TV Comic - which publisher & non-TV strip memories

[Peter Gray]

Thanks Raven its delightful and nice Mr Men type wallpaper...I like the expressivness of it...I wonder if Tony drew sooty with legs...its funny that many people like the magic roundabout didn't know what colours they were due to black and white tv..Melvin drew Sooty Sweep and Soo in Pippin later in the 80's..

[Raven]

I also have the TV Comic Annual for 1954, which, again mostly aimed at nursery age readers, has some lovely, charming, colourful illustrated features.

I'm not sure if this story about Pancho and Buster (the boy) this small sample is from is based on a TV series.

[Peter Gray]

I do love it when they paint there pages in the annuals and summer specials..

[DavidKW]

Oops sorry if I offended anyone... will have to eat some words now I've read and thought.
Will say that yes, TV comic did have some good artistry - I once read a 60s edition & Popeye Beetle Bailey (Mike Noble - legend!) & World Cup Willie (1966 mascot) - are spot on!
When I got it in 70s, it may have coincided with the departure of key artists, though I do remember now DR Who - Tom Baker with Sarah-Jane Smith - being spot-on drawn. Tom & Jerry was well-srawn, though as a speech based comic strip did nothing for me. Did like Bugs Bunny/Warner Bros strip as a kid, but must say when I saw one in a shop recently - (a comic) - wasn't impressed (and I remember Lochie the wee monster replacing it - I was not happy back then!).
Has to be said though - I saw their Avengers strip in the 60s, it did look inferior to the ones I saw that were done in Diana (Emma Peel spot on & looked like her) & on Emma Peels growing up in June and SF (short-lived as they didn't secure the rights properly - replaced by the sublime Captain Kate).
Also Charlie's Angels from the Target merger (was this when it got its mighty?), looked poor when compared to the versions done in Look-In where it transfered to (Look-IN got them spot on in appearance).
My comments on artwork seemed to have detracted from what I was saying on remembering the non-TV strips - Nelly, TV Terrors et al.

[DavidKW]

I was saying - I remember TV Terrors & that was good the way the kids got around doorman Hoppit, though he'd claim a few victories.

Mighty Moth never did anything for me - I think its artist Dick Millington later drew some strips in the Daily Mail, including a One Foot In The Grave esqe series called I Don't Believe It!

When I first surfed net about Nelly & Her Telly, anyone who remembered focused on the artwork with negative comments, but the concept of it was very good - though she had a portable TV most times with no leads when no kids could get them - unlike today with phones TV watches etc.

What was good was Nelly could watch the most mundane shows & daydream herself into trouble. One I remember was when she was watching horse racing whilst waiting for the elderly lollipop man to guide her & other kids across the road. She daydreams being in a race & getting a photo finish against a rude fellow jockey. After the race the rival says he'll get her win disallowed, then Nelly bashes her head into his torso with the finishing pole (with the circle). Then in reality it's "oh no, I've been daydreaming" as she bashes the lollipop man with his lollipop. It ends with her being chased for a hiding.

Something like that would be relevant today in a comic with all the technology & trashy TV (she could be shouting in the classroom as if she's on that awful Jeremy Kyle (never see it but I've heard a lot about it!).

Beetle Bailey was also great & I heard there was one in the 60s called Tivvy too.

[stevezodiac]

I think Tivvy came from the TV Times (Tivvy Times). Only have vague memories of it though.

[Niblet]

I think Tivvy came from the TV Times.

That's right...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/368277279/

Tivvy did however feature in this, which was presumably a TV Comic free gift (see page 9)
http://www.26pigs.com/tvcomic/1966%20bo ... 0stars.PDF

There was at least one Tivvy Annual
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/tivvy-annual- ... 0624633392

Warning - this is EXTREMELY DISTURBING
http://lordofthebootsale.blogspot.co.uk ... -tune.html

[Raven]

Didn't he have a TV Comic joke page called Laugh with Tivvy?

[Lew Stringer]

Warning - this is EXTREMELY DISTURBING
http://lordofthebootsale.blogspot.co.uk ... -tune.html

Good grief! What were they thinking? Is that the most inappropriate and sinister voiced kids' character ever or what? The lyrics sound dodgy as well.

Bill Mevin drew the Tivvy strip for TV Comic but I bet he never imagined him sounding like that.

[Raven]

I received a couple of TV Comics this week with some nice material in. Pink Panther is typically quirky and intelligent.

In this 1971 issue, Highwayman Pink makes the mistake of robbing the king's tax collector.

[Raven]

Some nice Frank McDiarmid artwork, too.

[stevezodiac]

I wonder if the co composer of the Tivvy record (K. Harris) is Keith Harris of Orville fame? Perhaps Orville was inspired by Tivvy - it could even be Keith Harris on the vocals?

Maybe not - just checked wiki and Keith was born in 1947 so would only have been a teenager at the time of that record.

[philcom55]

Over the years the strips in TV Comic tended to have a distinctive look - especially the ones that were drawn by their own stable of artists which included Bill Mevin, Neville Main, Dick Millington and John Canning.

However, there was at least one series that would have been right at home in the pages of Beano or Topper...



- 'Super Nan' was a kind of cross between Beryl the Peril and Desperate Dan, but more importantly she was the creation of George Martin - an artist who's nearly always thought of as working exclusively for DC Thomson (in fact, off the top of my head I can't think of any other strips that he drew for other publishers!).

IMHO the super-strong Nan was a great character who deserved a much longer run.

- Phil Rushton

[Peter Gray]

What a great find...

what year is it from?

Also a funny strip..

[Digifiend]

Strange name though - Nan is slang for Grandmother around here. I assume in this case it's supposed to be short for Nancy.