.jpg) |
| Images copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd |
As well as having all 54 issues of The CRUNCH, I'm pretty sure I also have all 67 issues of SPIKE, which was published by D.C. THOMSON around three years after its predecessor's demise. Unless I've given them away and then forgotten about it, they should be up in my loft in a box somewhere and have been for years. (Let's just hope they're not too mouldy.) I may even have CHAMP as well, but whether or not I've still got the complete set or only the first three issues, I can no longer remember.
It's a shame that DCT no longer produce action/adventure weekly titles for boys, because they had their own undeniable charm, despite their cheap paper and typeset lettering. Of course, that may just be nostalgia for the past which makes me feel that way, as comics like VICTOR, HOTSPUR, WARLORD, etc., represent a fondly remembered part of my childhood. Not that I was ever a regular reader of the first two papers, restricting myself to an occasional free gift issue down through the years.
It's kind of scary though to think that today's kids may one day look back on the last incarnation of The DANDY with the same glow of affection, as, let's face it - one or two strips apart, it was pure p*sh. When I eventually win 80 squillion quid on the the Lottery I'll come to an agreement with Thomson's and revive some of their retired titles, fill them with classic strips, but print them on the same cheap paper. I'm convinced that content is the important thing, and I'd much rather read an old 1970s comic printed on what seemed like blotting paper, than a modern one printed on something akin to a shiny piece of linoleum.
What say the rest of you?
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
I had the first few Spikes and Champs, but somehow totally missed this comic. I also used to buy a few Warlords and Victors in the 80's if the covers grabbed me.
ReplyDeleteYes, the DC This comics do NEED to be on the pulp paper. The same with 2000AD - once they started to use better quality paper it was never quite the same. BUT, here's the weird thing - the reverse is true as well! When they relaunched the Eagle in the 80's on a good quality paper it didn't quite "do it for me". But I stuck with it and when it changed to the cheaper pulp paper it seemed a much better comic to me. Obviously, the 50's tabloid Eagles were the best, but in the 80's there were no tabloid comics and even most of the music papers had shrunk to magazine size.
Now there's a thing! - the music papers, - anyone out there like me who used to love/ collect the 60's/70's pop press?
Does anybody else remember this comic except you, Kid ? I was vaguely aware of a song called The Crunch so I just looked for it on YouTube and yes, it was an instrumental by the Rah Band from 1977. Rather good too.
ReplyDeleteI also preferred it when The Eagle changed paper in 1983 (I think - or '84) and got rid of the photo-stories. It was because of them it had to be printed on the shinier paper, JP, or the strips wouldn't have reproduced clearly.
ReplyDelete******
Ah, who knows, CJ? I'd guess someone must do. Don't recall the song.