BLIMEY! The Blog of British Comics: Ilustrated Chips

Showing posts with label Ilustrated Chips. Show all posts

Sunday, December 22, 2019

The Christmas CHIPS (1939)

Here's my final Christmas choice for this season, and indeed forever, as Blimey! will end on December 31st so there'll be no festive covers from me next year. Therefore I thought I'd make sure this last choice is a good 'un! We travel back in time 80 years to this week in 1939 where this wonderful edition of Chips was in newsagents across the UK.

We all have our favourite eras for comics but there's no denying that the 1930s were a fantastic period for beautifully drawn Christmas logos. Percy Cocking has put everything into this title design; Father Christmas, decorations, stockings, holly, crackers, Christmas pud, the traditional slap-up feed, and even an appearance by the editor, Fred Cordwell, in the top left there hosting the event. And yes, characters were frequently shown smoking and drinking in kids' comics back then!

Percy Cocking was also the artist on the Weary Willie and Tired Tim strip. Two of the very earliest comics characters who'd been around since Tom Browne created them in 1896. They appeared on the front cover of Chips until its final issue in 1953.

Tucked away on page two was the editorial, and a sad reminder of the era this comic was published in. It was 1939, war had begun, and the editor makes references to evacuees, and those in the forces...

Chips was in its usual 8 page tabloid format on pink paper and the centre pages had an array of tightly packed humour strips. Here's a sample...

Ivor Klue the Great Detective, drawn by Albert Pease...

Casey Court, also by Albert Pease (he was very good wasn't he)...

Pa Perkins and his son Percy, by Bertie Brown...

Homeless Hector... often by Bertie Brown but I'm not sure who drew this one...

There was also a small advert for that year's Radio Fun Annual. The price of half a crown (12 and a half pence) would have been quite expensive back then...

By the way, I don't know how many of you noticed, but I put Weary Willie and Tired Tim, and Homeless Hector, into the Cor!! Buster Humour Special as little cameos. I'm intending to do the same again in the Buster strip I'm drawing for next year's Cor!! Buster Easter Special. Gotta keep those old characters alive!

I hope you've enjoyed this festive selection. I'll be doing a handful of posts after Christmas but the blog will cease to be updated after 31st December. See you soon and may I wish you a Happy Christmas!

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Thursday, January 25, 2018

CHIPS cover (1939)

I'm a bit busy at present but I didn't want the week to pass by without posting something from the history of comics, so here's a quick scan of the cover to Chips No.2527, dated February 11th 1939 (published on Wednesday Feb.8th). It featured those long-running cover stars Weary Willie and Tired Tim and was drawn by Percy Cocking.

Comics only had 8 pages back then, so they really packed a lot in for the reader's money. A very busy cover with some smashing cartoon work. And yes, it really was printed on pink paper. Definitely a cheap and cheerful comic!

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While I'm at it, I'll give a plug for my other blog. (Hey, I promote the work of others often enough so why not plug my own?) Drop by there sometime and have a look:
http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.co.uk

Saturday, February 25, 2017

The origin of Weary Willie and Tired Tim

The first Willie and Tim strip, 1896, scanned from The Penguin Book of Comics (1971).

Tom Browne was the most influential artist who worked in comics in the late 19th/early 20th Century. He created Weary Willie and Tired Tim, the two affable wandering tramps who were the cover stars of Illustrated Chips from 1896 to its final issue in 1953. Browne himself only drew the strip until 1909, (succeeded by Percy Cocking) but it inspired many imitators and Browne's art style was also imitated by numerous artists.

Certain characteristics of his style; the body language and mannerisms, are still evident in British comics today because they've been handed down from artist to artist, whether consciously or not. I certainly recognise that some of the gestures and facial expressions of my characters stem back to Tom Browne's initial template, although I would never regard my abilities as anywhere near his league of course.

In 1909 one of the Brush, Pen and Pencil series of books on artists focused on Tom Browne. I have the second edition, from 1930, and although it mainly covers Browne's other endeavours such as his paintings and magazine illustration, there is a mention of his famous Weary Willie and Tired Tim strip. I've scanned the relevant pages for you to read. Click to enlarge them...

