Review: SCRAPS No.2

I spent a pleasant Saturday lunch hour today reading Scraps No.2 which editor and designer (and my old mentor) Mike Higgs kindly sent me. I'd given it a plug a few weeks ago but now I've seen a copy it's even better than I'd anticipated.

With 16 pages in full colour, on glossy paper with superb reproduction, Scraps is an excellent magazine about vintage (mostly) British comics. It may be a slim publication but every page is packed with info and long-forgotten bits of comic history. The lead feature is an article about The Falcon, which ran in Radio Fun comic. It's very informative (I had no idea the character had sprung from the Inspector Stanley prose stories) and well illustrated. There's even a photograph of a free gift based on The Falcon, - or 'The Winged Avenger' as he was known in his seven year stint as a costumed superhero. (No relation to The Winged Avenger episode later seen in The Avengers TV series... except for the name... and a similar cape design. Hmmm.) 

I also enjoyed the scans of original artwork of Gerald Swan comics, from Peter Hansen's collection. The standout pieces being two never-before-published cover roughs by Bert Hill, which are each reproduced full page size. 

Peter also contributes an article on Ron Embleton, surely one of the greatest artists to grace comics. This is nicely illustrated with several samples from across Embleton's career.

It's not all about UK comics. There's a Comic ODD ments article which lives up to its name by featuring redesigned Danish Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel strips, and samples of a Captain Marvel Jr. strip produced by Albert Uderzo for the French market.

There's also a brand new Yesterfiles mini-strip by Mike Higgs. All in all, Scraps is a great mag that should be of interest to genuine comics enthusiasts who are willing to broaden their knowledge of comics history. 

How to get a copy? It's free for customers who buy original artwork from Blasé Books, or visit Phil Clarke's table at the London or Birmingham comic marts. Alternatively you can buy it by post.

"If anyone would like a copy sent to them", say the editors, "it would be appreciated if you would tape a £2 coin in your written request to cover the cost of post and packing. Send this to the Blasé Books address:

Blasé Books, Hazelwood, Birchfield Road, REDDITCH B97 6PU.

"We like to do things in the good old fashioned way".

The only downside of Scraps is that it's published so infrequently. More please!

Here comes SCRAPS No.2

Two years ago, Blasé Books published the magazine Scraps No.1, and the idea was that it would be an irregular publication. True to its word, the long awaited second issue will be published any day now, and it sounds like it'll be another enjoyable and informative read for true aficionados of comics.

Contents of Scraps No.2 include:

• A Yesterfiles strip on football, written and drawn by Mike Higgs.

• A feature, also by Mike, on the 'winged avenger' superhero phase of Radio Fun's The Falcon strip.

• A couple of vintage American ads that use comic strip characters.

• A look at some Gerald Swan original art. 

• Peter Hansen's homage to the late, great Ron Embleton.

• Foreign language incarnations of the Captain Marvel Jr and Mary Marvel characters.

• A homage to cartoonist H. Louis Diamond by Denis Gifford.

The issue will have 16 pages in full colour and will be free for customers who buy original artwork from Blasé, or visit Phil Clarke's table at the London or Birmingham comic marts.

"If anyone would like a copy sent to them", say the editors, "it would be appreciated if you would tape a £2 coin in your written request to cover the cost of post and packing. Send this to the Blasé Books address:

Blasé Books, Hazelwood, Birchfield Road, REDDITCH B97 6PU.

"We like to do things in the good old fashioned way".

At a time when most info about comics is found online, it's good to hear of a printed magazine covering comics nostalgia. Best of luck to Scraps!

Flashback to 1909: SCRAPS

Scraps was published by James Henderson and Sons from 1883 to 1910. This issue is dated January 23rd 1909, and I bought it from Denis Gifford over 30 years ago. As you can see from some of the photos here the edges of the pages are very fragile but the paper itself is still supple. It hasn't deteriorated much since I bought it as I've kept it in a box but clearly it had been manhandled a bit over the decades.

Strictly speaking it's not a comic, but it does feature several complete comic strips which make it worthy of inclusion in the history of British comics. (Its rival Comic Cuts actually nicked some cartoons from Scraps for its first issues, so there's that connection too.) Let's take a look at some of the pages. 

Quite a bumper format compared to the 8 pagers such as Comic Cuts and Chips, this issue of Scraps had 20 pages including its salmon-pink covers.  Inside, the paper opened onto a title page containing various cartoons and short strips. 

The contents (of this issue at least) were 40% cartoons/strips and 60% text stories/anecdotes/features etc. Here are a few more of the cartoon/strip pages. Click on them to see them larger...

Much of the humour seems stilted, incomprehensible, or in places perhaps just unfunny to modern tastes. Such is the changing nature of social satire/comedy. Some of the cartoons are almost certainly reprints from overseas but I think most of them display enough of British culture for them to be definitely home grown. 

Some pieces are signed, others not. I've found some information on a couple of the artists:
Edgar A. Holloway: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Alfred_Holloway

E.G. Lutz, American artist: http://alphabettenthletter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/creator-eg-lutz.html

On the back page, an advert for Beecham's Pills, a laxative. Advertisements in papers of a century ago were often focused on the digestive system and cures for constipation. These days strips feature fart jokes so the pills must have worked.