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Seeking 'Phantom of the Fells' (Bunty?)

Posted: 17 Apr 2018, 15:11
by hypnojoo
Just wondering if anyone knows when this strip (John Richardson’s first comics work) appeared? Richardson says it was his first comics work and was published in Bunty, with the second being Mean Arena in 2000AD Prog 178 (September 1980).

I’ve checked through Bunty 1978-1980 in the BL but can’t find it… would love to add a date to it...

Re: Seeking 'Phantom of the Fells' (Bunty?)

Posted: 17 Apr 2018, 18:43
by Phoenix
hypnojoo wrote:Just wondering if anyone knows when this strip (John Richardson’s first comics work) appeared? I’ve checked through Bunty 1978-1980 in the BL but can’t find it.
Well that's not too surprising, hypnojoo, as Phantom Of The Fells ran in BUNTY 348 (Sep. 12 1964) - 358 (Nov. 21 1964).

Re: Seeking 'Phantom of the Fells' (Bunty?)

Posted: 17 Apr 2018, 19:12
by Kashgar
And it is definitely by John Richardson.

Re: Seeking 'Phantom of the Fells' (Bunty?)

Posted: 17 Apr 2018, 19:25
by hypnojoo
Wow - I thought it would be a fair bet that it would be quite close to the publication of what he claimed was his second strip! Wonder what he was doing for 16 years?! :-) Thanks Phoenix.

Re: Seeking 'Phantom of the Fells' (Bunty?)

Posted: 17 Apr 2018, 21:20
by Tammyfan
John Richardson? That’s a surprise. I seldom saw him draw serials in girls’ comics (Misty’s End of the Line being one exception). More often it was complete stories and the Tammy Cover Girls.

Re: Seeking 'Phantom of the Fells' (Bunty?)

Posted: 17 Apr 2018, 22:38
by hypnojoo
He mentions Phantom of the Fells in this interview - http://www.crashonline.org.uk/37/richrdsn.htm.
But agreed re the serials, I think End of the Line is the only one he did in Misty.

Re: Seeking 'Phantom of the Fells' (Bunty?)

Posted: 17 Apr 2018, 23:14
by Tammyfan
Richardson was a stand-in artist in Eva’s Evil Eye in Tammy too. The regular one must have gotten sick or something.
Plot: Eva Lee pretends to have the evil eye to scare off the bullies who persecute her for being a gypsy. But things get out of hand, of course.

Richardson also drew two serials and some complete stories for “Scream!”.

Re: Seeking 'Phantom of the Fells' (Bunty?)

Posted: 17 Apr 2018, 23:37
by Phoenix
hypnojoo wrote:Wonder what he was doing for 16 years?
Learning to draw convincingly? Becoming a stay-at-home dad? Emigrating to Australia? Living at Her Majesty's Pleasure? :) :D :lol: In the great scheme of things, does it really matter?

Re: Seeking 'Phantom of the Fells' (Bunty?)

Posted: 17 Apr 2018, 23:44
by Adam Eterno
Phoenix wrote:
hypnojoo wrote:Wonder what he was doing for 16 years?
Learning to draw convincingly? Becoming a stay-at-home dad? Emigrating to Australia? Living at Her Majesty's Pleasure? :) :D :lol: In the great scheme of things, does it really matter?
It doesn't really matter but I'd love to know as well, purely curiosity.......it's a big gap!

Re: Seeking 'Phantom of the Fells' (Bunty?)

Posted: 18 Apr 2018, 18:09
by colcool007
Adam Eterno wrote:
Phoenix wrote:
hypnojoo wrote:Wonder what he was doing for 16 years?
Learning to draw convincingly? Becoming a stay-at-home dad? Emigrating to Australia? Living at Her Majesty's Pleasure? :) :D :lol: In the great scheme of things, does it really matter?
It doesn't really matter but I'd love to know as well, purely curiosity.......it's a big gap!
I agree with you Adam. It's all too easy to think of people as "just" a comic artist or writer. And the more I find out about each contributor, the more fascinating it is. A great example is one of the first years that Ron Smith worked at D C Thomson's he decided to bring in a Christmas bottle for his studio companions. That was one Friday afternoon where very little was done in the Fun Factory! Needless to say, Ron was left under no illusion of how his generosity was viewed by the management the following Monday!

Re: Seeking 'Phantom of the Fells' (Bunty?)

Posted: 18 Apr 2018, 23:11
by Phoenix
colcool007 wrote:A great example is one of the first years that Ron Smith worked at D C Thomson's he decided to bring in a Christmas bottle for his studio companions. That was one Friday afternoon where very little was done in the Fun Factory! Needless to say, Ron was left under no illusion of how his generosity was viewed by the management the following Monday!
Serves him right. He should have brought in half a dozen more bottles for the bosses. Lack of forethought or the fabled Scottish meanness? Where lies the blame?

Re: Seeking 'Phantom of the Fells' (Bunty?)

Posted: 18 Apr 2018, 23:18
by Tammyfan
Phoenix wrote:
colcool007 wrote:A great example is one of the first years that Ron Smith worked at D C Thomson's he decided to bring in a Christmas bottle for his studio companions. That was one Friday afternoon where very little was done in the Fun Factory! Needless to say, Ron was left under no illusion of how his generosity was viewed by the management the following Monday!
Serves him right. He should have brought in half a dozen more bottles for the bosses. Lack of forethought or the fabled Scottish meanness? Where lies the blame?
Shortage of money after buying presents for the family?

Re: Seeking 'Phantom of the Fells' (Bunty?)

Posted: 19 Apr 2018, 00:15
by Phoenix
Tammyfan wrote:Shortage of money after buying presents for the family?
That would display such a lack of organisational ability. A couple of presents fewer here and a couple fewer there will not be missed because the children and their friends would never know that money that might have been spent on them had been diverted into a good few bottles of wine, whiskey and rum for Mum, Dad, Uncle Jimmy and Auntie Freda, and all their work colleagues. Anyone for a knees-up?

Re: Seeking 'Phantom of the Fells' (Bunty?)

Posted: 19 Apr 2018, 09:09
by stevezodiac
I have a Sunday Telegraph magazine from around the late sixties with a cover article on DC Thomson. The company came across as very secretive with no phones on desks, you had to use a pay phone in a corridor.

Re: Seeking 'Phantom of the Fells' (Bunty?)

Posted: 19 Apr 2018, 09:53
by hypnojoo
Richardson has said he turned to illustration/comics after trying his hand at being a farmhand and a professional wrestler. I have no idea of truth of this but love it!