Bangers and Bracelets, they're Free Inside!

Back in 2010 I ran a series of blog posts showing old free gifts from comics. You can find the first part by clicking here and then check out subsequent days from that period for the other parts. Today I'm showing a few classic adverts for some comic free gifts of January to March 1972.

The four page 'pink flyers' that were inserted into The Dandy and The Beano at times to promote new comics and free gift issues have become very collectible amongst fans of UK comics. However, the small ads that were printed in the comics themselves were equally as well designed and compelling. Here are a few from the early months of 1972, scanned from the pages of The Dandy, The Beano, and Sparky. Click on the images to see them larger.

The Tough of the Track is back!

Fuelled by a diet of fish and chips, Alf Tupper The Tough of the Track was a recurring character in Victor comic. Tomorrow he runs again "for one last challenge... the Great North Run" in the pages of Friday's Daily Mirror!

The strip will be a special one-off, illustrated by Barrie Mitchell (veteran artist of numerous strips including the second series of Brian's Brain in Smash! in the 1960s). 

A collection of Tough of the Track classics will also be published soon, as reported on this blog back in July:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/alf-tupper-collected.html 

Update 14/9/2012: The Tough of the Track pull-out in today's Mirror features four pages, three of which comprise the comic strip in full colour. Although uncredited, the script is by Ferg Handley (writer of numerous Commando comics and UK Spider-Man strips) with artwork by Barrie Mitchell. 

Each page is packed with panels, but it looks as though the strip was originally drawn for a different format. It's clear that some panels have been reorganized and resized, squashing or stretching artwork (sadly a increasingly common occurrence in some comics these days) to fit the Mirror's tabloid format. Nevertheless, it's a fine job from Ferg and Barrie and it's good to see Barrie Mitchell, and Alf Tupper, back in comics. 

Douglas Phillips, Illustrator

  
The artist Douglas Phillips has sadly passed away at the age of 85. His many works included illustrating stories for The Rover and Victor (one being I Flew With Braddock) and covers for The People's Friend. 

His daughter Deborah has kindly provided more information on her father's career:


In addition to being an exceptional painter and illustrator of over 100 children's books, he was also known for documenting old Dundee in his lively pen and ink drawings and his book collaborations with Ron Thomson.

Following army service in India and Ceylon, dad started his artistic career with DC Thomson in the art department illustrating for The Rover and The Victor amongst others - most notably I Flew with Braddock and such real-life stories as "Sink the Bismark" and "The Target was Turin". 

After leaving Thomsons, his association with the firm continued as, for over 1000 issues of The People's Friend, he was the pen and brush of J Campbell Kerr. 

Latterly he was best known for his evocative landscapes of the Scottish countryside especially his beloved east coast and the Mearns. 

He was a gentle man, full of fun, interesting stories and always with a mischievous twinkle in his eye - he will be sadly missed by all who ever met him.

Tragically his death comes a mere 3 weeks after that of his wife Margaret (also formerly of DC Thomson) to whom he was devoted. He leaves behind his daughter Deborah also a painter and his son-in-law Mark who carries on the family tradition as a graphic designer within The Beano.

Douglas Phillips - born Dundee 1926. Died 19th August 2012.

My sincere condolences to the family for their loss and my thanks to Mark and Deborah for providing the text and images for this post.

 

Alf Tupper collected

Over the last few years DC Thomson have given us a Best of Black Bob collection, The Best of Bunty,  and two books reprinting classic stories from The Victor weekly and annual. Now there's to be another vintage collection, and this time the focus is on The Best of Alf Tupper, The Tough of the Track. 

Here's the publicity information that I spotted in the current issue of the Previews catalogue for comics and books to be published in October:

"The Tough of the Track" was The Victor's most popular hero, having instilled the competitive spirit into millions of British lads for over 50 years. A welder who worked under railway arches, Alf Tupper survived on a diet of fish and chips. He was always the underdog, running against posh toffs who devised underhand ways of keeping him off the winner's rostrum. Although Alf often looked beaten, he nearly always came through in the final few strides, exclaiming "I've run him!" as he breasted the winning tape in a photo-finish. Published in the year the Olympic Games returns to Britain, this nostalgic anthology will not only be the perfect gift for the millions of men whose love of sport was kindled in their youth by Alf Tupper, but will also enthral and inspire a new generation of boys to go and win against all the odds. 

Click to enlarge

144 pages, £12.99, October 2012. The book is now available to pre-order on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Victor-Best-Tupper-Tough-Track/dp/1853758612/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343644322&sr=8-1

Comics exhibition at the V&A

I didn't know about this until I read about it on the Comics UK forum today but the Victoria and Albert Museum is currently hosting an exhibition of British adventure comics.

Entitled On Eagle's Wings: British adventure comics, 1950-1969 the exhibition covers the boom period of boys and girls adventure weeklies ushered in by Eagle in 1950 and runs from January 7th to May 27th. Free admission.

This was truly a golden era for UK comics, seeing the launches of Lion, Valiant, June, Victor, Bunty, Commando, Hornet, Tiger, TV21, and numerous other adventure titles that left a lasting impression on the British comics industry and the readers.

For more details visit the V&A website.