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!
Sparky No.466, dated 22nd December 1973 kicked off with a marvelous wraparound cover drawn by Bill Ritchie.
Turn the page, and there's The Sparky People, a great strip set in the Sparky office. (Although as far as I know, none of the characters were based on actual people.) Art by Jim Petrie...
Sparky had its own distinct style, often wittier and more modern than The Dandy and The Beano at the time. Here's the Christmas episode of the popular L Cars with art by Bill Hill...
Snip and Snap had a very distinct art style that I liked. It was drawn by Mike Green, who later went on to do Weedy Willy for Oink!...
Ali's Baba made good use of spot colour by having the guardian angel Ali only appear in red line. Art by Malcolm Judge...
By 1973 Puss an' Boots had proven so popular with the readers that they now occupied the full colour centre pages. Not bad for a strip that began as a half pager in black and white. Artwork by the excellent John Geering...
Dreamy Daniel was about a boy with a vivid imagination, very much a forerunner to Les Pretend from The Beano. Art by Gordon Bell...
Where will the Blimey-Timey Time Machine land next? Find out soon!
