day at school and also to encourage me to read. It certainly worked. The Dandy and its characters completely mesmerised me and reading it (and having it read to me by my mum) boosted my reading ability to put me top of the class.
I hasten to add that I didn't keep that status throughout my schooldays but it's undeniable that comics are a massive help in teaching children to read and expand their vocabulary.
(I should add for historical interest that only posh kids went to nursery back then, not council estate kids like me, so my first day at infant school, age 4, was my first experience of being away from home without any parents/family.)
As this is my penultimate Blimey blog post I thought I'd have a look through that first Dandy I had and I'll try to remember what it was that appealed to me so much.
Firstly the cover by Charlie Grigg. Not that I knew who'd drawn what back then, as D.C. Thomson kept their artists anonymous in those days. Korky the Cat reminded me of my grandad's cat, so I liked him straight away. The fact that Korky had such a strong, distinctive face helped too, and he was looking directly at the reader! Something I hadn't encountered before (but have used it countless times in my own strips). The punchline stuck in my memory for years, even though I misremembered it slightly as "X marks the spot where Korky's been".
Page 2... Desperate Dan by Dudley Watkins. I remember finding Danny and Katie a weird looking pair of kids. Why was little Danny dressed like that with that thing around his shoulders? (Bear in mind I had no knowledge of history at this point.) It didn't matter though. I found the strip very funny and Desperate Dan became an immediate favourite.
This is the comic that grabbed my interest in the art form. I was fascinated by comics from that day on. A few months later I was having The Beano every week too, and TV21 a year later, followed by Wham!, Smash! and a zillion others. I soon started creating my own rough efforts, eventually leading to fanzines and ultimately professional work.... and the privilege of being a contributor to The Dandy comic in its final years and to the annual for the past several years. All thanks to this issue, and of course to my mam, for starting me off on that long road.
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My last post will appear tomorrow.
