Younger reader comics (the best of the rest)

[colcool007]

That's interesting about William Rudling - I was, of course, aware of him as the editor of Jeff Hawke's Cosmos but I had no idea he'd been a comic artist in his own right....
- Phil Rushton

And of course, that was why William was at Dundee in his own right. Sydney Jordan was a revelation and not what you would ever expect of a native Dundonian! He was talking very much in the style of the raconteur and I could have happily listened to him for hours.

[philcom55]

It's such a shame that his childhood friend and longtime collaborator Willie Paterson couldn't have been there to share the limelight. Did Sydney talk about him? I've always felt that Paterson was one of the most talented writers ever to work for British comics, and that his long illness and eventual death were a tragic loss to us all.

- Phil R.

[colcool007]

It's such a shame that his childhood friend and longtime collaborator Willie Paterson couldn't have been there to share the limelight. Did Sydney talk about him? I've always felt that Paterson was one of the most talented writers ever to work for British comics, and that his long illness and eventual death were a tragic loss to us all.

- Phil R.

Yes he did. And it was in wry but wistful tones that he reminisced about working with Willie. As he said that Willie always saw himself as Mephistoles to Sydney's Faust! . He was even selling some original artwork, which I must say looked very nice. But the one that I fancied had gone by the time I had my pennies together. I think I am safe to say that Sydney's art had a strong influence on the comic artists of the 70's and 80's as the one panel I saw that I wanted to buy must have influenced John Cooper as it looked like Cooper's work until I saw when Jordan's work had been published much earlier.

[philcom55]

I seem to remember that even Brian Bolland worked with him at one time!

[philcom55]

I must admit that I've always had a special fondness for TV Land - especially the stories written and drawn by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin. Interestingly, many of these were later redeveloped as episodes of their legendary TV series.

Unfortunately copies of TV Land rarely turn up so I've only been able to acquire a handful of individual issues. As a matter of interest do you have any of the later numbers featuring 'Noggin the Nog' Matrix?

Looking at my few copies of TV Land it occurs to me that Noggin might not have appeared in the weekly comic at all, even though he was a regular fixture in all the annuals except for the very first one. In fact, I'm inclined to think that the work Postgate and Firmin produced for TV Publications Ltd during the 1960s is significant enough to deserve a thread of its own - something I'll endeavor to provide in due course.



- Phil Rushton

[matrix]

An interesting comic that fits in this category is 'Teddy Bear's Playtime'. It started in 1981 and ran for nineteen issues. It seems to be quite a good comic, it has 'Gulliver in the centre spread with 'Teddy and cuddly' and 'Leo the Lion' plus artwork from Jose Ortiz. Teddy Bear had already been swallowed up I wonder if this was a real attempt to bring back the old days with strips from 'Playhour' 'Jack and Jill' and 'Teddy Bear'?

[matrix]

In fact, I'm inclined to think that the work Postgate and Firmin produced for TV Publications Ltd during the 1960s is significant enough to deserve a thread of its own - something I'll endeavor to provide in due course.
- Phil Rushton

I expect you are busy like many of us Phil, but are you still going to do that thread? As that is a nice example you posted.
Matrix

[SID]

My first ever comic that I started reading regularily was Bobo Bunny when I was four(ish). I don't remember too much about it and I quickly gave it up.

To be honest, I am not sure if I even really liked it. I think it was something my parents thought I would like. More than likely I didn't since I quickly moved onto The Dandy and The Beano.

[philcom55]

I expect you are busy like many of us Phil, but are you still going to do that thread? As that is a nice example you posted.

I still want to get round to it Matrix but, as you say, other things seem to keep gaining priority. Given that the British public has voted Bagpuss their all-time favourite children's character on TV, and that the Clangers are about to be revived in the near future, it amazes me that comic fans don't hold Postgate and Firmin's regular contributions to titles such as TV Land in higher regard.

- Phil Rushton

[matrix]

I still want to get round to it Matrix but, as you say, other things seem to keep gaining priority. Given that the British public has voted Bagpuss their all-time favourite children's character on TV, and that the Clangers are about to be revived in the near future, it amazes me that comic fans don't hold Postgate and Firmin's regular contributions to titles such as TV Land in higher regard.
- Phil Rushton

I wonder how many know of 'TV Land' Phil, It seems to be such a rare little comic. I have some Pogles annuals that I could post some examples from once it's up and running, loved watching those adventures!

My first ever comic that I started reading regularily was Bobo Bunny when I was four(ish). I don't remember too much about it and I quickly gave it up.
To be honest, I am not sure if I even really liked it. I think it was something my parents thought I would like. More than likely I didn't since I quickly moved onto The Dandy and The Beano.

I do not remember 'Bobo Bunny' when I was younger and agree it if anything is a different title. I don't have many copies but do have a nice half year bound volume from 1969, and it sort of grows on you! Funny thing the best work for me anyway is from the 'can you count page' there are some nice examples that would (I feel) not have been out of place in some of the top nursery titles, one scanned below. A name that appears more than once is I think Aster, does anyone know that artist?

[philcom55]

Bobo Bunny was an unusual British title in that, for the most part, it reprinted material from a pre-existing Dutch comic called Bobo. Here are the front and back covers of a special 'Free Introductory Number' that seems to have been given away to celebrate the New Year in January 1968:





Presumably 'Aster' and most of the other artists represented were based in Europe, however the British edition did introduce at least one home-grown character in the shape of Pinkie Puff - a rather unusual baby elephant whose exploits continued in the pages of Hey Diddle Diddle and then Playhour long after Bobo Bunny's other features fell by the wayside.

Pinkie's early strips are generally credited to the Hutchings brothers but, as the cryptic initials in the bottom right-hand corner of this original panel show, other artists seem to have taken over from them in later years.



The Dutch involvement is interesting as it's a matter of record that a number of famous British artists like Don Lawrence and Keith Watson were ultimately forced to look for work in Holland when the once-mighty British comics industry had all-but ceased to exist.

- Phil Rushton

[suebutcher]

A nice Dudley Watkins "Tom Thumb" from the cover of Bimbo No. 173.

And from the same issue, "Pussy Willow", possibly by Ron Spencer; by 1965 Pussy had developed a typical Spencer lower-jaw snaggle tooth.

[suebutcher]

From Bimbo 182, 5.9.64., a very salty episode of "Little Snow White". This is the one that reminded me of Krigstein. (Issue 182 also has the first episode of "Old MacDonald's Farm" by Turnbull.)

[philcom55]

Nice to see this thread resurrected! To be honest I prefer Bimbo in its second or third year to the very early issues - I really must try to find more copies from that period. Some of those Tom Thumb covers certainly seem to be classic examples of late Watkins, though I do wonder why he didn't sign them. And I see what you mean about Young Snow White: the overhead shot of the lifeboat has a particularly Krigsteinesque feel!

[klakadak-ploobadoof]

I found a few examples of titles that haven’t appeared on this thread yet. I won’t be able to contribute much in terms of discussion because, having picked them in the process of collecting Playhour, I know next to nothing about them.

Wonderland, launched in 1961, was published by Education Press Ltd. in London. I have the first issue without the cover but these messages from the publisher and the editor are quite interesting and unusual:







Here is the cover of the second issue of Wonderland, followed by more messages from the publisher and the editor – the latter reporting the “grand welcome” that the first issue of the new publication received from the industry; given the length of production time, the report of the enthusiastic reception must have been prepared long in advance.







Here are both covers of the Christmas number from the second year of publication, and the message from the Rev – it looks like his contributions had evolved into a regular feature: