THE RETURN OF TV COMIC...

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As most comics enthusiasts of a 'certain age' will know, the real TV COMIC shuffled off this mortal coil with issue #1697, cover-dated June 29th 1984 after a span of nearly 34 years.  Apart from an annual and two holiday specials, that was the last that was seen of it.  It was mourned by former readers who had enjoyed the publication as children, and then took its place in the hallowed halls of memory.

Ten years passed.  Then, one day, on the newsagents' shelves, appeared - what's this?  Could it possibly be?  TV COMIC - The WOMBLES SUMMER SPECIAL, including The SHOE PEOPLE, HUXLEY PIG and NELLIE The ELEPHANT.  Published by NEWSSTAND PUBLICATIONS (nope, I've never heard of them either) in 1994, future issues were promised, but if they ever appeared I never saw them.

This new TV Comic was aimed at a much younger readership than its illustrious predecessor - more of a nursery comic in fact.  (Though, interestingly, when the title was first launched back in the '50s, it too was aimed more at toddlers.)  With an average of four panels per page, the strips had no speech balloons, instead having a block of text under each panel, just like comics of the '20s and '30s, or the RUPERT BEAR strip in The DAILY EXPRESS.

It's hardly surprising that it was so short-lived.  It could never have matched the popularity of the original, the genuine, the only - TV COMIC.

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To read about the original TV Comic, click here - and here.