Great British Comics - an addendum

Kashgar · Post by **Kashgar** » 28 Jun 2007, 12:17

Having half an hour to spare I thought a few fellow forumites might appreciate the following list of additions to the text of Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury's 'Great British Comics' published last year by Aurum Press.
Pg 15) In the 'cigarette card' entries there are a number of annoying factual mistakes on the Dudley Watkins 'card'. Dudley Watkins began drawing the Broons and Oor Wullie in 1936 not 1938 and similarly Desperate Dan first appeared, not in 1938, but in 1937 in Dandy No1.
Other than this in the Roy Wilson entry the 'streamlining' of his style obviously refers to that which occured in the late 1950's and therefore does not include any work that he did for Radio Fun.
And, in the David Law entry, he didn't draw 'The Wee Fella' in 'The People's Journal' from 'the early 1930's'. 'The Wee Fella' appeared in the 'PJ' from 20/4/46-6/2/54 and he wasn't a 'cheeky lad' precursor of Dennis the Menace. He was actually a naive little tot in the mould of the Beezer's 'Baby Crockett'.
Pg24) 'Butterfly Bill' drawn by Bertie Brown.
Pg31) 'Issy Bonn' not the work of Reg Parlett but Albert 'Charlie' Pease.
Pg48) Norman Wisdom in the 1950 Radio Fun Annual was again not drawn by Reg Parlett but by John Jukes. I can't really see why anyone would confuse the styles of three so very different artists but there you go!
Pg50) The Troy Donahue strip from Cherie is the work of Len Batchelor.
Pg52) Not a mistake as such, but an error of origin as the Valiant Lord Nelson strip featured here had first appeared in the comic Comet Nos 359-379 in 1955.
Pg69) 'Wuff, Snuff and Tuff' not by William Timyn but William Tymym.
Pg70) 'Korky the Cat' drawn by Jimmy Crighton not Crichton.
Pg70) 'Black Bob' - first appeared as a picture strip in 'The Weekly News' in Oct 1946. The Jack Prout strips that began to appear in the Dandy in 1956 were reprints of this earlier Weekly News material.
Pg74) 'The Three Bears' featured is not the work of Leo Baxendale but Bob McGrath.
Pg10) Again not really an error but to describe 'Mowser' as a Valiant strip, where he only appeared for two years, without reference to the ten years he had previously appeared in 'Lion' is bordering on it. For the record 'Mowser' drawn by Reg Parlett ( yep this time it is old Reg) first appeared in 'Lion' issue dated 8th Feb 1964.
Pg82) Frank Minnitt's version of Bunter 'grew so popular that Bunter moved to the front page and top billing in the renamed 'Billy Bunter's Knockout''. Not true. Frank Minnitt died in 1958 and the revamp in question didn't occur until 1961 when the Bunter artist was Albert 'Charlie' Pease.
Pg83) 'Our Gang' in the early Beano issues'. No, 'Our Gang' featured in the first 340 issues of the Dandy comic.
Pg83) 'Oor Wullie' - 'the wee lad still appears every Sunday, skilfully illustrated in Watkins' style by Ken Harrison'. Again not true. Ken Harrison's last regular work on either Oor Wullie or the Broons was on 24th Aug 1997. Since that time Peter Davidson has been the regular artist on both.
Pg93) 'Baby-Face Finlayson' artist Ron Spencer not Ron Spence.
Pg113) 'Captain Condor' featured not drawn by Ronald Forbes but Neville Wilson.
Pg114) 'Robot Archie' featured not drawn by George Cowan but Ted Kearon. E. George 'Ted' Cowan was actually the original writer on the Archie series in the 1950's.
Pg114) 'Steel Commando' featured not the work of Alan Henderson ( for the record the regular SC artist had the christian name Alex) but in any case this particular strip is the work of stand-in artist John Catchpole.
Pg132) 'School Friend' was not cancelled in 1940. The title, which first appeared in 1919, had been revamped as the title 'Schoolgirl' in 1929 and it was 'Schoolgirl' that ran until 1940 when it was amalgamated with 'Girls Crystal'.
Pg134) 'Bunty' - 'reportedly drawn by Peem Walker'. This is actually the work of artist Doris Kinnear whose images of Bunty graced the pages of the Thomson girl's picture paper for over thirty years.
Pg140) 'The Four Marys' - this strip from the 1980 Bunty Book is not the work of Bill Holroyd but James 'Peem' Walker.
Pg161) 'His Sporting Lordship' - although this did eventually appear in Valiant for eight months following the titles absorption of 'Smash' I think no mention of the strips original two year run in that title is a bit remiss. Similarly I think Doug Maxted, the regular artist throughout the strips run maybe deserved a mention particularly when the artist they do mention for the illustration they have chosen to use, Geoff Campion, is wrong in any case. The artwork on view being by Mike Western.
Pg161) 'King Cobra' - artist not Ken Shone but Keith Shone.
Pg166) 'The Tough of the Track' - didn't appear as a picture strip in 'Victor' for the first time in 1963 but a year earlier in 1962 in issues 71-92. ( He had also appeared as a picture strip prior to this in the last four editions of the Rover annual in the late 1950's with artwork courtesy of Peem Walker).
Pg177) 'Charlie Peace' - The example used is not the work of Tom Kerr but Jack Pamby.
Thank you, and good day!

Steve Bright · Post by **Steve Bright** » 28 Jun 2007, 13:11

You know, Ray, I've often thought of writing a book about my life and times with DC Thomson. But after reading that, I'm too scared.....

Captain Storm · Post by **Captain Storm** » 28 Jun 2007, 20:40

The example used is not the work of Tom Kerr but Jack Pamby.

