Comics UK

Another hyper-detailed Baxendale Bunch: [there is another new addition on the previous page]:

Here's the earliest Baby Crockett strip I have located thus far, from 1956:


---Ritchies' style is noticably more busy in this earlier period and within 18 months or so, his technique settles down into the streamlined version we all recognize today:

all lovely to see...

had another look at the best of Beezer today...so detailed the artwork..all of them..also the scripts were great..Pop Dick and Harry the bad ladds.. Coronal Blink...very funny stuff...great Spy seeing the real thing..

What I like about Banana Bunch is there is always some hidden detail you've missed and its a nice surprise when you see it...

http://www.petergraycartoonsandcomics.b ... opper.html

Why did Beezer, like Sparky, have the banner "For Boys And Girls" when it didn't have any girl characters in it in the early Sixties? Topper had "Beryl The Peril" and "Nancy", but no indication that girls would want to read it.

To be honest, with his/her grass skirt, earrings, ruby red lips and bracelets I was never sure whether Sparky's eponymous cover star was supposed to be a girl or a boy!

philcom55 wrote:with his/her grass skirt, earrings, ruby red lips and bracelets I was never sure whether Sparky's eponymous cover star was supposed to be a girl or a boy!

As Sparky was a comic, as opposed to a story paper, I never collected it. Did the androgynous figure ever get permanently withdrawn?

Phoenix wrote:

philcom55 wrote:with his/her grass skirt, earrings, ruby red lips and bracelets I was never sure whether Sparky's eponymous cover star was supposed to be a girl or a boy!

As Sparky was a comic, as opposed to a story paper, I never collected it. Did the androgynous figure ever get permanently withdrawn?

The character Sparky had his own strip until issue 210 and continued as a figure on the letters page for a time after that.

suebutcher wrote:Why did Beezer, like Sparky, have the banner "For Boys And Girls" when it didn't have any girl characters in it in the early Sixties? Topper had "Beryl The Peril" and "Nancy", but no indication that girls would want to read it.

Beezer had had Calamity Jane in the 1950's and the long running Little Mo began in 1964. Also a lot of the adventure strips also featured girl characters.

Sparky also had Keyhole Kate and the brother and sister pairings in both Dreamy Dave and Dozy Dora and the Moonsters.

I never doubted the girl-appeal of Sparky, I just wondered why Beezer claimed to be for girls, and Topper didn't. Why were Sparky and Beezer pitched this way, and not Topper or Beano?

Phil, in those days I wasn't even sure if Sparky was human! To me he looked like a Zarbi in a skirt.

Hi folks.
At long last I have managed to put together a proper running order for the Topper Beezer Top 100 I first mentioned a mere five years ago. That being the case I will be publishing the list, in reverse order, at the rate of ten entries per day in the next week and a half. Sorry to keep you waiting.....

Order goes placing, strip title, title in which strip appeared (B)=Beezer, (T)=Topper, and (B/T)=combined Beezer and Topper, number of issues it appeared and then original or other major artists involved where applicable.
There is no strip at No100 as two titles are tied at No99.

99= The Teeny Toppers (T) (123) Keith Reynolds
99= Fairy Grotto (B/T) (123) Barry Glennard

Then we have six strips tied at No93 thanks to the Cracker insert within the pages of
the combined Beezer and Cracker 1976-1979 which ran to 128 issues.

93= Iron Hand (B) (128) Paddy Brennan
93= Young Foo - the Kung Fu Kid (B) (128) Brian Platt
93= Little 'Orror (B) (128) David Easington
93= Billy the Kid (B) (128) Gordon Bell
93= Joe Soap (B) (128) John Dallas
93= Jest a Minute (B) (128) Ken Harrison/Bill Hill

92 Kuckoo Comedy (T ) (135) Gordon Bell
91 Club 5 (B) (136) Barrie Appleby

More tomorrow....

89= In the Kingdom of Zero / Back to (from) Zero (T) (137) Bill Holroyd/Ron Smith/Ken Hunter
89= Andy Ladd (T) (137) George Martin
88 Fearful Fun Tales (T) (142) Keith Reynolds
85= The Video Kid (T) (144) Evi De Bono
85= Potty Inventions (T) (144) Mervyn Johnston
85= Pearl (T) (144) Gordon Bell
84 Cap'n Hand (B) (147) David Law/Leo Baxendale/George Drysdale/Michael Barratt
83 Flip McCoy (the Floating Boy),(in Australia) (T) (148) Paddy Brennan/Ron Smith
82 Fingy (T) (154) Albert Holroyd
81 The Space Kids (B) (157) Ron Smith

More tomorrow...