This Week In: 1969, 1971 and 1972!

I've a rather special post today because I head back to three different years, (I was hoping to do four, but I don't have a comic from this week in 1970), and take a look at not one, not two, but FOUR different comics! I'll dive straight into it, and the first comic I'll be taking a look at is Joe 90 issue #11, dated 29th March 1969! This comic was a bit pricier than other comics, costing you 8D to purchase.

Of course, the star of Joe 90 is Joe 90, and, as advertised on the cover, this week's adventure takes him to the Himalayas in an exciting three-page adventure!

The highlight of the comic for me is the Star Trek strip, which appeared on the centre spread in full colour! Since I last reviewed Joe 90 comic (here), I've seen a few Star Trek films and episodes, and it's not too bad! I believe Harry Lindfield was the artist for this strip.

And finally, here's an interesting advert from inside the comic for Joe 90 Kellog's Sugar Smacks. If you collected two packet tops plus sent along 8/11 you could get yourself a "Super model of Mac's car"! Whether or not this caught on I don't know, but many readers would already have a model of Mac's car as it was given away with the first issue, although it wouldn't surprise me if many of them had since been lost or destroyed.

If you are a fan of Joe 90, I believe it is possible (as with most programs) to buy all the episodes on Video or DVD. I found this old video amongst a load of others nobody watches anymore!

Moving on, and the next comic I'm going to cover is The Dandy, and this issue, numbered #1427, went on sale on the 29th March 1969. This issue would set you back you just 4D, half the cost of Joe 90.

Moving inside and the first strip we see is Desperate Dan, this is one of the very last episodes Dudley Watkins ever drew, as he died in the August of that year.

An interesting strip is The Purple Cloud, which is about the World's master crook - The Purple Mask! The purple cloud is some kind of chemical gas that can eat its way through anything to help the Purple Mask to escape! I think I remember reading that the strip was illustrated by Charlie Grigg (of Korky the Cat fame), but can anybody confirm this?

Bodger the Bookworm is an interesting strip, and is very similar to the better known Bookworm who started in Whoopee.

The third comic I've got lined up is the Cor comic that went on sale this week in 1971, or 27th March 1971 to be exact! Decimalisation was just coming in around the time this comic went on sale, and you could buy the comic for 8D or 3 1/2 new pence!

Football themed strips are always good, and Cor had Football Madd, which was about a young boy named Micky Madd who was, well, football mad! I'm not sure who the artist was for this strip was, my first guess would be Mike Brown, by Irmantas over at Kazoop suggested Peter Davidson. Does anybody know for sure?

I'll also show Whacky, not only because the artwork is brilliant (the artist is Mike Lacey), but also because he shares the same name as this blog!

And interestingly, Jack Pott didn't start in the comic Jackpot, but instead his origins can be traced back to Cor! Joe McCaffrey illustrated his adventures.

Moving on now to our final comic - TV Action. This issue is dated Week Ending 1st April 1972, and cost 5p.

Dr. Who and the Daleks were the stars of the cover, and the strip continued inside, illustrated by Gerry Haylock. It ends on a very exciting cliff-hanger, with the T.A.R.D.I.S plunging straight into the heart of the sun!

Stingray was a very well illustrated and coloured strip, although I'm not sure who the artist was.

That sums up a look at these four different comics. Whilst I was writing it up an idea occurred to me - why don't I write a blog post like this, but of the same comic over a period of four or five years. This would show how tastes changed and how the comic evolved to show that. It's just an idea for now, but stay tuned!

44 Years Ago: Joe 90 Comic Is Launched!

Joe 90 was a television show from the hands of Gerry Anderson. It launched in September 1968 but the final episode was shown only a few months later in April 1969. However, three months before it finished Joe 90 comic was launched, or going by its full name - Gerry Anderson's Joe 90 [Top Secret]. For 8D you got 20 pages, six of which were in full colour and a free gift - Mac's Jet Car Kit! Now I don't own the original free gift, but I managed to find a photo of one somewhere on the net.

Instructions on how to make the car, along with a few facts, were to be found inside.

The first strip is called Joe 90, and is basically a Joe 90 adventure in which he has to retrieve some missiles from a sunken ship. The 'Joe Facts' at the top has nothing to do with the story, but basically gives you a little fact about a character or machine from the program.

The next strip is Ninepence + Tenpence = Sport. Whereas I'm sure they could have thought of a better name for the strip, the script is very good, as is the artwork that accompanies it.

Star Trek sits proudly in full colour in the centre spread, and has some of the best artwork in the comic (by Harry Lindfield?). I'm not really a huge fan of science fiction films so have never seen Star Trek, but this one was based on the television series and was probably the first taste of Star Trek many people in the U.K got.

Land Of The Giants was a popular strip based on the T.V show of the same name, and was the other full colour strip in the comic. Later on in the comic's short life it would become the main cover star, and some brilliant front cover illustrations were produced for it!

Here is a fantastic cover featuring a Land Of The Giants illustration presumably by Gerry Haylock, who drew the weekly strip.

The only advertisement I am going to mention is this one, which advertised the following issue of Joe 90 and the free gift that came with it. Again, I don't have the free gift, but I found scans of it on the net.

The back page was taken up with a full colour photograph of a Lotus racing car. The space could have been used better, but I like Lotus so it doesn't bother me too much.

Joe 90 [Top Secret] didn't last long, merging into TV21 after just 34 issues. There were a few spin offs from the comic, such as the Joe 90 Dossier shown below, but I'll take a look at those in another post.

One thing I will mention here however is the Joe 90 [Top Secret] Comic Annual. Although there were (to my knowledge) two other Joe 90 annuals, this was the only one related to the comic. It was released in 1969 (probably for 1970) and features a mix of comic strips, articles and jokes.

This was my first taste of Joe 90 and it originally cost 12'6 (or 62.5 'new pence', as decimalisation was just coming in), although I got it for £1.50 as a birthday present for my dad several years ago, but before giving it to him I took a read of it (of course)! It features some brilliantly interested strips, my favourite being Land Of The Giants, illustrated by an unknown artist.

If you'd like to find out more about the Joe 90 comic, I recommend two websites. The first one features a complete cover gallery, and the second, The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History, goes much more in depth.

http://www.bigrat.co.uk/merchandise/60s70s/comics.html

http://www.technodelic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Upload01/Joe90TS01.htm

Gerry Anderson Passes Away, Aged 83

Gerry Anderson's work has influenced comics hugely, and many of his characters including Thunderbirds, Stingray, Joe 90 and more have been made into fantastic strips appeareing in many different titles.

Unfortunalty, Gerry passed away at the age if 83 today, but his work lives on, both on television and in comics. Here is a fantastic UFO strip from Countdown issue four, illustrated by another Gerry - Gerry Haylock. 

Both Joe 90 and Lady Penelope got their very own comics in the 60's, but sadly neither of them lasted very long, folding almost as quckly as they had begun. 

If you have any comics that feature strips about Gerry's characters, take a few minutes to read or re-read them. Wether you're new to them or not, I'm sure you'll agree they're all fantastic!

You can read some very detailed articles about Gerry's work in British comics over on this site here:

http://www.technodelic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

R.I.P Gerry Anderson - 1929 - 2012