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Thursday, November 4, 2021

Best of British: Gunpowder treason and errr comics!

Bonfire, Fireworks or Guy Fawkes Night whatever you call it, it is a uniquely British event that has been celebrated in British comics for many years. Although I have never been a big fan of Guy Fawkes night ( it was too soon after Halloween and by 5 November my focus was solely on Christmas) I always enjoyed reading the bonfire editions of my favourite weekly comics. Two of my favourites comics from this time are the above fireworks special edition of WHAM! issue 73, from 6 November 1965 by Leo Baxendale. The manic depiction of kids running amuck in school with a wheelbarrow full of fireworks isn’t as farfetched as it may seem as in the 1960’s /1970’s kids did have access to purchasing fireworks and some of them did actually run around with them lite in their hands . The cover below shows a more traditional version of Guy Fawkes night by Dudley Watkins from the Beano dated 7 November 1964, both are equally brilliant.
Of course the Guy Fawkes theme was not just confined to the covers but was also portrayed in most of the strips within the comic. One of the best of these came from the genius mind of Ken Reid in his legendary “Fankie Stein” strip. This one comes from the above WHAM! comic (issue 73) and is full of the comedy violence that only Ken Reid could do. I mean showing Professor Cube being incinerated by a rockets blast before falling into a box of fireworks is more akin to what todays kids would find in the pages of a DC Batman comic.
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5 comments:

  1. KidNovember 4, 2021 at 12:29 PM

    Baxendale, Watkins, and Reid - surely three of the greatest cartoonists of the '60s. Regarding Reid, I think his work was better when he had multiple panels per page as in the above example. It seemed to stretch his creativity. Later on in his career, when he was drawing fewer panels per page, his strips weren't quite so active, manic, or as interesting to look at. Still finely rendered of course, but the life had gone out of them.

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  2. McSCOTTYNovember 4, 2021 at 2:29 PM

    Couldn’t agree more Kid, Baxendale, Watkins, and Reid were exceptional as were other cartoonists like Reg Parlett ,Davey law and many others from this time. I would actually say they are some of the best cartoonists of all time, let alone the 1960s. Ken Reid's art/work at the 1960's was so far ahead of anything else being published and even before that his work on the "Fudge the Elf" newspaper strip was stunning and the equal (at least) imho of “Rupert the Bear”. Every time I see a Ken Reid Frankie Stein strip it takes me right back. I loved the strip as it both “scared” me a bit and made me laugh.

    Sadly Ken’s art from around 1971/2 when he was using less panels tended to be a bit stilted at times with too many profile views, but as you say it was still pretty good. Sadly I think he was heavily edited after Wham, Pow etc ceased publication by editors that didn’t understand his work and what kids liked and found funny.

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    Replies
    1. KidNovember 4, 2021 at 5:30 PM

      Indeed. I think, also, after his breakdown, his imagination was affected to a degree and he worked more from scripts written by others, so he wasn't as invested in them. Of course, in the '60s, he would revise and add to scripts by other writers, but I don't think he did that so much (if at all) in the '70s onwards. It sort of became just a job to him, and he drew what was in the script without going that 'extra mile'. Shame really, but at his peak he was exceptional.

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  3. Colin JonesNovember 5, 2021 at 3:33 PM

    Paul, I've always loved Guy Fawkes Night and I'll be out in my garden tonight watching the local fireworks displays. But my mother died on November 5th 2009 so nowadays Guy Fawkes Night means more to me than just fireworks and bonfires.

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  4. McSCOTTYNovember 5, 2021 at 7:53 PM

    That's a special memory for you Colin to experience in your own quite moments . My dad passed on 5 January not long after new year, so for me New year has never been a great party time but more a time of reflection, maybe like you for your wee mum

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