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Post by dem on Mar 4, 2015 16:08:40 GMT
Adam Riches with Tim Parker & Robert Sandland - Football's Comic Book Heroes (Mainstream, 2009) Introduction
Play Up, And Play The Game
War And Peace
Crime And Punishment
The Greater Game
Let The Good Times Roll
Never Had It So Good
The Hard Man And The Fancy Dan
The Final Whistle
The Ultimate Fantasy Football Comic: Great Story Action Featuring Comic Book Footy Stars Down The AgesBlurb Ever since boys' comics were first published in the middle years of the nineteenth century, they have offered readers fun, adventure and escapism. As participation and attendance at sports events rose dramatically in the early years of the twentieth century, so boys' comics focused more and more on sportsmen; with footballers becoming the ultimate favourites.
Millions of boys' comics were sold in the 'golden age' in the 1920s and '30s. The introduction of football stories in cartoon-strip format proved immensely popular, and during the 1950s and '60s comics enjoyed a renaissance, with The Rover, Tiger and The Hotspur among the top titles. The 1970s saw the launch of dedicated football comics such as Scorcher and Score 'n' Roar. Within the pages of these titles, legends were born, but for every "Hot Shot' Hamish there were dozens of other footballing heroes, and this book tells their stories, too.
Although these comics are no longer in circulation, they still generate a huge level of interest among boys and men of all ages, and the culture of the comic book hero continues. Using the archives of publishers DC Thomson and Co. Limited, IPC Media Limited and Egmont UK Limited, the authors have produced a definitive history of the comic book footballer. This unique and nostalgic account of the football comic book phenomenon will jog the memories of older readers and introduce the magic of these imaginary sporting stars to a whole new generation.**** It says much for the enduring brilliance of the Pan Horrors and Haunted Library publications that, having snagged a copy of Football's Comic Book Heroes on Tuesday last (Spitalfields Crypt charity shop: Aldgate chapter), have been too engrossed to spare it all but the most cursory peek. Until now. Chapter two, War And Peace, spanning the years 1914-1922 , is an early highlight. Taking their lead from the real world, the likes of Sport's Library's 'Redcastle United' and other popular fictitious teams enlisted for the front, encouraging the reader to do likewise. Spookily, Roughs And Toughs ( Sports Library, 14 November 1914) pre-empted that years much-debated Christmas Day kick-about in no mans land, except in the comics version, the evil Bosche open fire on the gallant Tommies before a ball is kicked. With the men away fighting, back home the women's game enjoyed unprecedented popularity, as reflected in the consistently impressive crowds who turned out for the internationally famous munitions factory team, the Dick, Kerr Ladies, until the FA effectively outlawed "girl's footer" in 1921 (a ban which stood for half a century). By which time the Dick, Kerr menace had already infiltrated the pages of Football Pages in the guise of Meg Foster - Footballer, the "jolly good fellow!" who, during a traumatic first season which saw her narrowly escape transportation, captained Northern mill-workers team Crusaders to cup final victory over arch rivals, the Canaries. The same paper's prolific Steve Nelson contrived a Geordie equivalent, Nell O'Newcastle, "a very pretty girl and a clever footballer," and what looks to have been a soppy 'star player falls for with-it flapper girl' romance, For League And Love ( Football Favourite, Jan. 1st 1921). Would no-one save us from these rabid agents of Ms. Pankhurst? It was all too much for one of the Boy's Pictorial chauvinists who asked, anonymously, Should Girls Play Footer? What The Mere Man Thinks About it. The mere man in question did not approve, signing off his even-handed diatribe with a curt "A word to the girls who do play - stop it! Whatever you think, you are not admired by the opposite sex." At least we still had Dead Wide Dick the goalkeeping elephant (as a rule the net-minders in these pages are generally big-boned), The Outcast Of The Spurs (provide your own pleasantry: it was co-authored by THFC's then captain, Arthur Grimsdell) and Sexton Blake, toppling a match-fixing syndicate in Arthur S. Hardy's Paid To Lose ( The Champion Story Supplement, 28 Jan 1922). Only pulphack will know if this adventure is on a par with W. J. Lomax's superlative A Football Mystery from fifteen years earlier.  It's no surprise that the profusion of illustrative material is a joy.To be continued (probably lots).........
