IT'S A VERY FUNNY BUSINESS - OR IS IT?

From the 1977 Mighty TV Comic Holiday Special.  (Reprinted from an earlier issue of the weekly in
all likelihood.  Going by the tones, the original was probably in colour.)  Copyright relevant owner

Funny is funny.  It's a quality which no one ever really outgrows.  The comic strips I found funny as a kid I still find funny today whenever I re-read them.  Is my current enjoyment of an old comic strip merely the echo of a past response, or is each subsequent humorous appreciation a fresh experience unconnected to my initial amusement from years before?

Difficult to say with absolute certainty, but perhaps it's a bit of both.  It's a fact though, that I find a lot of today's comics seriously lacking in humour.  (Which may be a contradiction in terms, but you know what I mean.)  Perhaps I've simply outgrown them, but I don't think so.  How does one outgrow the ability to appreciate humour - in any form?  Occasionally, I consider the contents of a contemporary comic to be funny.  On those rare moments, I would say that's because the material is funny.  By the same token, if I don't find it funny, then it's logical to conclude that it isn't - not that I've outgrown the format.  

However, tastes obviously differ.  What I consider amusing, you may not - and vice versa.  But that merely confirms that we must use our own tastes as the final arbiter in the matter - it's no use arguing about it.  However, going on that principle, in my opinion, in the main, kids are being shortchanged in the humour department these days.  Part of the problem is that, in some quarters, scripts are not being supplied by professional humour writers with a proven track record, but by editorial staff who are augmenting their wages with a little 'freelance' work.

Let's be honest here.  If you're a tremendously talented funny writer for comics, then that's what you'll be doing for a full-time living.  You won't be doing something else as your main source of income while picking up a little extra on the side with the odd script or three.

The debate will go on, of course, as the circulation of comics in general continues to inexorably decline.  In the meantime, enjoy the above offering of what I consider to be a prime example of a funny strip.  Not just funny, but witty and clever also.  One that can appeal to both kids and adults alike, in fact.  Perhaps that's what all comics editors should be aiming for.

******

(Having said that, it wouldn't be allowed today.  A robber seemingly getting away free and unpunished in the final panel?  Can't have that, can we?  Readers are obviously too stupid to assume that he's caught and arrested shortly after.  The PC Brigade have a lot to answer for.)

     

1977 Holiday Special