The Complete BUZZ #1...

Copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

I'd not long turned 14 when a new DCT comic weekly hit newsagents' counters in January of 1973.  Although it says 'Every Monday' on the cover, I've a feeling I bought it on a Saturday when it first went on sale, though I'm not 100% sure.  Strangely for me, I've no memory of the contents or characters*, or of when I stopped buying the comic, which lasted 103 issues until it was merged with The Topper in 1975 with the issue dated 11th January.

When I say I've no memory of the characters from their debut strips in Buzz, I remember some of them from their later appearance in The Topper (though I didn't then realise they were from Buzz).  Buzz was a big comic, size-wise, but contained a mere 16 pages, including the covers.  It was the same dimensions as The Topper and The Beezer when they were around A3-size.  Anyway, Crivs, here's the complete first issue for your perusal.

(You can see a photo of the free gift at the bottom of the post.)

*With the exception of Nero And Zero, who I recognised from a small strip in The Fun Section of The Sunday Post, though they were reprints, I believe, from The Wizard, where they'd first appeared in the '30s.  The strip back then was drawn by Allan Morley, who died in 1960.  As for Big Fat Flo, publishers wouldn't risk getting away with a name like that in a comic nowadays.  The three strips on that page look a little dated, even for 1973, so I wonder if they might be reprints from DCT's back catalogue - anyone know?