The Top 100 Buster Comic Strips Have Been Announced

[bustercomic]

So just minutes ago the official Top 100 went life at www.bustercomic.co.uk

Thanks to all those that voted over the past 8 weeks. Egmont recieved the results this morning as the strips are compiled for this Autumn's Buster Special.

Keep an eye on the site, as over the coming weeks we'll have an interview with the team putting the comic together and the first view anywhere in the world of the Buster Special front cover.

In the meantime, what do you think of the Top 100? Any surprises? I can tell you the Top 5 strips changed almost daily in the last week - on my first draft of results from 11th May, Ivor & Tony were leading and X Ray Specs was 3rd! Tom Thug jumped in and out of the top 10 like he was playing the Hokey Cokey, and the adventure strips surged forwards from outside the Top 20.

Buster's Diary was always in the lead of the Buster Strips, but Tom Paterson's Buster came back strongly in the last seven days to close the gap to just 2%.

I'd love to know your thoughts!

[Lew Stringer]

Interesting to see those results. They tend to reflect the tastes of the readers of the period up to a point, which were often very conservative. I see my Pete and His Pimple never even made the top 100! Pete was incredibly popular in Oink! (one of their most popular strips in fact, gaining a spin-off pull-out comic at one point) but it absolutely bombed when it transferred to Buster, whose readers were younger and more traditional in their tastes.

Good to see Tom Thug registered at a respectable position. The strip was second in popularity to Buster for a period, and took over the cover slot a few times. But I expected a lower position in this poll due to the age of the voters being mainly 1970s readers.

Seems the more basic the premise (school bullies, underdogs, simple gimmicks) the more popular the strip was. Such has always been the case in UK humour comics I think.

Lew

[tony ingram]

I was at a little surprised at the top three placings; not the actual strips, but the order. I was expecting messrs Lott and Broke to win...

[Peter Gray]

Mike Lacey deserves a lot of credit for X Ray specs being so popular...I hope Mike is seeing this and feeling proud..
Nice to see Faceache do so well...Rent a Ghost..Cliff Hanger..these concepts are very original..
Also nice seeing Sweeny Toddler...
also some adventure strips in the top 25!

With Buster it is right that Tom Paterson and Reg Parlett should almost be the same..as they are both good in different ways..

1) X Ray Specs – 50%
2) Faceache - 47.8%
3) Ivor Lott & Tony Broke – 45.7%
4) Rent-A-Ghost
5) Cliff Hanger – 43.5%
6) Chalky
7) Sweeny Toddler
Mummy’s Boy – 37%
9) Clever Dick
10) The Leopard of Lime Street – 34.8%
11) Tom Thug
12) Vid Kid – 32.6%
13) Gums
14) Odd Ball
15) The Bumpkin Billionaires
16) Joker – 28.3%
17) Fishboy
18) Jack Pott
19) Pete’s Pocket Army
20) Mastermind
21) Charlie Peace – 26.1%
22) Fuss Pot
23) Maxwell Hawke
24) Creepy Comix
25) Toys of Doom

[bustercomic]

Peter - yup, I hope all of the writers & artists involved in these strips get word of their success. Those that have the contacts - spread the word.....and let me know what they say too. Perhaps I can add some "soundbites" from some of the people involved!

Tony, you're quite right....I too expecting Lott & Broke to win and they were for quite some time, but Ray pulled level in the dying days of the poll and just squeezed into the top spot.

Lew - I was very pleased that Tom Thug got back into the Top 10. When he fell out earlier this week I was a little disappointed, but he made a heroic comeback.

Whilst Pete's Pimple didn't pop in (s'cuse the pun!) you must be chuffed that the Vampire Brats were loitering around in 89th.

Incidentally, Egmont are apparently pleased with the votes too so I can only presume that they weren't planning to stuff the comic with the best of Pete's Pimple!

[Peter Gray]

pretty disgusting...naughty Lew

[Muffy]

Interesting to see that the top 100 covered the whole 40 years (eg Rent-a-ghost finished in 1979) and is still 4th, and newer Buster story's like Tom Thug and Vid Kid are there too.

Surprising to see Fishboy in 17th. Poor Ginger (one of my favs) only crawled in at 99th).

