PARCELS IN THE POST...

Copyright REBELLION

One huge highlight of my 15-year career as a comics contributor was lettering the art of comics legend TERRY BAVE.  I lettered quite a few of his strips, but it was a particular thrill one day when I was given a SAMMY SHRINK page of Terry's to letter, as I'd enjoyed the strip in WHAM! in the '60s.  DAVE JENNER had been the original artist, but Terry took over, ghosting Jenner's style remarkably effectively until he was allowed to gradually introduce his own artistic look.  (Sammy went on to feature in KNOCKOUT, and then WHIZZER & CHIPS.)

Quite a few years ago, I was able to supply Terry with a copy of the Wham! issue in which his very first Sammy strip appeared.  He kindly sent me some autographed comics he'd worked on as a thank you, each and every one of which I still retain to this day.  He even graciously supplied art and articles to The Illustrated COMIC JOURNAL when I was the assistant editor of the magazine for a while in the '90s.  I've got huge respect for Terry, both as a cartoonist and the gentleman he is.

  

I hadn't heard from him in a while, so you can imagine my surprise and delight when I got a 'phone call from Terry out of the blue a couple of weeks or so back.  We talked about the old days, and have chatted another couple of times since.  I was also delighted today when a pair of cardboard tubes arrived from Terry, containing several comics as well as a page of Sammy Shrink art, all personally autographed by his good self.  (His wife Shiela kindly signed the Sammy artwork as well.)  That's a scan of the published page at the top of this post.

I was surprised to see Terry's name was removed from the middle picture of the central tier, as I thought that editors at IPC/FLEETWAY had abandoned the practice of deleting artists' signatures by this time.  (It remains on the original art.)  I'm bowled over by Terry's generosity, because among the treasures he sent to me are MONSTER FUN #1 (with BADTIME BEDTIME STORYBOOK), COR!! #1, and KNOCKOUT #1, along with a few other first issues.  No, none of them will be going on eBay, 'cos I'm keeping them forever.  After all, our man Terry's one of comics' finest.

There are some good (and even great) cartoonists working in today's comics, but unfortunately, there are also far too many mediocre ones, who've reduced comics to the level of stick drawings on cave walls.  However, although he has a seemingly simple art style, Terry is a superlative storyteller and consummate cartoonist, and it's just a shame that he no longer draws for comics today.  He deserves his retirement sure enough, but comics would certainly benefit from his artistic talents.

So here's to Terry - one of nature's finest gentlemen.  U.K. comics would've been so much the poorer for his absence, as they'd also have been without his devoted wife Shiela helping him over the decades.  A few years ago, Terry wrote about his career in British weekly comics, and if you don't have a copy of his fascinating volume, you should add one to your collection as soon as you possibly can.  (Available now at this link.)

******

In case any of you are wondering why I've spelled Terry's wife's name as Shiela instead of the more usual Sheila, it's because that's how Terry himself always spells it.  I'm not sure which version Shiela/Sheila uses.

GET YER THRU'PENNY BITS OUT...

I've scanned these sets (by COINCRAFT) together, facilitating me displaying them at a slightly larger size.  I remember one Sunday night back around 1976, a Scottish TV sports commentator (ARTHUR MONTFORD maybe) was delivering a talk at a local youth club (yes, I was still young enough - just) and he told the tale of a football player attempting to head the ball, but on making contact, the ball shot off at an odd angle. "Ach, ye've got a heid like a thru'penny bit!" shouted someone from the stands.  As Arthur said, the instant you heard this, a mental picture appeared in your head of someone with a head shaped like a thru'penny coin.  Pure gold.

Anyway, here are examples of every brass threepenny bit (both sides) produced from 1937-1967.  Interestingly, although the 3d was issued in ROYAL MINT Proof Sets until 1970 and remained legal tender until August 31st 1971, none were minted for circulation after 1967.  Not a lot of people know that.

Now, however, you do.

******

Anyone recall if there was a Scottish TV football commentator called ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG in the 1970s?  (Not the AA who presents POINTLESS.)  That's the name in my head, but, if he existed, I can't find out anything about him when I do an Internet search.)