It says that Tom Browne moved on from the strip in 1909, although it's worth bearing in mind that he sadly passed away a year later so illness may have played a part. We can only speculate on whether he would have returned to comics had he lived longer than his all-too-short 39 years.

I wrote a longer piece on Tom Browne a few years ago, and you can read it here:
https://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/tribute-to-tom-browne.html

I was honoured to hear from Mr.Browne's great-grandson and family after I wrote that piece.

I'll be showing more of Tom Browne's illustration work soon.

Friday, June 01, 2012

This week in 1953: Coronation comics

As you might expect, British comics that were on sale this week 59 years ago in 1953 were full of celebratory strips for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth. Here's the cover of Knockout No.744 with its Deed-a-Day Danny strip which I think is by Hugh McNeill although other artists did often ghost it apparently...

Knockout carried a good balance of humour and adventure strips plus prose stories. Only the humour strips featured a Coronation theme though. Here's Billy Bunter by Frank Minnitt from the days before Reg Parlett put his own distinctive stamp on the character...

Apparently many families bought their first TV set so they could watch the Coronation. Those that didn't have a TV flocked to a neighbour's house who did, as reflected in this superbly drawn Mike strip by Eric Roberts...

The often bizarre, always amusing Our Ernie used the theme of a street party to kick off this week's odd adventure.

On the back page, the rubbery animated style of Reg Wooton illustrates Sporty. (Yes, the back page carried the Knockout logo as well. A good move to possibly thwart any newsagent who carelessly placed it back to front.)

Over in Chips that same week in 1953, issue No.2983 had a specially illustrated logo for its 'Grand Coronation Number'. Good natured tramps Weary Willie and Tired Tim end up having a great Coronation day, no thanks to the efforts of the unfortunately named Dickie Diddler. Art by Percy Cocking...

Chips' 16 pages had several strips themed around the big day. Truth be told, some of the plots had a distinct similarity, - characters endeavouring (and succeeding) to see the Royal procession. Dickie Duffer the Dunce, by Albert Pease, was no exception. The other strip on that page, Rudolf the Red-Nosed Ranger (by Arthur Martin) was perhaps stretching things a bit by showing cowboys celebrating the occasion.

Casey Court, a long established favourite, showed a street party carrying on well into the night. Great work by Albert Pease who also drew Jimmy Joy the TV Boy beneath it...

Sammy Sprockett and his Pocket Rocket showed that even people on other planets were keen to catch the Coronation. Art (and probably script) by Denis Gifford. Smashing work. Below it, Sally Sunshine and her Shadow pre-dates Whizzer and Chips' Me and My Shadow by more than a decade, although Sally's shadow seems completely superfluous to the plot in this episode. Artwork again by the excellent Albert Pease...

A nice busy page coming up next featuring Pa Perkins and Percy and Homeless Hector and Moonlight Moggie, both by Bertie Brown, along with Philpot Bottles (Offis Boy) and the real editorial next to it. These editorials, one jokey, one straight, may seem outdated today but they served an important purpose in connecting with the readers and making them feel like they were being treated as equals. Stan Lee mastered a similar thing of course in the 'Bullpen Bulletins' pages of 1960s Marvel Comics, mirrored by 'Alf, Bart and Cos' in the pages of Smash! and other Odhams comics in the same decade.

Last but not least, Merry Molly Andrews 'The Pretty Girl Ventriloquist', although with it being a text story Molly could look like a bulldog chewing a wasp and we'd be none the wiser. Sharing the page is a short Peter Quiz strip by Arthur Martin and the only advert in the entire comic, promoting Kellogg's Corn Flakes.

A good edition of Chips, but sadly not enough to boost its sales as the comic ceased publication a few months later in September 1953. Although a run of 63 years is nothing to be sniffed at and deserving of a celebration in itself!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

This week in... 1947

Beginning a new series of occasional features where I'll be looking back at a few strips from one or more classic comics related to the coming week. This time, it's the copy of Illustrated Chips that went on sale exactly 65 years ago this week in March 1947.

