Charlie Grigg honoured at his old school

The late Charlie Grigg, who drew Korky the Cat for many years, has been honoured with a blue plaque at his old school in Oldbury. 

I never knew Charlie personally but, like many of us, I grew up entertained by his artwork for The Dandy on strips such as Korky the Cat, The Red Wrecker, and The Umbrella Men, and on The Topper with strips such as Foxy and Splodge. I'm very pleased for his family that they've achieved this honour for him.

You can read the full details over at John Freeman's Down the Tubes blog today:
http://downthetubes.net/?p=38189

The BBC's Midlands Today covered the news in its 21st May broadcast and at time of writing it's still available on iPlayer, 3 minutes in:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08r2wrc/midlands-today-weekend-news-21052017

©BBC

Korky Christmas Card

I showed this on my blog six years ago but Craig Graham at D.C. Thomson has sent me a nice large version of it so here it is again. This is the original art for a Christmas card that would have been sent to Dandy contributors many years ago. It looks like James Crichton's version of Korky to me, so I'm guessing it's from the 1950s or at the latest before 1961 when Charlie Grigg took over the Korky strip. 

By the way, today, December 4th, is significant for a few reasons. One, it's the 79th anniversary of The Dandy comic, launched in 1937. It was also this day in 2012 when, after 75 years, The Dandy ended.

Today will also be a sad one for the family of Charlie Grigg, who passed away three years ago in 2013. I wrote a tribute to the great man back then so today seems an appropriate time to repost the link as we remember them in our thoughts:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/charles-grigg-1916-2013.html

Something really (summer) special

Copyright D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.

Over on the Phil-Comics Facebook page there's an item I'd never seen before. Presumably this is the original mock up of the cover to The Dandy Summer Special 1968 with art by Charlie Grigg. As you can see, it depicts a rather more unpleasant looking Korky the Cat than we're accustomed to! I'm surprised it even reached the completed stage. 

Perhaps considered inappropriate for the cover, it was never used and Charlie was asked to redraw it. Here's the published version. A definite improvement I think!

Copyright D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.

It's worth noting that with changing tolerances of acceptability even that published cover wouldn't be used today. A children's character smoking? And a cat at that? Modern society would have a fit. The strip on the back cover did show Korky puffing on his cigar but with a much friendlier expression than in the rejected cover.

Copyright D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.

You can see more images of various old comics at the aforementioned Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/phil-comics-auctions/156116677784593  

You can also visit the Phil-Comics website to follow the latest comics auctions:
http://www.phil-comics.com/

Phil Shrimpton has written an article about his collecting over at the Rareburg site here:
https://www.rareburg.com/article/collecting-dandy-and-beano-comics

My thanks to Peter Gray for giving me the heads up on this rare Dandy artifact. You can visit Peter's blog on British comics here:
http://petergraycartoonsandcomics.blogspot.co.uk/

Christmas 1964: The Dandy Book

Cover by Charles Grigg.

I said in my previous post that this blog would be staying in 1964 for the duration of Christmas and the reason is to have a look back at The Dandy Book that I had on Christmas Day 1964.

This is the earliest Christmas I can remember, and I have very clear, fond memories of receiving this, my very first annual. I was five years old and in my pillowcase was this marvelous book along with other presents such as a Supercar toy (see here) and a Chad Valley See-A-Show (see here). I'd been a regular reader of The Dandy weekly throughout 1964 but to my young eyes this was something really special; a thick hardback book full of my favourite strips. I was immediately hooked!

I couldn't wait to get stuck into the book, and I read the first story in bed before I got up. A one-off adventure strip called Diamond Dick. (No giggling at the back there.) Artwork by Paddy Brennan.

This story of diamond thieves in South Africa fascinated me and I still remember the excitement of reading these two pages with the hero hiding in the crook's car...

Then, a few pages on, suddenly a fantastic double-page spread. What an impact! I'd never seen this technique used in comics before and the great thing was that this book used the two-page spread in several stories as we'll see. 

The book contained all the Dandy regulars plus a few new faces. For years I thought The Beetles was by Leo Baxendale, but it's actually an excellent imitation of Leo's style by Ron Spencer. (George Martin's Sunny Boy on the facing page.)

Another feature that had an impact on me was The Nine Faces of Korky by Charlie Grigg. This 'Nine Faces' idea was used for several characters in this annual and was a uniquely entertaining way to tell a story and to show good cartoon expressions. 

