Hello, I'm WaxBadger

[WaxBadger]

Hi, it took me a while to introduce myself but I had been busy last couple of months.

Anyway, I'm an American that has taken a liking to British and European comic characters, and among what I like are most anything of the anthropomorphic animal variety. Rupert is a big one for me as I've collected mostly from that series, but I also have been paying attention to other comics I've found like Teddy Tail and some obscurities like Billy Brock in Playhour.

I hope to have some questions I have answered here.

[colcool007]

Welcome to the madhouse WaxBadger. Hope you enjoy our company.

[philcom55]

Hi WaxBadger!

Rupert (particularly from the Alfred Bestall period) has legions of fans, including a number of celebrities like Paul McCartney, but he rarely seems to be mentioned on mainstream comics sites for some reason. In my opinion Bestall belongs right up their with storytelling masters like Carl Barks, so it's really good to see his work getting some attention from the other side of the Atlantic.

[WaxBadger]

Yeah, for being a regular newspaper feature I know it can seem odd to comic enthusiasts. The thing is though, a good number of people who gain affection for Rupert prefer to view the series more along the lines of children's literature and not like the more humorous and action/adventure comics that usually gain more interest, so they often wouldn't look for Rupert fans at mainstream sites and instead collect among themselves which is why The Followers of Rupert came into existence (http://www.rupertbear.co.uk)

I was introduced to the series from Nelvana's cartoon adaptation but having learned how old the series was made me want to see more, and it's true that I'm not the only one overseas who loved that cartoon, I'm friends with two others here in the states that I mail duplicate comics to when I order bundles of them.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

wax lyrical, Wax Badger!

Welcome to this fine forum.

[comixminx]

Welcome, WaxBadger! You're right, a lot of people treat children's literature as being quite separate from comics, even when they may be clearly comics when you look at them properly. For instance "In The Night Kitchen" by Maurice Sendak is clearly influenced by Little Nemo; Tintin is often not categorized with comics in British parents' minds; and Raymond Briggs' "Fungus the Bogeyman" (and other books of his) are also mentally catalogued quite differently from comics in many people's minds.

[dishes]

Welcome!

I was copying some Alfred Bestall Rupert drawings recently ( I like to copy other artists' work, the better to study it) and I was surprised how detailed they were. A master.

[stevezodiac]

I was at the ephemera fair today and I noticed some Rupert magazines/booklets and a Rupert Story Book. I think there was a short lived Rupert comic in the 1980s?

[WaxBadger]

Right Steve, in the early 1980s there was the Rupert Weekly comics produced by Marvel which ran for 100 issues and largely repeated stories from the annuals as well as rerun stories from Fleetway and Martspress comics, so they aren't really all that glamorous as far as Rupert comics or the 1989 comics released by Celebrity which were again annual reprints. I did buy most of the Rupert Weeklies earlier in the year, but I have later chosen to sell them and I'll make that known on that section.

A better comic book adaptation of Rupert came in 1991 with Marvel's Rupert and Friends which had short but original stories and illustrations and they kept Rupert and his friends as the focus with all the activity pages in between. Then later in the 1990s there were comics that were more activity and education focused probably in reflection of the average age of younger Rupert readers, but the illustrations were still unique.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Monty Python member/History enthusiast Terry Jones is also a Rupert the Bear enthusiast, he done a really good Bestall TV documentary back in the 90s, including a reference to a well-known Rupert annual illustration that featured a tree with arms and legs running down a country lane---someone came on stating this image was among the most terrifying thing they ever saw as a young reader.

It never creeped me out personally---I thought it was a good imaginitive drawing.

[philcom55]

The Cartoon Museum in London hosted a marvellous Alfred Bestall exhibition a few years ago which included the original art for several of his Rupert Annual endpaper scenes. Quite apart from being a superb storyteller I think he has a claim to be one of the very best illustrators of the British landscape as well.

[WaxBadger]

I have a friend in East Sussex who became a that has shown me that documentary with Bestall (I believe you're thinking of the one from 1982), along with an interview on some audio tapes which did explain a good amount of information on his life. He really knew how to set the standard for the series for years to come with the characters he created and the greater amount of imagination that he could put into it. I do think also that Mary Tourtel was a good artist in her own right, and I also like John Harrold's work as well. In fact I've written a letter to John who gave me a nice reply and we've been on e-mail contact on occasion.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Yes I believe you Wax-Bee: 1982 it must surely have been [the documentary]. It was very good.

[philcom55]

Mary Tourtel might have created the characters and been responsible for the strip's initial success but her 'Fairy Tale' Rupert was never 'my' Rupert. My brother and I received a Rupert Annual every Christmas from about 1950 to 1965 so it was the Bestall version with its eccentric inventors, Chinese magicians and underground transit systems that we grew up with.