SMASH's Birthday

Britain's Brightest Comic it proclaimed, and it was. Almost every week something new would appear to intrigue, thrill, amuse and delight it's audience. And I should know, it was 'my comic' in 1966! This week is the 45th anniversary of it's debut, on the magazine shelf at Greens' newsagents, Queens Drive, where I first saw it and knew it was for me! Leo Baxendale did the first few covers, none finer than this one!

Oo! Oo!

Car 54 Where Are You was a must-see TV show for us. The equine features of lanky, lugubrious Fred Gwynne as Muldoon (later to be Herman Munster) and the excited staccato bellowing of Joe E Ross as Toody were always welcome. Throw in Beatrice Pons as Toody's hysterical and piercing wife and the wonderful Al Lewis (Grandpa Munster) as Officer Schnauser, and how could it fail? Written and conceived by Bilko creator Nat Hiken, it only ran for two years, but, thanks to Channel 4 in the 1980s and Bravo and Sky 1 in the 1990s, I was able to build up an entire set of episodes, bar one. Now, the whole shebang is being put out on DVD in February, and should I inexplicably win the lottery, which I never enter, I shall immediately buy everyone a copy so they can enjoy this mild-mannered friendly dig at New York's finest.

All together now-
"There's a hold-up in the Bronx
Brooklyn's broken out in fights
There's a traffic jam in Harlem that's backed up to Jackson Heights,
There's a Scout troupe short a child,
Kruschev's due at Idelweild...!"

44 years? surely some Mistake?

Apparently this comic is 44 years old today - that of course cannot be true as I read it and loved it as a child. So it can't be THAT long ago- anyaway, let's have a look at it:
1. Cover- these covers were awaited with bated breath and near-hysteria every Wednesday morning in the 60s, as they provided the ONLY colour photos of the Thunderbirds, Stingray or Fireball models.
2. Speaking of which, this Fireball XL5 page by Mike Noble is from the era where he achieved what many consider his finest work. I personally prefer his earlier fireball work, but I wouldn't go to war about it.
3. Bill Titcombe again at his peak, with that casual, cool style that personified 1960s cartooning.
4. John M Burns, in his early days but already so distinctive and brilliant. Can you believe we had to make do with his black and white pages way back then?!
5. Back cover by Ron Turner, again at his peak, and what a terrific sense of design.
(If you're wondering why I didn't include Frank Bellamy's Thunderbirds, at the time of this particular issue, he was taking a break to design the Winged Avenger images for The Avengers ABC TV series.)

With all these guys working at or near their full potential, is it any wonder we sad 1960's readers look back with fondest memories at those days?

My Favourite Editors Part 1- Alan Fennell

I've always had the good fortune to have a dream job- I mean, drawing comics all day- come on, what could be better?! But a real high spot came in 1991 when I read that Fleetway were starting a new Thunderbirds comic and that none other than Alan Fennell was to be editor! I knew he'd not only been editor and writer at TV Comic and then TV21, but had written a large percentage of the Stingray, Thunderbirds and Fireball XL5 TV shows too, and had gone on to start Look-In! Wasting no time I bluffed my way into Fleetway's then-HQ at Mornington Crescent and asked to speak to him. Alan was a great character (sadly he died early, and on his birthday in 2001) and knew what he wanted. After all, he'd discovered Mike Noble! Luckily, I did a few things for him over the next couple of years and we met up quite often. Two phone calls from him are preserved on my old cassette answerphone- the first: "Nigel- just opened your first page- what the hell are you playing at? This is like ...Popeye. I mean, I love you like a brother, but this is very poor" and the second: "Nigel- just opened your two cover images- the artwork is.......[long pause]......outstanding. Very good. Nice work". Anyone who knew Alan will hear his cheerful London manner in those words! I trawled the internet but couldn't find a photo of him- so I've posted these two, one from 1970, the other from the time I knew him, 1992.

The Nerv of it! Or "Hello, Putrid Date!"

Ken Reid reached a wonderful zenith with his crazy near year-long stint on The Nervs in Smash! in 1968-9, crafting what is for many the ultimate Bad Taste kids comic strip. Words are a bit redundant here so I invite you to take a look at a page of it and see how it's done!

Brothers and sisters

My sister (left pic) has asked me to tell you that, from 1967 to 1969, she collected a comic (Pow!) every Saturday morning from the Newsagents for me when she went to get her Jackie or Petticoat. Well, it was across a dual carriageway and she was 6 years older than me. And sending her out was cheaper than getting it delivered.
Having Spiderman AND the Cloak in one comic was very inspiring. I was already producing my own comics as far back as 1964 but I started to want to draw like Steve Ditko or Mike Higgs. Maybe one day.

My brother (right pic) never did buy me a comic. But then I only met him for the first time in 2009. Long story. Maybe a blog post.

The Telegoons

Telegoons website
Back in 1963-5 saturday afternoons began at tea-time with some 'fab' TV shows: alongside the almost-groovy Juke Box Jury and the no-hope newcomer Dr. Who, the top show for kids was The Telegoons. The programmes were puppet shows, 15 minutes long, produced by Maurice Wiltshire for Grosvenor films. After some difficulties they finally got Peter Sellers along with Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe from the BBC radio series The Goon Show to provide the voices. The scripts (all by Spike with Larry Stephens or Eric Sykes) were adapted from the 1950's audio originals, and re-recorded, with all-new visual gags too. Eccles, Bluebottle, Bloodnok and Grytpype-Thynne all came to life with a loopy gait and a manic twinkle in the eye. And there are some near-the-knuckle moments too that would have passed many people by at the time.
As with other top TV series, TV Comic ran a strip cartoon version (1963-66). It was drawn with zip and vigour by the wonderful Mr Bill Titcombe, and some were written by Alan Fennell, a marvellously enthusiastic writer and editor.

It's about time these shows were put out on DVD. "In my opinion."

I know the Goons are often impenetrable to newcomers- despite the Telegoons I didn't really 'get' The Goon show itself until I was about 37! They just 'clicked' one day! give them a go.
Goon Shows streamed for free

Daring to Draw

I draw comics. I've been drawing quite a while now- let's see- I started before I was 2 - have improved slightly- here's a page I did in about 1967, deep in my Marvel Comics phase! What really stands out for me is my signature- almost exactly the same as I do it today! So was I a grown-up 8 year old or do I have an 8 year old's mind today?

Let's leave that one hanging there...