Comics UK

Hi everyone,

I really need some help for a book I am currently writing. I am trying to get some more information about a comic strip I believe was in SCOOP, called The Cannonball Kid, about a footballer with a hard shot who played in the North American Soccer League.

I know I have read about one in Nutty called the same, but I know this is not the one I am thinking about.

I hope you can help me.

Thanks,
Shaun

Yeah, the Nutty one is better known as Dandy's Owen Goal.

I can see your problem, Google only lists two eBay auctions for issues of Scoop from 1978 and 1980.

shaunio7 wrote:I am trying to get some more information about a comic strip I believe was in SCOOP, called The Cannonball Kid, about a footballer with a hard shot who played in the North American Soccer League.

I do have every issue of Scoop, shaunio, and I'm quite prepared to help you. Can you please be a bit more precise though as to what kind of information you require about this character and, if the request is not too unreasonable, what kind of book it is destined for.

Hi phoenix4ever,

Thanks for the response.

I co-wrote Modern Football is Rubbish with my mate Nick Davidson, which was released last year. We basically talked about retro football stuff in a humorous, satirical way. We talked about many old comic footballers from the 70's and 80's. We are currently writing a follow up.

I remembered the Cannonball Kid, but don't remember much detail. I am writing a piece comparing him and Hot-Shot Hamish. I am after his name and who he played for primarily. I remember a story about him injuring another player and taking it quite badly, as the player went into a coma. Any info would be great. I will give you a namecheck in the next book if you can provide some info for me.

Thanks for your help.
Regards,
Shaun

I'm on the case, Shaun. There were three series altogether. The first was Cannonball Kid in 1978, the second appeared the following year and was just called Cannonball, the final one came in 1980 and had the title Cannonball in the USA. I will get back to you either later today or early tomorrow with full details, including the history of the name and the concept throughout the Thomson story papers. You will then be able to select whatever information you require to help illustrate your theme. To whet your appetite, his name is Jimmy Weston and he is a student at a music college in Baypool, aiming to become a concert pianist. It would appear that he has inherited his shooting skills from his grandfather, the famous Mick Weston, who played for England in the 1920s.

Thanks alot for your help. Absolutely brilliant.

You might want to check eBay then, there's a good chance that Cannonball Kid appears in those two Scoops I found, they're from the right years anyway.

EDIT: No longer relevant, repeating the search no longer beings up the 1980 one and the auction of the 1978 one has closed.

Series 1 Cannonball Kid 31 (Aug. 19 1978) - 47 (Dec. 9 1978)

One evening shortly after arriving in Baypool to study the piano at the local music college, Jimmy Weston is persuaded by some local youths to go with them to a fairground. His shooting prowess in the 'Beat The Goalie' sideshow is so impressive that it attracts the attention of one of the scouts for Baypool Rovers and the youngster is persuaded to go to the ground for a trial. He is somewhat hampered by not knowing the rules or anything about tactics but his shooting is persuasive. He eventually signs a contract but his formidable aunt Lucy does not give in easily, insisting that he maintain his musical education. An eventual compromise sees the Rovers get promotion to Division One and Jimmy going on a world tour during the closed season as a concert pianist with the Grand Symphony Orchestra.

Series 2 Cannonball 64 (Apr. 7 1979) - 74 (Jun. 16 1979)

Jimmy gets involved with a pop group called New Rock Revival, and plays the piano for them during a gig. The whole thing snowballs when they are 'spotted', cut a record that then rockets up the charts and leads to a TV appearance. To protect his anonymity, Jimmy wears dark glasses and a black wig, and calls himself Cagey Cannon. Trying to keep all this secret from the Rovers manager causes his form to dip from time to time. Eventually his secret gets out and the manager bans the rock career. Unfortunately Cagey's fans, many of whom are of course girls, refuse to accept this and the manager has to climb down when the protests become a pitch invasion. An American tour is arranged for the group but the club's directors will only allow Jimmy to go if the Rovers win the League Cup. They do.

Series 3 Cannonball In The USA 151 (Dec. 6 1980) - 160 (Feb. 7 1981)

This starts at the end of the following season with the Rovers finishing in 6th position in Division One. Everybody is looking forward to an attempt on the title the following season when Jimmy drops a bombshell. He is going to sign for the North American club Saskabay Tigers for one year. A transfer fee of £800,000 is agreed but Baypool insist on inserting a clause into the contract that if things do not work out or if Jimmy wants to come back to Baypool he can be released. Saskabay Tigers is owned by JJ Canmire, a rich dude with lots of irons in the fire. He is determined to get his money's worth out of his expensive new star. He uses Jimmy to open Canmire superstores, Canmire food shops and to promote many other Canmire products. Jimmy has opened around twenty new businesses before he even gets a game of football. Things soon upset the lad and he activates that clause in his contract when he discovers that Canmire has tried to bribe an honourable opposition goalkeeper to let him score. The shifty Canmire even runs in a ringer and tries to transfer this lookalike to Baypool while Jimmy is locked away. Incidentally, I reread every instalment yesterday because I was unable to recall the coma incident that you referred to. I can now assure you that no such incident occurred anywhere in these serials. There will no doubt be others on comicsuk who will be able to redirect your recollections.

