What comics did you buy today?

[Lew Stringer]

Today I become the proud owner of the 1968 Candy and Andy annual. Surely Candy wins the title for the weirdest comic of all time. Two panda-humans, some live actors, and eerie puppet children. It looks like something out of a Paul McCarthy video performance! Do other contributors think Candy is the strangest comic of all time?

I suppose it was a bit peculiar. Based on a proposed Gerry Anderson TV series that never got the green light, I guess Century 21 thought that the popularity of the other puppet shows would carry it. (It didn't look that strange to those of us who'd grown up with seeing that style of puppet on TV. I only had a few issues as it was a bit "young" and girly for me. )

Copies of the comic are highly priced on eBay and as I threw mine away over 40 years ago I can barely remember it. In fact the main thing I remember of it was the nice smell that newly printed photogravure comics had! They probably don't smell so good now.

[philcom55]

From what I remember Candy had a rather odd format, with pages that were wider than they were tall. Presumably their collectability is enhanced by the occasional appearances of Thunderbirds.

As a matter of interest I recently picked up this 1968 'storybook' which is an annual in all but name:



Composed entirely of photographic tableaux involving Candy and Andy I have to agree that the whole thing is weirdly disturbing. Between Candy's eerily lifeless expression and Andy's evil smirk, the two puppets exude an overpowering impression of sheer malevolence that seems calculated to give any child nightmares. In fact I defy anybody to look at a scene like this without concluding that it's just wrong...on so many levels:



On the whole, maybe it's just as well that the proposed series never made it onto our TV screens!

- Phil Rushton

...

[SID]

Looks like a precursor to Chucky to me. Very creepy.

[Lew Stringer]

In fact I defy anybody to look at a scene like this without concluding that it's just wrong...on so many levels:

I think that's the first time an annual has made me feel sick. No wonder the TV series was rejected!

Even apart from the obvious wrongness of that second pic there's something grubby about the whole 'Candy' concept isn't there? It's extremely unpleasant. An antithesis of what a nursery comic should be! I'd forgotten just how weird that comic was.

[SID]

Got my copy of Oink! today.

Interesting comic which reminds me more of a younger Viz rather than a comic compatible enough to be merged with Buster.

[Peter Gray]

enjoyed the 30th Century comic shop today..

bought number 15 Beezer.they had number 2,3,4 as well all at £40...bit steep for me...though love to own them for the colour Banana Bunch posters..

Also got Topper 1974...love Paddy B's the Amazing Pete alien..

and got the missing Wow comic with first Boy Boss..have a full set of comics now..

plus 4 Beano's 1961 and 62..
and Buster 1963...

all for £35..the Beano's were a bit cheaper But very readable..£6 each..Beezer £6..

Now to enjoy them in detail..

[Lew Stringer]

Got my copy of Oink! today.

Interesting comic which reminds me more of a younger Viz rather than a comic compatible enough to be merged with Buster.

The only strips that made the transition to Buster were my Tom Thug and Pete and his Pimple strips and Mike Green's Weedy Willy. We were asked to tone the humour down slightly for Buster's more middle of the road style.

I know a lot of people consider Oink! to have been a junior Viz, but, as the editor/writer Mark Rogers told me, his main influence was Mad magazine. However, most of us were just doing our own thing, not even thinking about Viz or Mad as an influence. If anything, my work on Oink! was influenced by Wham!, Smash! and Pow!

The issue of Oink! that you bought, issue 62, was towards the end of the comic's run. By that time it had been turned into a monthly and pitched at older readers. So, yes, it was a drastic move to merge it into Buster. I'd had Tom Thug leave school by that stage, and go on the dole, so his arrival in Buster saw him become younger again, and a title-change to Tom Thug's Skooldayz. (I dropped the Skooldayz part of the title after a few years but Tom remained a schoolboy for the rest of his run in Buster.)

[colcool007]

Thank you for that Lew. It is very rare that we get more than a glimpse into the evolution of a comic strip so an explanation like that is worth more than diamonds to us fellow comic fans. Well, it is to me at least.

[felneymike]

Today I got issue 57 and issue 55 of The Phoenix. I don't know if the shop had had a missed delivery and just put out whatever odd ones they had laying around. There was even a Halloween issue out! Oh well, I missed issue 55 so was lucky to find it. I also had to go for a filling but the dentist didn't need to drill anything. I ought to get a lottery ticket.

[Digifiend]

You don't need to be drilled for fillings now, it's some kind of quick setting gel. I know, had one done last month.

[SID]

Got my Incredible Hulks 1 today. A good read.

These Panini reprint comics are not bad.

[babington]

Well, my Candy and Andy turned up today and sure enough it's very odd. I notice the 1967 annual went for £27 on ebay today - I will be looking out for a copy in the future!

[Marionette]

I got the last few issues of Spellbound along with the following several issues of the combined Debbie and Spellbound. It does feel like a bit of a cheat that while the popular Supercats series was carried over, the only other story to be continued was one that had only begun in the final issue of Spellbound.

[helsbels]

I got the last few issues of Spellbound along with the following several issues of the combined Debbie and Spellbound. It does feel like a bit of a cheat that while the popular Supercats series was carried over, the only other story to be continued was one that had only begun in the final issue of Spellbound.

I think Spellbound fared better in Debbie than Misty did in Tammy, though. There was a kind of Spellbound section with the Supercats, a Damian Darke tale and usually a "spooky" series and text story - so there was quite a bit of Spellbound influence in Debbie for a long while afterwards. Debbie had improved over the years and the addition of Spellbound made it even better.

[The Hornet]

In Waitrose in Ramsgate this week's Beano and latest Beano plus issue 30 (dated 28 July 2012) of the Phoenix, the first time I've seen any issue of this publication in this branch (my nearest branch) since it was published. I have to say I don't get to visit the store that much (even though I visit the town regularly) but when I do they never seem to have the Phoenix. So I cannot speculate why they had a issue over 6 months old on sale Steve S