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Mar 4, 2015 20:44:32 GMT
Girls football. Highly entertaining sport at a number of levels. I just can't fathom the mind set of the 1920's chaps.
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Post by dem on Mar 5, 2015 19:49:13 GMT
I was tempted to quote the Boy's Pictorial piece verbatim (it's reproduced in the book), but then realised it might be better set aside for the Women's world cup in three months time. Anyway, enough of soppy girls. Let's have some death and misery. Certain clubs had a MAD SCIENTIST on the payroll. Such a team were the Red Hawks ( The Ninety Minute Marvels, Wizard, 19 Aug. 1939) , whose four star performers were getting too old for the demands of the modern game. Enter Dr Snell - "the man who could make men feel young again - for an hour and a half." Snell's top secret miracle youth drug , X23 , soon has the veterans playing like their teenage selves, BUT THERE'S A PRICE TO PAY, namely a hidden side-effect - death. Four decades on, the same comic, ran another sci-horror serial, The Lost 47 Minutes (June - September, 1971). Fourth division strugglers Bandfield United were in such desperate straits that, when Dr. Franz Breck told them that he could develop the perfect footballer in 47 minutes, they handed him total control of the club. Dr. Breck is the Victor Frankenstein of electro-hypnosis, by which means he transfers the outstanding skills of gifted players to United's honest but average Len Bowman. BUT THERE'S A PRICE TO PAY Henceforth, poor Bowman is haunted by the ghostly faces of those whose talents he's stolen. The Team Of The Doomed ( Hotspur, January 7th 1950) were just that. Formed on Friday 13th, Radwick Rangers further court catastrophe by incurring the wrath of local gypsies who dutifully curse them. Even after Rangers lose the nucleus of their players and staff in a plane crash, the hoodoo persists. As Scooby, a rather ghoulish local journalist, reminds their new signing, "No fewer than ten of their players have received broken limbs since the war." Sixteen years later, The Scarlet Hawks, an entirely unrelated The Team Of The Doomed, relived their finest moment in the The Hornet (8th Jan. 1966). This version, we're informed in the byline, "have the strangest strips in soccer - but it cost the lives of eleven men to get them!" Shortly before WWII, the Hawks were invited to Germany to play Hitler's favourite team, Die Falken. A meaningless friendly, nothing riding on it at all. BUT THERE WAS A PRICE TO PAY. No sooner had the match kicked off, the English lads were informed by their terrified opponents that, should the Hawks win, the players on both sides would be executed. From Roy Of The Rovers of all places. Tony "Look Out For Lefty!" Harding illustration for The Footballer Who Wouldn't Stay Dead (1980). |
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Post by dem on Mar 11, 2015 7:11:34 GMT
Question. Why is there a knife flying toward Chink Connor's head? Answer. Because the Gilport Rovers hotshot has just netted twice for his side in defiance of a death threat from Fang Li, the leader of a Tong-Mafia match-rigging syndicate in Rupert Hall's Trailed By The Terror Tong, Triumph, October, 1938). Chink not only lived to tell the tale but, following treatment to his wounded shoulder, bagged the winner in a gripping 4-3 victory. If only they'd hired Charles Birkin to write the final episode (Richard Stains would have been too young). "The lightening flash crackled down in a fiery light and hit Andy Steele!" Sadly overlooked in the book but The Footballer Who Wouldn't Stay Dead, ( Roy of the Rovers, 1980-82) featured perhaps the most harrowing opening panels to a strip I've seen in a boys comic, not least because there was a real-life precedent. Unfortunately, after so promising (albeit tasteless) a beginning, evidently the story morphs into a Billy's Boots clone as, on the seventieth anniversary of Andy's death, aspiring footballer Mel Deakin is also taken out by a lightening bolt on the same spot, but he survives to be guided through his career by the kindly ghost of his predecessor. But never fear because proper nastiness was on the horizon ..... |
