The Victor, no spoils!
The Victor, no spoils!
I've been so terribly busy of late that my postings here have been erratic to say the least but I must admit I was surprised that no one else mentioned the fiftieth anniversary, last week, of the publication of the first issue of, arguably, the best boys' comic ever.
Come on chaps. Someone must have something to say about the Victor. After all it's not too many picture titles of any persuasion that clock up a publishing history that spans over thirty years. And I can't ever see the Victors record run as an eclectic boys picture paper title ever being bettered now.
Come on chaps. Someone must have something to say about the Victor. After all it's not too many picture titles of any persuasion that clock up a publishing history that spans over thirty years. And I can't ever see the Victors record run as an eclectic boys picture paper title ever being bettered now.
Re: The Victor, no spoils!
I might have done so myself, Kashgar, but I have to admit that such matters rarely disturb my memory. Mind you, I'm quite surprised that Lew hasn't mentioned it. He's usually in the vanguard like a rat up a drainpipe where comic anniversaries are concerned. Perhaps it's simply because The Victor was a story paper rather than a comic, so he just wasn't aware of it.Kashgar wrote:I must admit I was surprised that no one else mentioned the fiftieth anniversary, last week, of the publication of the first issue of, arguably, the best boys' comic ever. Come on chaps. Someone must have something to say about the Victor.
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Re: The Victor, no spoils!
Phoenix wrote:I might have done so myself, Kashgar, but I have to admit that such matters rarely disturb my memory. Mind you, I'm quite surprised that Lew hasn't mentioned it. He's usually in the vanguard like a rat up a drainpipe where comic anniversaries are concerned. Perhaps it's simply because The Victor was a story paper rather than a comic, so he just wasn't aware of it.Kashgar wrote:I must admit I was surprised that no one else mentioned the fiftieth anniversary, last week, of the publication of the first issue of, arguably, the best boys' comic ever. Come on chaps. Someone must have something to say about the Victor.
I won't get into the old story paper/comic debate again because as far as I'm concerned if it uses the language of comics then it's a comic and "story paper" is best left to describe text only publications such as The Magnet. However, yes, the anniversary did pass me by. I was never a great follower of the Thomson adventure comics and only have a few issues of Victor so I wouldn't be able to do it justice even if I'd remembered. I gave The Best of Victor a plug and a review last year though. I tend to only use my blog to cover the comics I particularly like/know about, and barely have time to do that. (Still have loads to cover.) I'm sure anyone passionate about Victor will be able to create their own free blog on the comic, if they haven't already done so.
The blog of British comics: http://lewstringer.blogspot.com
My website: http://www.lewstringer.com
Blog about my own work: http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com/
My website: http://www.lewstringer.com
Blog about my own work: http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com/
Re: The Victor, no spoils!
Phoenix, I am surprised to read The Victor described as a storypaper. In as much as it was full of comics, as in stories told and progressed through connected illustrations with word balloons and the odd text panel to add flavour and a bit of explanation, I can't see that it could be described as anything other than a comic. It is, as with most British weeklies, an anthology, but an anthology of comic strips. The fact that the artist has to be skillful enough to to lead the reader in an unobtrusive way from start to finish through the story is important but any amalgamation of this sort is a comic story. I realise this topic seems to have been raised previously and I don't want to stand on anyones toes, so, please accept these comments as a querulous statment of my understanding of the form.
A true storypaper, Magnet, big 5, Nelson Lee etc, is just that, a text story, or stories, with the odd illustration to sweeten the prose. I'm not sure, and am curious to know, what term you would use for strips such as Rupert Bear or Dutch style strips, e.g. Kapitein Rob, Aram or Eric de Noorman. I call them, along with many other fans, text strips. Mind you, this is all just terminology and, I suppose, in the long run, as long as we are all enjoying pursuing the hobby, it's all relatively unimportant.
As for Victor, when I was a wee boy, my granny bought me it every week, from #1, along with The Beezer, which I preferred. I do have to admit that I don't enjoy war stories so perhaps that's why I preferred one to the other. In any case, I've always loved superheroes and masked mystery men, so any spare pocket money would be spent on Marvelman, Phantom and any other such nonsense I could get my hands on.
From the few replies, all I have to add is, - What Lew said.
A true storypaper, Magnet, big 5, Nelson Lee etc, is just that, a text story, or stories, with the odd illustration to sweeten the prose. I'm not sure, and am curious to know, what term you would use for strips such as Rupert Bear or Dutch style strips, e.g. Kapitein Rob, Aram or Eric de Noorman. I call them, along with many other fans, text strips. Mind you, this is all just terminology and, I suppose, in the long run, as long as we are all enjoying pursuing the hobby, it's all relatively unimportant.
As for Victor, when I was a wee boy, my granny bought me it every week, from #1, along with The Beezer, which I preferred. I do have to admit that I don't enjoy war stories so perhaps that's why I preferred one to the other. In any case, I've always loved superheroes and masked mystery men, so any spare pocket money would be spent on Marvelman, Phantom and any other such nonsense I could get my hands on.
From the few replies, all I have to add is, - What Lew said.
Re: The Victor, no spoils!
From the Gallery, First and Last issues.
They should publish a 50th year Victor Special.
They should publish a 50th year Victor Special.
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Re: The Victor, no spoils!
They did:steelclaw wrote:From the Gallery, First and Last issues.
They should publish a 50th year Victor Special.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Victor-Pap ... 209&sr=8-1
Review:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2010/10 ... -here.html
Re: The Victor, no spoils!
I meant a comic special something like the the Buster/Misty ones from a couple of years ago
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Re: The Victor, no spoils!
Surely a chunky hardback is better? Some people are never satisfied.steelclaw wrote:I meant a comic special
Re: The Victor, no spoils!
I like comics like when you can see them on the comic stands in shops.
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Re: The Victor, no spoils!
So do I. Unfortunately the shelving system is usually so bad that you can't.steelclaw wrote:I like comics like when you can see them on the comic stands in shops.
Surely if you want to read a Best of Victor collection the format isn't going to put you off?
Re: The Victor, no spoils!
Of course it wouldn't put me off, I had actually forgotten about the book it just would have been good if they had done both.Lew Stringer wrote:So do I. Unfortunately the shelving system is usually so bad that you can't.steelclaw wrote:I like comics like when you can see them on the comic stands in shops.
Surely if you want to read a Best of Victor collection the format isn't going to put you off?
I've had the book saved in my Amazon account for ages but havn't got round to buying it yet.
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Re: The Victor, no spoils!
Ah but what would they call another collection? The Second Best of Victor? That might be taken literally.steelclaw wrote: Of course it wouldn't put me off, I had actually forgotten about the book it just would have been good if they had done both.
I think we just have to be grateful they did the book. No other UK boys adventure weekly has been awarded such a volume in recent years. Not surprising, as the potential market doesn't seem very large or supportive of such ventures.
Last edited by Lew Stringer on 05 Mar 2011, 18:46, edited 1 time in total.
Re: The Victor, no spoils!
Well the books abit like an Annual, they could have done one like a summer special avertising the book
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Re: The Victor, no spoils!
steelclaw wrote:Well the books abit like an Annual, they could have done one like a summer special avertising the book
Forget it. Retailers hate summer specials. They take up space for too long for too little reward. Back when they sold hundreds of thousands it was worth it, but not now.
The blog of British comics: http://lewstringer.blogspot.com
My website: http://www.lewstringer.com
Blog about my own work: http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com/
My website: http://www.lewstringer.com
Blog about my own work: http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com/
Re: The Victor, no spoils!
It would have sold by the bucket load.