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Who remembers The MAGIC BOOMERANG, an Australian TV show which was also shown in the U.K. back in the '60s? It was about a lad who could stop time by throwing his boomerang, though time only stood still while the boomerang remained airborne.
THUNDER comic's PHIL The FLUTER had the same concept, except Phil only had to play his musical instrument to halt time, not throw it into the air and wait for it to return to him. Actually, the strip should more accurately have been titled PHIL The FLAUTIST - or FLUTIST would've passed muster - but 'Fluter' arguably had a bit more of a ring to it - or so the editor seemed to think at least.
Anyway, the following strip from the 1971 LION & THUNDER Holiday Special is typical of the kind of escapades in which young Phil usually found himself involved, and should give you a good idea of why comic readers enjoyed it back in the '70s.
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Brillaint stuff -as you know "Phil the Fluter" was a favourite of mine back in the day. Tom Kerrs art always makes me smile. Didn't the Sparkey comic (possibly from before that time) have a character with a flute/pipes (Petes the Piper??) that was similar to this one (but imho not as good).
ReplyDeleteHave to say I do not recall the Magic Boomerang TV show at all.
Sparky had a strip called Peter Piper, which was a revival of a strip (by Dudley D. Watkins) from Magic Comic back in the '30s, McS. Peter's magic pipes brought things to life, such as statues, posters, etc.
ReplyDeleteYou don't remember The Magic Boomerang? Your life must seem so empty, you poor soul.
This strikes me as a particularly hard power to use since you need both hands to play it. You can't actually do anything unless you just use your feet. Nope sorry no Magic Boomerang memories though I do remember Skippy.
ReplyDeleteI do remember The Magic Boomerang, only just though, as for fluter, maybe it has currency as an informal label. Myself I don't know anyone offhand, who's an accomplished practitioner on any woodwind (well no one who admits to it, I do have my suspicions) so that's just a guess of course.
ReplyDeleteNah, he plays it, Phil, time stops. He plays it again to restart time - he doesn't have to play throughout the 'frozen' period. You never read the story, did you, you naughty boy? (Edit: I didn't read it either - time starts again of its own accord after a short period, he doesn't have to play his flute again. I'll join you on the naughty step.)
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I remember someone writing in to Thunder, DSE, to point out the correct word, and the editor's response was, basically, that 'fluter' just sounded better. Of course, maybe he was embarrassed by his ignorance, hence his trying to make out it was a deliberate decision.
By the way, I really like the artwork here.
ReplyDeleteSo do I, DSE. As McScotty pointed out, it's the work of Tom Kerr, who illustrated the Little Star covers I featured not long ago.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best boys' comic strips of its day. I hadn't heard of the Magic Boomerang and as an adult I thought Phil playing his flute and leaving everybody rooted to the spot so as he could alter things to his advantage, or for the benefit of the decent characters in the story, was based on the film A Matter Of Life And Death. Phil did very well defeating bullies with his flute, or as in this case, in the days when it was still very much that children should be seen and not heard, getting back at tyrannical adults. They were feel-good comic strips and a lot better than the war-themed ones which made out that WW2 was a corking big adventure.
ReplyDeleteThat's what Dr. Who has been doing for years - making out that everything is a 'corking big adventure'. Even Verity Lambert, the show's original producer, said as much years later about the then-current crop of TV episodes. But I digress. Yes, Phil was good, clean, harmless fun. I'm surprised that Thunder only lasted 22 issues, as it had quite a number of good strips.
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