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I don't suppose I ever thought much about it at the time, but I do now. You see, the fact that comics are produced at least 8 weeks ahead of seeing print, I now realise that the first 9 (at least) DARE-A-DAY DAVY strips in POW! couldn't have been from genuine readers.
Also, several of the stories were reused a few years later in VALIANT comic, in a Davy-type strip called CHALLENGE CHARLIE, so it's a certainty that the named 'readers' were fictitious and never received £5 (that's inflation for you) for alleged 'contributions'.
Were the publishers just trying to save a few quid by inventing readers' suggestions, or did they simply never receive enough to begin with? I once won a £1 in 1973 for a contribution to SHIVER & SHAKE, so not all invitations for reader-participation were fake, but it does cause me to wonder just how many were.
So, dear reader, did you ever win £1 for submitting an idea to Pow!'s Dare-A-Day Davy, or do you know of anyone who did? If so, leave a comment and dispel the mystery. And if you'd like to make a comparison between Davy and Charlie, I'll post some examples when I can.
I sent in a letter to the Eagle in 1965 together with a cartoon that I'd drawn. The letter got printed, but my cartoon was re-drawn by a 'professional' artist. This ten year old was very annoyed that they hadn't used my original. Anyway, I won a ten bob postal order.
ReplyDeleteAnd ten bob in 1965 wasn't to be sniffed at. My Shiver & Shake drawing was embellished by Ken Reid (over my original drawing, or a tracing of it). I know that because the mistakes I made were still all-too evident, and if Ken had redrawn it, he'd have fixed them.
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