Hi Kashgar,I too am afraid

With that kind of detailed information,I believe you should start your own Comics Fanzine,failing Crikey's suicidal non-acquisition of your good self for their editorial team.Now to business

I couldn't help but notice the name of Tom Kerr in dispatches.For those who don't know He drew the very first Adam Eterno strip on October 17th 1970 in the first Issue of Thunder published by I.P.C./Fleetway.(How do you like them bananas

teach'?)I was wondering if you could provide a bio on the man and his work and maybe a photo.Very little is known of him.I would be extremely grateful for any help or info you could provide,sincerely with begging bowl in hand,
the Cap!

colcool007 · Post by **colcool007** » 28 Jun 2007, 22:13

I had the choice of this book or the complete Maus. I think you can guess where my money went!

Kash, thanks for a comprehensive update on the bits that Paul Gravett overlooked or was unable to research in suitable detail.

As to articles, I think that I must do an article on the reprint policy of DCT!

Brendan McGuire · Post by **Brendan McGuire** » 29 Jun 2007, 02:01

My little bit (Kashgar, I am awestruck!). Tom Kerr's very distinctive style was used for The Monkees in Lady Penelope (certainly in the two Monkees annuals); Clark's Commandos shoe adverts in various comics and the odd anti-fags ads.

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 29 Jun 2007, 10:36

Brendan McGuire wrote:My little bit (Kashgar, I am awestruck!). Tom Kerr's very distinctive style was used for The Monkees in Lady Penelope (certainly in the two Monkees annuals); Clark's Commandos shoe adverts in various comics and the odd anti-fags ads.

Never resisting an opportunity to plug my blog

the top two strips here are by Tom Kerr:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2007/0 ... xties.html

Cap Haggis · Post by **Cap Haggis** » 29 Jun 2007, 11:14

Kashgar - I to would love to hear more about the work of Tom Kerr who seems really underated I have tried to find out more about him for years but apart from people naming strips I know very little about the man - hes one of the few UK "adventure" type artists whose work I collect - his work on "OddBall Oates" in the Lion is still one of my all time favourite comic strips (up there with "Frankie Stien" by Reid and Baxendales "Swots and Blotts" and "Eagle Eye" ) - the Clarkes Commando strips were beaUtifuly drawn as was his tenure on Billy Boots.

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 29 Jun 2007, 11:20

Cap Haggis wrote:Kashgar - I to would love to hear more about the work of Tom Kerr who seems really underated I have tried to find out more about him for years but apart from people naming strips I know very little about the man - hes one of the few UK "adventure" type artists whose work I collect - his work on "OddBall Oates" in the Lion is still one of my all time favourite comic strips (up there with "Frankie Stien" by Reid and Baxendales "Swots and Blotts" and "Eagle Eye" ) - the Clarkes Commando strips were beaUtifuly drawn as was his tenure on Billy Boots.

Agreed. His style was always welcome in a comic as far as I was concerned; distinctive and confident, with a dash of humour when required. He could draw panic very well, with characters looking flustered.

Tom Kerr also did the Steel Claw for a while, as I recall. In an annual or special, if not for the weekly. (I *think* he drew it for the weekly as well, but Ray will no doubt know for sure.)

Lew

Shaqui · Post by **Shaqui** » 29 Jun 2007, 13:13

Cap Haggis wrote:Kashgar - I to would love to hear more about the work of Tom Kerr who seems really underated I have tried to find out more about him for years but apart from people naming strips I know very little about the man...

I too would like to know more but his agent (who is still around) tells me he died in the 1970s, and was less than willing to expand upon that all-too-brief and all-too-belated obit...

john56peter756brit · Post by **john56peter756brit** » 29 Jun 2007, 22:57

Yes Tom Kerr was a great

artist i remember enjoying looking at his original artwork when it was brought in to tv21/joe90.

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 29 Jun 2007, 23:15

john56peter756brit wrote:Yes Tom Kerr was a great artist i remember enjoying looking at his original artwork when it was brought in to tv21/joe90.

Which strips did he draw for TV21 and Joe 90?

Lew

john56peter756brit · Post by **john56peter756brit** » 29 Jun 2007, 23:25

I think what was brought in to the studio could have been the strips for clarkes commando's the others i cant remember offhand.

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 29 Jun 2007, 23:45

john56peter756brit wrote:I think what was brought in to the studio could have been the strips for clarkes commando's the others i cant remember offhand.

I thought the same Clark's Commandos strip appeared in several comics at the same time? I always assumed the sponsor Clarks Shoes would have to approve each strip first and then they'd send copies of it to the comics.

You learn something new every day.

Lew

john56peter756brit · Post by **john56peter756brit** » 30 Jun 2007, 00:05

I am pretty sure that someone wrote the stories and they were brought in because i did adverts for comics that were put in all comics at the time even though it was bought by TV COMIC, if that makes any sense Lew.

philcom55 · Post by **philcom55** » 30 Jun 2007, 10:16

Kashgar wrote:Having half an hour to spare I thought a few fellow forumites might appreciate the following list of additions to the text of Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury's 'Great British Comics' published last year by Aurum Press...

...And let's not forget that weird typo on page 4 where a girl is said to be reading a copy of The Beezer in 1955 - more than six months before the first issue was published!

On the other hand it's only fair to stress that such errors are hugely outweighed by the truly astonishing amount of accurate detail and scholarship crammed into every page of this wonderful book. I really doubt if anybody could have done a better job, and I'd hate to think of anyone here being put off from buying it by our comments: as I see it they should simply be seen as a helpful addendum rather than any kind of criticism.

- Phil Rushton

Comics UK