It's SWEENY TODDLER day!

Just a little reminder that the marvellous Leo Baxendale's Sweeny Toddler book is officially on sale today! I received a complimentary copy from Rebellion back in May and I gave a mention to it here:
https://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2019/05/recommended-reading-leo-baxendales.html

...and my review of the book was written back in April when I had an advance PDF. You can read my review here:
https://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2019/04/preview-leo-baxendales-sweeny-toddler.html

It's great to see these classic strips back in print after more than 40 years. Let's hope that Rebellion publish more humour collections. Show your support by buying the Sweeny Toddler book and their Ken Reid collections and hopefully we'll see more vintage funnies collected next year!

Ken Reid's World Wide Weirdies is coming in November! More news soon!

Recommended Reading: LEO BAXENDALE'S SWEENY TODDLER

My thanks to Rebellion for sending me a copy of Leo Baxendale's Sweeny Toddler, a very nice 100 page hardback collection. The book covers the start of the strip from Shiver and Shake No.1 (10th March 1973) up to Whoopee! dated 7th June 1975 which I think are all the Sweeny Toddler strips that Leo drew before Tom Paterson took over. There are also six "ghosted" pages that I noticed which the book mentions. I wasn't able to identify all the "ghost" artists although I'm pretty sure at least one is by Barrie Appleby.

As well as being a very funny collection, the book is significant because it's some of Leo's last work for mainstream comics before he went independent with Willy the Kid and Baby Basil. It's interesting that Rebellion have chosen to start their Leo Baxendale books with this one, but Sweeny Toddler was such a popular character that it's the obvious choice. I hope in future we'll see collections of Clever Dick, The Swots and the Blots (from when Leo took over the strip in March 1969) and selected highlights from Wham! A Grimly Feendish collection would be good too, but as Leo only drew about 20 of those, credits would have to be shared with Stan McMurtry and others. 

For the moment though, we have the Sweeny Toddler book, and very welcome it is too. Hopefully it'll sell well enough to guarantee more Leo Baxendale books... and a few reprinting Tom Paterson's Sweeny Toddler strips too!

Leo Baxendale's Sweeny Toddler is released on 25th July and will be ready to order soon from the Treasury of British Comics shop:
https://treasuryofbritishcomics.com/catalogue/

You can read my review of the book here:
https://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2019/04/preview-leo-baxendales-sweeny-toddler.html

Which humour strips of Leo's (and other artists) from Odhams, Fleetway, and IPC would YOU like to see collected? Post your thoughts below! 

Preview: LEO BAXENDALE'S SWEENY TODDLER

Thanks to Rebellion for giving me access to an advance preview copy of Leo Baxendale's Sweeny Toddler, a book sure to be snapped up by many when it hits the stands this July!

This great addition to The Treasury of British Comics reprints all of Leo's Sweeny Toddler strips from Shiver and Shake and Whoopee! weeklies from 1974/75 (plus six pages by unidentified "ghost" artists).

Sweeny Toddler was one of the last characters that Leo created before he quit mainstream comics in 1975 to pursue self-published projects and he certainly left us laughing. This is an hilarious collection that deserves a place on every comic fan's bookshelf. It's suitable for all ages too, so if you have young kids, this is an ideal treat! 

Here's the PR from Rebellion and the first two strips...

• CREATIVE TEAM: Leo Baxendale
• RELEASE DATE: 25th July 2019
• PAPERBACK, 112 pages
• PRICE: £14.99 (UK)
• ISBN: 9781781087268
• DIAMOND: MAY191883

Sweeny Toddler was Leo Baxendale’s greatest creation for IPC – a two-year-old terror who manages to cause mayhem from beyond his pram and cot! This collection bring together all of Baxendale’s Sweeny Toddler strips from Shiver and Shake and Whoopee, with an introduction from Martin Baxendale. One of the most highly-regarded cartoonists in British comics, Baxendale has been responsible for creating many beloved classic strips, including Minnie the Minx and The Bash Street Kids. 

The edition includes six colour pages completely re-mastered from the original work and re-instated in this luxury format. Perfect for Beano and Dandy annual collectors, classic humour strip nostalgists, fans of Calvin and Hobbes, as well as previous Treasury humour titles Creepy Creations and Faceache! Includes six colour pages completely re-mastered from the original work and re-instated in this luxury format.

