Puzzle?

[grumpy old man]

Anyone got any clues about the origins of the Puss n Boots strip in this months issue? It’s not dated and it claims to be a Sparky strip but it’s not the usual artist and it’s got a Lewis Hamilton reference in it (was he even born when Sparky was going?).

If this is a seventies strip that’s been updated because the original reference was James Hunt (or whoever) that would be meaningless to today’s kids. It’s made rather pointless by the next panel referencing Dixon of Dock Green something even more dated.

Someone out there must know what the answer is.

[Peter Gray]

I was annoyed they changed the name...from an less well known sports man....I think it is John Geering he drew it also into Topper...I hate it when they change things...why do they also delete the dates of front covers as well...

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

GOM.... this strip is definately drawn by solo [and only in the 70s] P+B artist, JOHN GEERING, and looking at the style in question, it appears to be from the later period [I have all the late 'SPARKYS', but I don't particularly recognize this specific strip]--------recent CFTC 'PUSS and BOOTS' reprints have been dated from 1978, and to my eyes, this appears consistent with this stage of JOHN'S work around this period.

You are likely aware that 'SPARKY' teamed up with 'TOPPER' in SUMMER, 1977, and as P+B were one of the highest-profile 'SPARKY' strips, I am confident that this strip was carried on [reprint-free] for a decent time.

The sheer dialogue present in this episode you have pointed out is untypical, however.

[grumpy old man]

The reason the dates etc disappear from the original covers Peter is because they were originally in colour and as such don’t transfer into B&W but vanish (also incidentally why you’re asked to fill all official forms in, in black ink).

Having said that they do seem to be removing the dates from the bottom panels these days for some reason.

[AndyB]

I don't think they reprinted any P&B double-pagers in the Sparky, Topper, or Dandy in John's lifetime. I could be wrong, but I don't think that they were ever reduced to a single page once they got the second page in Sparky - far too popular for that.

[Peter Gray]

The Champ had puss and boots reprints..
Also John drew Mutt and Moggy in the Dandy in the 80's...a younger version of Puss and Boots..

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

JOHN GEERING appeared to hand-letter the numbered strips directly onto his artwork, I recall.

[Kashgar]

The P&B strip originally appeared in Sparky No 626 (15/1/77) (full colour/centre pages). The original reference was to James Hunt and I have a feeling that the name change has less to do with updating the strip (which in Classics they really don't do) but rather avoiding any criticism relating to bad taste. It may be 15 years since James Hunt died but it is possible that his kids are still only in their late teens and that his family, if they had the strip brought to their attention, may object to it. So, from an editorial point of view, it was probably a case of better safe than sorry.
BTW P&B continued to run in Topper following the Sparky amalgamation from 1276 (16/7/77) to 1394 (20/10/79).

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

thanks for this info on P+B, kashgar.....it's interesting that this strip ran from mid-1969, right through til almost quite literally the very end of the 70s.

JOHN GEERING referred to 'PUSS and BOOTS' as his 'baby' and was not keen to let other hands let loose on his creation.......I know, coz I was told so by a DCT editor after submitting 'P+B' samples in the mid-80s, in the hope I could get a crack at it!

'NUTTY' started in early 1980, and JOHN'S work is thus easily seperated into two wholly seperate 'periods': the higher-quality 1969-entire 70s work, and his later more 'BANANAMAN'-like work, which was noticably sketchier, and scaled down to A3 artwork size.

[felneymike]

I always thought the whole idea of Classics was that it was "old". Back when i started getting it in 1996 i would have been a bit bemused to see a reference to Michael Schumacher or Damon Hill in a strip from the 60's!

Also they should give kids more credit for "getting" references. For instance a speeding driver being pulled over and the policeman asking if he "thinks he's James Hunt", it's pretty obviously a racing driver reference. I also knew that L-cars was a reference to Z-cars without ever having seen an episode (still haven't!)

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I think the BBC 'wiped' over 90% of 'Z-CARS.'......ah , well, at least we still have the complete 'L-CARS'.