On This Day: 03 Feb

Fantastic and Terrific (Odhams) #01

Births:

Charlie Pease (1905); Mary Cathcart Borer (1906); Eric Burgin (1926)

Deaths:

Ruth Adam (1977)

Notable Events:

Marvelman #25 and Young Marvelman #25 (the first issues starring the titular characters) were published in 1954, the characters having appeared in the titles in the preceding issues to make the change–over from Fawcett reprints less abrupt.
Punch published the controversial "Man Goeth Forth Unto His Work And To His Labour Until The Evening" cartoon in 1954.
Both Marvelman and Young Marvelman dropped to monthly schedules and began reprints in their titles cover–dated this day in 1960. Just three years later the characters would find flung into publishing limbo...
Forbidden Planet (Scotland) Limited incorporated in 1988.

Toys

Having noted the real thing, it is time for toy cars.

Officially-licensed products have long been an attractive proposition for publishers, and one which is largely undocumented. There are a few lists I'm actively maintaining, and attempting to add in dates where I can. Of course, sometimes things find me, rather than me having to go looking for them. I like to think of it as the universe smiling benevolently upon me occasionally. While I wasn't specifically thinking of model cars in terms of comic-books (and wasn't really looking for more work), I happened to notice a few in passing:

Corgi Box Sets

Corgi Classic 98759 - The Dandy set
Corgi Classic 98965 - Eagle set

Corgi Vehicles

Corgi Classic 98754 - Adventure

Dinky Vehicles

Dinky - Stripey - the Magic Mini

ERTL Vehicles

Dennis the Menace and Gnasher

Lledo Box Sets

Lledo BN1002 - Beano 65th Anniversary set
Lledo BN1004 - Beano Limited Edition Box Set
Lledo BU1002 - Bunty for Girls set
Lledo DA1002 - The Dandy set
Lledo RUL1003 - Rupert Bear 75th Anniversary Set

Lledo Vehicles

Lledo DG06196 - Model T Ford Van: Dennis the Menace
Lledo DG16037 - Dennis Parcels Van: Rupert Bear
Lledo DG16039 - Dennis Parcels Van: Rupert Bear
Lledo DG11026 - Horse-drawn Removal Van: Rupert Bear
Lledo DG21045 - Chevrolet Van: Rupert Bear
Lledo DG21055 - Chevrolet Van: The Dandy
Lledo DG21060 - Chevrolet Van: The Wizard
Lledo DG22012 - Packard Town Van: Punch
Lledo DG28038 - Mack Canvas Back Truck: Lord Snooty and his Pals
Lledo DG34011 - Dennis Delivery Van: Winker Watson
Lledo DG43019 - Morris Van: Rupert Bear
Lledo DG43021 - Morris Van: Rupert Bear
Lledo DG43040 - Morris Van: The Wizard
Lledo DG43042 - Morris Van: Adventure for Boys
Lledo DG44015 - Scammell 6w Truck: Rupert Bear
Lledo DG44042 - Scammell 6w Truck: The Hotspur
Lledo DG50009 - Bull Nose Morris Van: Rupert Bear
Lledo DG50051 - Bull Nose Morris Van: The Dandy
Lledo DG50056 - Bull Nose Morris Van: The Hotspur
Lledo DG50059 - Bull Nose Morris Van: The Skipper
Lledo DG51010 - Chevrolet Box Van: Rupert Bear
Lledo DG52013 - Morris Parcels Van: Rupert Bear
Lledo DG52025 - Morris Parcels Van: Tiger
Lledo DG52030 - Morris Parcels Van: Bash Street Kids
Lledo DG58022 - Morris Z Van: Lion
Lledo DG58026 - Morris Z Van: Biffo the Bear
Lledo DG59023 - Bedford 30cwt Truck: Dennis the Menace
Lledo DG59033 - Bedford 30cwt Truck: Bunty for Girls
Lledo DG61011 - Pontiac Delivery Van: The Topper
Lledo DG63028 - Bedford 30cwt Delivery Van: Whizzer and Chips
Lledo DG63035 - Bedford 30cwt Delivery Van: Minnie the Minx
Lledo DG71024 - Morris LD150 Van: Wham!
Lledo DG71029 - Morris LD150 Van: The Rover
Lledo LP06610 - Model T Ford Van: Rupert Bear
Lledo LP06784 - Model T Ford Van: Minnie the Minx
Lledo LP13209 - Model A Ford Van: Andy Capp
Lledo LP13210 - Model A Ford Van: Andy Capp
Lledo LP13240 - Model A Ford Van: Rupert Bear
Lledo LP21144 - Chevrolet Van: The Beano
Lledo LP44044 - Scammell 6w Truck: Garth
Lledo LP50089 - Bull Nose Morris Van: Rupert Bear
Lledo LP50180 - Bull Nose Morris Van: The Dandy
Lledo LP50181 - Bull Nose Morris Van: The Dandy
Lledo LP52014 - Morris Parcels Van: The Adventures of Rupert
Lledo LP59016 - Bedford 30cwt Truck: Rupert Bear
Lledo LP59021 - Bedford 30cwt Truck: Jane in the Mirror
Lledo LP59028 - Bedford 30cwt Truck: Giles

Of interest to some, the Matchbox 'Adventure 2000' set (K-2001 Raider Command) was the vehicle seen during Dredd's journey across the Cursed Earth.

