The PERSUADERS HOLIDAY SPECIAL 1972...

Images copyright relevant owner

Isn't it odd the way some things lodge in the mind?  Until today, I hadn't laid eyes on this PERSUADERS Holiday Special in 42 years, yet some of the contents are as clear in my memory as though I'd purchased it only the other day.  I remember buying it from my local newsagent's on an early summer evening in 1972 and walking up the stairs that led from my neighbourhood shops, while thumbing through the pages in wide-eyed wonder as I made my way back to my house across the road.

The artwork on The PHANTOM COACH (by MIGUEL QUESADA, though I didn't know his name until many years later) mightily impressed me and it's great to see it again after all this time.  I think this was the first time I'd seen an example of his art (that I can recall anyway), though I'm sure I saw it again in other, later publications.  I even remember the photo-joke page, especially the first picture, which I must've quoted numerous times over the years, although, until seeing it again today, I think I'd almost forgotten exactly where I'd nicked it from.

As this was a Holiday Special, I'd imagine it went on sale sometime around May or June, and as I moved to another house in another neighbourhood halfway through June of 1972, I must've bought this magazine not too long before flitting.  Strangely, though, I don't associate it with that particular period, and had it not been dated, I'd have thought I acquired it the year before.  Alas, even my memory is not perfect, and sometimes seeks to re-arrange the events of my own personal history.

Speaking of which, Crivvies, what memories (if any) do you associate with this POLYSTYLE PUBLICATIONS periodical?  Does it conjure up keenly remembered recollections of yesteryear, or is it a vague, half-forgotten shade from your childhood that lies just beyond reach of your mind's grasp?  Either way, tell your fellow readers all about it in our 'ever-eager-to-hear-from-you' comments section.

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If you look at the first speech balloon in the first panel of page two, you'll see that 'Cemetery' is misspelt 'Cemetary'.  What's more, if you examine it carefully, you'll see that the 'A' is slightly dipped, indicating that it was a 'correction'.  Looks like it may've been spelt right to begin with.

   

CLASSIC COMICS: TV CENTURY 21 #52...

Characters copyright relevant and respective owners

Everybody just loves a birthday - don't they?  (Unless you're aware that you haven't got very many left.)  So here's the first birthday issue of TV CENTURY 21 from 100 years in the future, 2066.  Normally, I'd present it in two instalments, but as the second part usually gets only around half the hits of the first, I decided just to give you the complete issue in one go.

For around two or three years, TV21 was probably the best-selling weekly periodical in Britain, and it's doubtful that there's ever been a comic for boys since that's matched its popularity or circulation.  The artwork was by some of the finest illustrators of the day, though, curiously, the Annuals were never quite up to the same standard as the weekly.  Perhaps different departments were responsible for each publication, and no doubt cost was also a factor as the Annuals would've been prohibitively expensive if the quality of reproduction was the same in each case.

Anyway, Crivvies, let's now take a loving look into the past and try and catch a glimpse of the future.  Welcome to Adventure in the 21st Century!

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However, before we do, allow me a little personal reminiscence if you'd be so kind.  I remember having this comic (the one I own now is a replacement) back in 1965, a couple of months after moving to a new house.  When I'd finished reading it, I committed an act of vandalism by cutting up the cover and putting the pictures on my bedside wall.  The 'TV21 Time Machine' didn't only return readers from 100 years in the future to read My FAVOURITE MARTIAN, The MUNSTERS, and GET SMART, it also returns me to my bedroom in the house I lived for 5 months short of 7 years every time I look at it. 

       

MINNIE The MINX ARTIST JIM PETRIE PASSES AWAY...

Image copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

Sadly, it's been reported over on NIGEL PARKINSON's blog that JIM PETRIE, who drew the MINNIE The MINX strip in The BEANO from 1962 to 2001, died yesterday.  (And a little part of everyone who ever enjoyed his work died with him.)  It would be nice if D.C. THOMSON released a Minnie Special featuring Jim's work as a tribute to one of their longest- serving artists.  Let's hope they read this, eh?

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(Different sources give the date of Jim taking over Minnie as either '61, '62 or '63, so I've plumped for the middle one.  Jim's last Minnie strip was drawn in 2000, but appeared in the cover-dated January 13th 2001 issue.)