Roy of the Rovers, Battle, Misty and Buster back on shelves

[Peter Gray]

its like the film Porky's for kids...

[Lew Stringer]

Thats a good point Raven and there's def' a bit of snobbery involved (not really by Europeans themselves IMHO) although I think UK comics are in general very well recieved (with several being reprinted overseas and very much appreciated) throughout the world.

Sadly there's always been an element of snobbery within UK fandom towards UK comics. That's why UK Cons tend to favour American material. In recent decades there's now also the belief that Manga and European comics are "better" than British comics. Truth is, no comic culture is really "better", just different.

Besides, many UK strips have been reprinted overseas (Billy's Boots, Robot Archie, Billy Bunter, even Team Toxic, to name a few) so the rest of the world doesn't seem to mind our material.

Lew

[Raven]

Sadly there's always been an element of snobbery within UK fandom towards UK comics. That's why UK Cons tend to favour American material.

Totally. I don't think dealers would have touched UK comics for a couple of decades - they were never seen at marts, and still hardly are. There was a 'couldn't give 'em away' attitude - and it's only through the rise of Ebay and a generation now nostalgic for their youth, a series of books aimed at them, and the internet that things have changed.

I really can't see why the best of British supposedly doesn't equal something like The Smurfs!

There's also this myth where people will grudgingly say 'British comics were wretched until 2000AD came along' whereas in truth we can now look back and see what an embarrassment of riches the newsagents' racks actually held.

[kevf]

Which begs the question why has no British comic strip been make into a TV show?

Apart from the Beano/ Dennis animations, which kids like (though I don't), and the Dan Dare CGI series. How come the great ideas from the 60s and 70s haven't been adapted. Even if the source material is dated, the concepts of Robot Archie, Mytek The Mighty, The Steel Claw, Kelly's Eye, The House Of Dolman and dozens more are brilliant.

By the way, I occasionally ask this question in public, and have yet to meet an adult outside of a comic convention who remembers any of these comic characters. No-one has ever heard of The Steel Claw, how wrong is that?

I guess, even though the comics sold 150,000 a week, that wasn't a very high percentage of the kids who were around at the time?

[chrissmillie]

Steel Claw done in that 1960s Prisoner/Avengers style would have been great, although that would even pale in comparison to some gritty 1950s film noir espionage style.

[Raven]

Which begs the question why has no British comic strip been make into a TV show?

Apart from the Beano/ Dennis animations, which kids like (though I don't), and the Dan Dare CGI series. How come the great ideas from the 60s and 70s haven't been adapted. Even if the source material is dated, the concepts of Robot Archie, Mytek The Mighty, The Steel Claw, Kelly's Eye, The House Of Dolman and dozens more are brilliant.

I think there's a simple reason for that. These were children's stories in children's comics. If they were adapted for TV, it would be for children's television, and if you mean live action adaptations, children's TV simply wouldn't have the budget to do a Mytek the Mighty, Galaxus, House of Dolmann, Pete's Pocket Army, or even a Pete's Pockets. They're mostly action-packed fantasy concepts ideally suited to the comic medium where imagination can run riot.

Look at the actual children's TV of the 60s and 70s. Often high quality but almost always as low budget as possible. There was certainly nothing like the budget of, say, the modern Doctor Who which you'd probably need. And there's less money for children's TV now than before. Hardly any drama is made.

If you mean as animation - well, very little animation was ever made for British TV; it's not really something we did.

Mind you, the BBC did "Rentaghost" but that wasn't an official adaptation! It just used the title and concept.

[Lew Stringer]

Which begs the question why has no British comic strip been make into a TV show?

I get the feeling it's partially because publishers never pushed for it or considered it. Which sounds crazy today, but not years ago. DC Thomson were always very conservative, perhaps seeing any venture into other media as too vulgar? (That said, there was Bananaman of course, and the Dennis cartoons as you said.)

Not forgetting the Andy Capp and Jane tv series. Ok, perhaps better if we did forget those.

I believe there were a few Weary Willie and Tired Tim films made a century or so ago. That's the Chips characters by the way, not an attempt at Victorian porn.

Too bad that in the heyday of British children's tv that there wasn't a Kelly's Eye or Cursitor Doom tv series. I'm sure it could have been done effectively with the same budget they used for Timeslip or Ace of Wands.

Lew

[Raven]

Too bad that in the heyday of British children's tv that there wasn't a Kelly's Eye or Cursitor Doom tv series. I'm sure it could have been done effectively with the same budget they used for Timeslip or Ace of Wands.

Kelly's Eye would surely have needed one of the biggest budgets of all, Lew? Fighting tribes in the Everglades, travelling in his giant time-clock and landing in a world of giants, or a planet of intelligent apes, or joining up with Robin Hood's merry men, or fighting a fort-attacking Indian tribe in the wild west, or a future ruined city run by mobile machines. This stuff - all on location with massive casts! - would have been out of the realm of most *evening* TV's budget.

Ace of Wands was mostly studio bound and talky; about as low budget as could be. Haven't seen much of Timeslip but I thought that was pretty much the same.

Kelly's Eye seemed to me the one that'd need a full Hollywood movie budget to adapt to another medium.

[Captain Storm]

Hi all,haven't posted here in a while.Just been quickly scanning through a few posts.Re Kelly's Eye and for that matter most other strips proferred for the vulgar side of the media...why not turn them into cartoons?That cuts out any location shoots and the imagination can run riot!Also,many T.V. cartoons once popular with kids can easily transfer to comics which children,by now familiar with them,will lap up!Sorted

The Cap.

[Captain Storm]

Raven wrote:

in truth we can now look back and see what an embarrassment of riches the newsagents' racks actually held.

Though some strips were staid,there was a wealth of truly great strips with fantastic art and writing.Also remember 2000ad went through a bad patch where it became really dismal,probably down to lack of competition as companies started to wrap up titles.Back in the day,we never had it so good and alas never will again.But if success greets the Summer Specials this year,it may spur on some activity from Egmont and others to slake our thirst

The Cap.

[Lew Stringer]

Kelly's Eye would surely have needed one of the biggest budgets of all, Lew?

Not if they'd just taken the basics of the character (hero becomes invincible when wearing the Eye of Zoltec) and had him fight crooks. No need to do a literal adaptation of the stories or use the time travel element that later developed. It'd still be an exciting adventure show and would have promoted the comic, - and the greater scope of the strip would have been the incentive for the viewers to buy Valiant.

Still, too late now I suppose.

Lew

[Brendan McGuire]

Lew, it's never too... Oh my goodness, look at the time! Must dash!

[stevezodiac]

Looking at the French strip reminded me that I remember seeing some French copies of the Eagle companion "Girl" comic in Greenwich - it was called "Line", went to Greenwich today and they still had a copy. About £1 to buy. They have loads of 70s Hotspurs but they are all hole punched at the spine where someone has kept them in a binder. Also some 70s Tigers - not hole punched.

[Captain Storm]

Hi Steve,I completely cleaned out an old bookstore a few years back of old copies of Hotspur.What I would give to get me mitts on the hole punched ones.Contrary to most collectors and the pre-requisite mint condition or bugger off mentality,to me the stories were what mattered.No slight on you,my friend,but if I were in that bookshop,they'd have to prize them from my cold dead...oops,some other crazy gun toting actor already had that catchphrase!

The Cap.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

THOMSON were approached to make TV adaptations of some of their top characters [in both live-action and animated form] sometime in the late 70s; the deal went cold when it emerged THOMSON were expected to put up a sizable chunk of the funding!