Looking for Judy comics from the early 80s... or information

[colcool007]

In between their publication as text stories in the boys papers and their revival as girls picture stories at least two of the examples cited above had already been turned into picture strips in the boys picture papers 'The Gaunt Hounds are Out' in the very first issues of Victor and 'Chained to his Bat' in the pages of Hornet. Roast on Sunday, cold cuts on Monday and soup on Tuesday, Thomsons certainly knew how to get the best out of a good story!

Blast! Ray beat me to it...again!

Echoing Phoenix's comments, I always loved comics, but it's only been the last few years where I have made a concerted effort to find out more about the artists and the writers. And Ebay has been such a boon to comic collectors, I can't begin to say how much it has helped me to build up my collections of Victor, Warlord, etc. And with the explosion of blogs, we have never had it so good. It's just a shame that tastes have changed so much that when we are all able to collect the comics that we love, they've gorn and killed 'em all orf!

[Digifiend]

Maybe Classics from the Comics and the continued success of Commando, plus the various comics history books which have come out lately (I refer to the Eagle annuals and the History of The Beano: The Story So Far, amongst others) might change that. The weekly Beano revived Billy the Cat, so maybe Beano and Dandy could revive other adventure strips from the DCT archive (and I suppose Toxic could do the same for Fleetway, since Egmont owns the later Fleetway material). Maybe Thomsons should create an adventure only version of Classics, featuring both girls and boys comics stories, and if it's a success, they could launch some new magazines with new stories (or old ones with more modern artwork and storytelling). Can't see it happening though.

[Audiate]

Roast on Sunday, cold cuts on Monday and soup on Tuesday, Thomsons certainly knew how to get the best out of a good story!

Too funny - although I admit to being a tiny bit disappointed - when I was a kid, DC Thomson were gods to me!
However, now that I'm older and have some market/economics knowledge... I can certainly see why they would need to re-run, recycle, and rejig stories! - I can't see how they could keep the comics so affordable without doing that. Come to think of it, I still don't understand how they kept them so affordable (not to mention profitable), even with the story recycling! ALL those artists and writers, not to mention editors, technical staff, etc., and the comics cost what, about 20p? Did they have artists and writers chained up in a dungeon, working for bread and water?

I wish someone had made a documentary of the inside workings of DC Thomson, during the comics heyday! That would be fascinating viewing.

[steelclaw]

We did have a couple of programmes about British comics last year.Which were interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/comicsbritannia/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/gallery/comicsbritannia/29

[tony ingram]

Roast on Sunday, cold cuts on Monday and soup on Tuesday, Thomsons certainly knew how to get the best out of a good story!

Too funny - although I admit to being a tiny bit disappointed - when I was a kid, DC Thomson were gods to me!
However, now that I'm older and have some market/economics knowledge... I can certainly see why they would need to re-run, recycle, and rejig stories! - I can't see how they could keep the comics so affordable without doing that. Come to think of it, I still don't understand how they kept them so affordable (not to mention profitable), even with the story recycling! ALL those artists and writers, not to mention editors, technical staff, etc., and the comics cost what, about 20p? Did they have artists and writers chained up in a dungeon, working for bread and water?

20p? I have an issue of IPC's Cheeky Weekly from 1978 sitting next to me, and it was only 8p! The price of comics rose dramatically in the early eighties, though.

[Audiate]

20p? I have an issue of IPC's Cheeky Weekly from 1978 sitting next to me, and it was only 8p! The price of comics rose dramatically in the early eighties, though.

Only *with* inflation, though... I would guess that compared to average incomes, paper costs etc, they probably stayed around about the same -- certainly many times cheaper than comics in North America! I remember paying over a dollar for a comic here, then going to the UK and getting comics for about 25p each... even with exchange rate, that was half the price!
How much does a Beano retail for now?

[stevezodiac]

At the London comic fair on Sunday there was the usual stall selling dozens of cd roms containing just about every issue of every US comic title published right back to the 30s. Perhaps something like this will happen with UK comics and you may be able to clap eyes on every issue of Judy one day but i'm not sure the source material is still available. Like Lew I am downsizing my collection as there is stuff I haven't looked at in 15-20 years and wonder why I am still hoarding them. I used to buy every title going and am now realising they have become a millstone. I came across the entire run of Joe 90 the other day and will probably put them on abay as a set. As for Girl's comics they usually had a lot of pop and telly stuff in them which appealed to me as a 60s music fan plus those ill treated orphan and gothic mansion stories were a refreshing change from gung-ho war and football.

One other thing, let's not forget the Judy Comic Libraries (the Commando sized 68 pagers). How many issues did it run for?