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Mar 11, 2015 18:04:00 GMT
Question. Why is there a knife flying toward Chink Connor's head? Answer. Because the Gilport Rovers hotshot has just netted twice for his side in defiance of a death threat from Fang Li, the leader of a Tong-Mafia match-rigging syndicate in Rupert Hall's Trailed By The Terror Tong, Triumph, October, 1938). Chink not only lived to tell the tale but, following treatment to his wounded shoulder, bagged the winner in a gripping 4-3 victory. If only they'd hired Charles Birkin to write the final episode (Richard Stains would have been too young). "The lightening flash crackled down in a fiery light and hit Andy Steele!" Sadly overlooked in the book but The Footballer Who Wouldn't Stay Dead, ( Roy of the Rovers, 1980-82) featured perhaps the most harrowing opening panels to a strip I've seen in a boys comic, not least because there was a real-life precedent. Unfortunately, after so promising (albeit tasteless) a beginning, evidently the story morphs into a Billy's Boots clone as, on the seventieth anniversary of Andy's death, aspiring footballer Mel Deakin is also taken out by a lightening bolt on the same spot, but he survives to be guided through his career by the kindly ghost of his predecessor. But never fear because proper nastiness was on the horizon ..... tremendous stuff. Not sure if you've seen this real life Roy of the Rovers story prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/08/video-hero-manager-of-semi-pro-team-scores-goal-saves-penalty/ |
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Post by dem on Mar 12, 2015 9:37:30 GMT
Non-league is where its at! Perhaps more in keeping with the spirit of this place, Kingstonian goalkeeper Rob Tolfrey will likely land a lengthy ban after vaulting the fence to attack taunting fans following recent 1-2 home defeat to Bognor Regis Town. Wrong reaction blah blah but I sincerely hope he overcomes any repercussions to get his career back on track. Also, this strangely poignant documentary examining the Wealdstone Raider phenomenon. Meanwhile, back at Football's Comic Book Heroes, I haven't written the next bit yet so here are a couple of 'provide your own captions' to tide you over. The first is from Boy's Own (have no idea of artist or date) the second from the final issue of the Valley Of Angst And Torture's fang-zine Hope All Your Dreams Come True (1995). Neither feature in the book.  Artist uncredited  The Bride of Dem |
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Post by dem on Apr 17, 2015 12:50:36 GMT
The Ultimate Fantasy Football Comic: Great Story Action Featuring Comic Book Footy Stars Down The Ages. Tucked away at back of the book, a DIY "best football comic ever", featuring four strips - Billy's Boots, Nipper, Dozy Danny and The Goalmaker - strange galleries, a few snippets and three full-length text stories. A. S. Hardy - Down On Their Luck: ( Boys Realm Football Library #57, 1910). "A strong tale of the Blue Crusaders." After suffering a shock 2-4 home reversal to unfancied Birmingham in the league, injury hit, pneumonia-stricken Browton Town ('The Blue Crusaders') next face struggling Barsley in the second round of the English Cup. Barsley have problems of their own. A "beggarly" 1500 watched their recent 0-0 bore draw with Gainsborough, their sixth game without a win, and the club are facing a winding up order over a £3,000 debt. To make matters worse, big hearted Crusaders manager James Wentworth accidentally burns down their main stand when hot ash from his pipe ignites a pile of rubbish (Wentworth and