Smash and Odhams - Leo Baxendale Hands Over The Reins

Time to take a look at one of the absolute best comics the United Kingdom has ever produced - Smash. When Smash launched back in 1966, top artist Leo Baxendale was already overworked thanks to its sister comic Wham, which he was essentially illustrated cover to cover. 

Ok I exaggerate, but despite the workload he still managed to draw the front covers for first three issues of Smash (I shared a few pages from issue three here), all of which promoted the free gifts given away to help get the comic off its feet. Issue one came with a "Big Bang" carboard gun (quite a fun and somewhat common idea for a gift, but more on that here) and issue three had a "Phantom Fighter Jet". To be honest, I'm not quite sure what issue two had. I've pulled the scan of the front cover below from elsewhere and as you can see it says "TOP SECRET", but based on the clues it looks like a hopping cardboard frog. Fun!

Anyway, back on topic. After the gifts ran out, Baxendale pulled out a bright and exciting single panel featuring his character The Man From B.U.N.G.L.E. for issue four. The character is of course a silly parody of spy show The Man From UNCLE. However, he would only ever draw two of these covers for issues four and five, before handing over the reins. Below is the absolutely stunning front cover of issue five, and what Baxendale dubs among his last "official" work for Odhams. More on that in just a moment.

I can only imagine how seeing this front cover on the shelves in 1966 must have felt. As much as I love the Beano and Dandy, covers like these must have made them look dated in comparison. It couldn't be much different to how they made other comics look old fashioned when they hit the shelves in the 30s!

When issue six was published the following week, Baxendale's signature was not to be seen. Instead, I think it was the fabulously talented Ron Spencer who took over the immense task of filling his shoes. And credit where credit is due, he did a fantastic job. Below is the cover of issue six.

"

In his 1978 autobiography A Very Funny Business, Baxendale talks about these few Smash front covers. Rather than reword or summarise, I'll just let him do the talking: 

"While I was drawing all these features for Fleetway comics, I was producing a massive amount of 'undercover' work for Odhams. My last 'official' work for Odhams was the Eagle Eye episode in Wham no. 96, for 16 April 1966 (a lovely drawing). Wham's sister comic Smash had started on 6 February 1966. After drawing the first three special 'free gift' front covers for Smash, I created Man from Bungle as the permanent cover feature -- in an attractive big single-picture format. I only drew two of these, before handing over to somebody else. My Grimly Feendish character in Eagle Eye had proved very popular, so he was given a page of his own in Smash. I drew the first nine Grimly Feendish pages very rapidly, using a simplified variation of my normal drawing style. I gave Grimly some daft little subsidiary characters. This was an attractive strip, and was printed in full colour on the back cover of Smash. I also created Bad Penny (A Minnie-the-Minx-type character) as a double-page spread for Smash. These sets (along with the Eagle Eye episode for 16 April) were the last 'official' pages I drew for Odhams.

"I was by now in full spate for Fleetway. But I was reluctant to give up the lucrative Odhams market. Their rates of pay channelled large quantities of pages to Odhams via Mike Brown, a cartoon-film animator. I pencilled and Mike inked them in. One series we did in this manner was the Eagle Eye adventure which ran from 30 July to 7 September 1966. We turned out larger numbers of Grimly Feendish pages and Bad Penny sets in this way."

A Very Funny Business is a must-read for any
fan of British comics.

So for any young Smash fans who missed Baxendale's work once his stunning front covers ceased, all they had to do was flip over to the back page. Here are the Grimly Feendish strips for issues five and six respectively.

From Smash #5.

From Smash #6.

And finally, a quick look at Smash number 9. I'll show the front cover too, because Spencer has done a stunning job, but it's the back cover that is of real interest for this post. As Baxendale mentioned in the quote above, he drew nine Grimly Feendish pages "very rapidly". As such, that would make this back page his very last "official" work for Odhams and the wonderful Power comics.

Smash! No. 3 (1966)

I've never looked at an issue of Smash on this blog but today that changes as we dive into the pages of the third issue, dated 19th February 1966. It cost 7D, which seems like a lot of money, especially in comparison to The Dandy and The Beano that cost 3D, but then Smash did have eight more pages and was bigger in size. To add to the package was the free 'Flying Phantom Fighter', which Leo Baxendale's superb front cover piece promotes. I don't own the gift but here's an image of it:

Baxendale drew four pages in this issue and was drawing pages for Wham as well, so was a very busy man in 1966. His first strip inside is Bad Penny, an excellent two pages with lots of lovely detail.

