Comics UK

I didn't mind Pinky and Perky as drawn by Turnbull - I think it was him for a while - and they certainly looked good as puppets, but they didn't always look right when translated to paper. I love Wain's "wallpaper" cats, by the way!

I think those realistic animals would look scary from the perspective when I was a child - but are to be admired as an adult. Is an acquired taste, I agree.

Recently flicked through a 1969 Playhour annual - had quite a bit of strips that must've come over from TV Toyland - including Rolf Harris & Koogie Bear (the only time I saw this puppet was on a 1982 edition of "The Saturday Show"), and Peter Glaze & Leslie Crowther (now parted by then - Crowther quit Crackerjack in 1968). I have a 69 Crackerjack annual where the same artist did similar stories with Glaze & replacements Michael Aspel & comeidian Rod McLellan (remember him?).

Tommy Trouble was great - and I remember Mr & Mrs NextDoor and their little girl Dilly (Tommy's sometime partner in crime).

Whilst on the subject of Bunny Cuddles - it reminded me of a 1960 newspaper article on a little girl called Somerset Hughes - she had a very high IQ but totally hated school (like I did), and idolised Bunny Cuddles & loved his ability to find jam.

During most of 1963 Gordon Hutchings drew lots of episodes of Gulliver Guinea Pig’s Travels with beautiful splash panels that were almost half-a-page in size. Here are some examples. Did he continue with those large panels in Playhour later on?

Wow! They are brilliant...can't wait when you do your feature on junior comics...

It is magical!


I love the colourful water effect hes done..
also the tree leaves in the first one..

and lovely deep shadows in the last picture..
it makes you want to see more...

They really are marvelous - I wish I had more 1960s copies of Playhour. Hutchings was the perfect choice to take over from Philip Mendoza, though I think Gulliver's writer also deserves a lot of credit for the many imaginative settings he came up with for the artists who worked on the strip.

Incidentally, here's a page from the 1976 Jack & Jill Annual which, rather unexpectedly, contains a Gulliver strip drawn by Ron Embleton:



- Phil Rushton

Ron Embelton contributed several sets of Gulliver Guinea Pig's Travels in Playhour in the second half of 1963, more frequently towards the end of the year. They also had those beautiful splash panels, so the page you have shown, Phil. may very well be a reprint from Playhour of the mid-sixties (assuming the artists continued with the fine tradition of drawing those large panels that started early in 1963).

klakadak-ploobadoof wrote: so the page you have shown, Phil. may very well be a reprint from Playhour of the mid-sixties

It was drawn for that 'Jack and Jill' annual, illustration art gallery have the original work.

The trouble is that original art was often remounted when it was reprinted so that it only bore the details of the last place it appeared. For example this Leo Lion page suggests that it was commissioned for the 1985 Jack & Jill Annual - in spite of the fact that it had previously appeared in the 1966 Playhour Annual, as shown below.





- Either way it's beautifully drawn. I'm not sure of the artist, though I suspect it's either by Bert Felstead alone or a joint effort between him and one of the Hutchings brothers.

- Phil R.

Sadly I don't own any original Gulliver artwork, but I did just pick up this nice Hutchings Sooty strip:







- Phil R.

Brilliant...love the pure joy of the last panel..

I did see a Guliver original on ebay at the moment..

philcom55 wrote:Sadly I don't own any original Gulliver artwork, but I did just pick up this nice Hutchings Sooty strip

Phil, in case you didn't know, the Sooty artwork originally appeared on the front cover of Playhour dated 17th August, 1963.

Have you got the issue to compare on here...
Wow to own a cover!

Sooty being yellow its funny to see him white and sweep isn't grey!

black and white telly must have been the reference!!

Just recently got an 84 "Playhor" annual on the cheap - I blame this site for stoking my curiosity & temptation!

Also ended up getting the one and only? "Bonnie" annual, one of the titles which merged into PH - some good artwork inside (I notice that one's not on the annuals gallery here yet - I'd scan a cover if I only had the equipment).

Here is the cover with the artwork from Phil's collection: