Re: Beryl the Peril books
Posted: 02 Jan 2015, 16:30
The cover of the 1966 Dennis book is an illustration referencing a text story inside the book titled 'Dennis and the Dinmakers'.
Aiming to become the definitive guide to British comics
https://www.comicsuk.co.uk/forum/
Seems to be a one-off, yes. 1979 had a Desperate Dan Book instead, and 1981 only had Beryl and Minnie.Raven wrote:I see from the gallery that the 1977 Beryl book also features other characters, including Dennis, The Bash Street Kids and Minnie the Minx amongst others, so was this more of an evenly balanced anthology of reprints from the weeklies - and was the multi-character mix a one-off experiment?
The Bash Street Kids seem to have knocked Dennis out of his annual slot in 1980 and 1982 (they also had a book for 1984), and Beryl then lost her slot to Dennis in 1983 and 1985. In 1987 and 1988, both Dennis and Beryl appeared, then Bash Street took Beryl's place.Raven wrote: Interesting to see that leap from from 1968 to 1977 reprints, and I wonder why the book was brought back after a 6 year gap.
Thanks, Kashgar. Then it probably was based on Gerry & the Pacemakers.Kashgar wrote:The cover of the 1966 Dennis book is an illustration referencing a text story inside the book titled 'Dennis and the Dinmakers'.
In one of Beryl's gossip pages in the 1971 book she talks about the staff getting into hot water with the editor, illustrated by them all peering out of the bath at him.alanultron5 wrote: Another was the Topper staff annual party where when the Editor appeared-everyone jumped into a bath to hide and you saw sets of terrified eyes peeping from under the water as the Editor `raged`/ Have you those images Raven?
The Dan book was another where I was wondering what year the strips - mostly taking a serial form - first came from. They look like they could be as old as circa 1947-ish; there's quite a bit of unpleasant racial material and use of racist terms that it's surprising Thomson thought still suitable for publishing in a book for kids by the late Seventies. A strangely unpleasant tone permeates this one, with the front papers featuring a cow being flipped towards the hammer and rotating knives of Dan's cow pie-making vehicle.Digifiend wrote:1979 had a Desperate Dan Book instead, and 1981 only had Beryl and Minnie.
I'm surprised it was deemed acceptable then too. However...Raven wrote:
The Dan book was another where I was wondering what year the strips - mostly taking a serial form - first came from. They look like they could be as old as circa 1947-ish; there's quite a bit of unpleasant racial material and use of racist terms that it's surprising Thomson thought still suitable for publishing in a book for kids by the late Seventies. A strangely unpleasant tone permeates this one, with the front papers featuring a cow being flipped towards the hammer and rotating knives of Dan's cow pie-making vehicle.
I find the "Chinese slaves" serial one of the most unpleasant Thomson strips I've read - of all the strips they could have reprinted ... and why on earth was racist language used in the rhyming lines at the top of the pages, presumably written new (?) for the annual? I found the same when reading a collection of '30s strips from the much-lauded series Terry and the Pirates, just really hard to get past the racism.dishes wrote:
I'm surprised it was deemed acceptable then too. However...
Those are actually among my favourite Desperate Dan strips. I didn't use to like his adventures in the late 80's, and when I saw the older strips the art was better but I still found the stories somewhat too silly and Dan's character rather too much like that of an embarrassing uncle who should grow up, or leave us kids in peace, or both.
These longer, more rough-and-ready stories, however, were better in two ways: one. they were more adventure stories than gag strips, and thus more exciting. I wish the strip had always continued as a serial. Two, they showed Dan as more of an antihero. I felt the writers weren't trying (and failing) to make me like him in the same way as they did in later strips. Like Popeye, he was what he was- a hot-tempered, unintelligent, tough guy who was unbelievably violent and strict with his nephew (and his horse!). You didn't have to like him as a person but you could still enjoy his adventures. If you could stomach the racism.
Yes, at its best, this strip is really impressive, very funny.dishes wrote:
Regarding David Law's Beryl: I too love this strip more than Dennis, and am always trying to collect the annuals.
Hi Raven, I was looking for some info in 'The Beano Diaries' yesterday and I suddenly realised that I had listed the original publication dates of the Beryl the Peril/Bash Street Kids strips in there.Raven wrote: Did you ever pick up the 1977 book and gauge which era the Bash Street Kids strips, for example, looked to be a reprint from?