Comic capers
Yours writer Marion Clarke shares memories of the comics we loved as children
‘Dad would dash downstairs when the paperboy came so he could read them first!’
Here I am apparently absorbed in one of my two regular comics (Girl and School Friend), but the photo was really taken because I wanted to show off my ponytail which had taken ages to grow!
Lorraine Dodd recalls: “My grandparents gave us money every week to buy a comic and a magazine so early Saturday I would leap out of bed to collect them from the paper shop. Then I would go back to bed before my parents or my brother were awake.
“I put the Sparky comic aside for my brother and started to read my Diana magazine with our kitten, Mr Jinks, curled up purring beside me. Mum didn’t like cats to be on the bed, but he looked so cute she couldn’t help but smile.”
Heather Moulson explains why she loved rainy days when she was young: “Instead of going out to play I could have a lovely time reading my comics, The Beezer and Bunty,
plus the pile of Diana magazines my cousin used to pass on to me.”
“My favourite comic was Bunty,” writes Brenda Forster. “I couldn’t wait for it to come out each week, especially if there was a free gift attached. I loved the back page which had a picture of Bunty that you could cut out and glue to a piece of cardboard then dress her in different cut-out outfits attached by tabs.” When she was nine, Audrey Warwick longed to have Girls’ Crystal: “But our village newsagent told my mum it was unsuitable for my age. Around that time I was admitted to an isolation hospital with diphtheria where I found some back copies to read so when my mother came to visit, I shouted through the window that it WAS suitable! After that, I was allowed to have it.” Boys had their own comics and Peter Greenhalgh looked forward to The Wizard coming out: “I also liked The Hotspur which specialised in school stories and featured secret agent Bill Sampson, also known as the Wolf of Kabul. As I had a keen interest in football, Tiger with Roy of the Rovers was at the top of my list.”
Tony Cooley’s earliest recollection is reading The Dandy and Beano: “Everyone remembers Dennis the Menace, but who recalls Bing-bang Benny who specialised in handling explosives? Plus Crackaway Jack, a fearless Indian fighter and Danger Man who had been raised by Martians. In his craft, the Zoomar, he routinely saved Earth from a variety of disasters.”
Judy Hamblin considered herself lucky to have The Dandy and Beano. “My dad was not known for spending money without good reason so my brother and I were surprised when he ordered both comics to be delivered. What we hadn’t appreciated was that he would dash downstairs when the paperboy came so that he could grab them to read first!”