Comics UK

A colleague in work gave me a cutting from her local (Wimbledon) paper. Here it is. I googled the title and the book is out on September 3rd. It has a nice cover (it doesn't go for the cliche pic of Roy race). Looks interesting.



Synopsis

Ever since boys’ comics were first published in the middle years of the nineteenth century, they have offered readers fun, adventure and escapism. As participation and attendance at sports events rose dramatically in the early years of the twentieth century, so boys’ comics focused more and more on sportsmen, with footballers becoming the ultimate favourites.

Millions of boys’ comics were sold in the ‘golden age’ in the 1920s and ’30s. The introduction of football stories in cartoon-strip format proved immensely popular, and during the 1950s and ’60s comics enjoyed a renaissance, with The Rover, Tiger and The Hotspur among the top titles. The 1970s saw the launch of dedicated football comics such as Scorcher and Score ’n’ Roar. Within the pages of these titles, legends were born, but for every ‘Hot Shot’ Hamish there were dozens of other footballing heroes, and this book tells their stories, too.

Although these comics are no longer in circulation, they still generate a huge level of interest among boys and men of all ages, and the culture of the comic book hero continues. Using the archives of publishers DC Thomson and Co. Limited, IPC Media Limited and Egmont UK Limited, the authors have produced a definitive history of the comic book footballer. This unique and nostalgic account of the football comic book phenomenon will jog the memories of older readers and introduce the magic of these imaginary sporting stars to a whole new generation.
The Author

Robert Frankland, Adam Riches, Tim Parker

Robert Frankland

Adam Riches is a journalist and writer of more than 20 years’ experience, Tim Parker has had many years’ experience as a freelance art editor and Robert Frankland is a passionate collector of football comics.


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Sounds interesting. Mind you the synopsis has already flagged up one mistake. D C Thomson's boy's story paper Rover while being the home of such great footballing characters as Nick Smith never, ever published a picture strip with football as its theme. Some of it's footballing heroes like Nick Smith went on to star in picture strips in other papers (in Nick's case Hornet primarily) but while on home turf all match reports were strictly in the prose format.

About time it came out we've been waiting over a year.

http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/Forum/viewtop ... ook+heroes

For some reason the article neglects to mention that the same author has also written a book on war comics, same format, same price, to be published at the same time as the football one.

I hope the books cover the contextual history and background of the comics and credit artists, writer, editors etc, instead of being dreary text synopses of the stories themselves.

Lew

Cover spoilt by the presence of Action Force - GI Joe is American!


Synopsis
When the Comics Went to War is an expansive, authoritative history of the British war comic book genre, from the first publications to appear in the 1880s to the last new titles to appear in the 1990s.

Featuring a wealth of material sourced from the original war comic publishers and from private collectors, this lavishly illustrated book charts the evolution of warfare as children lived through it, relating to actual events such as the Western Front in 1914–18, the rise of the Nazis, the British Empire, the Second World War, the Cold War and Britain’s police actions around the world.

In the late nineteenth century, war comics had such a powerful effect on readers that they were seen to provide ideal recruitment opportunities for the British Army and Navy, inspiring young men to sign up to serve their country. Their popularity grew substantially throughout much of the twentieth century, with titles such as Victor, Valiant and Warlord achieving weekly circulations in excess of two million copies during the 1950s to ’70s. While the genre later experienced a sharp decline, that many vintage war comic titles continue to be reprinted in significant numbers today is a testament to their enduring popularity.

From Union Jack and Boys of the Empire to Commando, Air Ace and Combat, this unique and nostalgic celebration of war comic books will jog the memories of older readers and introduce the magic of these war stories to a whole new generation.

Adam Riches is a journalist and writer of more than 20 years’ experience, Tim Parker has had many years’ experience as a freelance art editor and Robert Frankland is a passionate collector of war comics. (That last bit looks like a copy and paste, they just swopped war with football)

Kashgar wrote:Sounds interesting. Mind you the synopsis has already flagged up one mistake. D C Thomson's boy's story paper Rover while being the home of such great footballing characters as Nick Smith never, ever published a picture strip with football as its theme.

stevezodiac wrote:Millions of boys’ comics were sold in the ‘golden age’ in the 1920s and ’30s. The introduction of football stories in cartoon-strip format proved immensely popular, and during the 1950s and ’60s comics enjoyed a renaissance, with The Rover, Tiger and The Hotspur among the top titles.

I'm not convinced, Kashgar, that the synopsis is actually saying that. It is just some careless writing which has led to such an assumption, because all the points made are actually correct. Indeed, The Rover, Tiger and The Hotspur were among the top titles in both those decades. The reason for the confusion is more likely to be due to the fact that in 1959 The Hotspur mutated from a text story paper into a picture paper, but prior to that it was essentially no different from The Rover. Tiger was the odd one out in the Fifties. I am encouraged in this view by the fact that the author has obviously approved the illustration on the front cover of an early issue of The Rover [873 (Jan. 7 1939)], and if his research has been as rigorous as the theme demands, there can be no possibility that he doesn't know that there never were any cartoon-strip football stories in The Rover.

Digifiend wrote:Cover spoilt by the presence of Action Force - GI Joe is American!

That's as may be but Action Force was a British brand and the comic featured work by UK creators, - and it's the comic where Combat Colin originated.

Any history of UK war comics should feature Action Force because it shows the direction that war comics took (and comics in general) by moving into merchandise tie-ins, and how comics' war heroes began taking on terrorists once the WW2 themes had been exhausted.