The first thing you may have noticed is that the issue number combines two editions and is No.2805/2806. However the page count remained the usual 8 pages. Paper rationing was still in force in these post-war years and because of this, Chips was one of the comics on a fortnightly frequency, but in March 1947 it skipped another two weeks. It seems the editor felt a four week gap necessitated a double number. (You'll note the date is also combined: March 15th/29th. The following issue wouldn't appear for another month and would be dated April 12th. After that it resumed fortnightly production.)

The cover strip, Weary Willie and Tired Tim, is by the brilliant Percy Cocking. Note that smoking is portrayed without any concern for health, as was the norm in those days.

Smoking was also a plot device in one of the interior strips, Peter Quiz, with "Marmaduke the man-hole man" asking young Peter for a light! The typical cause-and-effect sequence stretches credibility (just how weak is that lamp post?) but it's nicely drawn by Arthur Martin.

Advertisements didn't feature too heavily in these 8 page comics thankfully but this issue carried a quarter page advert pointing out the nutritional value of Mars bars! (Different varieties then too, with vanilla in some and nuts in others - in those pre-Marathon/Snickers days.) Sadly it's unlikely you'll see ads for chocolate in today's comics due to tighter guidelines on advertising to children.

The usual lively back page of Chips was an excellent way to end the comic until the following issue. Casey Court this time made light of fox hunting whilst the Alfie the Air Tramp strip by John Jukes saw Alfie meet celebrity Ginger Podgers. (Why use real star Ginger Rodgers when you can get an extra laugh by spoofing her name?)

Another classic flashback next week (time willing)!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Christmas Comics: CHIPS (1942)

We've arrived at our final destination on the long time trip through Christmas comics of the past. It's December 1942 and in the dark days of the war comics are doing their bit to brighten the spirits of the young generation. Illustrated Chips and The Joker modified its logo for issue 2,695 to adorn its cover with a special festive title, the Chips Merry Xmas Number. Underneath the logo, The Christmas Antics of Weary Willie and Tired Tim (Chips' cover stars since Tom Browne created them in 1896) were drawn by Percy Cocking from 1909 until the final issue in 1953!

At this time, Chips, like most wartime comics, had reduced its frequency from weekly to fortnightly. By this stage of the war the comic's humour strips were trying to distract readers from the grimness of warfare but the text story Home for Xmas tried to put an uplifting aspect on the situation.

The Editor's message also tried to be warming and upbeat, reflecting the hopes of many that the war would soon be over.

Dane the Dog Detective was a predecessor to The Dandy's Black Bob and his text story tales ran in Chips for many years. Here he's involved in the Mystery at Mistletoe Manor.

As always, the centre pages of Chips were packed with several short humour strips. Here's a few from this issue. (Apologies for any flaws in the scans of this fragile old comic.) Firstly, Pa Perkins and his Son Percy, drawn by Bertie Brown...

Professor Jolly and his Magic Brolly by H.E. Pease...

Homeless Hector (and his puss pal Moonlight Moggie) also by Bertie Brown...

Dickie Duffer by Albert Pease...

Pages 6 and 7 featured more text stories plus a poem by "Philpot Bottles" Chips' fictional office boy.

The back page provided a great finalé to the issue. I'm sure The Casey Court Xmas Party must have given readers lots of pleasure studying the busy illustration. Beneath, The Merry Skylarks of Alfie the Air Tramp (a strip that Chips had inherited from Joker comic) is by John Jukes I believe.

And that brings us to the end of this series of festive flashbacks. I hope you've enjoyed all the Christmas strips I've shown this past few weeks (all scanned from my own collection, not from books or other sites). If you're not already heartily sick of snow-topped logos and humour involving Christmas puddings there are more Christmas covers and stories in the Blimey archive. (Check the sidebar of this blog for December postings of other years.)