BABE Of The DAY - TERESA MAY...

Then again, may not.  You never

can tell with TERESA.  This is how

she looks before taking off her make-

up and doing her day job, running the

country.  You'd never believe it was

 the same woman, would you?

LET'S TALK COMICS...

If you have any statuettes or ornaments in your home, I bet that you probably look at them more often than you actually touch them.  However, there's just something about having the actual physical articles to indulge yourself when you feel like being more tactile with your cherished items.  If I were to offer to buy them and give you a few photos so that you could still see them whenever you wanted, it wouldn't quite be the same, would it?

To me, it's the same with comics.  I don't just want to read a comic, I want to own it, touch it, smell it, linger within its pages (oh, steady, that's a bit steamy), because a comic is an experience beyond the mere reading of its contents.  That's because I love comics - the actual 'physical' embodiment of a comic, and not just the comic strip material it contains.  It's the carton as well as the content that does it for me.

Book lovers are the same.  To them it's not just about reading the story, it's about turning the pages, the feel of the cover, the smell of the book, the taking it down from, and putting it back up on the shelf.  If you're only interested in the tale it contains, then you can read it on an iPad or Tablet or whatever, but to a lover of books, that's a second-best experience at least.  To perch on the porcelain - or anywhere else - with a book or comic in your hands is a magical thing that true lovers of the format are loath to relinquish.

That's why the comics 'industry' is, essentially, dead (though it's being kept going on 'life-support').  It's unlikely that the comic strip industry will ever expire, as that can take the form of books, albums, and exist in a digital format.  However, to the comics lover (the actual physical manifestation of a comic that is), such incarnations fail to satisfy.  Ironically, although I've sometimes been accused (by a few cretins) of illegally downloading comics, I never read digital comics - I'm simply not interested in them.  Any digital images I might have (old, out-of-print strips) are stopgaps 'til I can track down and acquire the actual published item.

So if you like comic strips, you can read them in various forms, and those who earn their living from writing and drawing them probably aren't too bothered about what form their work takes just as long as folk get to see it and (more importantly) they continue to be paid for it.  However, if like me (and thousands more) you recognise the exclusive thrill that comes from reading and handling an actual, paper periodical, you'll lament the fact that the traditional British comics industry seems to have breathed its last.

I have loads of books that collect comic strips of the past and I think they're great.  I love books, but to be honest, wherever possible, I think I'd prefer to have the original comics.  That's because books and comics are different, and tickle the senses in different ways.  Even when the content is the same in both formats, if I had to make a choice, I'd more than likely opt for the original presentation.  Case in point: I once bought the OMNIBUS volume of MARVEL's SILVER SURFER, even though I've got all 18 original issues.  I examined every single page, savouring the near-perfect reproduction - then I put it aside and dug out my original issues and read them.

Some folk won't understand that.  To them, the content is the important thing.  And of course it is important.  However, to lovers of traditional published comics as they've been for decades, the carton is equally as important.  However great a present may be, it always seems far better if it's wrapped up and presented in pretty paper, ribbons and bows, etc.  Without that, it can sometimes seem less than it actually is.  So the old comics industry is dead, but the comic strip industry will go on.  However, despite a strong resemblance due to the fact they're related, they're not quite the same thing.  In my view anyway.

How about you?

GOT A QUID FOR A CUPPA TEA, GUV'NOR...?

Here's some more dosh for you to slobber and drool over, Criv-ite chums.  Don't you feel richer just looking at it?  The first two notes are from the Britannia Series, and the third from the Pictorial Series.  A mere £3 in total, but don't they somehow look worth a lot more?  (And not just because I've shown both sides of each one, making it look like you're looking at six notes instead of only three.)

FANCY A BARGAIN? THEN THIS LITTLE CHAP IS FOR YOU!

Look at this little cracker of a toy.  It's a wee wind-up robot that only costs a £1 from HOME BARGAINS.  How does that even cover the cost of the deluxe box that serves as its home?  If you like retro-style toys to remind you of your childhood, then pop along to HB and buy yourself a robot today!