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I was considering a trip to Narnia when I found this periodical under a pile of others at the bottom of my wardrobe. I remember buying this item from a newsagent's in the Old Village quarter of my town back in the mid-'70s and this is the actual issue purchased back then. Unfortunately, the newsagent is no longer there, having been turned into something else a few short years ago, but I took photos of its interiors a couple or so decades back while it was still essentially much as it had been in 'my day'.
However, you're likely not interested in old and vanished newsagents, so let me get to the purpose of this post, which is to show you a publication which is now 50 years old. This was a one-off, though it was intended as the first in a series, but obviously never sold well enough to continue, alas. I wonder how many of the four comics contained within the cover were later sold individually as original '30s 'funny papers' by dishonest or unaware dealers, but it's probably a given it happened at some stage.
There might well be differences between these reprints and the originals, but one would need the latter-mentioned with which to compare to be sure, and they're not something in my possession. Anyway, enjoy yet another enterprise by late comics historian Denis Gifford, short-lived as it was, and feel free to comment if you're of a mind to.
(Click on images to enlarge, then click again for optimum size.)
It's strange to think the 1930s were only four decades earlier when this publication came out - like looking back at the 1980s today. It makes me wonder if the '70s and '80s seem as distant to modern children and teenagers as the '20s and '30s seemed to OUR generation - after all WE were looking back at a time that was very different, without TV and only black & white films at the cinema so the past just felt much further away to us.
ReplyDeleteI suspect all generations feel the same, CJ, when they reach a certain time in their lives. I now understand why my father spoke about his war days so much; to him, they would've seemed like recent history, just as the '70s and '80s often seem to me.
DeleteI've got this, I bought it from an Antiques and Collectables Shop a couple of years ago. £8 I think. I'm currently watching the V TV series and I mused aloud to the wife that it's now over 40 years old. In 1983 I would have also been watching black and white films from the 30s and 40s which would be the equivalent to watching V now. Time flies.
ReplyDeleteYou're telling me - and it flies far too quickly for my liking, M, I can tell you that.
DeleteKid, your photo of the old newsagent sounds interesting? My newsagent of old, sold everything from stamps through to model kits, and ornaments. A truly great shop of its time, that kept me supplied with Comics, Panini stickers, Highland toffee, and Dalek Deathray ice lollies. 'Those were the days!'
ReplyDeleteIndeed they were, AAW. I'd like them back again, but as that's impossible, I wish I had extensive photos of every shop (and place) I loved as a child, just so I could lose myself in their interiors for a while. I'm glad I got photos of the interiors of my old schools, as I can again walk their corridors whenever the fancy takes me.
DeleteThat sounds great, just like photographic astral travelling. I miss those times, in comparison to today. Anyway, good night to you, and all other Crivens night owls....
ReplyDeleteDitto from me - just going to make a cuppa and then it's off to my scratcher.
DeleteThose were the days when you’d walk into the newsagents and find something completely new and different. I probably went in several times a week on the off chance that something had come in.
ReplyDeleteThis particular special is one of my all time favourites. I bought it in 1976 and it was several years before I resigned myself to the fact there wasn’t going to be a follow up.
I think I supposed I just hadn't seen any new issues, CN, and it wasn't until a good few years later I learned there hadn't been any. Denis Gifford didn't seem to have much luck with his ventures, as his Ally Sloper mag had only lasted for four issues. Maybe his interests were just too specialist to appeal to a wide-enough readership.
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