Gordon Bell - 1934-2014, a mini tribute

By now most comic readers are probably aware that Gordon Bell left this world on the 13th of February, aged 79. One of the hallmarks of being a "great" comic artist is your work being easily identifiable as uniquely yours, and Gordon's style was DEFINITELY a unique one. Tributes to him abound (for example, here, here, here, here, here and here), and here's another one - beginning with the first bit of Gordon's work that I ever saw, from the first Beano annual I ever got:

Here's a self-portrait of sorts from the 1993 Topper annual:

And arguably his finest creation, that master of hokum, flim-flam, posh and poppycock, Spoofer McGraw:

RIP, Mr. Bell.

Low cost school trip, Ramraid Oxfam, "Christ that sun's hot", Yes that's right sir

I'll admit - it's been too bloody hot to be sitting in scanning comics and then writing about them. And somehow I've got a more active social life than I did this time last year, so that's why there's been nothing here for the past five weeks. I am (slowly) working on a "thing" about Zit, one of the more successful (as in, long-running) Viz clones, but I couldn't let this week pass un-noted, oh no. It's been 368 days since I started this blog thing, and in that time it's gotten thirty-four more "followers" than I was expecting, and around 28,000 more "views" than I was expecting, so thanks a lot to everyone, even if you've just stumbled across here whilst looking for something else.

If we all went to the same pubs, I'd happily get a round in, happily!

Meanwhile, just to tide things over (a weird bit of news last week led a handful of people into believing I had died), here's the Beano from the week I was born, in its entirity. Once the rain makes a return, I'll get back to "archiving" all those smutty comics.

Plugging for George

Back in November, I told him over at Wacky Comics that I'd put some more stuff from Plug up here. Naturally, I forgot all about it until yesterday, so here we go. What's three months between folk?

A Sparky Xmas

Ah, Sparky - a comic that ended before I was born, and that I've only recently been able to "get into" properly through the wonders of eBay. There was always reprints before then, of course - through Classics From The Comics and the various annual hardbacks put out by DC Thomson under the Dandy Beano banner (or The Beano & The Dandy in more recent years).

One such annual, published in 1993 and given the title of Magic Moments is possibly my favourite of the lot. Here it is:

Got this on Christmas Day, 1993 (get it yourself for a penny - another last minute gift idea!). A big colourful book collecting memorable (or just plain good) bits from the Beano, Dandy, Beezer, Topper and Sparky, including a whole bunch of festive-themed bits for each comic. I've been reading this book every December now for a good few years - it's like a nostalgic look back at a book full of nostalgia (ha!). Anyway, this book is, as far as I can remember, where I first encountered anything to do with Sparky. And here are several of the Xmassy-Sparky strips that are featured in this book:

Gordon Bell's Spoofer McGraw there (every single one of these is a classic) - that fireside chat in the opening panel remains one of the cosiest scenes I've ever seen in a comic.

Dreamy Daniel (also from Gordon Bell), like the Beano's Les Pretend only with less costumes and more dangerous departations from reality (his Easter-based adventure in the same book's also a goody, but it's not Easter right now so we're not allowed to talk about it).

Malcolm Judge's Baron Von Reichs-Pudding - an aerial battle between the Kaiser's dopiest baron and Father Christmas himself. Great punchline on this one! 

John Geering's Puss an' Boots - not only does it look the business, the dialogue's just as hilarious as the drawings (particularly Puss's plea of "DON'T HIT ME!").

L-Cars, a couple of inept (yet ingenious) police officers from Bill Hill - nice little twist at the end of this one.

The thing with Sparky (L-Cars and Puss an' Boots in particular) is that the characters are a lot less one-dimensional than their contemporaries - Puss an' Boots go through extremes of rage, cowardice and sarcasm, whilst Cedric and Frederic of the L-Cars go through childlike idealism, utter despair and, occasionally, moments of true heroism. Sort of like comparing Bugs Bunny to Mickey Mouse, in a way. Providing we survive the end of the world and make it through to 2013, I endeavour to get more Sparky into my life!

Minor Dandy Obscurities

Just one more quick Dandy thing before it's all over (not to say there won't be Dandy-based stuff here in the future - it's just I like to work with loose themes). Here are several things that appeared in the comic during the late 1980s and early 1990s - and they don't seem to be remembered by most people. I like them anyway - and if you DO remember them, good for you!

First up is James, the World's Worst Schoolboy, by Jimmy Glen. I've talked about him before, but this one's worth seeing:

It's the complete lack of sense that's amusing with this one, and also the bit with the teacher crying. Really it's just nine funny pictures, but it's fun.

Richard's Snitch (by... Gordon Bell?) is just plain odd. A boy with a big nose, and that big nose has a face. And a mind of its own.

From the 1986 Summer Special is this Kath & Mouse, a set of characters I've never seen anywhere else. Reading this one as a seven-year-old stirred up a variety of confusing new feelings, so there's that.

Why is there a tentacle under the bed?

And finally, another nice bit of Tom Paterson-based joy. The World's Daftest Discoveries with David Chattenborough was a series of splash pages packed with all sorts of jokes, silly words and strange things to look at. The third of these featured "The Hairy Highland Haggis Hatchery of Glen MacHyooch":

One day, some sensible person will collect the complete works of Mr. Paterson and put them into a massive heavy book. One day.

The Bog Paper - fit to wipe with?

In 1989, the UK arm of Marvel made a couple of efforts to "get in on" the humour comic racket. One of these attempts, It's Wicked!, took the Monster Fun approach of having all its characters embody "spooky" characteristics, and whilst mostly dull, it had its moments. The OTHER comic launched in 1989 (and not even lasting as long as It's Wicked!, which didn't make it to its 20th issue) went for a theme that everyone can relate to:

Yep, it's The Bog Paper, the comic of toilets, shitting, pissing and farting. Is it as bad as it sounds? Squat down and find out!

A quick plug for Plug

Here's another short-lived DC Thomson comic (there's a lot of them!) - this one based around the sporting adventures of Percival Proudfoot Plugsley, aka. Plug from the Bash Street Kids. I only have the one issue (they seem to be scarce), so everything I know about it is based on this one here, and Graham Kibble-White's mostly excellent Ultimate Book of British Comics. What I do know is that it lasted from 1977 to 1979, it was expensive for the time, and it eventually got swallowed up by the Beezer.

Let's have a mug...