Childhood Comics and Annuals

[Anita Bensoussane]

While in WHSmith I noticed that Egmont have brought out a special edition of Misty comic, which originally came out weekly in the 1970s-80s and contained spooky stories for girls. Special editions of a few other comics are also available:

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As a child I sometimes read a friend's copy of Misty and also bought the annuals, but my sister and I were really Jinty fans (though we tried Tammy and Judy for a while and occasionally I would read a friend's Penny). Jinty, which we read in the late 1970s – early 80s, had a great mixture of stories – spooky, sporty, science-fiction, family, rags to riches, etc. Two of my favourites, which were published when I was about nine, were 'Alice in a Strange Land' and 'Combing Her Golden Hair.' 'Alice in a Strange Land' reminded me a little of Blyton's The Secret Mountain. A group of schoolgirls (including the Alice of the title) went on a trip abroad and, when their plane crashed in the jungle, there were no adult survivors. The girls discovered a "lost race" living in underground caves and passages, who planned to sacrifice one of the girls to their sun-god. Explorers from the Victorian era also lived there, keeping eternally young by drinking from a sacred spring. Exciting stuff! 'Combing Her Golden Hair' was about a girl who lived with her strict grandmother. The grandmother made her wear unflattering glasses (although her granddaughter had perfect vision), plaited her hair tightly and refused to let her attend swimming lessons at school. It turned out that the girl's mother was a mermaid who was vain, selfish and icy-hearted, and the grandmother wanted to prevent the girl turning out like her mother!

Before becoming a "Jinty girl" I had read Playhour, enjoying the colourful illustrations and stories revolving around characters like Wizard Weazle, Tommy Trouble, Bonnie and her Cats and Moony from the Moon. There was also a pink elephant called, unless my memory is playing tricks on me, Pinkie Puff! He was blessed with an extraordinarily long trunk! Best of all was Toad of Toad Hall, based on Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows. I loved the plump, mischievous Toad, however reckless and arrogant he may be. On the title strip each week there were pictures of Toad wearing different outfits and I used to cut them out and stick them in a scrapbook. It may have been my early affection for the pompous but fun-loving Toad that made me lose my heart to Fatty so readily when I encountered the Find-Outers books. I could see some of Toad's qualities in him! (No wonder Goon calls him "That Toad of a boy!")

What comics did other forumites read as youngsters?

Anita

[lizarfau]

Moony from the Moon! Oh yes, I loved him as a kid. The comics I read as a really little kid were Teddy Bear, Playhour and Twinkle, then I read Tammy, Bunty and Sandie. Then I moved on to Jackie and the brilliant Pink. Occasionally I'd buy comics like Beano, Dandy and one called Cor.

[Fiona1986]

I started with Playdays which sometimes my dad would read to my sister and I at bed time, and then i Girl Talk which was full of bunnies, puppies, kittens and stickers of flowers. Then it was Mizz which had the tagline Life Lads and Laughs. Moved on to Sneak which sadly stopped being published in 2006, and now I just read whichever trashy fashion/celeb mag I fancy.

[Stephen]

I used to regularly get the Beezer as a child. My favourite strips were Colonel Blink (a very short sighted irascible war veteran), the Badd Lads (a trio of pretty useless gangsters), and the Numbskulls (a group of tiny beings living inside an unsuspecting man's head controlling him like a giant vehicle).

My sister got the Dandy, so we'd do a straight swap every week, but I never liked it as much. All the characters - Desperate Dan, the Jocks and the Geordies, Bully Beef and Chips used to get on my nerves!

Occasionally read the Beano. I think the Bash Street Kids were my favourite strip. Some of their stories used to border on the surreal. I like the way the teacher would go home still wearing his mortar board and that his wife was apparently called Mrs Teacher! And one day when I was in my 20s, I had a flick through my little brother's Beano and laughed out loud at one minor sight gag in the Bash Street Kids. It was hilarious even to an adult!

[Lenoir]

I also read Playhour at one time, but a long time ago. I remember Toad of Toad Hall and a few other stories. I still have a Playhour annual which I have just pulled out of the archives (yes, I also have a cave of sorts), and I see there is a Moony story in it. I wouldn’t have remembered him without reading the above posts. He could change shape like one of Dolmann’s puppets (Metallo) could in Valiant.