Couldn't see any votes for Kid King or Laser Eraser (from Jackpot) or Martha's Monster Make-up or Draculass or Teddy Scare (From Monster Fun) or Clinging Ivy.

Nice to see that some of the really poor story's like Helpful Hettie / Minnies Mixer / Crowjak and Lord Claude never made it though.

Thanks for doing that Matt, do we know how many votes there were?

[bustercomic]

Hi Muffy,

I too was surprised at the span of the strips, for instance The Terror's of Tornado Street first issued 49 years ago this week were still in the Top 50, surrounded by Deadly Headly & Melvyn's Mirror!!!

I know Laser Eraser picked up a solitary vote (from you per chance?) but I think a lot of it was about the rentention of titles. I listed some of the most popular from a certain period but offered the chance for you to add others.....I was surprised how little overall the Other option was chosen - perhaps if I'd put all 300 odd strips in there the results may have been different.

Total number of votes was 46, which I thought was quite respectable, a lot of them came via this site as the bumps in the other threads were followed by a flurry of votes.

[Lew Stringer]

Hi Muffy,

I too was surprised at the span of the strips, for instance The Terror's of Tornado Street first issued 49 years ago this week were still in the Top 50, surrounded by Deadly Headly & Melvyn's Mirror!!!

I revived the Terrors twice in Buster in the Nineties though. Once in a reprint for an anniversary pull-out, and another time in a team up with Tom Thug for another anniversary issue, so that may have brought them to the forefront of the memory a bit more.

Lew

[Lew Stringer]

pretty disgusting...naughty Lew

That was one of the more excessive ones from Oink. They weren't all as gross as that. The three pagers towards the end of the run (when Oink was a monthly) were parodies for example.

Lew

[bustercomic]

I revived the Terrors twice in Buster in the Nineties though. Once in a reprint for an anniversary pull-out, and another time in a team up with Tom Thug for another anniversary issue, so that may have brought them to the forefront of the memory a bit more.

Lew

that's it Lew, add another strip to your top ratings!

I remember reading that Tom Thug when it first came out and if that anniversary pullout was the 35th, then I got that one too.

and you're right - it's the only reason I knew an first issue strip other then Buster before I put the site together, so actually you can take credit for that!

[Muffy]

Was re-reading an old Buster from 1982 and discovered an old Top 10 list. Thought others may be interested too. (Interesting also to see which stories didn't quite make the merger with School Fun in 1984):


1. Buster; 2. X-ray Specs; 3. Ivor & Tony & Milly & Penny; 4. Jack Pott; 5. Big Daddy;
6. Gums; 7. Mikes Bike; 8. Sporty; 9. Chalky; 10. Leopard from Lime St.

[Muffy]

Buster's Top Ten on 20th June 1981, (which may interest some people) was:
1. Chalky (hence his being on the cover that issue); 2. Buster; 3. X-ray Specs; 4. Mummy's Boy; 5. Ivor & Tony; 6. Kid Kong; 7. Leopard Man; 8. Master mind; 9. Billy Blow; 10. Boxatricks.

I was surprised to see Kid Kong finish in Feb 1982, with the merger, though 'Kid King' from Jackpot did join.

[AndyB]

Could be that the writers were fed up coming up with new ideas?

[Muffy]

Have another Buster's Top Ten, this time from 9th Jan 1982 - just before the merger with Jackpot in Feb, the reader's choices were:
1. Ivor & Tony; 2. Buster; 3. Chalky; 4. Leopard Man; 5. X-ray Specs; 6. Mummy's Boy; 7. Faceache; 8. Gums; 9. Strawbelly; 10. Deadly Hedley

May explain why Kid Kong finished, all of these made it into the merged comic. Interesting to see Ivor & Tony change artist and combine with the popular Jackpot story of Milly & Penny - even though they were top. Also interesting to see Faceache appear on the list, (though he didn't make the other lists I posted in March and April), and yet in the 2009 poll he was one of the favourites.

If anyone has any other 'Buster top lists' to add to the post, it would be interesting to see, I wonder if change of artist on story's like Faceache was an editorial decision due to ratings, or artist's decision