rival boss Grimshaw valiantly attempt to tackle the resulting inferno with a hose pipe). The match is switched to Browton where a bumper gate of 25,000 watch Barsley fight back from two down to win 3-2. The Crusaders, gents every last man jack of 'em,are quite pleased for their opponents who will raise enough from their cup run to pay off their creditors and build a state-of-the-art stand. The Corinthian spirit endures. Jolly well played, sirs! Anon - Cast-Iron Bill: ( Rover, Jan. 1939). "The classiest goalkeeper in Britain." Bill Bentley, has just taken a job at Tickers' Travelling Show & Circus as resident goalkeeper on the 'Shy-At-Him' stall next door to Ironwood United's stadium. Proving himself equal to everything the crowd can kick and throw at him - including a thunderbolt from the Irons star striker which would have torn a hole through a lesser man - Bill is snapped up by United on a massive £9 a week. Ticker begs him to stay, even offers him a wage rise, but "Now I'm off, as the man said when he fell off a steeple. " Cast-iron Bill makes his United début the following day. "I didn't know that was coming, as the man said as he stepped in front of the Flying Scotsman!" Inspired by his superhuman performance, bottom of the league United gain their first points of the season in a 2-0 win over Burnleigh Town. But treachery is afoot! United's local rivals, Ironwood City, are much miffed at recent developments, and agents working on their behalf attempt to poach him. When Bill declines, the shady spivs hire hoodlums to put him out of commission for a long time. It doesn't work - the wisecracking shot-stopper beats them to a pulp! For United's next home game, against Shefton, City fans turn up en masse to barrack the monster goalie, but he will not be put off his game and showboats throughout. A second win in two for United!. "I like to do things thoroughly, as the gentleman said as he sat down under a steam hammer." Donald Dane - Fireworks Flynn's Freebooters ( Champion, March 1944). Preparations for the Freebooters' crunch home game with Elmwood F. C. are thrown into chaos when player-manager 'Fireworks' Flynn (ex-R.A. F., former sports master, proud patriot, etc.) is informed that one of his players is colluding with the Nazi's! But which one? Suspicion falls on Hallam, Flynn's former pupil at St. Kits, but can it really be that such a decent, clean cut young fellow would betray his country to the Hun? Unknown to Flynn, a useless squad player signed by the previous manager, is an undercover raving fascist! With the kick off only an hour away, Flynn and the exonerated Hamman are trapped at up to their necks in stagnant water at bottom of a disused well. Can they escape in time to foil the traitor and, more importantly, triumph over Elmwood by, say, six goals to one?  The Phantom Of The Forest, ( Score 'n Roar, 1970). Not quite as irritating as Cast-Iron Bill but getting there, Scorcher's resident Know All - "Soccer's Mister Big-Head" - a pint-sized speccy squirt who knew all the rules of the game inside out and set the reader ten You Are The Ref style challenges per issue. The galleries include Some  ?? Are On The Pitch, illustrations depicting early instances of pitch invasions by angry bulls, a dog and a couple of birds - when animals attack footballers in Vault speak. The one disappointment is that "Great Free Footy Cards For You To Collect![/i] ( Scorcher, 1970's) are almost uniquely unscary.
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Post by pulphack on Apr 17, 2015 19:02:43 GMT
Oh bugger, I'm going to have to pick this up, aren't I? It sounds great, even though there seems a distressing lack of Sydney Horler. And even though Cast Iron Bill sounds an irritating bugger, he's about all that could have saved Orient this season (I know there's still a few games left, but I'll be surprised if we stay up with our run-in and out of sorts squad).
