An Oddball View of Comic History

Comic publishers of the 1970s and 80s had a variety of mechanisms for publicising their titles. TV advertising was very expensive so was reserved for comic launches only. Having ensnared kids into regularly purchasing a comic, the publishers would include advertisements for other comics from their line in the hope of inculcating a weekly multi-comic habit. Cross-title promotions such as Mini-Comics or Star Guest were also employed.

However, there was another oft-used device whereby the comic strips themselves featured characters reading companion comics. It wasn't uncommon for a Buster character to be depicted enjoying a copy of Whoopee! or Whizzer and Chips and so forth.

This example is a little different. Rather than showing Odd-Ball and Nobby perusing copies of contemporary titles, Terry Bave chooses to show his protagonists delving into a pile of 'old comics'. The titles that our heroes select from among the yellowing piles of funny papers are Cor!! (which had ceased weekly publication in June 1974) and Krazy (the weekly expired in April 1978). Most readers of this 02 November 1985 issue of Whizzer and Chips wouldn't remember the weeklies, but some may have been aware of the titles from the annual versions which continued being published into the mid-1980s. Nice that Terry gave a nod to comics history, though.

Art: Terry Bave

Thanks for bearing with me as I went slightly off-topic. Will be firmly back on-topic with the next post.

None but The Bave

Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed Terry's autobiography. Written in a warm, friendly style that won't surprise fans of his warm, friendly comic art, Terry recounts his life in cartoons, from his initial influences (Walt Disney's Snow White and Fantasia were early inspirations) to a detailed history of his
comic strips. There are plenty of examples of his work, ranging from Terry's first submission to a publication (The Daily Mirror, who rejected it!) in 1947, up to his strips for DC Thomson in the 2000s, plus birthday cards, posters and one-off gags. Several interesting examples of Terry 'ghosting' on strips he didn't usually draw are also featured.

Terry's wife Shiela's important role in the success of his cartoon work is apparent, and I was impressed to learn of the market research that the pair carried out when developing new strip ideas.

From a Cheeky perspective I was pleased to see that Calculator Kid isn't ignored. I did, however, notice a couple of errors in the publication dates given for Krazy and Cheeky Weekly.

Among the recollections in the book is the occasion on which Terry was surprised to read his own obituary!

Terry is frank about the contraction and eventual demise of IPC as the 20th century drew to an end. I particularly liked the title of the chapter covering Terry's move to DC Thomson as the IPC empire fragmented, 'Whizzer Has Its Chips and Winker Takes a Bow',

The 300-page book includes a comprehensive list of Terry's strips in weeklies, annuals and specials.

Highly recommended to the many fans of the mighty Mr Bave and anyone interested in the history of British comics, the book can be ordered here, and his blog lives here.

Terry Bave's new book!

Head over to Wacky Comics for some exciting news about Terry Bave, one of the all-time comic greats (not to mention contributor to Cheeky Weekly). I've put my order in!

Terry Bave's Cheeky

From Whoopee! dated 10 October 1981 comes this extract from the second instalment of Terry Bave's How To Draw Comic Strips cut-out booklet, allowing us a glimpse of his version of our toothy pal.

Alongside Cheeky are Terry's versions of other stars who shared Whoopee's pages at the time, some of whom were survivors of the merge of Cheeky Weekly into Whoopee! which occurred in February 1980.  The top row of characters consists of Toy Boy (who was regularly drawn by Terry),  the bibliophile titular character from the Bookworm feature (usually drawn by Sid Burgon), Archie from the Lolly Pop strip (also by Sid at this time although Terry seems to channeling an earlier version from the days when Arthur Martin did the visuals) and Charlie from the Calculator Kid feature (another of Terry's strips), who can also be seen in his distinctive yellow tracksuit top on the booklet's back cover - see below.  Then there's a row of lower halves which feature the young caver from The Cavers (I don't think he was ever named in the strip, which was drawn by Jim Petrie), Jack Clayton's Paddywack from the strip of the same name, Tom Paterson's Sweeny Toddler, who was actually bumped from this particular issue by Terry's booklet, and the distinctive lower portion of Mustapha Million, who was drawn in Whoopee! at this time by Joe McCaffrey.

The final row of faces commences with a familiar toothy gagster, followed by Nick Baker's Smiler, Mike Lacey's Billy Bumpkin from The Bumpkin Billionaires, and Gran who had regenerated from 6 Million Dollar Gran into Robot Granny by the time this issue was published, and was drawn in the weekly strip by Ian Knox.

This was the second of Terry's How To Draw Comic Strips booklets to feature in Whoopee!  Terry was a stalwart of IPC's comics at this time, and I really enjoy his style of drawing, which is particularly appealing when he depicts characters with beaming smiles.

Whoopee! 03 October 1981