The name has some history. After the war The Hotspur ran a series of stories about young Billy Kidd, who is christened Cannonball Kidd by the Chinese trainer of Greyport Rovers, the club he is persuaded to play for even though he is still at school. There were six serials between 1946 and 1951/52. Three of them are repeated in picture form in The Hotspur, the 1946 series Cannonball Kidd (1967), the 1950 series Too Old At Twenty (1968) and the 1951 series Cannonball Kidd - He's In The Army Now (1969 as Cannonball Kidd). There were also some spinoffs. In The Schoolboy Wonders in The Victor in 1992, Cannonball Kidd is the seventeen-year-old star striker for non-league Ashfield Rovers, who sign on his school's first eleven and get as far as the Third Round of the FA Cup before bowing out. In Cannonball Kidd - The Net Buster in The Hotspur in 1966 Johnny Kidd is the centre forward of Belton United but can't shoot for toffee until he meets Rukka Dhin, a local bus conductor, who teaches him how to concentrate the power of his mind into his legs. Johnny eventually gets the hang of it and Belton win the FA Cup. This story is repeated in the same paper in 1972 as Cannonball Kelly. In The Team That Couldn't Win! in The Victor in 1974, Bixley Wanderers sign 'Cannonball' James, one of the hardest strikers of a ball in British football, to help them avoid relegation. Another interesting offshoot is Cannonball Kate. She is a hockey player with the hardest shot in the game. There are three serials about her in Judy between 1967 and 1969.

The concept goes back to the 1930s, as far as you are concerned, specifically to a serial in The Skipper in 1931 called Dixie Kidd - The Sure-Shot Centre, who is referred to as 'the boy with the cannon-ball kick'. The reason this is important is that when The Skipper turned its toes up in 1941 due to the paper shortage, all the best characters like Leatherface, Torgoth the Axeman and Karga the Clutcher were reallocated by Thomsons to The Hotspur. Cannonball Kidd was created in that paper out of Dixie Kidd, who incidentally had himself acquired a Chinese servant. Following in the wake of Cannonball are Johnny Jackson (The Wizard 1947), Gorgeous Gus (The Wizard 1950), Biffalo Bill (The Hotspur 1958), Wally Brand (The Rover 1959), and multiple repeats through the picture papers culminating in The Victor's goal machine Jimmy Grant.

Nice one phoenix4ever good to read a history of a strip you don't know much about.

How about a couple of scans the 2 Scoops I have the 'Cannonball Kid' doesn't appear.

steelclaw wrote: How about a couple of scans, the 2 Scoops I have the 'Cannonball Kid' doesn't appear.

Thank you for your kind comments, steelclaw. Here are three scans. The first is the first page of the first serial, the second is the second page of the first instalment of the second serial and the third is the third page of the second instalment of the third serial, when Jimmy 'Cannonball Kid' Weston was struggling to come to terms with his new role in America.

Nice to see you in full flow phoenix4ever. Fact-packed and waffle free.

Thanks for the scans phoenix, first time I've seen the CannonBall Kid, I have one Scoop Annual from 1980,unfortunately he wasn't in it, Did he appear in any of the other Annuals?

steelclaw wrote:Did he appear in any of the other Annuals?

Unfortunately, steelclaw, I cannot answer the question. I think I've mentioned on a different thread that my major interest is in serial stories in the Thomson papers, so the annuals by their very nature could only be of passing interest to me because obviously they do not contain serials. I have all the post-war Thomson annuals up to the 1959 one for The Rover, the same for The Champion as far as 1956, most of them bought at the time they came out, and a very small number of pre-war annuals, but where the picture papers are concerned, I only have the 1992 Bunty annual. I have no plans to get any more but I would buy any Thomson story papers that I don't have. I constantly surf eBay, which has been very good for me over the last four years, especially for Thomsons' girls' papers. Long may it continue.

Hi pheonix4ever,

I am sorry I have not been in touch before. This is the first time I have logged abck in as work has been too busy. That information is brilliant. I am going to read it through a few times to digest. It certainly brings back memories. I was beginning to think it was all just a dream!

Those pidtures of the actual comic strip are excellent too.

Thanks for all your help,
Shaun

Hi phoenix4ever,

Thanks for your help again.

Our second book, Modern Football is Still Rubbish is due to go to print soon (we might as well milk it!). I would like to thank you for your help at the beginning of the book, but was wondering what name you wanted me to use.

I have used some of your description in the book and want to check this is OK as well.

I will send you a copy of the book when I get one, so if you want to let me know your address that would be great. Not sure how to do that without putting details online, but I am sure you have a better knowledge of the site than me.

Thanks again for your help. Hope to hear from you soon.

Regards,
Shaun