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Post by dem on Apr 18, 2015 4:09:01 GMT
Trust me, Mr. Hack, it really is a thing of beauty. Although some of the illustrations reproduced on this thread feature in the book, as many again do not, but they are all fairly representative. As far as I recall, the only Sydney Horler story referenced is The Millionaire Centre-Forward, apparently an early instance of the drug-addled star striker. Vampires, black magic, screaming skulls, lunatic bird women, footballers on dope, Tiger Standish and a frightfully prudish jewel thief - truly, they bred their authors versatile in Syd's day. Something I really like about the Blue Crusaders is they, and their fictional counterparts, frequently get to test their mettle versus the day's big boys. A case in point being Barsley of the burnt-down stand who, after knocking out the Crusaders in the second round, go on to reach the English cup semi-final where they're eventually beaten by Newcastle United (who, incidentally, were that year's winners, beating Barnsley with an 'n' in the final). The most irritating thing about Cast-iron Bill is that we're denied the second episode - "Next week Bill plays against the dirtiest team in the league!" - and as yet I've not found it on-line. Still, I'll keep going as long as I can, as the man said when he fell off the church steeple. If you're not already aware of it and can find an hour of several to burn, I reckon the mighty Friardale site is right up your street. For example, there are loads of pre-WWI football, cricket and horse-racing fiction pdf's to download for free direct from the Boys Realm section (you'll need to scroll down the page). A typical example, the following rugger-based ripping yarn.  "The Bounder! Oh, the Bounder!"
Corcoran muttered the words more in sorrow than in anger.: ( Boy's Realm, Feb 9, 1907). Lawrence, the new boy at St Egberts, is ostracised by "haughty Pooh-bah and inky fag" alike on account of him being born of peasant stock. Only Corcoran, captain of the school rugger fifteen, has a kind word for him, but then Corcoran cares not whether a fellow's father is Duke or dustman "so long as he behaved himself decently." On the eve of St. Egberts big game versus Lyndale, Corkers decides to watch the local amateur club, Aybrooke, in action against a village team. All the players are distinctly average - save one .... |
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Apr 18, 2015 9:49:56 GMT
Charles Hamilton - The Bounder: ( Boy's Realm, Feb 9, 1907). Lawrence, the new boy at St Egberts, is ostracised by "haughty Pooh-bah and inky fag" alike on account of him being born of peasant stock. Only Corcoran, captain of the school rugger fifteen, has a kind word for him, but then Corcoran cares not whether a fellow's father is Duke or dustman "so long as he behaved himself decently." On the eve of St. Egberts big game versus Lyndale, Corkers decides to watch the local amateur club, Aybrooke, in action against a village team. All the players are distinctly average - save one .... damn the Vault. Was forced to read The Bounder as soon as I red the review. Don't want to give any spoilers away but can you guess who was the only good player in Aybrooke? |
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Post by dem on Apr 19, 2015 19:50:24 GMT
damn the Vault. Was forced to read The Bounder as soon as I red the review. Don't want to give any spoilers away but can you guess who was the only good player in Aybrooke? Love this, from Xmas double issue of Boy's Realm (Dec 2nd 1905), also notable for it's pen portraits of the "men who made the realm", including "our football editor", the prolific A. S. Hardy ( The Blue Crusaders, Playing To Win, Paid To Lose, etc.), and nomadic, 'gator-hunting Cecil Ned Kelly Hayter, whose recreations are boat-building and photography. We owe Friardale & friends a huge debt of gratitude for making this material available to all. I'm not sure what the situation is with Wordsworth these days, but an anthology of pre-war sporting stories would be much appreciated. |
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Apr 21, 2015 11:49:02 GMT
damn you Dem. Was forced to read Football Fortune by Hamilton.
Pat Clare, all round good guy and son of rich Millowner happens to be a top whack football player too. His poor cousin is not all round as good or quite the sport at football. They both love Madge. When Pat's dad is ruined financially and gets brain fever as a result poor Pat has to slum it. What does the tricksey servant have to do with it all - and Nugent's dad, who eyes are too close together and appears to have sneaked and cheated his way to ruining Pat's old man.
Is it the lack of surprises, is it the endless description of narrow wins and losses on the football field, the solid lads of the factory playing against the snobby schoolboys. Is it the fact that like a Greek epic you know how it's all going to end? Positively addicted to this stuff.
Just looking at smug faces of The Men who made the Empire! is enough to push the chortle
button. Were you allowed to smile then Was a pipe optional. Did you need a steely look and square chin - were they provided for you. Michael Palin really was the expert at sending this up.
