Comics UK

Of course the Modern Art theme was introduced in the very first episode of the Happy Days via Sue's own father, the part-time Picasso!

Brilliant! And as you say, unmistakably Jenny Butterworth. The clever thing is that by seeing everything through the eyes of a sensible child she avoids any charge of philistinism!

I was recently in a local supermarket when I was startled to hear a sweet-looking little girl declare "I WANT TO BE A BLOODY PRINCESS!" in imperious tones to her harassed parents. It was only later I discovered that the 'Bloody Princess' was one of that year's Halloween costumes in Sainsburys' seaso...

In some ways I think Patty's World was intended to be a kind of updated successor to the Happy Days - though as Goof says, Princess was clearly aimed at a younger age group when it began. I'm not sure if Sue Day's own age was ever established, but in the very first episode she mentions (possibly wit...

I really must get more of Sue's picture library stories; for some reason I've got a lot more of the ones which feature Sally. I know what you mean about Jenny Butterworth's fondness for puncturing the pretentions of Modern Art - or ANY kind of pretentiousness for that matter!

I think you could be right about the picture libraries Goof. Something similar happened with the Spider in Fleetway's Super Library where regular scripter Jerry Siegel wrote the first story but various other people produced all the subsequent ones.

stevezodiac wrote:So we might get Sapphire with Steel edited out?

...Well, the powers-that-be had already ruled out all the transuranic elements!

Yes. Unless they're shot from original artwork I find that there's almost always some degradation in the quality of reprints. The original versions are nearly always best.

Also, I'm pretty sure that there were times when the same storyline was repeated with new artwork. This would have fitted in with Fleetway's assumption that nearly all their readers would automatically move on after four or five years to be replaced by a brand new readership. It'd be interesting to ...

When I get chance I'll try digging through my Princess Tinas. I'm pretty sure that they did use some reprints, though not the very early episodes which would have stood out like a sore thumb as you say. On the other hand they did, of course, reprint early episodes in the Sue Day Annual.

Wish I could have been there! Do you know if Andy has any plans to take up the baton for another Commando Fair in the Stoke area?

Oh no!

I suppose Minnie was intended to be a sort of female Dennis the Menace, but she'll never replace Davy Law's Beryl the Peril for me!

Yes. Bill McCail, who produced strips like Back From The Dead for Gerald Swan, is usually dismissed as a very limited artist too - but people forget that he was working fast for ready money. In fact he went on to become a noted horse painter who exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy and sold work ...

Incidentally, Battle also featured a series called Samurai in 1977.