Humour or Adventure - Do you have a preference?

[Michael Anden]

I notice most members on Comics UK seems to discuss humour titles more than adventure strips- particularly in the 'What comics did you buy today' section. Although I have very fond- albeit rekindled- memories of Beano, Dandy and Whizzer & Chips in particular, I think on discovering the like of 2000AD, 80s Eagle, Battle Action Force and Marvel UK I almost completely forgot about humour comics (apart from Viz) until discovering this site.

Do you have a preference? Can you say why? And if you didn't always - when and how did the shift occur?

[alanultron5]

I started to get more interested in `Action` based comics by the time I was 14. Some like `Wham` `Pow` & `Smash` had quite an even mixture of both, hence my reading these at earlier (than 14) age.

[Phoenix]

I notice most members on Comics UK seems to discuss humour titles more than adventure strips...../.....Do you have a preference?

At one time I did like comics such as The Dandy and The Beano, Knockout and Radio Fun etcetera, but when I discovered The Wizard my interest in the humour titles disappeared almost overnight. I did retain for a while an affection for the Rupert panels in the Daily Express but I had to go to a friend's house to read them as my father would never have allowed that newspaper into our house.

[philcom55]

I still enjoy adventure strips, but as I rather overdosed on them when I was growing up (particularly those with an SF setting) I now like the variety of styles that can be found in other genres - as well as girls' comics and nursery titles.

[Robbie Moubert]

I used to get Whizzer and Chips every week and enjoyed my sister's Beanos but generally favoured adventure titles more: TV21, Valiant, Countdown, the Marvel UK titles and whatever US editions I could get my hands on. By the time 2000AD came along the only humour comics I was reading were Asterix and Andy Capp!

[Phoenix]

By the time 2000AD came along the only humour comics I was reading were Asterix and Andy Capp

I only remember Andy Capp as a newspaper strip. If there was an Andy Capp comic it certainly passed me by.

[Ginger]

The kids call anything cartoon-related comics these days, Phoenix. I think it's an American thing. I used to think it was just strips, but I've even seen single panel gags referred to as 'a comic'.

For me, apart from a very brief flirtation with Commando and Spiderman when I was a kid, it's been humour all the way.
Except, I think we need another category, although it's one that's discussed even less on this forum, I feel: Neither humour nor action comics; I suppose a more literary, grown-up kind of comic. (Not wishing to offend anyone! Just struggling to define)
Indie comics, shall we call them? The work of the Hernandez brothers, Art Spiegelman, Daniel Clowes, Charles Burns, Chris Ware, Chester Brown, Johann Sfar, Christophe Blaine, Lewis Trondheim... the sort of stuff these guys produce is mainly what I'm interested in, comicswise, these days.

[Robbie Moubert]

By the time 2000AD came along the only humour comics I was reading were Asterix and Andy Capp

I only remember Andy Capp as a newspaper strip. If there was an Andy Capp comic it certainly passed me by.

Okay, I'm using comics in a broader sense to include the twice-yearly Andy Capp collections. It's a comic strip after all.

[Robbie Moubert]

The kids call anything cartoon-related comics these days, Phoenix.

It's a long time since I've been thought of as one of the kids!

[Phoenix]

I'm using comics in a broader sense to include the twice-yearly Andy Capp collections.

I have quite a few of those, Robbie, acquired after my younger brother died. He was a fan of the strip. There was a period, although I can't fix it in time, when I saw the Andy Capp cartoons every day. I think they were in the Daily Mirror, but it was such a long time ago. My father used to get that paper for its horseracing analyses.

[Adam Eterno]

I moved from humour to adventure/Marvel/War comics around 9/10 years old and have never looked back. It started with Valiant adventure type stuff and quickly progressed to anything Marvel during the 70s. Nowadays it's most things Adventure/Marvel/War/SciFi that grab me.

[big bad bri]

I always prefered Humour titles as you could skip weeks and not miss anything.the only adventure titles i bought as a kid were eagle,2000ad and champ. i can pick up a humour comic today at random and enjoy a good read but not so much early Buster and Whizzer and Chips

[Michael Anden]

Although my preference errs on adventure, I've had recurring dreams most of my life, for some reason, of certain Beano pocket library editions from the very early eighties- particularly Bash Street Kids (I think it was the one where they formed a band a had a school trip to Scotland), and Rodger the Dodger (Sports Day, I think).

The weirdest thing of all is that my unconscious doesn't try to 'biggie size' them into modern day CGI epics or whatever- or even animate them. They seem completely real to to my sleeping mind, even while retaining the static, spot-coloured sequential forms. I wonder why no 'more realistically drawn' adventure strip has ever had the same effect?

[Peter Gray]

more humour...But starting to like Valiant type adventures..But not so easy to collect has the stories continue..
so humour and light adventure..
also like DC Showcase books just bought Green Lantern vol 2..

[comixminx]

In terms of humour comics, I only really read my brother's copies of Whizzer and Chips or the odd issue of the Beano or the Dandy, so I wouldn't count myself as ever having been a humour comic reader as such, but more of an adventure story reader I guess. I do also like lots of indie comics eg Love and Rockets, as mentioned previously up-thread.

I did find that on starting to read this forum more regularly and seeing more humour comics, I had very fond memories of some of them, which I'd previously totally forgotten about!