We've arrived in the year 1981 and here's a nicely festive cover by Reg Parlett for the Christmas issue of Buster for that year. Back then the comic was still using cheap newsprint, and only the front cover had colour, but the contents were excellent as we'll see.
Inside, Deadly Hedley, Vampire Detective, written by the late Mark Rogers (later to be one of the editors of Oink!) and drawn by Martin Baxendale, son of the famous Leo Baxendale...
I know a lot of you are fans of The Leopard of Lime Street so here's the episode from that week. Artwork by Mike Western (possibly with Eric Bradbury inking, according to The Buster Index)...
The centrespread of this 32 page issue featured a fantastic Master Mind strip by Jack Oliver, combined with a board game...
A festive Faceache page by Ken Reid, along with illustrated borders...
An excellent Boxatricks strip by Brian Walker, one of the best comic artists in the business...
Finally, an ad for the IPC humour annuals for that year. Most of these comic titles were long gone by 1981 but they lived on as annuals for a long time.