On This Day: 11 Oct

Whizzer and Chips (IPC Magazines Ltd.) #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Krazy (IPC Magazines Ltd.) #01 (16 Oct 1976).
Doctor Who Weekly (Marvel Comics Ltd.) #01 (17 Oct 1979).

First Appearances:

Angel Face and Dare Devil in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Aqua Lad in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
The Champ in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Professor Clueless (The "Stealer") in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Fred's Family Tree in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Ginger's Tum in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Harry's Haunted House in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Hetty's Horoscope in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Hot Rod in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Karate Kid in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Kings of the Castle in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Little Saver in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Me and My Shadow in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Minnie's Mixer in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
The Mummy's Curse in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Odd-Ball in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Parker the Parky in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Puddin' Tops in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Slippy (Sid's Snake) in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Slowcoach in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Space School in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Wear 'Em Out Wilf in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Willy Bunk (The Spectacular Adventures of Willy Bunk) in Whizzer and Chips #01 (18 Oct 1969).
Cheeky in Krazy #01 (16 Oct 1976).
Detective Fumbly in Krazy #01 (16 Oct 1976).
Fit Fred and Sick Sid in Krazy #01 (16 Oct 1976).
Steve Ford, the 12½p Buytonic Boy in Krazy #01 (16 Oct 1976).
Handy Andy in Krazy #01 (16 Oct 1976).
Kelly's Telly in Krazy #01 (16 Oct 1976).
The Krazy Gang in Krazy #01 (16 Oct 1976).
Micky Mimic in Krazy #01 (16 Oct 1976).
Paws in Krazy #01 (16 Oct 1976).
Pongo Snodgrass (Pongalongapongo) in Krazy #01 (16 Oct 1976).
Ray Presto in Krazy #01 (16 Oct 1976).
Scaredy Cat in Krazy #01 (16 Oct 1976).
Judge McGruder in 2000 A.D. (IPC Magazines Ltd.) Prog 182 (18 Oct 1980).

Births:

Bernard Partridge (1861); John Jukes (1901); Jon Langford (Chuck Death; 1957)

Notable Events:

The Adventures of Barry McKenzie released in the UK in 1973.
Punch 150th Anniversary Exhibition began, at the Royal Festival Hall, London, in 1991.

Commentary 1

There's something about living with a work for a period of time which changes the work. You begin to see a myriad of possibilities in form and function, and discover limitations which wouldn't otherwise become apparent, and - sometimes, if you are patient and ask the right questions - you find answers which take you off in unexpected directions. The best part about finding extra uses for already existing aspects of a work is the tidiness. The sense of order is inherently appealing.

In comics, noting first appearances are important. I doubt anyone will argue that point, but finding a compelling reason for the existence of a list outside of identifying those crucial first appearances was immensely difficult. It was an index in search of a body of work to accompany, and only by adding more pages would it finally have a purpose beyond itself, which is how the endless character pages¹ began accumulating. And they needed more purpose, which is why all the strips, posters, cover appearances, and other sub-pages needed to be added.

Having seen how characters benefit from having all their varied appearances brought together, it seemed reasonable to do the same for living people. All those Eagle pin-ups, Look-In features, and various biographical strips add up. Of course, you need order in the mass of data which this throws up - all VC recipients need to be on one list, actors on another, the royal family all brought together on their own page...²

When it came to footballers I gave a shrug, figuring that someone would come up with a way to order them more creatively than putting them on their own page(s).³

For popular characters, as for celebrities, this meant that at least half a dozen pages were needed to cover all possibilities. That's before the information was added, necessitating yet more pages. At some point in all of that, probably when adding in creators to strip listings, I figured that there needed to be something similar for their work. If photos are going to get so much coverage, then it is only right that the creative forces driving a comic get due recognition.

That was most likely where the madness began.

The endless list of names needed something extra. When I ported over the principle of the character sheets, I found that the birth and death dates gave more reason for the lists of names - it would now be possible to quickly search for everyone born on a given date, or on a specific year. All of the creator sheets, along with military, celebrity, political, and royalty names, thus needed to have their birth dates added. And deaths, obviously, where appropriate.

