Some comics slip under the radar because they're not available in newsagents or the usual outlets. One such comic was Melvin's Money Fun No.1, published by the Department of National Savings, and intended to encourage children to set up an account. Apparently it was given away at promotional stands, events and suchlike.
The 8 page glossy comic was edited by Denis Gifford and featured a fine selection of top comic artists. The cover strip, Chubby the Cub, was drawn by Chas Sinclair. One of his previous strips had been Basil Brush for TV Comic, and a few years after Money Fun he'd be drawing strips for Oink!
On page 3, Denis had commissioned the talents of veteran artist Wally Robertson to illustrate the return of classic 1950s character Sheerluck Jones...Across the centre pages was a well illustrated adventure tale, Saved from the North Sea! drawn by Jim Baikie, perhaps best known for his artwork on Skizz for 2000AD...Denis managed to fit in some of his own artwork too, contributing a half pager reviving his Koo Koo characters that had appeared in Whizzer and Chips in 1969...It's curious that there were so many old characters turning up in Money Fun. In Kiss of Life Kitty, drawn by the brilliant Brian Walker, we saw the return of Laurie and Trailer, Alfie the Air Tramp and others from the pages of the original Chips. Even Weary Willie and Tired Tim cameo in the final panel...The back page was a glorious finish to the comic by Basil Reynolds, proving that he was a master of both realistic and cartoon styles. Again, more old characters are brought back, with the return of Skit, Skat and The Captain from the 1930s in a brand new strip...All in all, a very nicely produced comic. The constant references to National Savings get old very fast but the appeal is in the novelty of the comic and its superb artwork. Denis sent the issue to the subscribers of his Association of Comics Enthusiasts (A.C.E.) newsletter, which is how I obtained a copy. In the accompanying newsletter, Denis explained the genesis of the project so I've reproduced that here for you to read. As with all images on this blog, click on it to enlarge...
UPDATE: Thanks for the reminder from John Wigmans that there was a second issue of Melvin's Money Fun published two years later in 1983! Peter Gray covered it on his blog several years ago...
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