Strips which were given a proper ending

[jakob1978]

I recently bought a bundle of comics and amongst them was the final issue of Whoopee before it merged with W&C. I was interested to see 2 of the stories in it (Snack-Man and Family Trees) had been given a proper ending (presumably they'd decided not to transfer them over into W&C).

I've always been interested in reading a characters debut, but it got me thinking...how many other strips had a definite ending as opposed to just being dropped.

[WizzKid97]

I recently bought a bundle of comics and amongst them was the final issue of Whoopee before it merged with W&C. I was interested to see 2 of the stories in it (Snack-Man and Family Trees) had been given a proper ending (presumably they'd decided not to transfer them over into W&C).

I've always been interested in reading a characters debut, but it got me thinking...how many other strips had a definite ending as opposed to just being dropped.

The Mighty Bork recently in the Dandy, the final story was about him getting home, it was two pages and said Bye-bye Bork at the end, meaning he was gone forever.

[Jonny Whizz]

Willie Getaway in Sparky was another one. I´ve never seen the last strip but from what I´ve read I think he runs away at the end thinking he´s escaped arrest when all long we know he´s heir to a fortune. I seem to recall that the ending left the character open for a return in the future but he never did return or get his fortune.

[Raven]

Fred's Family Tree did, when it ended its Whizzer and Chips run in mid-1970. The strip was about a boy, Fred, whose ancestors lived up a big tree that two council men were always trying to cut down (their whole job seemed to be trying to chop down this tree). In the last episode, they were finally fooled for good by a landscape painting suggesting the tree had been finally chopped down, and they rushed off for a holiday. "Now we can have a holiday too!" Fred says, and to finalise it even more, a fuzzy critter sticks its head out of the ground and says "Goodbye to you all!"

[Niblet]

Forgive me for going reverse-topic on this subject, but what about when strips might have been construed as ending, but they didn't. I'm sure I've seen examples of this more than once. What I'm thinking of is the kind of story where Minnie the Minx (for example) has had a big bust-up with her dad. Minnie tells Dad she's leaving home and the final panel shows her setting off towards the front gate with her possessions slung over her shoulder in the traditional hankie-tied-on-a-stick. There would be a note from the editor at the end of the story saying 'don't worry, readers, Minnie will be back next week'. I presume this was because it was felt there was a risk that readers would assume their favourite strip had come to an end and so would stop buying the comic. Or maybe they felt such an ending would be too upsetting without the ed's reassuring comment.

[stevezodiac]

It would have been nice if ome of my favourite tv shows had had proper endings. I'm thinking Land of the Giants, Lost In Space and the Time Tunnel (all Irwin Allen) where the participants were left stranded. Also I don't think Catweazle returned to the Middle Ages. Not sure about The Invaders - i keep meaning to buy the box sets of both deries. Of course Patrick McGoohan was forced to wind up The Prisoner early when Lew Grade cancelled the series but at least no. 6 got back to London.

[philcom55]

It's particularly interesting when some TV storylines which never reached any kind of conclusion on screen were subsequently resolved in their comic strips. For example, I could be wrong but didn't Spectrum finally defeat the Mysterons in TV21?

- Phil R.

[stevezodiac]

The opposite happened with the Daleks in TV21. I bought it every week in the 60s and the last panel of the final Dalek strip had them threatening to invade Earth. Due to copyright reasons TV21 had to drop the Daleks from that moment. Luckily we had the tv and film versions of the Daleks Invasion of Earth. TV21 kept telling us that they had lost the space radio link (or whatever) that updated them on Daleks activity.

[Jonny Whizz]

Also, Fred´s Bed had a proper ending in the Beezer and Topper, because at the end of the final strip (in the comic's last issue) the bed exploded. However, that didn't turn out to be the end for Fred, because all the original strips, bar the last one, were reprinted in the Beano over a decade later before it switched to new stories.

[WizzKid97]

Forgive me for going reverse-topic on this subject, but what about when strips might have been construed as ending, but they didn't.

Another example being George VS Dragon which was meant to end with the story where Dragon becomes King hence George's final comment, however two more were added to its initial run meaning there was another the end story with George having to leave the area. (And then stay in the mountains before returning after months of practise.)

[MikeC]

The Mighty Bork in The Danady had an ending quite recently.

[Digifiend]

Already mentioned!

The Mighty Bork recently in the Dandy, the final story was about him getting home, it was two pages and said Bye-bye Bork at the end, meaning he was gone forever.

[Raven]

Freaky Farm's last strip in the final Monster Fun ended with the Freaky Farmer discovering lots of money in his well, and declaring "Oi've struck it rich! Now I can retire!"

[dishes]

From the Beano dated May 9 1987, the last "Baby-Face" Finlayson of his second run. It was replaced by another small character with prominent nostrils, Little Monkey. I think when I read this strip at the time it was the first time I realised Baby Face was American (I had not yet seen any of the earlier strips set in the Wild West.)

The note at the bottom says 'That's all from "Baby-Face" for now readers. You'll see him from time to time on our "readers request" page'.

And sure enough, from June 27th:

This "Readers' Request" page was not a reprints page like Beano retro but consisted of new strips featuring old favourites or sometimes try-outs of new strips such as Little Monkey and Number 13.

[Shaqui]

It's particularly interesting when some TV storylines which never reached any kind of conclusion on screen were subsequently resolved in their comic strips. For example, I could be wrong but didn't Spectrum finally defeat the Mysterons in TV21?

- Phil R.

They did indeed:

http://www.technodelic.pwp.blueyonder.c ... rlet03.htm