Available in print from: Treasury of British Comics webshop, book stores, Amazon, and comic book stores via Diamond

Available in digital from: Treasury of British Comics webshop & apps for iPad, Android and Windows 10

Today's the day! The COR!! BUSTER HUMOUR SPECIAL is here!

Cover art by Neil Googe, coloured by Jim Boswell.

It's the day that fans of British humour comics have been waiting for. The Cor!! Buster Humour Special will be on the shelves of WH Smith and selected newsagents and comic shops from today! 

Many of the classic IPC characters are back, revived and rebooted for a new generation for the first time this century! The last time some of these characters were seen was in the final issue of Buster at the end of 1999 (apart from a reprint special in 2009)... and some characters had last appeared long before that! Now they're back, in a 52 page full-colour glossy special in all-new stories!

The comic kicks off with a fantastic three-page strip featuring Sweeny Toddler, and it's written and drawn by Tom Paterson, the artist who drew his adventures throughout most of his original run! 

Then it's on to reboots of other favourites, including Deadly Hedley by Paul Goodenough and Neil Googe, with colouring by Jim Boswell...

Hit Kid by Robin Etherington and David Follett...

Grimly Feendish by Ned Hartley and Tom Paterson...

...plus Frankie Stein! X-Ray Specs! Gums! Kid Kong! Hire A Horror! and many more, including brand new characters Swines of Anarchy by The Feek and Pye Parr...

...and a gathering of classic characters in Who's In Charge? by John Freeman and Lew Stringer...

There's even some vintage art by Ken Reid to top things off, as well as a couple of puzzle pages and a breezy look back at where some of the characters first appeared.

Publishers Rebellion and editor Keith Richardson are to be congratulated for bringing these favourites back for a whole new generation. No doubt some older readers will miss the old art styles but sadly most of the original artists are no longer around. It's also important that the comic doesn't look like a clone of The Beano or The Phoenix but has its own identity. From Comic Cuts to Oink!, humour comics have always evolved to reflect the times and changing styles so it's only natural for today's artists and writers to be given an opportunity to work on this new special. After 19 years or more in limbo, these characters will be regarded as totally new by today's young readers, and that's who this comic is aimed at, so a fresh revamp is the way to go.

That said, there are various nods to the past as a tribute to the heritage of the old comics. Even Weary Willie and Tired Tim and Homeless Hector have a cameo!

Having been one of the artists/writers on the original Buster from the late 1980s and through the 1990s it's a good feeling to be back for this one-off revival. I hope it receives the support and appreciation it deserves so that hopefully it won't be the last we see of Buster and his pals! 

The Cor!! Buster Humour Special is out now from WH Smiths, newsagents, and comic shops. 52 pages for £4.99. 

A couple of photos of it on display in WH Smiths in the Midlands...

Sweeny Toddler Vol.1 coming in 2019

The first Sweeny Toddler strip from SHIVER and SHAKE No.1, 1973.

Amazon have revealed the info now so I think it's ok to mention that in July 2019 Rebellion will be releasing Leo Baxendale's Sweeny Toddler, collecting the character's earliest adventures in hardback. 

Sweeny began as a strip in Shiver and Shake No.1 in 1973 and proved to be a hit with readers, moving over to Whoopee! when the two comics merged and later becoming its cover star.

Initially drawn by Leo Baxendale, the strip was later taken over by Tom Paterson doing a remarkable imitation of Leo's style that was on a par with Baxendale's in its humour and creativity. 

Personally I'm looking forward to this as Sweeny debuted at a time when I was "growing out" of humour comics and missed a lot of them. (I came to my senses again in 1981 and started buying them with a fresh perspective of looking at them from a professional viewpoint.)

Leo Baxendale's Sweeny Toddler can be pre-ordered from Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Leo-Baxendales-Sweeney-Toddler-Baxendale/dp/1781087261/ 

No doubt Rebellion will provide previews and more info in due course. 

It's Judge Sweeny Toddler!

Back in 1985 IPC indulged in a rare moment of self-parody in the comics departments when the cover of their humour weekly Whoopee! spoofed 2000AD. For one week only the popular bad baby strip Sweeny Toddler became Judge Sweeny Toddler in a homage to Judge Dredd. Even the logo for that issue was redesigned to mimic the then-current 2000AD masthead.

Script by Graham Exton, artwork by Tom Paterson. Anyone found not laughing will be sentenced to 30 days in an iso-cube.