Incidentally, today marks the fifth anniversary of this blog, so I'd like to thank you all for visiting Blimey, whether you're a new visitor or someone who's been following the blog for the last five years. After the frantic pace of the last few days I'm taking a break for a short time now but will return with more comics from the past and present in the not too distant future.

In the meantime may I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous 2012!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Days of Thrills and Laughter

The photograph above is taken from the excellent book Great British Comics by Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury. It originally appeared in the Daily Mirror in 1943 and shows kids queuing for their comics outside a newsagent. British comics were so popular back then that due to wartime paper rationing supplies were limited and sold out quickly. Therefore the newsagent in question (and, no doubt others) sold them only at 9.30 on Saturday mornings, with eager kids forming long queues to buy the latest Champion, Dandy, Funny Wonder or any of the other classics of the era. As you can see, this was the high point of Saturday mornings for some children. Comics seemed essential back then.

How times have changed!

The recent news of falling circulations, particularly that of The Dandy, has brought forth lots of comment and speculation these past few weeks. Everyone has an opinion, from concerned comic fans, to experienced professionals, to a few ever-vindictive people on the periphery of comics. Some have focused mainly on content, accusing The Dandy of featuring "poor artwork", and they have that right to that opinion of course (just as others should have the right to contradict them without fear of venom). What they don't have a right to is making nasty, venomous personal comments about artists, and good on Jamie Smart for standing up to that attitude the other day. (Not that it did much good as it brought forth more bile from some quarters, but it also encouraged constructive criticism and positive comments about The Dandy so it was worth it.)

Naturally content does play a part in the popularity of a comic. When I was a kid I'd usually skip the strips I didn't like (eg: The Steel Commando) but there'd usually be something in there (eg: Adam Eterno) which kept me coming back for more. Obviously some kids and their parents will drop a comic completely if they dislike the strips, especially at today's prices. However we need to look at the bigger picture to appreciate that sales on practically every publication, comics, magazines or newspapers, have fallen over the years. Sales of Dandy and Beano have been falling since the 1950s! Clearly, there's more to the situation than modern art styles not appealing to some kids.

Sales of comic have been falling for decades. Some of today's critics forget that many of the titles they hold up as exemplary examples of How Comics Should Be Done didn't actually last very long. (Monster Fun, School Fun, Shiver & Shake, and Jag to name but four.) Proof, sadly, that a top quality product has never been a guarantee of success. In a perfect world it would be, but it isn't in reality.

The early comics, Illustrated Chips and Comic Cuts, ran for over sixty years before succumbing to changing trends in the 1950s. Some post-war titles had a longevity of 20+ years, such as Buster, Topper, Victor, Bunty, Whizzer & Chips etc. (With Eagle coming close at 19 years.) Many other comics only lasted for a few years tops, some only a few months. Talent was never a guarantee of success. Master craftsmen such as Eric Bradbury and Joe Colquhoun could be working on big sellers such as Lion (which ran for over 20 years), but also on failures such as Thunder and Jet (which ran for 22 weeks). A sobering thought for those who insist that "content is king".

That said, even comics that only ran for a few years, such as Oink!, were not considered complete failures. Over the decades, as sales continued to slide, a run of two to five years was considered a success. Publishers knew to lower their expectations, focusing on licensed comics for (hopefully) quick hits before moving onto the next fad.

So although content and art styles might play a part in a comic's fate, it's by no means the main reason. Here's a few other factors to consider:

Distraction.
For the kids in the photo at the top of this post, comics were pretty much the only provider of their escapism. Today, kids have a multitude of distractions; TV, DVD's, games, mobile phones, the Internet, sports centres, and, very often, solvent parents who can afford to take them on trips at weekends. Flat pictures on paper must seem very primitive in comparison. The more distractions kids have had, the more sales of comics have fallen. Coincidence?

