Andy Capp in Buster

When Buster comic was launched in 1960, it was sub-titled 'Son of Andy Capp'. That's because Buster, who remained the cover star for the entire comics run, was supposed to be the son of the popular Daily Mirror comic character - Andy Capp! This was also a great technique to attract readers from the newspaper. There was an ad in The Daily Mirror underneath an Andy Capp strip advertising the comic! It stated that Buster is "a real chip off the old block" and he is a "mischievous you devil"! Even though the subtitle didn't last long, Andy Capp did make a few appearences in Buster, the first of which was on 18th June, where Mr. Capp was trying to fix a gas leak in the oven! Art by Bill Titcombe.

Instead of a match, our fun loving pal comes back with a torch, but not quite any old torch...!

Now admittedly I don't own every early issue of Buster (apparently Andy appeared in the July 2nd issue), but my next Andy Capp appearence is from 16th July. Also drawn by Bill Titcombe, this time Andy gives his son a "fick ear"!

Sadly Andy Capp didn't appear again, but a few refrences were still made towards him, even after the subtitle had being dropped. The name Buster's house for example, is 'Capp Cottage'! Art by Hugh McNeill.

Even though Buster's dad didn't appear in the comic anymore, his mum (otherwise known as Flo)did. She appeared regulary since the start, and would continue to appear throughout the comics life! Here's an example by Tom Paterson, where she's a bit thinner than the early days! 

Rarely, Buster would even appear in Andy Capp's strip in The Daily Mirror! I've only known this to happen once, and that was to celebrate 35 years of Buster comic!