Denis Gifford and his collection (1985)

Here's something I noticed on You Tube recently. It's a short item from a TV programme called Thames News from October 1985 featuring comics historian/cartoonist Denis Gifford, filmed in his house with his huge collection. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HiYe6VdtOx0

I'd heard how Denis had so many comics that some were even piled on top of the cooker and if you watch the film you'll see the evidence. I must admit my own house is getting pretty full of stuff (although I don't keep everything these days) but the kitchen is still comics-free so far! 

Of course Denis put his collection to good use as it served as research for his numerous books on comics. The one shown in the news item is The Complete Catalogue of British Comics which I bought back then and has been invaluable in my own research.

The Catalogue featured nearly 100 pages of small cover images of comics from over the decades, plus a 112 page listing of almost every British comic title published up to that point. It provided dates of each comic's launch, key issues, final issues, mergers etc, plus notable artists involved. It also served as a price guide, although most of the prices soon became way out of date of course. (£20 - £50 for Beano No.1?!)

Denis' books had the occasional error here and there, which really was inevitable when researching so much material, but they were essential for those of us interested in the history of British comics. I've often used them for reference in checking facts for this blog. In fact this blog wouldn't even exist if such books by Denis and other comics experts hadn't stimulated my fascination with comics history. 

Sadly Denis passed away in the year 2000 but others such as Ray Moore, Steve Holland, Alan Clark, Derek Marsden, Mike Morely, Phil Clarke, Mike Higgs, Paul Gravett and more have continued to write about British comics history from the early days to the present. And long may such books continue!

Comic Oddities: MELVIN'S MONEY FUN (1981)

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...

http://petergraycartoonsandcomics.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/money-fun-comic-no2-april-1983.html

Books about comics - Part 2

As with part 1 of this feature (see here) I'm looking at some of the books about British comics which inspired this blog.

The History of the British Newspaper Strip by Denis Gifford was published in 1971. I picked up this copy years later, which must be a second printing as the copy I'd seen in my local library years earlier had been called Stap Me! (an expression from the Just Jake strip). See here for that version's cover.

Anyway, it's an good little book that gives readers a taste of the history of the UK newspaper strip, from well known favourites such as Pip, Squeak and Wilfrid...

...to more obscure ones such as Hylda Baker's Diary by Dennis Collins...

In 1983 the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood held an exhibition of Victorian 'Penny Dreadfuls' and comics from over the years. I went along and bought this souvenir, Penny Dreadfuls and Comics, a 124 page softback on the history of the publications.

Well illustrated, the book showed various covers from the 19th Century prose publications...

...to the (then) more contemporary comics...

...with accompanying text and information...

1983 also saw the publication of The Comic Art of Roy Wilson, a superb hardback written and compiled by Alan Clark and David Ashford...

This book was a revelation to me, showing what a fantastic artist Roy Wilson was, with numerous pages and covers of his work reproduced throughout...

The historians had even uncovered some unseen pieces of Wilson's art, such as these character sketches for the Smarty character that the artist probably used for reference while he was drawing the strip for TV Fun in 1954...

Even more revealing was this unfinished page, possibly intended as a frontispiece for an Amalgamated Press annual, but abandoned halfway through for some reason...

Three years later, in 1986, Alan Clark produced a companion book, The Comic Art of Reg Parlett, covering the popular artist's 60 years in comics...

The book is a great testament to the quality and versatility of Parlett's work, from his early days...

...up to strips that many of us will be familiar with...

It also showed some of his sketches, including these trial drawings Parlett did when he was designing the Whiskers the Wizard character for Wonder in 1944...

The final book in this selection is The Wonderful World of Film Fun, by Graham King and Ron Saxby, that was published in 1985. I remember being so fascinated by the story of this long-running comic that I read the entire book in one sitting.

The book is comprised of short chapters, each on a theme...

...with plenty of full strips reproduced...

It was only when I started pulling out various books to research this post that I realised there have been so many written on the history of comics over the years. I really ought to arrange the ones I have properly one day and put them all in the same bookcase instead of in various rooms as they are at present. If I included the ones on American comics too we'd be here forever but I'll show a few more about British comics soon!  

