The Bash Street Ghost

I've done a fair few ghosting jobs, this one, from 1999, is a nice attempt at doing a Bash Street Kids in the manner in which we have all become accustomed to seeing them, one of the few these past 50 years not drawn by David Sutherland. I always enjoyed doing The Bash Street Kids.

One More Menace!

The recent superhero stories in The Beano remind me that back in 1984, in the days when I might buy a copy every few months to check what was going on as I submitted my seemingly endless requests for work (didn't happen for over 12 years!) Dennis the Menace and Gnasher came face to face with the only person that worried them- Dennis's cousin, Denice The Menace! Drawn by David Sutherland and written I believe by George Cobb.

Ghostly Goings On

Here's something of a novelty- a Lord Snooty page from the March 10th 1956 issue of The Beano, not by it's regular artist, Dudley D Watkins, but by a ghost artist- and in this case, the ghoster is none other than Leo Baxendale! Not content with drawing three or four other pages a week, Baxendale also accepted these extra pieces of work. His distinctive style can be seen in the hands and faces, and also in some of the details. A good ghost job, but Baxendale didn't have the luxury of the time to craft an exact duplicate of Watkins' style, so his own hand is fairly clear. More ghost jobs soon.

Famous Beano readers No.1

This 1966 LP by John Myall's Bluesbreakers featuring Eric Clapton has often been referred to as 'The Beano Album' because of Clapton's reading matter. A few years ago, a rather nice item, a Gibson guitar with that particular May 1966 Beano reproduced on it, was made. Other similar guitars have been made too.









I remember in the 1960s many University students were spotted with a Beano- at the time I thought they were just finally getting onboard with the right periodicals- but it seems they were Blues fans paying homage to Clapton. In 1968, a student on University Challenge famously said "...reading The Beano" during the opening section when they were supposed to state the subject they were reading.











Clapton, by the time the LP was out, had left The Bluesbreakers and started a new group, Cream, who, as far as I know, never read The Beano.

 

More Beano

Another two examples from The Beano of the past.
Right, November 14th 1957, and Dennis The Menace is on the cover! At the moment, only one picture up in the top left hand corner, but it was a start!
Dudley D Watkins' drawing is at a majestic peak with this Biffo The Bear; he drew very loosely in pencil and then did the detail in pen and ink. His understanding of anatomy is very striking here, with his rendering of the dog, Bimbo.









March 23rd 1957, and the Bash Street Kids have arrived. This page by Leo Baxendale is typical of his 1955/6 style, which would soon change to the classic look that has been imitated ever since.

74 Years 11 months this weekend

Which can only mean that in one months time, The Beano will be celebrating it's 75th birthday with a bang. There'll be a fab anniversary edition and more stuff and what have you, and I'm celebrating the event in a way too, by showing a few memorable pages from Beanos past.
Left is a Beano from the early 1960s with a classic fluid page from the master himself, Dudley D Watkins, with an altogether illogical story, but never mind, nice bit of work.







And below left is a mid-50s Dennis The Menace. That name sends chills down the spine of any self-respecting non-Menace, and in this instance, Davey Law shows exactly why!

Week, prepare for mockery.

Tonight's 'Mock The week' on BBC2 might just be worth a look.
Just sayin'.
Might NOT be.
But MIGHT.
EDIT: Was! he he! The Mockers, MOCKED! Bliss!
https://twitter.com/MockTheWeek

(PS if you're wondering about Chris Addison's comment about The Beano, all is revealed:
"Yikes! Disaster averted with last minute re-subscription to Phoenix comic. There would be blood. Well, sulks."
https://twitter.com/mrchrisaddison)

Dennis The Menace FINALLY!

At long last, Dennis The Menace (from The Beano) gets his very own regular monthly comic. It's modern, unexpected, exciting and NEW! It's on sale July 24th, I would guess from about 6.45am depending on your local merchant. So go try it. I think it's pretty good.

 

  

July 8th BBC2

Count Arthur Strong!
And there's an article about it all in The Times today, too.

Kirby Dissed

It's a tribute to Jack Kirby, which I like, but the cover.... Kirby would have HATED it. It's everything Kirby was NOT. It's static, it's generic, it's bombastic, it's stagey, it's melodramatic. It brings to mind a cover for a DC comics 100pager back in the 70s that the late Carmine Infantino, art director there, and life-long pal of Jacks, proudly showed Kirby one day. It had all the DC heroes standing as if on Glee, all looking alike, all shoulder to shoulder, like in a pagent. Kirby hated it, to Infantino's surprise. "You've got all those powerful heroes standing there, and they're not DOING anything!"
And here is John Morrow, who I greatly appreciate, he's kept the Kirby flame going with his marvellous magazines for many years. But this cover is so wrong in so many ways. I'm no Kirby, but I can't stand it either. Kirby was about power, action, drama, movement, story and character. This cover has none of that.