Tuesday, September 4, 2007
I Never Fancied Jackie
Mention of the Bash Street Kids reminded me of the new BBC4 programme which is about to start, Comics Britannia. What a great opportunity to re-live ones childhood through the classic titles they will feature.
Much of the programme will link the influence of the US artistic community on Comic culture, but I was never really into Batman and Wonder Woman, although there is a joke in there somewhere!!
The Scottish art house, DC Thomsons, provided most of my childhood entertainment with the ever popular Dandy and Beano characters. They were the Red Tops of their time, and featured Dennis the Menace, afore mentioned Bash Street Kids, Minnie the Minx , Roger the Dodger and the sadly missed Lord Snooty. We had a lad at school, David Finnegan, who was called Plug due to him having bucked teeth!
Desperate Dan inspired one of the longest remembered jokes; How many Cow Pies can he eat on an empty stomach? One, of course as then his stomach will not be empty....groan. He also inspired a chain of pubs to introduce the Cow Pie into its outlets well before gastropubs were the trend.
The Little Pub Company traded as Mad O'Roukes and had outlets mainly in the Black Country with such names as The Little Upton Muggery, The Little Pack Horse, The Dry Dock and the Tipton Pie Factory. Many are now in private hands but still show the particular blue glazed wall tiles which were a standard part of the decor. I have a fine collection of mugs from a number of the outlets from my days in Sandwell, deep joy.
I have been sidetracked. If Beano and Dandy were the Red Tops, then The Beezer and Topper were the broadsheets of the comic world in the 60's. Pop, Dick and Harry was the cover strip for the Beezer, and the Numskulls were a strip ahead of their time. The comics merged and eventually the titles disappeared in 1993. A character caller The Topper does exist in the Dilbert strip but I suspect that is co-incidence.
As I got older I started to read the Rover and Wizard, and The Victor and Valiant these publications merged strips with stories and introduced sporting and adventure heros like Alf Tupper, as The Tough of the Track and the great Wilson, an athlete and cricketer who played for Leasford and ate magic moss to keep him young and fit...if only I could find its source!!
Finally there was Tiger and the untouchable Roy Race, as Roy of the Rovers. His strip is still reproduced today in many football fanzines, and for a footie player to be referred to a Roy of the Rovers is still considered the ultimate accolade although in modern changing room it might be thus: Roy des robots d'exploration, Roy de los exploradores, Рой роверов or Roy van de zwervers.
Many comics died out or were absorbed into other titles during the 1990s. You can find out where yours went, here
Labels: beano, comic, dandy, eezer, lord snooty, the tough of the track, topper, valiant, victor, wizard
¶ 10:07 AM