Here's another; The Nine Faces of Desperate Dan, by Dudley Watkins...

The brilliant Ken Reid had several Big Head and Thick Head pages in this annual. Here's one of them, with the pair receiving a battering as usual. Ken was a master of comic violence in strips. And yes, the green spot colour really is that bright in the actual book!

As I said, the double-page spread cropped up in several stories and used very effectively. Here, halfway through a Winker Watson story by Eric Roberts...

Another spread in a Rocket Jock story by Charlie Grigg...

...and at the start of Joe White and the Seven Dwarfs by Bill Holroyd. I remember laughing out loud at this 50 years ago! Holroyd was a fantastic artist (and I understand he was Ken Reid's brother-in-law).

One of the many things I liked about The Dandy back then was that it featured adventure stories as well as humour. One of the most dramatic was The Crimson Ball, a giant indestructible metal ball controlled by a foreign spy (who lived inside it) intent on destroying British aircraft! Art by Jack Glass.

My favourite Dandy adventure strip was The Red Wrecker, - powerful fast growing weeds springing up and destroying anything in their way. In The Dandy Book it was destruction on a grand scale, and Charlie Grigg really outdid himself with this spread...

Time for one more 'Nine Faces' and here's The Nine Faces of Thick Head by Ken Reid...

Finally, on the back cover of the book, a full colour Desperate Dan strip by Dudley Watkins, with a punchline that still amuses me to this day.

All of the scans and photos in this post are taken from that very book I had 50 years ago today. A Christmas of happier and more optimistic times. The lad I was back then could never have imagined he'd be creating strips in The Dandy Annual 2015, and I can hardly believe it myself some days. I hope that some of today's children who are unwrapping their first Dandy Annual today will get similar enjoyment out of it as I did from the one my mum bought me half a century ago. Whether or not they'll be writing about it in 50 years time I'll never know, but I'd like to think so. 

I prepared this post a few days ago, scheduling it to go live on Christmas Day, so if you're reading it on December 25th thanks for dropping by and I hope you're having a good day! Merry Christmas!

A few more festive flashbacks of annuals from long ago, from older blog posts of mine:

Wham Annuals:

http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/wham-annual-cover-gallery.html

Smash Annuals:

http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/smash-annual-cover-gallery.html

Pow Annuals:

http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/pow-annual-cover-gallery.html

Marvel:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2008/01/road-to-marvel-uk-part-2.html

Daleks:

http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/happy-birthday-daleks.html

...and going way back, Film Fun:

http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2007/12/70-year-flashback-film-fun-annual-1938.html

Annuals on their way!

The Summer Specials won't be out for a few days yet but you can already pre-order the Christmas annuals! The Dandy Annual 2015 and The Beano Annual 2015 are both available to order separately at £5.99 each from the publishers at the DC Thomson Shop, or you can save money if you order them as a double pack for only £10. According to the website they'll be delivered the first week of August.

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/our-brands/annuals-calendars/double-trouble-book-pack.html

I only have four Rasher mini-strips in the Beano Annual, but I did quite a few pages for The Dandy Annual, - great classic characters The Smasher, Keyhole Kate, and Korky the Cat! Here's a preview of one of them...

Speaking of annuals, I'd better get on with drawing the pages for the 2016 editions! 

Charles Grigg 1916 - 2013

I'm sorry to report that tonight I was informed by the family of comic artist Charles Grigg that he passed away at 5.30 this morning. 

His son Roger said that his father had "just celebrated his 97th birthday with his sons, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, other relatives and friends. We will all miss you Dad." His grandson Russ added "RIP Grandad we'll all miss you so much. At last you can be with Gran".

Charles Grigg, affectionately known as Charlie or Chas, originally worked as an engineer in the Midlands before he began freelancing as an artist for DC Thomson in the 1950s. His skills proved to be popular with the readers and he continued drawing numerous comic strips for the company for almost 40 years. One of his earliest strips for the company was Charlie the Chimp which he illustrated for The Dandy from 1957 to 1960.

Back then, DC Thomson did not allow artists to sign their work, but the characters that Charlie drew would be familiar with millions of children. In 1961 he was asked to take over the cover artwork of The Dandy's lead strip, Korky the Cat, which he then drew for the next 22 years. 