Of course, I can't write about Smash and fail to mention Ken Reid's contribution. Queen of the Seas is a beautiful set with so much detail and depth that I'm sure I could feel the rocking of the boat as I read it!

Next up - Danger Mouse; no, not the animation but the comic strip version by Artie Jackson, which predates the television show by fifteen years!

To wrap up this post I'll leave you with the back page strip - Grimly Feendish by Leo Baxendale.

The Latest Phil Comics Auctions (May 2013)

200 separate auctions have been put up on ebay by comics dealer Phil Shrimpton, better known as Phil-Comics. Here is some of the best stuff.

The first thing that caught my eye when looking through was this very early Broons book from 1949. This is the fourth Broon annual and is very rare; already bidding has reached £100!

You can see a lot more photos of the book on at auction:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Broons-Book-Annual-1949-RARE-G-VG-Oor-Wullie-Dudley-Watkins-phil-comics-/360658876847?pt=UK_Books_comics_Magazines_UK_Comics_ET&hash=item53f8f1b9af

Next up is the 1963 Beano summer special, in fine - near mint condition! One in similar condition sold for £1,371 back in 2010, and going by the condition of this one I wouldn't be surprised if it sold for a similar amount - if not more. Saying that, I don't know how many people are willing to pay that much, maybe the one person who was has already got one.

There are some fantastic photos of this one so I'd recommend you check them out.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dandy-Beano-comic-Summer-Special-1963-1-RARE-FINE-phil-comics-/360658879783?pt=UK_Books_comics_Magazines_UK_Comics_ET&hash=item53f8f1c527

Also in great condition is this Dandy Monster Annual from 1947, which has been graded fine - fine + condition.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dandy-Monster-Comic-1947-FINE-FINE-Lovely-Book-Beano-phil-comics-/271208048351?pt=UK_Books_comics_Magazines_UK_Comics_ET&hash=item3f254266df

One thing I'd really like but is probably going to shoot up in price is this bound volume of Jag, with issues is VG to Fine condition.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jag-comic-BOUND-VOLUME-1-4th-May-1968-to-15th-Feb-1969-VG-F-phil-comics-/271208048837?pt=UK_Books_comics_Magazines_UK_Comics_ET&hash=item3f254268c5

And finally the first issue of Smash, in VG- condition. So far only one bid has been placed, but I suspect there will be a few more.

As I've said there are 200 auctions up right now, with bidding ending on Sunday 2nd and Monday 3rd June, so you've got plenty of time to look through them! Here is a link to take you to the home page to browse through all of his comics currently online.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/phil-comics/m.html?item=360593426983&pt=UK_Books_comics_Magazines_UK_Comics_ET&hash=item53f50b0a27&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Phil also has a website, which you can find here:

http://www.phil-comics.com

POW! Free gift sells for £340!

A large collection of rare free gifts have been listed up on eBay over the past few weeks, including the Pow! Haggis Launcher seen above, which came with a replica cover of issue 3 and sold for £340!

Issue 3 of Smash! came with a cardboard Royal Navy Carrier Aircraft. In unused condition, this one rocketed itself to £304.89! (This didn't come with the original comic, just a scan of the front cover.)

Early Buster gifts are extremely hard to come by, and recently two were sold on eBay! Issue two's Zoomer Jet with original bag catapulted to £116 and issue three's Dodger Kit, also with the free bag, sold for £86! (Again, these only came with scans of the original covers.)

A Cor! Ratty Rasper without the original elastic band and metal ring, sold for just £14.50, which suddely seems really low compared to the other gifts! This was given away in October 1973.

And there are currently a few exciting items up for sale, including the Big Bang Gun from Smash issue #1, along with the original comic. It is currently up to £112.09. You can find it here.

When Wham! merged with Pow! in 1968, a free gift was given away to celebrate!  It was the 'Out Of This World Flying Saucer', which is currently on eBay for £32, with a few days of bidding left to go. Click here to see the auction.

The Buster Boomerang given away in 1962 is on eBay for a hugely overpriced £199 Buy-It-Now. See the listing here.

Also overly expensive are these transfers and pull-out booklet from Pow! and Wham! issue #54. Coming with a scan of the cover, the seller has listed them here as a Buy-It-Now for £229!