Books about comics - Part 1

This is the first of an occasional series of posts where I'll be giving a brief look to the books on comic history that inspired me, and which are well worth seeking out on eBay, car boot sales or wherever you're likely to find old books. 

The book that kicked off my interest was The Penguin Book of Comics, which I've already blogged about several years ago (see here). That same Christmas (1971) I also had the book Superman from the Thirties to the Seventies, a whopping 386 page softback reprinting many Superman strips up to that point. (There was also a Batman companion volume but I didn't have that book until its second printing in 1979.)

Superman from the Thirties to the Seventies had a nine page introduction by E.Nelson Bridwell, followed by page after page of classic comic strips.

Most of the pages were in black and white, but I didn't mind that at all as it gave the reader a better focus on the artwork.

After the Penguin book and this, I was always on the lookout for any books on the history of comics. A few years later, in 1975, when I should have been researching for my 'O' Levels, I found two books in the local library that I found so fascinating that I used to borrow them as often as I could. One of them was Discovering Comics by Denis Gifford...

This small, pocket-size 64 page softback was only a very brief tour through the history of comics but it still proved invaluable for anyone interested in the subject. 

It was here where I first read about horror comics, with Gifford briefly touching upon the 'vigorous' campaign against them. I wanted to find out more, but all the book provided was the cover to the American edition of The Vault of Horror No.12 (first issue) opposite a cover of the nursery comic The Rainbow!

One very useful part of Discovering Comics was Denis Gifford's listing of the cover dates of all the new comics that were launched between 1960 to June 1971. There are a few omissions including Commando, which is ironic considering that's the only 1960s comic still being published today.

The other book I found in my library was Happy Days: 100 Years of Comics, also by Denis Gifford. A nice big 128 page hardback, light on text, but with plenty of reprinted covers from across the decades.

It was mostly in black and white or single coloured ink, but that didn't matter as the book was a visual treat of comic covers...

Those books were out of print when I found them but years later I picked up Discovering Comics at a second hand bookshop and Happy Days was reprinted in 1988.

In 1978 Leo Baxendale's autobiography A Very Funny Business was published. What an excellent book! In this 136 page softback, Leo took us through his development as an artist, told us anecdotes about the business, covered other key artists in comics (such as Davy Law and Ken Reid), and pulled back the curtain on a behind-the-scenes look at the British comics industry. 

It was also well illustrated with sharply reproduced examples of his work along with pages by other artists.

A Very Funny Business was instrumental in playing a key part in inspiring me to submit work to comics and also clued me in as to what to expect (eg: no payments for reprints). The book was quite an eye-opener - and a very good read too.

All of these books are long out of print now of course but they're all worth looking out for second hand. I'll post on the subject of a few more Books about Comics at a later date.  

Captain Universe No.1 (1954)

Independent comics proliferated in the UK in the years after World War 2. There were still restrictions on certain imports, including American comics (although some did filter through) so British publishers gained the rights to produce UK reprints of many US titles. They also created their own American-style comics, and numerous British superheroes began to appear. One of them was Captain Universe.

Captain Universe No.1 appeared in 1954 by The Arnold Book Company, a publisher based in London's Piccadilly. It was drawn (and perhaps created?) by Mick Anglo, who that same year had created Marvelman. There were similarities to Marvelman too, with Captain Universe's alter ego shouting a magic word to transform into the hero, and the character's seemingly infinite powers.

Here's the story to read for yourselves. It's a strange dreamlike tale with random occurrences and a cheery disregard for basic science. Captain Universe himself proves to be quite brutal, who ends up destroying an entire world! "It was a hard decision to make" he claims, even though we've just seen that it clearly wasn't. As for the 'Horror Plant' of the title, - it appears in just one panel and the Captain dismisses it with "G'wan! Lay off!". Some horror! 

Other stories in this 28 page comic feature Lt. Mike Miller of Homicide and a Western with Rocky Colt and Red Feather. Here are the opening pages...

There's also a one page True Space Facts page by Denis Gifford, who seemed to be in everything in those days!

One thing that Captain Universe didn't have in common with Marvelman was longevity. Issue 2 was the last. However, he did turn up decades later in a cameo appearance in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, as seen here. 

You can read the story from Captain Universe No.2 in the book Great British Fantasy Comic Book Heroes, published by Ugly Duckling Press.