The 5th of November in the UK is Bonfire Night, well technically it’s called Guy Fawkes night, an annual fire festival that marks the anniversary of a failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. To celebrate this failed event an effigy of Guy Fawkes, a member of the men who were behind the Gunpowder Plot and their plan to kill King James I and his government, is burnt on a bonfire. For such a gory celebration Bonfire night was embraced by children who would make life-size effigies of Guy Fawkes, usually made out of straw and dressed in old clothes to burn on the bonfires. Before this kids would parade their “Guy” through the streets and ask passers-by for a “penny for the Guy” . Although this tradition is now a rare sight, it was very popular up to the 1960s as was the tradition of showing Bonfire night celebrations in UK comics. Below are some of my favourite UK comics of that time:
Wham! issue 21 - 7 November 1964 - Cover by Leo Baxendale ( image from EBay)
Buster and Giggle - 2 November 1968-Cover by Angel Nadal
Valiant- 6 November 1965 -
POW! issue 43 - 11 November 1967
The above strip "Dare a Day Davy" was the back page feature to POW! (this strip is from issue 43) by the legendary Ken Reid. Looking at today’s children’s comics it's hard to believe just how violent some of the comic strips of this time could be. Ken Reid was a master of dark humour and his characters would regularly be blown up, sent hurtling off buildings and attacked by wild animals. Reid knew what kids liked and that children knew that the events in his manic and genuinely funny strips were pure fantasy and were not to be repeated.
The above strip (also by Ken Reid) is from Valiant, dated 7 November 1970.
I was probably about seven years old when I walked into my local newsagents in Cambuslang (near Glasgow) with my pocket money firmly he...
Following on from my last post featuring some of my favourite Marvel comic book covers from 1973, I thought I would show some of DC's ...
Nearly a half-century on I still consider 1973 to be the year that cemented my destiny in becoming a lifetime comic book fan. It was a yea...
The violence is regrettable but the idea of men turning against government is healthy for a nation. It's a reminder for those who run a country that they are servants and not masters. I just got a new copy of V for Vendetta and I now know when to give it a good read. Maybe this should become an annual event for me. It's that good a tale and it's a healthy reminder.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read V for Vendetta since it was published in Warrior. Like many things the Gunpowder plot was based on religious divides which sadly still haunts the UK to great and lesser degrees in the Nations of the UK .
DeleteDavy, not Davey, McS. It's right in front of you and you still get it wrong. Time for that trip to Vision Express. And while I'm in my pedant's garb, the cover to the UK Dracula Lives was NOT an amended version of The Frankenstein Monster #8 (US), as you claimed in one of RJ's posts. Similar idea perhaps, but different drawing. Some great British covers though, from when comics were comics. How many do you actually own?
ReplyDeleteI have all these comics except Wham 21 which I sold a few years ago. I'll amend "Davy" later thanks I'm afraid working late and trying to write a blog ( in this case 2am)isn't as easy as I thought so I may put it into hibernation until things calm down at work from next month.
ReplyDeleteA pedantic comment from me, I'm afraid, McScotty. Guy Fawkes was sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered, but escaped the drawn & quartering bit due to having his neck broken when they first strung him up. Probably a good thing to promote the idea of him being burnt on a bonfire - I hate to think of a tradition that celebrated being hung, drawn and quartered!
ReplyDeleteAs you allude to, in the commemoration of the failure of the Gunpowder Plot became an anti-Catholic rallying point in the early decades, so its a good thing that that aspect is left in the past.
Is Guy Fawkes night still a big thing in the UK, or has the adoption of the imported tradition of Halloween/Trick or Treat largely supplanted it yet?
I had no idea Guy Fawkes was hung, drawn etc everything I was taught at school was a lie as is online info but i found the full correct story is as you note.
ReplyDeleteGuy Fawkes is still "celebrated" but is nothing like it was when we were kids in the 1960s and early 1970s. I think the US trick or treat is favoured by todays kids over our more traditional version of halloween, but both are still celebrated with halloween being by far the bigger of the two except in places like Lewes in Susex where bonfire night is a massive event . Personally I never like either that much
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIf it's any consolation, CJ, I read your comment, now deleted.
Delete