Childhood Comics and Annuals

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Rob Houghton
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Re: Childhood Comics and Annuals

Post by Rob Houghton »

KEVP wrote:In the USA, there never was such a thing as an "annual". What always surprised me was that in the UK, there would be annuals for American TV shows. Like the Dukes of Hazzard!
yes - I had Scooby Doo annuals, Muppet Show annuals, Wacky Races annual, Flintstones annual, Tom and jerry annuals and Mickey Mouse annuals amongst others.
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: Childhood Comics and Annuals

Post by KEVP »

The two characters named "Dennis the Menace" are completely different.

They are drawn completely differently. The UK one lives in the UK, the USA one lives in the USA. The UK one is slightly more "vicious", that is he is something of a bully. The USA one is mischievous, and often when he tries to help it just goes wrong. The supporting casts are completely different--the UK one has a dog named Gnasher, the USA one is usually terrorizing a next door neighbor named Mr. Wilson. And so on and so on.

The USA one was invented by a cartoonist named Hank Ketcham, and inspired by his four year old son named Dennis. The UK one was invented by the staff of the Beano. There is no reason to think that they were in any way in contact with each other.

The USA one debuted in a cartoon on March 12, 1951. The UK one debuted in the issue of the Beano dated March 17, 1951, but which seems to have gone on sale on March 12.

It's just one of those bizarre coincidences.
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Re: Childhood Comics and Annuals

Post by pete9012S »

I don't think the US Dennis is very well known in the UK? The story behind the two characters is rather interesting as KEVP correctly noted above.

The Odd Case of Dennis the Menace:

https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2010/10 ... he-menace/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
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Re: Childhood Comics and Annuals

Post by Rob Houghton »

Anyway as far as I'm aware, the name change has nothing to do with there being two Dennis the Menaces - but to do with the fact he is being repackaged for the 21st century and the word 'Menace' is considered a little unsavoury and not positive role-model material for 2017. :lol:
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Domino
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Re: Childhood Comics and Annuals

Post by Domino »

The US series, 'Dennis the Menace' was shown on ITV, but was re-named 'Just Dennis' for the UK, so as not to cause confusion with the Beano character.

Ronald 'Carl' Giles was a cartoonist who drew daily political and/or topical cartoons for the Daily Express and Sunday Express from 1943. Annual collections of the cartoons were published from 1946 and continued after his death in 1995. They regularly featured the Giles kids, who were always very naughty, and the naughtiest one was a dead ringer for Dennis the Menace from the Beano.
Here he is on the cover of the 1962 collection. I've marked him with a blue arrow.

Image

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Re: Childhood Comics and Annuals

Post by pete9012S »

Image

Interesting posts Rob and Dave. Many thanks. I hope Roger The Dodger doesn't get sanitised?
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane -

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Re: Childhood Comics and Annuals

Post by Domino »

I've just discovered that the 'Dennis the Menace' style character drawn by Giles was called Larry, and he lived next door to the cartoon Giles family.

Dave
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Rob Houghton
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Re: Childhood Comics and Annuals

Post by Rob Houghton »

Roger the Dodger was another favourite - along with Billy Whizz, Sid's Snake, Joker and Buster. :D
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: Childhood Comics and Annuals

Post by KEVP »

I like how the comics kept gradually merging.

There was "Whizzer and Chips". This one like to pretend that they were two comics "Whizzer" and "Chips". There was supposed to be a rivalry between them, but they had always been together "Whizzer and Chips". I preferred a comic called "Krazy". Then one day "Krazy" merged with "Whizzer and Chips", so for a time it was called "Whizzer and Chips with Krazy". Then that merged with another favorite of mine, "Whoopee!"

I guess they had to keep merging them like this as sales kept dropping.
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Rob Houghton
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Re: Childhood Comics and Annuals

Post by Rob Houghton »

Yes - I loved Whizzer and Chips - and also Whoopee! I have many annuals of them both. In time, another comic, 'Wow!' came out - didn't last that long, before it merged with Whoopee! and became 'Whoopee and Wow' for a while! :lol:

The rivalry between 'Whizzer' and 'Chips' was very clever, and seemed to add something to the comic. I remember that characters from one would 'sneak' into the other, and it was a regular feature that you had to try and spot the rival characters hiding in scenes from the opposition's comic strips! :-D
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: Childhood Comics and Annuals

Post by Stephen »

I was staying with my parents last week, and was ploughing through some of my sister's old girls' annuals. Full of horror, sci-fi and just plain weirdness, some of the stories could be incredibly creepy and disturbing. And they were very well written. The unnerving fairground story from Tammy 1983 (anyone read it?) is utterly engaging and would make a great drama. As for Judy 1983, it's essentially a cross between The Twilight Zone and Tales of the Unexpected! The occasional comedy interlude is actually quite welcome because the stories in between are so intense.

Brought back many fond memories!
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Childhood Comics and Annuals

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I've got quite a lot of annuals of that sort - Tammy, Judy, Jinty, Diana, Misty and others. I loved the creepy stories best of all as a child. The artwork in some of the annuals is attractive too, especially Diana and Misty. I used to wish I had "strange powers" like the girls in some of the stories, even though their abilities often led them into danger.
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Re: Childhood Comics and Annuals

Post by Stephen »

I can certainly recommend Misty 1982! First World War era children staying with their oddly dressed aunt in a creepy house. A girl with an old mirror whose reflection appears to have a life of its own. The infamous Countess Bathory in modern day Central Europe (reading this annual was the first time I'd ever heard of her). And a new girl from Greece starting at school who bore an uncanny resemblance to the statue of an ancient Greek goddess...

Do you remember Valda in (I think) Mandy? She had special powers from a magic crystal and could turn up anywhere in the world and used her superhuman strengths to help people in trouble. It's not a criticism, but it always used to make me smile that as it was a comic strip as opposed to normal prose, you'd have secondary characters virtually narrating out loud what they were seeing. "She's jumped over that gorge, grabbed Jim and got him safely to the other side!"
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Re: Childhood Comics and Annuals

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I've got a complete set of Misty annuals and some of the stories are really chilling, though there are others which are promising to begin with but then fall flat.

Yes, I'm familiar with Valda from Mandy and I enjoy reading her stories, though the wording can be a little clumsy at times.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

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Re: Childhood Comics and Annuals

Post by joanne_chan »

Personally I'd like characters like (UK) Dennis the Menace left to be what the name suggests because he more often than not got his comeuppance and conceptually a menace that doesn't really doesn't make any sense.
I did get for Christmas (aka "Crimbo") the 60 years special on Minnie the Minx DC Thompson put out looking the history and development of that tomboyish girl.
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