"The Legend of Lord Snooty" book
Posted: 26 Oct 2012, 23:08
Just perusing this 1998 oversized collection which I acquired second hand recently, and I have some observations and questions.
*It focuses very largely on the early years- 12 strips from 1938-39,
a whopping 51 strips from the 1940s, only 6 from the 1950s (plus a couple of illustrated text stories from the annuals) and only 8 from the 1960s (plus one strip from the annuals).
*All the strips are by Dudley Watkins. I suspect the decision to do the book was borne more of the prestige of Dudley Watkins's art than the popularity of the character. The illustrations of the second text story are ghosted, and endpapers and miscellaneous drawings are by Ken Harrison, ironically featuring the later "pals" who feature relatively little in the book itself.
*Marmaduke, Earl of Bunkerton (Lord Snooty) is a right nasty piece of work in the first few episodes. A forerunner of Dennis the Menace in some ways, but with added money and power. He also likes to have it both ways- slumming it in Ashcan alley but making full use of his castle and seemingly unlimited wealth. Fortunately, the writers must have realised this flaw as he becomes the good-hearted soul we're more familiar with very quickly. In comics, it's OK to be rich and OK to be a bully, but not both.
*One particularly nasty moment is in the fifth ever strip (fourth in the collection) dated 27/8/1938, where in revenge for the cook telling tales on him, he frames the cook so the cook is not only fired, but literally fired at with guns by the castle's hunting party.
*10/9/1938 is the last strip in the book to show Snooty in his "street urchin" disguise. It's not clear at what point his chums in ashcan alley stopped being a secret to his Aunt and when they started being welcome visitors, and eventually residents, at Bunkerton Castle. But soon after this, it would seem.
*The first strip in the book to feature Snitchy and Snatchy is 17/12/1938, so they must have made their debut sometime between 10/9 and then. It's also the first strip in the book to have "gutters" separating the panels instead of just lines.
* In the strip dated 21/1/1939, Snooty calls his aunt "Aunt Mildred". I wonder when she became Matilda.
*23/9/1939 has the brilliant surreal touch of horses who only run backwards.
*6/1/1940 is cited as the first Lord Snooty strip to mention the war.
*29/6/1940- Professor Screwtop's original name was Professor Pongo.
*9/11/1940 – Snooty and pals pretend to be ghosts carrying around their own tombstones. Snooty's reads: "R.I.P. in loving memory of Snooty, Lord, Born 1940 Died 1932". Presumably Dudley meant to write that the other way round! (or is supposed to be a mistake by Snooty?) In any case, it indicates that Snooty is supposed to be about eight years old.
*Throughout 1940, Snooty and pals (especially the Professor) are constantly thwarting Hitler. After 1940, though the war work continues, Hitler and Goering no longer appear in person. At least, not in the strips reprinted in this book.
*DDW appears in person, 3/1/1942 (and gets beaten up by the Gasworks gang for his pains.)
*Pansy Potter guest appearance, 10/10/1942
* Some of the 1940s stories are very outlandish, it reminds me of Leo Baxendale's charaterisation of the Beano before Dennis the Menace as having lots of magic. Snooty has a fist fight with his shadow on 31/7/1943.
*First strip in the book to be signed is 6/14/1947. The signatures are gone again by 1964.
*Oddly, the strips from the end of the original series in 1949, nor the start of the new series of 1950 with the changeover from the old gang to the new gang, are not included. can anyone tell me what happens in them? Were they perhaps considered poor quality, or non-PC? Because it would seem natural to have included them otherwise.
*I prefer the pre-1950 gang to the post-1950 gang, as I don't think DDW was so comfortable drawing characters originated by others. I also happen to prefer his looser, more cartoony style pre-c.1949, so I'm delighted the book is skewed that way.
*20/3/1965: the only strip in the book to feature Polly Wolly Doodle, in just a few frames. Does anyone know what years she appeared as a character? And do you think her presence might be the reason there are so few later strips in the book? Though if they wanted to avoid racism, they would have done well to have omitted 16/9/1939, where the gang fights some eskimos.
