Pub Chat - Now and then, then and now.

[Kashgar]

A mixed bag of examples now. 'Mike Kane - Gladiator' in which an ancient Roman ancestor of a sports reporter inhabits his descendant's body allowing him to become a champion athlete and without the sporting theme I seem to remember a strip titled 'The Ironmaster' having a similar premise.
'Fighting Forkbeard - the sea-wolf from long ago' whose longship sails out of the past to terrorise an English seaside town and even the comic 'Tall Tales from Toad-in-the-Hole' in which a fenland village is time-locked as it was in the 16th century.
BTW Phil thanks for the heads-up re the DC 'War that time Forgot' omnibus. Much appreciated.

[Raven]

That sounds interesting! Which period was that in the comic?

The Island Of Terros appeared in The Victor 940 (Feb. 24 1979) - 949 (Apr. 28 1979).

Thanks for that. Sounds intriguing, that one.

[Raven]

BTW Phil thanks for the heads-up re the DC 'War that time Forgot' omnibus. Much appreciated.

There's a brand new War That Time Forgot title at the moment, too:

http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/comics/?cm=11316

[philcom55]

There's a brand new War That Time Forgot title at the moment, too:

...But unfortunately Loony Bob isn't around to write it anymore! I tried the first two issues but wasn't all that impressed.

- Phil Rushton

[Phoenix]

the mild mannered teacher who donned the centuries old magic helmet to become 'The Phantom Viking'

Is this title from a Thomson comic, Kashgar? If so, which one? Also what, if anything, does it owe to Adventure's ''Help! Our Woolly Lamb's Gone Wild!'' from 1950 and/or Mister Meek - The Tombstone Terror from The Wizard (picture version) in 1971?

[STARBOY]

The Phantom Viking appeared in Champion comic (IPC) arouind 1966 not sure of its associations with the characters/strips you mention though 'afraid

[alanultron5]

Who concieved "Tommy's Time Travelling Trousers" Please?

[Digifiend]

I wonder which came first, that or Jimmy's Magic Patch - they sound very similar.

[Captain Storm]

Kashgar,how could you have left out Adam Eterno at the start of your post!!!! Another poster rightly gave him his dues Also on a time/time travel theme,from Sparky-"Some Mummies Do 'Ave 'Em" and from Bullet -"The Nameless Ones"(thanks to your good self and Phoenix for your help on this,BTW).

The Cap.

p.s.It would seem that there was an obsession with time travel in the comics of our youth.

[Digifiend]

Well the original run of Doctor Who was on air at the time Cap. Although I'm not sure what made Jimmy's Magic Patch so popular, as I doubt many kids had read HG Wells' The Time Machine and the movie versions hadn't been made yet, so most children would've never heard of the time travel concept - good escapism for a war-weary generation though.

The 80s were the peak for time travel though, with Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Back to the Future in cinemas. Oddly, a barren era for time travel in the comics! (Maybe it's because a lot of new strips in comics at that time weren't totally new, but were instead added due to amalgamations.)

[Phoenix]

I'm not sure what made Jimmy's Magic Patch so popular

A personal response. I think I was about six when I first read one of Jimmy's adventures. I hadn't heard of The Time Machine, and I suspect that getting my head round the concept of time travel at such an early age would have addled my brain. I still find that Robert Heinlein's A Door Into Summer turns my head inside out, and I was an adult when I first came across that. The only travelling I was doing at six was round the block repeatedly on a neighbour's tricycle. My reaction to Jimmy And His Magic Patch was purely related to the historical scenarios. In one sense they were educating me, as I was seeing for the first time people from other lands and times, their dress, buildings, cooking utensils, school life, weapons etc. Within a couple of years I joined my local Junior Library and eventually discovered with delight the series of fictional works by Louise Andrews Kent such as He Went With Marco Polo, He Went With Vasco Da Gama, He Went With Magellan etc. They were in text format but I was following those adventures, living them really, in the same way as I had been with Jimmy, with the added advantage that thanks to him, or Dudley Watkins, I was able to 'see' the background against which the events took place, not necessarily that accurately of course, but I'm sure I would have been grateful for it if such thoughts had ever crossed my mind at the time. Magical times, where have they all gone?

[colcool007]

I'm not sure what made Jimmy's Magic Patch so popular

...I still find that Robert Heinlein's A Door Into Summer turns my head inside out, and I was an adult when I first came across that....

I love that book. Again, like you, I was an adult when I first read it, but it is just so fantastic, I can't resist reading it again and again.

[alanultron5]

Even the later I. Spy stories (Circa 1975-76 in Sparky) featured two Time related adventures via a villian titled -very originally- the `Time Traveller`.