Charlie's version of Korky became the definitive one, and the artist's marvellous ability with colour led to him producing some memorable covers for The Dandy Book and The Dandy Summer Special. 

Although most of Charlie's work was on humour strips such as Korky for The Dandy and Foxy and Splodge for The Topper, he was also able to turn his hand to adventure work. Some of his most memorable serials being The Red Wrecker, The Purple Cloud, and The Umbrella Men, all for The Dandy.

Charlie moved into semi-retirement 30 years ago after which he illustrated saucy seaside postcards for the Bamforth postcard company. Sadly, as The Birmingham Post reported in 2012, in recent years he began to suffer from vascular dementia and was cared for by his son Steve. 

Regrettably, I never met Mr.Grigg but his artwork provided so much childhood pleasure when I was reading The Dandy in the 1960s. Published on Mondays back then, it gave a bright start to the week and I eagerly looked forward to whether Korky would 'win' or 'lose' on that week's cover. (I always wanted him to win, thwarting the mice or the gamekeeper.) I thrilled to the adventure strips The Red Wrecker and The Umbrella Men, with Charlie's detailed artwork drawing me into that strange world of ordinary British towns under siege from some bizarre menace. The Dandy Summer Specials became synonymous with journeys to Blackpool, with the discovery of Charlie's luxuriously coloured covers becoming a part of that long-anticipated summer holiday. Then on Christmas Day, the delight of unwrapping the latest Dandy Book, with the first sight being Charlie's festive covers. 

Though most of us never knew the man personally, Charles Grigg was part of our lives, with his warm, funny and enthralling comic strips bringing smiles to millions of children over the years. And as adults, we still have those happy memories, - and if we're lucky, the comics too, - to reflect on. I hope those thoughts will be of some comfort to Mr.Grigg's family at this time. He was one of the best.

(As always, click the images to see them larger. All images in this article are Copyright DC Thomson, except for the Bamforth postcard.)

Desperate Dan's long road to cover stardom

  
Desperate Dan was always one of The Dandy's top strips, right from his debut in issue No.1 back in 1937. How could it not be, with fantastic artwork by Dudley D. Watkins?  However, editors chose not to make him the cover star until 1984! My guess is that perhaps they felt that Korky the Cat was a more appropriate opener, with its simplicity and slapstick. I loved both strips as a child but for me Korky was the ideal cover strip.

So, Dan was kept off the cover for almost 50 years. Well, not quite. Here's an example above from The Dandy No.1398 (September 7th 1968) which actually addresses the situation with Dan wanting to know why he's not the cover star. Artwork by regular Korky artist Charlie Grigg who would also become the artist on Desperate Dan in the annuals and specials after Dudley Watkins' untimely death a year later. 

Dan also guest starred on the cover of The Dandy No.1663 (October 6th 1973) in the Korky the Cat strip promoting that week's free gift.

A rare example of Dan drawing his gun.

The idea was repeated nine years later on the cover of The Dandy No.2105 (March 27th 1982). The concussed cat could also be considered as Dan getting his own back on Korky for the prank the moggy pulled on him in 1968!

Dan gets a new shirt.

A year later and Desperate Dan takes up residence beside the new Dandy logo for The Dandy No.2149 (January 29th 1983). A waxwork of Dan also appears in the Korky strip, along with figures of other Dandy characters. Korky's star was falling...

That same issue saw the beginning of all-new Desperate Dan strips running across the centre pages. Previous to this Dan had been a single page black and white strip, and reprints of Dudley Watkins' classics had been running since 1969, with occasional new ones by Charlie Grigg. But Charlie was about to retire from regular comics work so for the new colour series came a new artist on the strip, - Ken H. Harrison - and a shift towards Dan's personality becoming more childlike...

Finally, with The Dandy No.2243 (November 17th 1984) Desperate Dan was established as the new cover strip, elbowing Korky the Cat into the interior pages, although Korky gained a place by the masthead with a vignette drawn by Charlie Grigg. (Korky's first interior strips, now drawn by David Gudgeon, were obviously originally intended for the covers as a large Korky logo and house ad took up the space where the cover masthead would have been.)

Desperate Dan appeared as the cover story for over ten years, eventually being replaced by Cuddles & Dimples, Jak and various others, but he still makes an appearance on covers at times, now drawn by Jamie Smart. You can't keep a good Dan down. Besides, who's going to argue with him?