From my collection, here's a few pages from the "Grand Firework Number" of Film Fun from exactly 70 years ago, this week in 1946. Despite being all in black and white, the 16 page weekly delivered good value for 3d (1p) by packing in lots of detail in its intricately drawn strips. Unlike its large tabloid-sized sister papers published by the Amalgamated Press, Film Fun was the same height as a modern-day Beano.
The Laurel and Hardy strip on the cover was the work of George Wakefield. Here's the continuation on the back page...
I've used the late Denis Gifford's information to identify the artists. I'm not sure if it's all correct as some weeks had fill-in artists ghosting the style but hopefully most, in not all, are accurate. Here's Frank Randle by Harry Parlett (father of artists Reg and George Parlett)...
The popular George Formby takes up the centrespread, also by George Wakefield...
Wakefield is also credited by Gifford as the artist on Joe E. Brown, although I'm not sure this particular one is by him...
...and, again, Gifford credits George Wakefield as the artist of Max Miller, but could one artist really draw six pages a week, every week, of such intricate quality? I guess so, as Dudley Watkins managed even more. I suppose life was more straightforward back then.
Finally, Abbott and Costello, drawn by Walter Bell...
This editorial announcement is interesting. World War 2 had caused paper rationing which presumably affected the print runs of comics, but with the war over, things were starting to improve...
I hope you've enjoyed this look at a comic from 70 years ago. As noted in previous posts, comics had a more carefree depiction of fireworks back then, with numerous instances of characters holding fireworks or being in the midst of the display. (Although in truth there were some fireworks that were designed to be held. They had a wooden, later plastic, handle, and I remember them very clearly from the 1960s.) Whatever you're doing this weekend, I hope you have a happy and safe November 5th (and all the other nights the fireworks are going off).
Ally Sloper was the first recurring character in British comics, having originated in the paper Judy in 1876 before moving onto his own very popular title Ally Sloper's Half Holiday in 1884. That publication ceased in 1914 (due to the war perhaps) and was revived for 23 weeks in 1922. Another (quite poor) revival in 1949 only lasted one issue.
Then, in 1976, cartoonist, writer, and comics historian Denis Gifford attempted another revival with his ambitious Ally Sloper magazine co-published by Alan Class. The original Sloper paper had 8 tabloid pages, but Denis' new comic had 32 pages plus a card cover and full colour on the outside covers. Priced at 20p it was considerably more expensive than other British comics, and considerably slimmer than any imported American comic at that price (such as Eerie or Monsters Unleashed for example). Unsurprisingly, it only lasted for four issues.
However, the third issue was the Christmas edition so I thought I'd show some pages from it here today. (As always click on the images to see them larger.) Veteran comic artist Walter Bell had been commissioned by Denis to produce a new Ally Sloper image on page three of every issue and the 83 year old didn't disappoint. You'll notice caricatures of several politicians of the day, including Harold Wilson, Enoch Powell, and Dennis Healey.
Denis managed to attract quite a bit of talent to produce pages for Ally Sloper, including the legendary Frank Hampson. Here's the first (and sadly only) appearance of Frank's new creation Dawn O'Dare...
The next legend to appear in the comic was Leo Baxendale, firstly in an interview conducted by Denis...
...and then producing a new page for the comic...
Ready for another giant in the industry? How's about Raymond Briggs, with this one off Father Christmas story for adults...
The middle 8 pages of this Ally Sloper series always featured a pull out 'Nostalgicomic' of classic material. In this issue it was the old Daily Mirror strip Pip and Squeak and the cover was taken from a 1921 newspaper supplement...
Artist Ray Aspden did his page as a mock up of a classic UK comic cover, and a very nice job he did too. Philpot Bottles Orfis Boys Own revived the old Chips feature character, deliberate bad spelling and all.
Cartoonist Ed McHenry, who produced a lot of work for various IPC comics including Oink!, had a regular strip in Ally Sloper about a hairdresser-come-superhero Kaptain Kween...
Bob Dewar, another artist known for his work in children's comics, gave us Copout and Mumble, with gags that, whilst not intentionally offensive, would definitely be considered non-PC today...
The back page featured another Leo Baxendale illustration, advertising his Willy the Kid book. Excellent stuff.
The 1976 version of Ally Sloper was a brave attempt at producing a variety comic for the adult British market, and it was sold in newsagents as well as comic shops, but despite containing some quality material there unfortunately wasn't enough support for it.
