By the way, it looks like it's been axed, judging by it's Wikipedia article. Doesn't sound like I was missing much, it does sound like it was for brainless boozehounds - I'm not that kind of bloke.
Just noticed Raven, we registered for this board only a day apart.
'Von Hoffmans Invasion' was a highlight for me when I used to buy 'Jet' so I was pleased when it was one of the strips that made it into 'Buster & Jet' when they merged.
Peter Gray wrote:Thats a great one Steel I'll use that for the blog...thanks again..
What was other peoples favourite Buster Adventure strips..
I would add Sam's City Jungle to Crabbe's Crusaders for mine. Also liked Fishboy - as a concept, especially - though I don't think it tended to have the strongest scripts most of the time.
During the period I was avidly reading Buster as a boy, I certainly looked forward to The Leopard From Lime Street each week, from its first instalment onwards.
Unfortunately I don't have the issue which contained the last episode of Galaxus so I can't show how it ended. However, here is the very first episode of the strip which replaced it from the following week (22nd June 1974) - 'Marney the Fox'. I know that Marney has been covered before now on this site but I just couldn't resist showing a bit more of John Stokes' sumptuous artwork. For all its sentimentality the script doesn't ignore the harsh realities of life in the wild, and the death of Marney's mother recalls a similar event in Walt Disney's Bambi which famously traumatised an entire generation of kids! I'd love to know who wrote this series as it seems quite unlike anything else I've ever come across in a British comic. Definitely a classic!
...Gulp!
Also, I can't rememember if 'Pete's Pocket Army' has been mentioned yet but for anyone who's interested here's page one of the first episode from 28th April 1973 (art once more by the astonishingly prolific Solano Lopez Studio ):
...There really did seem to be an awful lot of crashing spaceships in those days!
(deleted first section re: merge, as it's been done)
by the way, Peter, your image is gone (because ebay deleted it after the auction ended) - so in future folks, please copy them to your own webspace or save the pic and upload it as an attachment. Nobody wants to see a red X. Thank you.
(The merge has sent the image I refer to a lot higher up than this reply - just don't post ebay pics if you want us to still see them weeks or months later)
Last edited by Digifiend on 02 Jun 2009, 20:57, edited 2 times in total.
One artist who came rather late to Buster was the wonderful Andrew Wilson who initially replaced Joe Colquhoun on 'The Runaways' before contributing 'The Byrds of Paradise Isle' and then 'Johnny's Journey' in 1980. Prior to this he had spent many years working for Princess and then Princess Tina as the regular illustrator for Jenny Butterworth's hugely popular strip about Sue Day and her family 'The Happy Days'. 'The Byrds', with a storyline based loosely on 'Swiss Family Robinson', made full use of his talent for depicting the lively chaos of a large but close-knit family:
...Subsequently I'm pretty sure he went on to produce a great deal of work for DC Thomson.
All this IPC stuff is just wonderful; it's amazing that so much of this quality material was available new, every week, for mere pennies.
Some great perspectives in Sam's City Jungle. Almost every pic is from a dynamic new angle. Joe Colquhoun at his best, methinks. Mind you, Ski-Board Squad is pretty dynamic, too.
I like Andrew Wilson's distinctive style there; can only remember 'Johnny on the Run' by name at the moment, though - it would have been about the period I stopped getting Buster.
The Pete's Pocket Army opening page is typically fab Lopez.
By the way, it looks like it's been axed, judging by it's Wikipedia article. Doesn't sound like I was missing much, it does sound like it was for brainless boozehounds - I'm not that kind of bloke.
I am young - I'm only 25!
(because ebay deleted it after the auction ended) - so in future folks, please copy them to your own webspace or save the pic and upload it as an attachment. Nobody wants to see a red X. Thank you.
