Comics UK

Buddy had a strange mix of very good and very bad front covers throughout its run; the non-strip covers often being some of the worst - it's often surprised me how UK weeklies sometimes seemed to use some of the weaker artists on all the all-important front covers, rather than the American approach of using the best - but that Iron Fish cover for number 5 is fantastic! Just perfect.

I think the great thing about Buddy's covers were that strips rotated on it, so your favourite had a good chance of being the full colour cover strip. It kept the weekly looking really fresh and there were some nice ones.

I'd really like to know if Survivor ever had a front cover! (EDIT: Actually, I've just noticed that no. 118 is a Survivor cover - Dick stuck up a tree out of reach of attacking wild boars.)

Incidentally, does anyone know which Buddy strips survived the joining up with Victor?

Peter Gray wrote:Billy the cat looks great in the shadows on the rooftop..this is an older and better Billy the cat...a nice teen adventure..

I agree that Billy the cat art work is as good as I've ever seen in a comic.

And it's interesting to note how Danny Boyle has gone on from travelling the oceans of the world in his marvellous machine, the Iron Fish, to directing such successful films as Slumdog Millionaire. He never talks about his Iron Fish days in interviews, does he?

Buddy's Billy had far more in common with Marvel's Spider-Man than the original version. This Billy Grange was a boy who'd "lived with his Aunt Mabel since the day his parents were killed in a car crash caused by the getaway car of bank robbers", moreover "Billy was known to his school pals as 'Clum' because he was so clumsy and awkward. But that was only a pretence to hide an amazing secret..." I don't think Katie appears in any of the issues I've seen.

As for 'Survivor', I don't recognize the artist at all (though the technique looks European or South American to my eye). Here's an example showing some more of the wildlife mentioned by Raven, just in case anybody else can identify the style:


...Incidentally, as this page is taken from Buddy no.124 while the series is no longer in no.127 I'd guess that it must finish in either no.125 or 126. I'm afraid I've no idea when it started though.

Speaking of the non-strip covers, here's a rather odd one, sort of featuring Billy the Cat. (Billy survived by the way, though the comic itself only lasted three more issues...! ):


- Phil Rushton

Thanks for narrowing down the numbers, Phil. I suspect Survivor started in no. 115 (116 does read like part two) so it'll probably be issues 115 to 125 or 126.


That Billy the Cat one is quite a good teaser cover; quite American-style.

Survivor began in No 114 (16/4/83) and ran to No 125 (2/7/83).

And Survivor was originally published in Bullet in 1976.

Thanks for the dates, Kashgar.

colcool007 - so it was a reprint; worraswizz! I don't really know much about Bullet. I don't think I have any. Was it quite a good comic then, as I thought Survivor was a bit above the typical Buddy fare. Any idea if the same artist drew any other strips in it?

I raised this before and I'm raising it again,because I know I haven't lost my marbles...yet A strip about kids at war in uniform whose weapons could only stun and not kill.A virtual pint to any who can identify said strip

The Cap.

Captain Storm wrote:I raised this before and I'm raising it again,because I know I haven't lost my marbles...yet A strip about kids at war in uniform whose weapons could only stun and not kill.A virtual pint to any who can identify said strip

The Cap.

A Buddy strip? Not that one, The Mice of Tobruk, is it? Haven't read any of those yet.

Raven wrote:And it's interesting to note how Danny Boyle has gone on from travelling the oceans of the world in his marvellous machine, the Iron Fish, to directing such successful films as Slumdog Millionaire. He never talks about his Iron Fish days in interviews, does he?

Buddy made a gaffe there - it was Danny Gray in The Beano. Wonder why the name was changed?

Hi Raven,sorry,may have posted in the wrong section.I think somebody said it appeared in the later issues of Bullet but nobody has confirmed that.Also the strip was set in the future.

The Cap.

p.s. Wasn't the Mice of Tobruk about 3 kids in a tank with an ape?

Captain Storm wrote:
p.s. Wasn't the Mice of Tobruk about 3 kids in a tank with an ape?

No ape or tank in the ones I've looked through so far!

Yeah,you're right Raven.I was thinking of the strip that appeared in Jag comic.Anyhoo,can anybody think of the strip I mentioned.It had to have existed....I remember reading it!!!!!Maybe later issues of Warlord or Bullet?

The Cap.

I can confirm that no story like it appeared in Warlord up to Dec 1984 or in Crunch. If you're like me then you may have mis-remembered the comic as my memory had put the Space Wars story featuring Breda Douglas in Warlord when it actually appeared in Crunch. I don't remember a story like it appearing in Victor either. So we're down to Spike, Buddy, Hornet, Hotspur or Bullet on the DCT side. Could it have appeared in the New Eagle?