Ooyah! Punishment in the fun comics

[Phoenix]

For comparison purposes, here is some work which I am pretty confident is by Bob Dewar. They are the endpapers of the Judy annual for 1965. First, the front pair.

[Phoenix]

And now the rear pair.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Bob Dewar definitely drew Bad Penny for Odhams on occassion, because I remember being alarmed at recognizing his work on this character in another copy of the same comic. In fact I was alarmed to see his comics work appear in a non-DCT comic, full stop!

The 'perverse deviant' spanking-guy would definitely pass for a Dewar creation: however, I'm not so sure on the other incidental characters, which look more 'stock Odhams'.

Bob leans more towards illustration in a lot of his work, and he's very adaptable.....the Noah's Ark stuff from the Judy annual above is a world away from his '3 Bears' stuff for example.

If it ain't Bob, then who drew this strip?

[paw broon]

I realise that the question of who drew what is uppermost now in this topic but, Bad Penny apart, I wonder if we might be conflating funny kids comics and strips with the real world. As a reader and collector of old boys papers, I regularly read stories in those distinguished journals, Magnet, Gem, Nelson Lee etc., wherein boys in public schools are flogged by prefects and masters using canes and ash plants, often with great relish and sometimes with a described desire to hurt. This does reflect real life in such establishments and there are regular instances of innocents suffering. I only find this funny when it's Bunter on the receiving end.
I don't think this is the case with DtM or other cartoon characters and when I was young, and reading Dandy, Beano and the others, I did laugh at the slipperings.
Mind you, I don't recall seeing a slippering in The Broons, but I could be wrong.

[Niblet]

If it ain't Bob, then who drew this strip?

I suggested Doug Goodwin earlier in this thread, but as I don't want to fall foul of the new forum rules, I won't mention it again

[NP]

I still don't see any resemblence. Those endpapers are beautifully illustrated with the same confident hand you can see in his 80s/90s line work. The Bad Paenny page doesn't have any of the same very advanced compositional skill or sure-footed line. So Doug Goodwin might be my guess. Anyone got an Odhams Bad Penny DEFINITELY drawn by Dewar they can share a frame or two of? Same with Goodwin?

[philcom55]

On the whole I tend to agree with Paw on the punishment aspect - though it is, perhaps, worth noting that the very next issue saw Penny being bound and gagged in her own bed by a rather dodgy-looking Santa!

- Phil R.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I have a double-spreader of Bad Penny drawn by Bob D, NP: if I can find it I will post it on here.

[Phoenix]

...the very next issue saw Penny being bound and gagged in her own bed by a rather dodgy-looking Santa!

Wow! I wonder how much worse it gets for her at New Year!!!!!!!!

Obviously, the concept on which the strips are based is A bad penny always turns up, but these strips do seem to focus less on what she gets up to when she does turn up, and much more on the retribution. One possible subtext could even be applicable in the current aftermath of the riots, where punishments for some crimes are more excessive than those crimes would appear to warrant. Getting your own back and then some, so to speak. The subtext would relate to the idea that the punishment for your misdeeds is not necessarily what you think is appropriate but what the person you have offended considers appropriate. The fact that the girl is back the next week for another lesson does seem to indicate that she is a slow learner, or a risk-taker, or excessively mischievous, or psychologically damaged, or............ but, hey, it's only a comic strip so no serious link to real life can be assumed because she has to be back for another dose next week. She is fundamentally no better off than Sisyphus. Mmm, now there's a theme we could develop..............

[-MikeD-]

On the whole I tend to agree with Paw on the punishment aspect - though it is, perhaps, worth noting that the very next issue saw Penny being bound and gagged in her own bed by a rather dodgy-looking Santa!

>splutter< Wha..?

Let's have a scan! Or are you just about to list a copy of Smash! 100 on eBay?

[steven]

The thing with those punishment strips is that the charathers were hardly seen crying after being whacked.

[philcom55]

Here's the relevant scene from Smash! no.100



(Incidentally I can't help feeling that Penny's mum would be more at home in Men Only or Parade than a children's comic. Of course, there were a number of cartoonists who worked for both markets at the same time)

...And while we're on the subject of sadistic Santas, here's the same issue's seasonal cover:



(Anybody prepared to speculate on the artist who provided the marginal embellishment for Joe Giella's Batgirl and Robin episode?)

- Phil Rushton

[philcom55]

I don't see any hint of Bob Dewar's style in that Bad Penny. Could someone with those Odhams file copies have a look and see who drew it?

I only have two file copies of Smash! and neither of them mention Bob Dewar (though a lot of the artwork is simply credited to agencies - especially Kingleo Studios ('leo' for Leo Baxendale?).

As a matter of interest, here's a page of the Penny strip from Smash! no.49 which nicely spoofs the tidal wave of Batmania that was then sweeping the country.



...To be honest I've never even heard of the 'Paul Ailey' who supposedly wrote and drew this episode, which only goes to show how many different people worked on the strip over the years.

- Phil Rushton

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Excellent mid- 60s ambience, Phil!

Well worth seeing.

I reckon 20 quid a page wasn't a bad rate in the 60s: the average wage in general in 1969 was 22 quid a week!

If you found enough work, you could do about 4 or 5 pages a week of the above calibre of artwork.

[Phoenix]

...And while we're on the subject of sadistic Santas, here's the same issue's seasonal cover

With those eyes, Santa could be Swirly's avatar in disguise.