I then moved onto Valiant. A great comic with fine art work and fantastic stories, for example The Steel Claw, which always ended at a tense moment so you couldn’t wait for the next instalment.

I also read other comics when I could get my hands on them. I remember Tiger, and also The Beano, my favourite strip here being Babyface Finlayson. I think The Beano is a comic that appeals to all age groups.

[Moonraker]

I used to regularly get the Beezer as a child. My favourite strips were Colonel Blink (a very short sighted irascible war veteran), the Badd Lads (a trio of pretty useless gangsters), and the Numbskulls (a group of tiny beings living inside an unsuspecting man's head controlling him like a giant vehicle).

Ah, sweet memories. "Colonel Blink - the short-sighted gink!" I was always fascinated by what appeared to be a huge bone going through his nose. The Beezer was my favourite comic - a broadsheet, in the 50s, as was The Topper - Mickey the Monkey on the front page. Pop, Dick & Harry was on the back (or was that The Beezer?). I also took Buster. I was never that keen on The Beano or Dandy, and didn't like the more macho-style comics such as Hotspur and Valiant.

[Julie2owlsdene]

I didn't read any comics But when Jackie first came out I used to get that every week. Can't remember the year now.

But I do remember getting the annuals at Christmas, Bunty it was called.

[Ming]

Tintin! Nothing beats Tintin comics.

[Moonraker]

Tintin stands alone in a world of its own! Not sure about the comics, but my younger son has all of the books, including the one (can't remember the name) that wasn't released in English.

[Stephen]

In the earliest editions of the Beezer I got (from about 1983), there was a strip called 'Barney's Barmy Army' featuring a platoon of WW2 soldiers in Occupied Europe. Well I never realised until years later when looking at an old copy that it was almost certainly a comic take off of Dad's Army! Captain Barney looked pretty much like Captain Mainwaring, and there was a really old soldier called Bodger who, despite his great age got into all kinds of acrobatic mishaps in the style of Corporal Jones.

Childhood comic plagiarism, and none of the target audience noticed!

[Smuggler's Top]

My main comics, when I were a wee lad, was Whizzer & Chips and Whoopee with my favourite characters being Super Mum, Pongo Snodgrass and Sweeney Toddler.

I also got to read other comics every now and again, and fondly remember The Numbskulls, something that quite possibly behind the Eddie Murphy movie Meet Dave. But The Numbskulls were funnier.

[Stephen]

My main comics, when I were a wee lad, was Whizzer & Chips and Whoopee with my favourite characters being Super Mum, Pongo Snodgrass and Sweeney Toddler.

I also got to read other comics every now and again, and fondly remember The Numbskulls, something that quite possibly behind the Eddie Murphy movie Meet Dave. But The Numbskulls were funnier.

I occasionally read Whizzer and Chips, which had the novel idea of the two rival comics in one. You were either a Whizz-Kid or a Chipite, depending on which one you preferred. But I never actually realised you could separate them around the staples. I always assumed that Whizzer was just a few pages whereas Chips was everything that followed. So obviously there were going to be more Chipites because Chips was twice as big as Whizzer!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I never read Whizzer and Chips but I remember seeing it. I didn't realise it was two rival comics in one. It's good to see that a few people here remember Playhour.

Antia

[Eddie Muir]

The first comics I can remember reading were the Dandy and Beano from around 1948. Both comics are still going strong after more than 70 years. The date of the first Dandy comic was 4th December 1937 and the first Beano came out the following year on 30th July 1938. These first issues are worth several thousand pounds each and needless to say are extremely rare. In fact, Dandy No 1 (complete with its free gift: an Express Whistler) fetched a whopping £20,350 at auction in 2004. This is a world record price for any comic!

[Stephen]

I was reading a second hand copy of the Beezer Annual 1982 the other night - and it actually made me, a thirtysomething man laugh out loud! Especially the Badd Lads, and the Hillys and the Billys. Not just because of the innocent, sublime stories, but because children of only a few decades ago were being invited to laugh at a group of bankrobbers, and two feuding families of cowboys shooting guns at one another!

Is there anything comparable in today's children's comics?