I still haven't read most of the strips, just skimmed through, so more observations may be still to come. So far, so good!
*It focuses very largely on the early years- 12 strips from 1938-39,
a whopping 51 strips from the 1940s, only 6 from the 1950s (plus a couple of illustrated text stories from the annuals) and only 8 from the 1960s (plus one strip from the annuals).
*All the strips are by Dudley Watkins. I suspect the decision to do the book was borne more of the prestige of Dudley Watkins's art than the popularity of the character. The illustrations of the second text story are ghosted, and endpapers and miscellaneous drawings are by Ken Harrison, ironically featuring the later "pals" who feature relatively little in the book itself.
*Marmaduke, Earl of Bunkerton (Lord Snooty) is a right nasty piece of work in the first few episodes. A forerunner of Dennis the Menace in some ways, but with added money and power. He also likes to have it both ways- slumming it in Ashcan alley but making full use of his castle and seemingly unlimited wealth. Fortunately, the writers must have realised this flaw as he becomes the good-hearted soul we're more familiar with very quickly. In comics, it's OK to be rich and OK to be a bully, but not both.
*One particularly nasty moment is in the fifth ever strip (fourth in the collection) dated 27/8/1938, where in revenge for the cook telling tales on him, he frames the cook so the cook is not only fired, but literally fired at with guns by the castle's hunting party.
*10/9/1938 is the last strip in the book to show Snooty in his "street urchin" disguise. It's not clear at what point his chums in ashcan alley stopped being a secret to his Aunt and when they started being welcome visitors, and eventually residents, at Bunkerton Castle. But soon after this, it would seem.
*The first strip in the book to feature Snitchy and Snatchy is 17/12/1938, so they must have made their debut sometime between 10/9 and then. It's also the first strip in the book to have "gutters" separating the panels instead of just lines.
* In the strip dated 21/1/1939, Snooty calls his aunt "Aunt Mildred". I wonder when she became Matilda.
*23/9/1939 has the brilliant surreal touch of horses who only run backwards.
*6/1/1940 is cited as the first Lord Snooty strip to mention the war.
*29/6/1940- Professor Screwtop's original name was Professor Pongo.
*9/11/1940 – Snooty and pals pretend to be ghosts carrying around their own tombstones. Snooty's reads: "R.I.P. in loving memory of Snooty, Lord, Born 1940 Died 1932". Presumably Dudley meant to write that the other way round! (or is supposed to be a mistake by Snooty?) In any case, it indicates that Snooty is supposed to be about eight years old.
*Throughout 1940, Snooty and pals (especially the Professor) are constantly thwarting Hitler. After 1940, though the war work continues, Hitler and Goering no longer appear in person. At least, not in the strips reprinted in this book.
*DDW appears in person, 3/1/1942 (and gets beaten up by the Gasworks gang for his pains.)
*Pansy Potter guest appearance, 10/10/1942
* Some of the 1940s stories are very outlandish, it reminds me of Leo Baxendale's charaterisation of the Beano before Dennis the Menace as having lots of magic. Snooty has a fist fight with his shadow on 31/7/1943.
*First strip in the book to be signed is 6/14/1947. The signatures are gone again by 1964.
*Oddly, the strips from the end of the original series in 1949, nor the start of the new series of 1950 with the changeover from the old gang to the new gang, are not included. can anyone tell me what happens in them? Were they perhaps considered poor quality, or non-PC? Because it would seem natural to have included them otherwise.
*I prefer the pre-1950 gang to the post-1950 gang, as I don't think DDW was so comfortable drawing characters originated by others. I also happen to prefer his looser, more cartoony style pre-c.1949, so I'm delighted the book is skewed that way.
*20/3/1965: the only strip in the book to feature Polly Wolly Doodle, in just a few frames. Does anyone know what years she appeared as a character? And do you think her presence might be the reason there are so few later strips in the book? Though if they wanted to avoid racism, they would have done well to have omitted 16/9/1939, where the gang fights some eskimos.
I still haven't read most of the strips, just skimmed through, so more observations may be still to come. So far, so good!