[Audiate]

At the London comic fair on Sunday there was the usual stall selling dozens of cd roms containing just about every issue of every US comic title published right back to the 30s. Perhaps something like this will happen with UK comics and you may be able to clap eyes on every issue of Judy one day but i'm not sure the source material is still available.

OH what a wonderful thought... I'm sure the source material is out there (surely that library in London would hae it); whether someone would go to the trouble of scanning it all is another story! Also, are they 'allowed' to sell those CDs without breaking copyright? Or did they buy the rights first...? I'm very interested in how that works.

One other thing, let's not forget the Judy Comic Libraries (the Commando sized 68 pagers). How many issues did it run for?

Looks like they ran from about 1963 to 1994.
http://www.piftails.com/comics/a_displa ... detail.php
I hate to say it, but the cover art doesn't seem to be up to the Judy comic (interior) artwork!
Were the stories taken from the comics, do you know?

[Digifiend]

How much does a Beano retail for now?

Anything from £1.25 to £1.99 depending on the so-called "free" gifts. This week's (out tomorrow) is £1.99, but last week's was £1.25, and next week's is probably £1.25. The Xmas issue is usually £2.50, but that has extra pages, multiple gifts, and is a double issue - there isn't one the next week.

[Digifiend]

One other thing, let's not forget the Judy Comic Libraries (the Commando sized 68 pagers). How many issues did it run for?

If they started at the same time as The Dandy ones, around 1983, probably around 100 issues tops (which would be about 4 years). I'd be surprised if it outlasted Judy itself (didn't it merge with Mandy in the late 90s?). It's just my guess though.

[Audiate]

Anything from £1.25 to £1.99 depending on the so-called "free" gifts. This week's (out tomorrow) is £1.99, but last week's was £1.25, and next week's is probably £1.25.

Gosh that does seem a lot!

If they started at the same time as The Dandy ones, around 1983, probably around 100 issues tops (which would be about 4 years). I'd be surprised if it outlasted Judy itself (didn't it merge with Mandy in the late 90s?). It's just my guess though.

Well, on that website the first one with a link is 1963.. and the last says 1994!

[Kashgar]

In between their publication as text stories in the boys papers and their revival as girls picture stories at least two of the examples cited above had already been turned into picture strips in the boys picture papers 'The Gaunt Hounds are Out' in the very first issues of Victor and 'Chained to his Bat' in the pages of Hornet. Roast on Sunday, cold cuts on Monday and soup on Tuesday, Thomsons certainly knew how to get the best out of a good story!

Blast! Ray beat me to it...again!

Echoing Phoenix's comments, I always loved comics, but it's only been the last few years where I have made a concerted effort to find out more about the artists and the writers. And Ebay has been such a boon to comic collectors, I can't begin to say how much it has helped me to build up my collections of Victor, Warlord, etc. And with the explosion of blogs, we have never had it so good. It's just a shame that tastes have changed so much that when we are all able to collect the comics that we love, they've gorn and killed 'em all orf!

I may have beaten you to it but I didn't get it entirely right Col. For some reason when I saw the original 'Chained to his Bat' heading block drawn by Fred Sturrock I made the erroneous connection in my mind that this was one of those cricket strips that the same artist adapted into picture form for the boys picture paper Hornet, something which he did with several cricketing yarns in the 1960's. On reflection I suddenly came to the realisation that 'surely Ian Kennedy drew the picture strip version of 'Chained to his Bat' and if so then the strip must have appeared in Hotspur rather than Hornet'. And this was indeed the case in Hotspur Nos 244-255 (1964).

[Digifiend]

If they started at the same time as The Dandy ones, around 1983, probably around 100 issues tops (which would be about 4 years). I'd be surprised if it outlasted Judy itself (didn't it merge with Mandy in the late 90s?). It's just my guess though.

Well, on that website the first one with a link is 1963.. and the last says 1994!

That would be refering to Judy itself, not the Comic Libraries. My mention of 1983 was referring to the libraries.

[Digifiend]

Anything from £1.25 to £1.99 depending on the so-called "free" gifts. This week's (out tomorrow) is £1.99, but last week's was £1.25, and next week's is probably £1.25.

Gosh that does seem a lot!

Yeah, it is - it was 99p without fail only a year ago. The page count increased from 24 to 32 in 1998 (thus increasing the price from 45p to 50p, the price has gone up by about the same every year since, but jumped from 85p to 99p in one go two years ago), and the most recent price increase was caused by a change to glossy paper last November.

[Phoenix]

That would be refering to Judy itself, not the Comic Libraries.

I don't think that can be the case, Digifiend. I have no records concerning the libraries but the story paper Judy ran from issue 1 (Jan. 16 1960) to issue 1635 (May 11 1991) at which point it combined with Mandy to become Mandy and Judy, or M&J as it became known.