Falling literacy
A disturbing factor is the falling standard of literacy amongst children. This in itself is worthy of wider debate but it's bound to play a part in comic sales. Indeed, some UK comics themselves have become "younger" in tone to try and appeal to struggling readers but conversely this may have a negative effect in putting off better readers who consider such tactics "babyish". Ironically it could be argued that today's children need comics more than ever, as an entertaining stimulus to reading. (After all, I'm sure many of us advanced our reading abilities due to comics. I certainly did.)

Price
Comics used to be approximately the same price as a bar of chocolate or a packet of crisps. Today, that would mean a comic should be about 60p. Unfortunately they're between £1.50 and £3.99, an inevitable result of retail giants charging huge sums for shelf space and falling circulations causing higher unit price costs.

Format
Originally, the standard format for comics (from about 1890 to the 1930s) was eight tabloid pages crammed with strips and text stories. Eventually the popularity of a smaller format such as the approx A4 size of Film Fun and the Dandy and Beano became the norm, with page counts increasing. (Then decreasing due to wartime paper rationing.) By the mid 1960s, the 32 page comic was becoming the norm. However that's hardly changed since. Perhaps 32 pages today seems too flimsy for kids? With graphic novels such as The Rainbow Orchid, the Cinebook line of Euro reprints and Manga proving popular perhaps books are the way forward, as they are in other countries?

Visibility
Time was when comics were displayed flat on the newsagent's counter, beside the daily papers and right next to the til. A perfect position for "impulse purchases"; seeing something that catches your eye as you're at the counter, which you buy before you've had chance to change your mind. Over the years, positioning changed, with comics relegated to other parts of the shop. In the larger shops, such as Smiths or Asda, comics are often crammed into areas far too small to accommodate all the titles effectively. It's a viscous circle; falling sales have meant that shops give comics less priority, but giving them less priority means sales fall even more.

Promotion
In 1960s and 1970s, with TV being the big rival of comics, it made sense for publishers to advertise their titles on television. With only two or three channels, and only one of those being a commercial channel, it was a fair bet that most kids in the country would see an ad for Sparky No1, or for the latest free gift in The Wizard. Even though only a percentage of those viewers would buy the comic, it was enough to allow publishers to justify the expense of TV advertising. Newspaper advertising was also often used, with ads for new titles taking up anything from a small corner box to a full page. (It helped that the Daily Mirror and Odhams were part of the same group, but D.C. Thomson also advertised Bunty in the Mirror.) A very effective way to grab the attention of parents. However, as sales of comics continued to fall in the 1980s, and print-runs decreased, it was no longer practical to pay for expensive TV and newspaper advertising. Therefore comics had to hope that in the main passing trade and word of mouth would be sufficient. Hardly reliable at all.

Changing Habits
The standard frequency for British comics was almost always weekly, until a couple of decades ago. I remember a senior IPC editor in the early 1980s saying they would never even consider a monthly comic because a month seemed a long time for a child and the reader could easily forget about the comic in that time. However, due to falling circulations making weekly comics less economical, fortnightly and monthly frequencies replaced most of the weekly schedules. Publishers were damned either way; weeklies were too expensive to keep going, but monthlies carried the risk of losing reader loyalty. This may be another reason for The Dandy's falling sales since it went weekly; have children simply gotten out of the habit of a weekly comic fix?

The end of continued stories
One thing that used to hook the reader was the use of serial stories. The exciting cliff-hangers of comics such as Valiant, Tammy, and Lion were a great way to bring back those readers the following Saturday. Unfortunately continued stories tended to go out of favour somewhat, due to readers drifting between different titles. That said, Egmont's Sonic the Comic managed to keep the momentum going and proved to be a big hit for the company, as did Marvel UK's Transformers in the 1980s. Both were fortnightly comics. This proves that if it's managed well, with the right characters and creators, a serial comic can still attract loyal followers, even with 14 day gaps between episodes.

