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| Copyright LITTLE BROTHER BOOKS |
Given my finely-honed, athletic physique (and I surely deserve a BLUE PETER badge for typing that with a semi-straight face), it may come as a surprise to some of you that I was never the sporty type. Any activity that requires more effort than lifting an arm to stuff a choccie biccie in my gob and then washing it down with a nice cuppa char is anathema to me. Not even remotely interested in football, never have been, but when I was a youth, I bought at least the first few issues of SHOOT!, SCORCHER, and SCORE simply because they were new comics. (Must confess, though, that I did like the BILLY'S BOOTS comic strip in Scorcher.)
"So why bother us with that revelation?" you may be asking. Well, I was in HOME BARGAINS several days ago and saw the Shoot! Annual for 2020, celebrating 50 years of the title, which first came out in 1969. I thumbed through it and put it back on the shelf as it contained nothing of interest to me, but later, upon reflecting on its iconic significance, I half-committed to buying a copy if there were any left the next time I was in. Well, I was in today, took another quick gander through it and nearly put it back on the shelf again, until I noticed two pages which look back at the history of the comic, with a pic of the first issue's cover. That decided me, so as it was only £2.99 (supposed to be £7.99) and was a celebration of a comic I read as a 10 year-old, I forked out the dosh for it and brought it home with me.
I've taken another tour through it and my opinion is still the same - it's a rubbish Annual for anyone who isn't into footie (and could well be even for those who are), but it takes my mind back 50 years to when I was yet a primary school pupil. It mentions another book, 50 YEARS Of SHOOT!, which I see The WORKS is selling at a reduced price of £8, but I don't think I'll bother with that one. It's a shame that neither of these publications have any comic strips in them, which in my estimation would've improved them no end, but nobody thought to ask my advice when they were being prepared. To be honest, I don't recall if the weekly periodical had any comic strips anyway - apart from one, which I remember not a jot about.
Anyway, if you're a footie fan, you may be of a different opinion in regard to these two books, so Home Bargains and The Works are your next ports of call if you want to acquire them for less than the price they should be. If you get them and find that you disagree with my assessment of them, feel free to return and register your dissent in the comments section.
Shoot was a great football magazine, and was especially good for fans of Scottish football as it regularly featured articles on Scottish football (hard to believe we were a top football nation back in the late 60s to early 80s). It always had really well written articles that didn't talk down to the younger reader and excellent covers. Good to see it's still out there. NmI wasnt a regular reader but enjoyed the issues I read and still have a couple of issues. Now Scorcher that was a brilliant comic
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure whether it's still going as a magazine or not, McS, but it has a web address so perhaps it's just online now, apart from the Annuals. I'd like to get #1 again, just for old times' sake.
ReplyDeleteI remember my dad getting my brother the first issue and I wasnt impressed as it wasn't a comic (like the Rover) but as my interest in football grew i started to read and enjoy it (less so Rover).
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I remember about that first ish is the cover, McS, so it obviously didn't make much of an impression on me.
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