There were comics before the 50s and 60s but I would say that this period was the highpoint of their popularity. The Dandy and The Beano had actually started in 1937 together with other children’s comics but paper and ink shortages during the War put paid to most of the others. So they were my introduction to this world. Both were published by DC Thomson in Dundee who went on to become the major player in the industry. At the height of their popularity the Dandy and Beano had sales of two million copies a week.
Characters from these comics became, and have remained, part of the British landscape. Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx, Beryl the Peril, Desperate Dan and his cow pie (I believe there is a statue to Dan in Dundee). And, of course, The Bash Street Kids.
I have to relate this story:
Leo Baxendale was born near Preston, his first job was as an artist for the Lancashire Evening Post. After reading a Dennis the Menace strip, Baxendale submitted a portfolio to the Beano and in 1953 he created Minnie the Minx. DC Thomson then wanted him to create a new strip based on a crowd of children pouring out of school.
Baxendale remembered walking along Fishergate in Preston and by the time he had arrived at his bus stop he had it all worked out. Yes, The Bash Street Kids were born just round the corner from me.
 |
| the Bash Street Kids pouring out of school |
Incidentally, when he was persuaded to move to Dundee he imagined a life behind a desk in the offices of D C Thomson. The reality was that the staff would move all the desks to one side and play keepie uppie whilst ideas for the strip were literally kicked around and the Chief Sub-Editor took notes.
I should mention that the other big seller at the time was The Eagle but I never did find that to my taste and I can’t even remember reading it other than once or twice.
I should also mention that there was a flourishing market for girl’s comics at the same time. Titles such as Bunty and Judy. I used to enjoy reading my sister’s copies if they had stories about ponies.
As time passed I moved on to titles that I believe had a more formative role in my later reading tastes. All published by DC Thomson. Those Saturday mornings waiting for the latest issues of the Victor and the Hotspur and rushing home to find out what adventures Wilson the Wonder Athlete, Bernard Briggs, Gorgeous Gus, Sergeant Matt Braddock and of course Alf Tupper, Tough of the Track.
Whatever his job and wherever it was located, Alf was the eternal underdog. Regarded as a guttersnipe by the posh blokes from the Amateur Athletic Association, he was at his best the day after a night on late shift, lifting heavy objects and getting little sleep. His journey to the track (often White City) almost invariably involved falling asleep on the train and missing his stop.
Sometimes this was caused by skullduggery of the worst kind by stuck-up rich boys from a university somewhere, but usually it was because he could not stop himself from rescuing people in distress or just generally being a selfless chap. Regardless of this, he always got there in the nick of time and, having just finished his fish and chips, went on to win the championships or even break the world record for the mile and utter his famous catchphrase ‘I ran 'em all!’
 |
| Alf Tupper, tough of the track |
Which brings me to the following poem by Adrian Hogan:
Heroes
The splat of The Rover on lino
- Thursday’s breakfast serials.
Eccentric, rebellious, lone
fighters of lost causes. Alf Tupper,
my favourite. All week I’d wonder,
had he run, plimmyless, belly full
of chips, toes in tatters, been spiked
in sight of glory by Chinless Charles
double-barrelled born to win?
Or had Alf run in hobnailed boots
after a rivetting forty hours straight
thrashing metal into shape
saving the gasworks, welding
machines to life with the flame
of his oxy-acetylene torch?
My dad was an Alf lacking
the gift of Bannister legs
and lungs. But would Tupper
have coped with a wife, six kids
and every day the same cliff-hanger?
Smiths Knoll Issue 10. 1995
Thanks for reading, Terry Q.
4 comments:
I loved Beano and Dandy comics, never got into the girlie ones, i was the only girl in our street growing up so i played all boys games and was one of the gang, till at around seven years old they noticed I was a girl and didnt let me play with them any more. I was gutted, then a new family moved into the street with 3 girls who played with Barbie and Cindy dolls. They werent impressed with my mechano set!
Your piece certainly brought back some great memories for me. Thanks ����
My brother used to get Beano and so we both read it. He hoarded them and years later when I became a teacher I took a lot of them into school for the kids to read during wet playtimes.
I like the sound of Alf Tupper running ‘plimmyless’ 😂
Very good Terry, written with your customary wit and style. (Would you not regard your pension as form of pocket money?) As I've stated in my comments on other 'Magazine' blogs, we were never allowed to buy comics with our pocket money but I did occasionally read them at friends' houses, so was painfully aware of what I was missing. Fun! I made up for it later. I used to buy Beano every week when I was at university and I even have a hairy Gnasher badge with moving eyes somewhere in my badge drawer.(Everyone has a badge drawer, don't they?)
The account of the genesis of the Bash Street Kids was fascinating, and to think he came from Preston, fantastic. I love that comics were affectionately satirical of life, class differences, generational divides et cetera and I admire the skill and inventiveness of comic strip artists. I was at uni with Steve Bell, whose strips like 'Maggie's Farm' used to enliven the Guardian.
I really enjoyed your blog, including the Adrian Hogan poem. Thanks.
Post a Comment