Postgate and Firmin

[suebutcher]

Firstly, a couple of Pogles Annual questions. Was it the 1967 annual that had the story about the grumpy giant in too-tight shoes? And did the 1968 annual tell readers the origin of Tog? (Sadly, I've only got the 1969 book.)

[philcom55]

I've only got a few Pogles annuals myself, but the story about Tog's discovery did appear in the 1968 Annual (with some lovely Firmin illustrations).

[philcom55]

Here's the first page of 'What Is A Tog?" from the 1968 Annual in which the Story-man tells how Pogle defeated the Witch for the second time and discovered Tog in the Land of the Fairy King. I can never read Oliver Postgate's fabulous words without hearing his wonderfully expressive voice echoing in my head!

..."So, Pogle, we meet again!" She shrilled. "And the crown too! For years I hunted that crown through the empty halls of Nothing and you had it all along! Give it to me!" - Great stuff!!!

[Shaqui]

Are Jonathan, David and Emily the real Postgate children? I know Emily appeared for real in Bagpuss...

[suebutcher]

Thanks Phil. I think they saved up all the fantastic scary magic stuff the BBC didn't like, and put it into the Annuals. Here's a picture from "What About Pippin?", in the 1969 Annual.

[philcom55]

I wondered that too Shaqui. I'm not sure about David and Jonathan but Emily (of Bagpuss fame) was Peter Firmin's youngest daughter.

That's fantastic Sue - I love the fairy warriors! It's worth noting that some of Postgate & Firmin's TV stories (the later ones featuring Ivor the Engine for example) appeared first as comic strips for publications like TV Land. In fact Oliver's regular work for comics provided a significant part of his income throughout the 1960s.

[suebutcher]

Did Peter Firmin draw those strips originally? My solitary issue of Pippin from 1969 has Bill Mevin drawing the Pogles. (A good choice, because his art is similar to Firmin's, though not as stylishly "flat".)

[Shaqui]

Did Peter Firmin draw those strips originally? My solitary issue of Pippin from 1969 has Bill Mevin drawing the Pogles. (A good choice, because his art is similar to Firmin's, though not as stylishly "flat".)

I think the annuals always used Peter Firmin art, as he and Oliver Postgate put them together for Polystyle (although I do have a Clangers annual which suggests another female artist* was involved - though that's a guess as I couldn't see anyone else but Postgate writing them!) but I'm fairly certain Bill Mevin did all of the weekly Pogles strips and covers.

Edit: Sylvia Kenyon is the additional credit in the 1973 annual

Additional edit: She is credited as an illustrator for The Magic Ball annual 1974 - http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/b ... -464945994

[philcom55]

Of course there were times when Peter Firmin was kept busy with work outside his partnership with Oliver Postgate - notably on the hugely successful Basil Brush: a character he designed independently in 1962.

While Bill Mevin drew the Pogles strip in Pippin from the first issue Firmin did produce some original drawings for that title. He also drew the Ivor strip for TV Land and a series of superb Noggin the Nog tableaux for Playland that were later collected in the book 'Nogmania'.

[Shaqui]

Of course there were times when Peter Firmin was kept busy with work outside his partnership with Oliver Postgate - notably on the hugely successful Basil Brush: a character he designed independently in 1962.

Strangely, aside from some 'Starting to Read' books, I don't recall Peter Firmin illustrating much in the way of the Basil brush annuals (which were by World Distributors in the 1970s) or strips in TV Comic?

[Shaqui]

While Bill Mevin drew the Pogles strip in Pippin from the first issue Firmin did produce some original drawings for that title. He also drew the Ivor strip for TV Land and a series of superb Noggin the Nog tableaux for Playland that were later collected in the book 'Nogmania'.

I'm very much of the opinion Peter Fiirmin drew all of the Clangers strips too.