Lew

World War II themes? Exhausted? Tell that to Commando.

Action Force is notable for a completely different reason - it was one of the first out-and-out tie-in comics. Of course, that didn't stop it getting absorbed by Battle Action, something which just wouldn't happen to tie-ins today (they'd just close outright instead).

Looks like I gave you another opportunity to plug your work... you artists seem to love doing that.

There should be a fantasy football team made up of the best footballers in comic books. Here's my two suggestions to start with - Billy the Fish in goal and Roy of the Rovers up front. Lined up in a classic Subbuteo 2-3-5 formation, of course. Any one got any other ideas?

Digifiend wrote:World War II themes? Exhausted? Tell that to Commando.

Commando is the exception because it has an older readership. It's kids who lost interest in WW2 stories.

Digifiend wrote:Action Force is notable for a completely different reason - it was one of the first out-and-out tie-in comics. Of course, that didn't stop it getting absorbed by Battle Action, something which just wouldn't happen to tie-ins today (they'd just close outright instead).

Wrong. Action Force was published by Marvel UK and was merged into Transformers.

Digifiend wrote:Looks like I gave you another opportunity to plug your work... you artists seem to love doing that.

I assumed comic readers on a comics forum might be interested.

Lew

Doesn't matter that I got the comic mixed up , as it still merged, so the point still stands.

Jonny Whizz wrote:There should be a fantasy football team made up of the best footballers in comic books. Here's my two suggestions to start with - Billy the Fish in goal and Roy of the Rovers up front. Lined up in a classic Subbuteo 2-3-5 formation, of course. Any one got any other ideas?

This is my selection, taken exclusively from post-war Thomson text story papers.

(GK) Bernard Briggs (Darbury Rangers) [The Wizard]

(RB) Napper Todd (Riverport United) [The Hotspur]
(LB) Gregor Cowdrey (Barchester United) [Adventure]

(RH) Leslie Tomson (Darbury Rangers) [The Wizard]
(CH) Rory Grant (Longport Wanderers) [The Wizard]
(LH) Arnold Tabbs (Kingsbury Rovers) [The Rover]

(OR) Baldy Hogan (Burhill United) [Adventure]
(IR) Pickford (Redstoke United) [The Wizard]
(CF) Cannonball Kidd (Greyport Rovers) [The Hotspur]
(IL) Gorgeous Gus (Redburn Rovers) [The Wizard]
(OL) Nick Smith (Kingsbury Rovers) [The Rover]

(Subs) (GK) Lanky Hutton (Redstoke Rovers) [Adventure]
(CF) Ishmael (Darbury Rangers) [The Wizard]
(CF) Wally Brand (Midford City) [The Rover]

(Manager) Ritchie (Radwick Rangers) [The Hotspur]


A few of these lads are being asked to play slightly out of position, mainly because I don't recall any serial having a full back as the star player. But hey, if they are good enough they can play anywhere.

Nice footballing XI. You could do without full-backs by using a 3-5-2 formation.

Jonny Whizz wrote:Nice footballing XI. You could do without full-backs by using a 3-5-2 formation.

I've got two backs already. Wouldn't that give me another? To be fair, Jonny, I was working to your suggested 2-3-5 formation but my thinking was also a bit more up to date. Both my full backs are teenagers so they will be brimful of energy. They are my overlapping backs and my box-to-box wide midfielders at one and the same time. The formation is not quite 0-5-5 though because, although Ritchie always encouraged individual thinking from his players, I'm sure he would never allow both backs to go forward at the same time. So it's 1-4-5 then.

One of the co-authors, Robert Frankland, has contacted me and stated that he was annoyed that the above synopsis went out without his approval, "so many mistakes". He has kindly supplied the official press release.

FOOTBALL’S COMIC BOOK HEROES
The Ultimate Fantasy Footballers

by Adam Riches
with Tim Parker and Robert Frankland

Price: £19.99 (Hardback)
Publication Date: 3 September 2009

Football’s Comic Book Heroes is a lavishly illustrated book that will appeal to readers both young and old. Rather than simply repeating the storylines of ‘the usual suspects’ it looks at the development of the football comic genre, and highlights the contribution of the heroes who graced the pages of the comics, from the earliest days through to the modern-day heroes.

Football played a major part in establishing the comics, with publishers satisfying demand from an insatiable readership by creating more and more titles, and more and more football heroes. Football’s Comic Book Heroes traces this rise; from the early days to the 1950s, when some titles were achieving weekly sales that ran into millions, to the decline, when titles began to disappear in the 1980s.
In the UK during the 1950s, the estimated annual sales of comics was 350 million copies. This is often called the Golden Age by publishers and readers alike. Today, although the comics have gone, the characters linger on.

In addition to the latter-day heroes, readers will be able read of the exploits of, among others, the Blue Crusaders, who graced the pages of Boy’s Realm in the early 1900s; Meg Foster, the first female football star; Breezy Nelson, who thrilled readers during the pre-war years; and, from the Golden Age, Arnold Tabbs, Bouncing Briggs, Gorgeous Gus, and many more. The timeless Roy Race, Hot-shot Hamish and Limp-Along Leslie are all represented in the pages of this remarkable trip down memory lane.

Authors Adam Riches, Tim Parker and Robert Frankland have enjoyed unlimited access to the archives of D C Thomson, IPC Media and Egmont, all major publishers of boys’ comics, plus the collections of private individuals.