Newspaper and magazine strips, long overdue proper assessment, have always been a pain to gather information on. When I was putting those pages together (driven by the need to add those to creator pages), it seemed to make sense to index the magazines as well while I had them available. All the features, interviews, reviews and other elements.⁴

By this time, with so many pages proving to be more than mere lists, the publisher list began looking a little threadbare. Those pages were a necessity, but one which sat uncomfortably among the more complex pages. It took more than a while for the answer to come to me, but when the answer came it made perfect sense: the companies can be considered to have a beginning, so I would need to have their "birth date" and company number. That's something which was really hard to do without the internet, so it is ongoing.

Much of the work was done while offline - from copious notes, photocopies, and what was recovered from the old external hard drive with the original website - retaining access to the internet is a whole other problem which is going to require thought, but I have a couple of months before it becomes a pressing one.

And I haven't even mentioned the addition of adding in biographies, publisher histories, or even novels.

Back in 2012 I downloaded a great deal of public domain books which touched on areas that the database was heading in. Some of the titles turned out to be very useful indeed, while others merely reinforced what was already available. It was apparent, in many of the texts, that nothing had been done to contextualise the information. Prominent Victorians, now barely known (if at all), are mentioned without providing any hint as to their importance, nor why they should be highly regarded. It was something that was crying out for attention.⁵

At the moment, sorting out the history around books about Punch are proving to be something of an obsession, but peeling back the layers of time in order to make the books come alive again required a completely new approach. There's a lot of work still required for those, yet the fun (for it is so) is digging out the lines which illuminate an individual. It was a possibility, for about a week, that they would make suitable companion pieces - items to be sold in order to fund the site itself.

Oh, optimism. You cruel and tormenting feeling.

As more explanations were added to the books, dates and references essential to making sense of cryptic comments, it became increasingly obvious that the books belonged on the site proper. Forty Years of Spy, alone, now has over 300,000 words. Untangling the incredible web of artists and authors contributed to the size, with numerous mentioned individuals requiring their own pages with links to their works. So that leaves me in a rather awkward predicament of not having anything which is obviously aimed at bringing in money.

At the moment the database is sitting at staggering number of pages of various length⁶, though at least half of that consists of "I'll get around to this, sooner or later" pages, with only the name of the individual, or the title of a work, at the top of the page. All requiring attention, and all of equal importance.

And then there is the "subject" sections. This particular aspect of the database is all Christopher Cockerell's fault.

There's a wonderful L. Ashwell Wood cutaway⁷ of a hovercraft in Eagle Vol.10 #36 which caught my attention, and raised a question - how would I go about finding every instance of a hovercraft in British comics? How about helicopters? Or racing? What about animals, and... Well, everything else. A proper listing of every instance of war stories was the kicker, as so many real-life conflicts have slipped between the pages of popular titles. It was important (to me, at any rate) to have a way of seeking further material on a given subject.

Actually, that isn't the complete story...

A while after sketching out rough guidelines for subject listings I found that there were significant gaps, even though I was certain material existed. It was the search for specific material which truly drove that element of the guide. Where were the strips and features about shoe-making throughout history? How could I find instances of seaside piers in stacks of comics, to compare and contrast depictions? Discovering these relatively mundane linking elements was a challenge which demanded answering.

Of course, things never really go as expected. For every date and name which was pried from the dusty pages of history there were a dozen gaps which frustrated me with their cunning elusiveness.


<sup>1. Don't get too excited - I only have 32,106 characters listed at present, a fraction of the overall total. When completed, each entry will have a potted biography, a couple of iconic images, a complete list of appearances, a list of collections, adaptations, works about, and anything else that seems important. There are, at present, no non-British characters, so US reprints will have to be properly assessed in future.

2. I don't think this has ever been attempted before, but it makes sense. All those Charlie Chaplin appearances have a place in the history of comics, and it is difficult to argue that they "don't count."

3. There's a rule I have been (loosely) following since (what feels like) forever - no list should be longer than 500 lines of text. Of course, if a title has 505 issues, then it isn't worth creating an additional page for overflow, but to keep page size down, longer lists are broken down into several consecutive pages. This has had the knock-on effect of pushing the page-count up, but it is better to be comprehensive than it is to be concise.

4. No, I don't know how this fits in to the database-proper. I'm going to work it out later. One really interesting aspect of old magazines (especially from the forties and fifties) is the complexity and depth of articles. Much more interesting than any title currently in print, outdated as much of the information actually is. Many film magazines may be lightweight, but the science and technology magazines are fascinating.

5. While work done (by a great many wonderful groups) to keep books available is, indeed, admirable, popular culture has moved on a hundred and fifty years since some of their topical references were penned.

6. I don't want to jinx myself here, and also - because it was easier to do so - there are some things which are 'bundled' in one file. Before the material gets uploaded, and quickly checked one last time, I'm going to split the page contents into the dozens or hundreds of separate files. It is that kind of organisational headache.

7. Yes, cutaways get a page listing all of the images in one place. There are a significant number of non-Eagle cutaways which also require indexing, but one thing at a time...</sup>