Bash Street Kids - rare black and white strip.

[stevezodiac]

Looking through some Beanos last night I noticed this pure black and white Bash Street Kids story. First i've ever seen to my knowledge. It was on page three of issue 998 dated 2 September 1961. Was this the only time they were printed in B&W?

[NP]

This was the strip Leo Baxendale refers to in his book when he wrote about trying to make his work 'come good' even though he was battling with deadlines and the after-effects of pneumonia. It was delivered very late and DCThomson didn't have time to put the grey and red tints on it. It isn't the only one.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

this is clearly inspired by CARL GILES' hyper-detailed cartoons for the DAILY EXPRESS, in which much similar mayhem was depicted in country scenes; BAXENDALE himself cited GILES as an early influence, and it's definately evident here.

[stevezodiac]

Funnily enough when Bill Ritchie wrote to me a few years ago he also said he was influenced by Giles. When he drew Baby Crockett's Grangmother for instance.

[felneymike]

I'm sure i've seen that strip in colour o_o

Perhaps in an annual? I seem to remember it being "recent" (i got annuals from 1992-2000). Or could it have been in a summer special?

[Steve Henderson]

What time did all the bash street kids arrive? each character? Am I right in thinking spotty was last? obviously before cuthbert and wayne. Im getting my info from old strips I have seen

[STARBOY]

felneymike I think this strip, or part of it was reprinted in colour in one of the recent "Beano - Dandy" best of annuals as it looks very familuar to myself as well.

[Digifiend]

Steve, Spotty arrived in 1959, and was indeed the ninth of the current gang to arrive.

[Jonny Whizz]

In the first Bash Street Kids story, only Danny and Toots appeared. Well, actually, the strip was called 'When the Bell Rings' back then, only adopting its more familiar title in 1956.

Back in the Leo Baxendale days, there were at least three other named kids - Teddy (a teddy boy, who was dropped once that fashion had become dated), Ella (one of only two girls) and Jimmy (he looked like Smiffy but he wore a cap). I don't know, but I assume these were gone by the time David Sutherland started drawing the strip.

Cuthbert first appeared in 1971, which explains why he never had a dog in Pup Parade, which was introduced four years earlier.

[Digifiend]

I think Ella, Jimmy and the multitude of unnamed characters were dropped when the artist changed, not before. But there are some Leo strips which feature just the main 9 kids or only some of them. Only when Dave took over did it become just the main 9 plus Teacher, Headmaster and Janitor (I assume this was when Winston was added as well, Olive didn't arrive until the 1980s).

The pic of all the kids in one coat could look familiar because there's a strip Dave drew (before 1988, I can tell by everyone's white faces) which has the kids designing a school crest, but there's only one spare blazer (Fatty's). When the kids part ways at end of the day, the blazer, which all the kids except Fatty were in, splits in two, leaving Teacher crestfallen and the crest literally fallen! This was in a Bash Street annual some years ago.

[felneymike]

The pic of all the kids in one coat could look familiar because there's a strip Dave drew (before 1988, I can tell by everyone's white faces) which has the kids designing a school crest, but there's only one spare blazer (Fatty's). When the kids part ways at end of the day, the blazer, which all the kids except Fatty were in, splits in two, leaving Teacher crestfallen and the crest literally fallen! This was in a Bash Street annual some years ago.

Heh, i remember that one too. For some reason my mind is telling me it was the 1994 annual.

I used to think they had one artist who spent the whole year doing nothing but the annual strips! Never occured to me they would be reprinted

[Steve Henderson]

What year did they drop TEDDY?

[Digifiend]

Heh, i remember that one too. For some reason my mind is telling me it was the 1994 annual.

I've checked, it's 1996. Titled "Whose Crest is Best?", it's on pages 22-23 (counting the front cover as page 1).

From what I've seen in the Golden/60/70 Years books, I think Teddy was dropped in around 1960. But that's just a guess.

[Old Freddy]

I heard that the teddy boy was called Jimmy, not Teddy. This may have been a mistake made in one of the 60 years books though. I was always under the impression that Jimmy was the one that looked like Smiffy.

And Cuthbert actually first appeared in 1972, not 1971. It was the 1st of April issue. Pretty Ironic Considering he's no April fool.

I wonder why sites like Wikipedia and paul morris' site say that Cuthbert appeared in 1971 and Olive, who debuted in 1981, debuted in 1980.

[Digifiend]

Yep, that was a mistake. Jimmy is a seperate character who dresses like Plug, but is less ugly (more like Smiffy as you say) and not as tall. Teddy was a Teddy Boy, hence the name, and also that's why he was dropped. Don't know why Jimmy and Ella were disposed of.

I bet Wikipedia used Paul Morris's site as the source. I'll find a different source and then change it. EDIT: You haven't checked it recently have you? It's already been changed, by someone called Notsoboxy, eight days ago.