Talk to me about "kid's comics"....

Viz

The Beano is still alive and kicking isn't it?

There really is only the Beano left in terms of a comic as you and I know it.

Other than that, there are all sorts of compilation hardbacks published by DC Thompson, which you'll enjoy, even if your grandson doesn't. The problem is that they don't create that secret, personal world which buying a weekly comic used to provide.

A good compromise is to buy old second-hand annuals, particularly from the 1960s and early 1970s - the glory days. You can find them on Amazon. They're inevitably a bit musty, but the excitement of turning the pages on Christmas morning is still there.

As for why comics have vanished, the reason imo is that children no longer have the opportunity to discover them on their own (or discover anything else on their own, for that matter, unless it's online). By that I mean that when I was an eight year old, I walked to and from school on my own, and during school holidays I left the house after breakfast, and as long as I was home for tea before dark, then my mum and dad neither knew nor cared where I was or what I was doing. So I'd wander into newsagents, see shelves full of Beanos, Dandys (never the biggest fan), Sparkys (a forgotten jewel), Victors (Alf Tupper!) and just had to investigate.

These days eight-year-olds seem to have their world defined solely by where their parents decide they should be driven, and that doesn't leave any opportunity for browsing, exploring and discovering what the world has to offer on your own terms. And without that, there's no room for discovering comics.

I used to get The Dandy every week as a nipper.
The boy next door was a couple of years older than me and every month or so his mum would clear out all his war comics and give them to me.

Great post screaming.Agree entirely.

No boy should grow up without having read a pile of "Commando" books and be able to say fluently - "Hande Hoch" and "Achtung, Englander, aaaaaargh!!!!!!!".

Just it in case it all kicks off again with the hun.

Great Commando book title. Could be the title of other book gendres.
http://www.planetfigure.com/attachments/27d25248ef70a3d1fb33bf31ff8f47ba-jpg.209636/

i bought some comics at a boot sale a few years back all in protective covers in very good condition  which included some called scream, numbers 1 to 8 iirc turns out these comics were too scary for the young kids they were aimed at and parents complained that they were giving their r kids nightmares and production was ceased after about 8 issues making them quite rare and collectable ,they were going for about a £10 each on e bay ,so if ya have any keep hold of them !

have quite a few of the old battle,commando comics from the 60s, the artwork on the front covers is the buissness

I don't think this cover is "politically correct" enough for the snowflake generation, they'd be wanting it banned.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/12/f2/67/12f267011f6f00da2967852bceb556f5--british-commandos-war-comics.jpg
Number 16!

This guy looks like he'd fit in on chit chat :)
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/be/54/9b/be549babb02c65ebcab3dc5e33624297.jpg

When my mum used to lose her temper with my dad over something he'd done, it would often turn into a scene from Commando War Stories. He was a Ukrainian who'd ended the War in a German uniform fighting the Russians. My mother, on the other hand, was a Londoner who'd lost the best years of her life to the Blitz. So when they argued, he would conveniently turn into a German as far as she was concerned.

"You bloody square-'eaded git, you!" she'd yell. "Who won the soddin' War, anyway?!"

They loved each other really.

bought 30 0dd DC Superman/jimmy olsen etc comic books from some fete 78 ish mint condition
artwork storyboard superb wish i kept em

screaming from beneaththewaves 07 Sep 17 19:01 

'.....

As for why comics have vanished, the reason imo is that children no longer have the opportunity to discover them on their own (or discover anything else on their own, for that matter, unless it's online).
By that I mean that when I was an eight year old, I walked to and from school on my own, and during school holidays I left the house after breakfast, and as long as I was home for tea before dark, then my mum and dad neither knew nor cared where I was or what I was doing.
So I'd wander into newsagents, see shelves full of Beanos, Dandys (never the biggest fan), Sparkys (a forgotten jewel), Victors (Alf Tupper!) and just had to investigate.

These days eight-year-olds seem to have their world defined solely by where their parents decide they should be driven, and that doesn't leave any opportunity for browsing, exploring and discovering what the world has to offer ...'
------------------

Brilliant post - screaming ...

- and - that modus operandi is precisely how I discovered the Sporting Chronicle and weekly Handicap Book - replete with FORM RESULTS PULL-OUT - as a teenage schoolboy.   

I grew up in the 50s and 60s, and the reality was kids had far fewer entertainments, and much more time on their hands. Comics and an hour of childrens tv were really the only formal entertainment available. The rest of the time we amused ourselves.

If you look at the current circulation figures for 'comics'. Private Eye vastly outsells anything else, and most of the rest are tv or film spinoffs.

IMO few comics are bought by children by choice. It will be mostly nostalgic adults pushing them or buying manga etc.