Retail attitudes
I know some fans think that publishers should just put out more product and experiment to see what sticks. If it was that simple, we'd see a return to the days of the 1960s/70s with new comics appearing all the time. Sadly, the retail system has changed. Today, publishers are more at the mercy of retail giants who are only interested in license-based comics and titles with cover mounts (or bagged toys). It really is a struggle to get a new comic off the ground, and extremely expensive. I wish those critics who heap scorn on the industry would try it themselves. (And I hope all of those critics will put their money where their mouth is and support Strip Magazine when it launches next month, - an original, non-licensed UK comic.)

The British attitude to comics
Unlike in France, where comics are regarded as the Ninth Art, the British have always regarded them as childish trash. The industry itself isn't blameless in this, as, for the most part, comics have been simple lowbrow entertainment for children produced to a factory system. That of course does not mean the content shouldn't be respected, (anything that cheers up a child should surely be praised) but most people in the UK don't give a damn about that. (A newsagent once questioned why I was always buying children's comics. I cheerfully told him I was one of the artists on the comics. His female assistant muttered "Why would anyone want to do THAT for a job?" as though it was akin to drowning kittens.) Over the decades, as less and less people in the UK read comics, respect for the medium falls even more.

Fanbase
Even though sales of American comics are also down, they still have a loyal fanbase which keeps hundreds of titles afloat. Fandom for British comics has never been as united, or as numerous. The UK industry itself is partly to blame for this because it never had anyone with the vision or editorial freedom of a Stan Lee to bring in the right mixture of characterization and sophistication with a united "universe" of comics. In Britain, comics mainly focused on comics for the very young, so there was nowhere for readers to go once they grew out of those comics... except towards the rival American comics. (There have been a few exceptions, such as Warrior and 2000AD, and the Marvel UK titles of course.) This was fine when children's comics were selling huge numbers, but once tastes began to change there was less to keep readers interested. Even British fandom is mainly an extension of American fandom, with conventions focusing mostly on US product because naturally most adult attendees are not interested in UK comics aimed at eight year olds. Subsequently fans of UK comics are often only interested in comics of their own nostalgia.

The recession
Need I say more?

Toys with free comics?
Years ago, free gifts in comics were a special treat. They'd accompany the first three issues of a new comic and then be given on rare occasions known then in the trade as "boom issues" (with a new look or new stories to boost its circulation). As sales slipped, free gifts became more frequent in the 1980s. Several years back, Lucky Bag Comic presented a comic and several gifts enclosed in a plastic bag. Initially it sold well, and soon other publishers were following suit. Today, practically every children's comic and magazine comes in a sealed plastic bag with an increasing number of plastic toys, cards, stickers etc. Publishers have found that a bagged comic sells better than one without, despite the fact that kids can't even browse through the comic before buying it, and despite prices often being higher depending on the number of "gifts"! (At least they no longer all them free gifts.)

That's why The Dandy's brave move of putting out a non-bagged, no-gift weekly should be respected. For all the parents who complained about "plastic tat" and comics costing over two quid The Dandy gives 100% comics for £1.50. Unfortunately it seems that kids today expect a gift with their comic so occasionally The Dandy has started to do gift issues again, often with extra pages, for a higher price. (Usually during school holiday periods.) Those issues appear to sell higher than average.

It seems you can't go back to the old days, so the only way is to go forward. Small press and independent comics are improving both in sales and quality but the big question is; where do commercial British comics go from here? Pessimists are predicting the end, but if the history of British comics tells us anything it's that comics adapt to survive.

To discover more about the rich history of British comics I thoroughly recommend the aforementioned book Great British Comics by Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury. It's packed with examples of comics from over the past 100+ years with a well-researched commentary by the authors. It was published in 2006 but is still available from Amazon.

UPDATE 16/9/2011:
On his own blog, John Freeman has opened a forum regarding the Dandy situation:
http://downthetubes.ning.com/forum/topics/the-dandy-cause-for-concern

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Running from 2006 to 2019, BLIMEY! was dedicated to British comics past and present. The images of old comics on my blog are copyright their respective publishers and are only used here for review purposes. They have been scanned from my own personal comics collection, in over 50 years of collecting.The prose articles, with the exception of press releases, are Copyright © Lew Stringer and must not be reproduced without permission.