First Class to Bash Street

Back in 2012 Royal Mail released a set of stamps with British comic covers on them. This was a very nice set and as far as I was aware the only time a British comic set had been made.

The 2012 stamps.

However, back in 1993 Royal Mail issued 'Greetings Stamps', a set of ten stamps that featured illustrations of famous characters including Rupert the Bear, William (from the William books) and Wilfred and Teacher, from The Bash Street Kids!

Yes, Wilfred and Teacher got first class treatment with this stamp, which features Wilfred teasing Teacher with an apple. Artwork is by David Sutherland. I'm not sure if British comics or characters have featured on any other stamps, these are the only two occasions I am aware of but if you do know of any more please leave a comment in the comments section below.

The postcard accompanying the stamp. The actual stamp can be seen at the top of this post.

Comic Crossovers - The Bash Street Kids meet Colonel Crackpot's Circus

Comic Crossovers are always fun, and here's one where Leo Baxendale's Bash Street Kids meet Malcolm Judge's Colonel Crackpot's Circus. This particular crossover appeared in the 1962 Beano book, and the artist is Leo Baxendale but basing some characters on Malcolm Judge's style. 

Spotlight On An Artist: David Sutherland

David Sutherland is an inspirational artist to me, as I'm sure he is to many other readers of The Beano. Over his 50+ years of working in comics he has illustrated countless pages, most significantly The Bash Street Kids, which he has drawn almost every week since 1962, well over 2000 pages in total.

He started working for D.C Thomson in 1960, and his first strip was the successful Danny on A Dolphin. Danny had three series in The Beano, one from June to October 1960, the second from March to October 1962 and the last from February to December 1968. This was accompanied by Dave's other adventure strip The Great Flood Of London, which ran from 1960 - 1961.

In 1962 Leo Baxendale left Thomson to go and work with Fleetway and go on to create Odhams' new "super-beano" Wham. Baxendale's departure meant that another artist had to take over his work on the Bash Street Kids, and the honour was,of course, given to David.

He is also well known as a key artist on Dennis the Menace. He drew Dennis, along with his trusty sidekick Gnasher, from 1970 all the way up until 1998 - a whopping twenty-eight years!

Over 50 years on and David is still drawing the Bash Street Kids every week in the Beano, as well as illustrating other pages in the annuals. There's no room to go through and show every character he ever drew, but a few of David's other strips are Biffo the Bear, General Jumbo, Billy the Cat, Korky the Cat and more recently he drew Fred's Bed up until last year. The self-portrait of him at the top of this post is from the 2010 Beano annual, and the photo below is a recent one of him standing next to a model of Gromit covered in drawings of Beano characters!

Easter 1968 - With The Beano

It's time to look at another Easter comic, and this time we head back to the 1960's, or April 13th 1968 to be exact, and take a look a Beano issue #1343. Every year the Beano celebrated Easter (well, in the 60's anyway), Biffo the Bear's strip would always be in the shape of an Easter egg, and this one also has a hot cross bun in the place of the 'O' in Biffo. As always, Biffo and Buster are illustrated by Dudley Watkins!

Let's move inside, and The 3 Bears want to join in with Hank's super Easter party! Unfortunately for them Hank has thought ahead and has taken extra precaution to ensure they don't steal all the food! Bob McGrath did an excellent job with the artwork!

Roger the Dodger appeared next, who naturally wants the biggest Easter egg in town, without paying to get it! This strip, particulary the shop keeper in the last panel, was heavily influenced by Ken Reid, who of course drew the strip to begin with, but is actually illustrated by Robert Nixon, who took over when Ken left in 1964.

Billy Whizz next, and prepare yourself for something amazing! This strip shows a very rare sight indeed - Billy Whizz willingly moving slowly! This rare scene was captured with paper and ink by Malcolm Judge.

David Sutherland's Bash Street Kids came next and, although it begins with an Easter egg for Smiffy, is more focused around bubblegum than anything else! This is a fantastic episode, I love all the over exaggerated scenes all caused by a small piece of gum!

Minnie the Minx is always fun, and this one shows all the things that have gone wrong in the past - it really is a surprise they're going this year at all! The artist is of course Jim Petrie, and I've also shown the 'Teaser Time' section for you to do if you've got some spare time.

And finally, I'd like to show this Lord Snooty strip, not because it's Easter related, but because, simply put, it's funny!

And don't forget to buy this week's Beano as well, which does have one or two Easter-themed strips in it! Here's the cover, and it costs just £2!

Beano Beginnings - The Bash Street Kids!

The Bash Street Kids, originally called When the Bell Rings, was launched, just like many other very successful characters, in the mid-1950's. Created by Leo Baxendale, the series was an instant hit with children because they could easily realate to it - as every kid had to go to school!

Our crazy chums were launched in #604, dated 13th Feburary 1954, and got two weeks of previous advertising, as seen above.

Here is the second strip from Beano #605, dated 20th Februray 1954.

Not all the characters were in straight away. Plug (called so because he was "plug-ugly"), didn't appear named until #606. At this point however, he was called Pug.

He first appeared called Plug in issue #608:

In issue #607, the poor defenceless Janitor appears for the first time, attempting to outrun the kids who have escaped from school. Surely that man deserves a medal!!

Moving on from the Janitor, Wilfred appears for the first time in issue #615 and, although he is not named, he appears as a kid with a jumper pulled right up to his chin!

I hope you enjoyed a look at these early Bash Street Kids, as well as these early Beanos. I may return to some Beano Beginnings (or Dandy beginnings etc.) in the future...!

Beano Annual 2013

This years Beano book is on sale now, and it comes in at a low £7.99 for just over a hundred pages of fun! The excellent wrap-around cover is illustrated by Steve Bright, as are the inside cover spreads.

Inside, Dennis the Menace's parents look like their younger selves, even though this annual went on sale before they got the makeover in the comic. Personally, I think it would be better if they didn't look so young and 'trendy' because Dennis is a rebel and isn't supposed to get on with at all with his parents.

I wont reveal too much about whats inside as this annual is often given away as a Christmas present, but some of the stories inside include this excellent Bash Street Kids 5 page strip by David Sutherland...

... A great story about Fred's Bed and Shakespeare drawn by Nigel Parkinson...

... And a six page Bananaman strip about defeating the cold, illustrated by Steve Bright!

You can get this book on Amazon, through the D.C Thomson website and various stores throughout the country, all for just £7.99! Plus - if you order from the D.C Thomson website you can get both The Beano and The Dandy annual for just £10!

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/Product-Beano_Annual_2013(20120101)-DCS(2)-BA13(2091).aspx

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beano-Annual-2013-Annuals/dp/1845354869/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347337843&sr=8-1