I agree with Screaming that children these days get to make far fewer decisions for themselves, and spend far more time on formal entertainments, but then so do adults. But I doubt even when exposed to comics most kids of today would be interested in them.

pxb: I agree that few comics are now bought by children by choice. But that's my whole point. They no longer have the opportunity to make choices. So the Beano no longer offers an anarchic, violent world where maturity and good sense are treated with contempt (the old selling point, when you're trying to attract an unsupervised child with indigestion from the apples he'd just nicked from someone's back yard). Instead it's trying to attract the adult who might put it in the shopping basket to keep the kid quiet on the drive home from the supermarket.

onlooker: That's exactly how I discovered the idea of following the Form too. And it went hand-in-hand with the world as the Beano saw it back then. The latter made me want to be different, not part of the adult world. I didn't want to grow up to be Dennis's dad, owning a suit, but with no sense of fun or excitement. I wanted to be part of that outlaw world of the Turf.

Thanks guys. I think he would like some "Super-Heroes" type (not 'comics' per se) if there is such a thing!

I'll pop into WHS and see if there is anything suitable....

Apart from the Dandy & Beano we also got the Film Fun and the Beezer which later became the Topper.

Currently got hundreds of Judge Dred and 2000AD comics in the garage which I've been storing for my son. Going to have to sell them soon when the garage gets knocked down. Have to keep checking that they're still in good condition.

crystalhunt if you have number 1 and 2  of the 2000 ad comics in vgc  they will be worth a good few quid saw number 2 sell online a good few years back for around £50 ,number 1 would be worth a fair bit more ,market was strong then, dont know about now

Cheers FW - don't know exactly whats there - just know there's four boxes full. He's also got a load stored in a friends loft from over 15yrs ago. He hasn't seen the friend for years or know if they still live at the same address. He's been a bit lax. He might get his finger out when I start selling my lot.

Used to love the Superman comics as a lad, really let your imagination take off. Also liked a Football one can't recall the name, but a player/manager i think took over a useless team who were getting thrashed every week and got people with quirks into his team. Think the groundsman was 1st in as Goalie who was colour blind who kept throwing the ball to the opposition so manager got them a new strip with diagonal lines, the 2 full backs were telepathic, the winger was a foot juggler etc. Wasn't Roy of the Rovers, may have been Striker or something like that, great fun.
Did buy my daughter a Beano Annual when she was about 8 yo but totally uninterested in it, times change i.m afraid.

stewrts i used to read loads of comics as a kid and cant remember which comic it was but there was a cricket story and this guy(the hereo) was built like a brick shyte house and a demon bowler ,he  used to bowl take a run up and bowl the ball  at the trembling batsman and the ball would go straight through the bat and leave a ball shaped hole in the bat also in the footy storys the ball would be kicked with such force it would go straight through the net ! as a nipper i must have thought this was entirely reasonable !

Happy days FW

i think the comics that caught my imagination were the old "astounding tales" type american comics that were around in the 1950-60s about half a dozen good  stories in each issue and still vividly remember reading a story about this kid who was cruel to animals  birds /insects etc ,the little bstard pulled the wings off bees /moths etc, horrible spotty  fecka ! he ended up getting bitten by this tropicl spider he was about to pull its legs off ,after a few days he started getting hairs on his body and in the end turned into a spider .....as a kid i made sure i never harmed any animals or insects musta made a big impression on me

Oor Wullie and The Broons lol

^ Xmas Annuals also serialised in The Sunday Post if my memory is correct

digital comic sites out there. cbz.cbr.pdf formats.
free downloads.

Whizzer and Chips was a good 'un, I thought.

Were you a Whizz-Kid or a Chip-ite?

That's the sort of thing I meant, when I was talking about how weekly comics used to create a world for the reader which drew you in.

My childhood would not of been the same without Roy of the Rovers and Tiger. Magical days late 70s early 80s.

On the back of this thread, I went out and bought a copy of the Beano today, but how I wish I hadn't
Lord Snooty has ditched his top hat and tails, and now wears a dress as he is transgender. Minnie the Minx has come out
as a lesb1an, and the headmaster from the Bash Street Kids is facing historical sex charges. But worst of all Dennis the Menace
has travelled to Syria, and is now a member of ISIS.

lol

Yes I saw that mad mad moon "Dayesh the Heathen Menace and the Unclean Dog!". It's politically correctness gone mad.

And Plug finally got his ears fixed, half the Bash Street Kids are in prison for mocking his deformity as it's now a hate crime.

Tales of Suspense
Journey into Mystery
Strange Tales
Strange Worlds
World of Fantasy
Tales to Astonish
Amazing Adventures
   and many more  Creepy Tales etc    the freak  brothers    fat freddy cat     

used to love those  types  when i was ten to 14  it keep me  on edge

i was not in the dandy or  Beano   find them  too lame

still   got the  lot    over 400  or so in the attic   must be  over 40 years old

chrisblues list reminds me of a book of Edgar Allan Poe I read as a kid. "The Pit and the Pendulum" aaarrgh!
Some/All of his work is available on project guttenburg (a fantastic site) as it's old enough to be out of copywrite, perfectly legal.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/481
(Has kindle verions as well as text/pdf etc).

been looking on ebay    wow   prices  range from £10 to 200each

Plug uglier than me!

Ah yes, Bill Sampson the 'Wolf of Kabul' and his devastating Sepoy sidekick 'Chung' with his Clicky Ba. Could do with 'em in Afganistan