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Post by pulphack on Apr 23, 2015 5:13:18 GMT
This has now arrived and I look forward to it in due course (too heavy to put in the case when we go away so it can wait til I get back). It is a thing of beauty... if you like footy, of course. I note tat Mr Riches is a Plymouth supporter and Mr Frankland has the misfortune to be a fellow Orient supporter. He has my sympathies right now (although I may be one of the few looking forward to seeing Morecambe and Accrington as I've not seen us play them before, and hopefully Southend will blow the playoffs like last year).
That Friardale site is bookmarked,and is a real labour of love - those old guys from the Collectors Digest, the LOBBC and the Northern Old Boys Book Club, and the Friars were fanatics about the storypapers, and particularly Hamilton (aka Frank Richards, Martin Clifford, Owen Conquest, etc). They were particularly proud of him rebutting Orwell when the latter claimed no one man could have written as much. The truth is that Hamilton wrote most of the work under his names, but there were some reprints and substitute writers who filled in, particularly in the '30's. Which is not to belittle his astounding output, but those old guys claimed to be able to sniff out a sub writer at ten paces. It was when they named Magnet stories I'd particularly liked as sub writers (sniffily) that I realised I wasn't actually that keen on Hamilton's style. All those repetitions and forced jokes. I prefer Edwy Searles Brooks' St Franks stories (featuring Nelson Lee, the schoolmaster detective) - Brooks also wrote a lot of Blake, and made a very nice living as creator of Ironsides of The Yard and Norman Conquest (sort of Saint lite) who ripped up hardback and paperback crime shelves as Berkeley Grey and Victor Gunn from the 30's until his death in '65 (and for several years after in reprints).
I've wasted my life, really. Although it was nice to see Hamilton get one over Orwell, whose writing I mostly like but who I am forever suspicious of as an upper middle class Socialist who thought the working classes stank and so never travelled on trains with them, and had been a Colonial policeman. Hmm.
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gloomy sundae
Crab On The Rampage
dem in disguise; looking for something to suck
Posts: 26
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Post by gloomy sundae on Apr 24, 2015 8:24:12 GMT
Is it the lack of surprises, is it the endless description of narrow wins and losses on the football field, the solid lads of the factory playing against the snobby schoolboys.  "Foul play, Sirrah!As is so often the case, there was a real-life precedent, and the story is told by Keith Dewhurst in Underdogs: The Unlikely Story Of Football's First FA Cup Heroes, (Yellow Jersey, 2012). In February 1879, having knocked out well-heeled ex-public schoolboy side Remnants in the third round ("Fancy! A lot of working chaps beating a lot of gentlemen!") , Darwen F.C., a motley crew of mill workers, some of whom had recently been laid off, were drawn away to the ultimate toff outfit, Old Etonians, four times losing cup finalists between 1875 and 1883 and at the time a major force in the game. No way would they lose to a bunch of oiks! And so to the big day. The Etonians duly stormed to a 5-1 half time lead - only for Darwen to fight back to 5-5! Which is when the Corinthian spirit deserted the Old Boys. On the final whistle, Eton's captain and goalkeeper, Sir Francis Marindin (41), refused to play extra time. Nor would his team entertain the idea of travelling North for the replay. It would have to take place on sacred home turf or not at all. Darwen naively agreed, and, the following month, returned to Berkshire with a considerable entourage of fans and groupies, to scrape a 2-2 draw. Still the Etonians could not be persuaded to take their chances up North and the tie was finally decided the following week when, by now totally knackered - in all, the fixture would see them travel 1,230 miles - Darwen turned up late for what would prove to be the decider (their train had broken down). With no match day preparation, the working men's side went down 5-2. Not that it mattered. Back home they were feted as heroes. A fortnight later, on March 29th, Old Etonians duly went on to lift the trophy for the first time, beating Clapham Rovers by a single goal at Kennington Oval.  Thanks to the extraordinary Comic Book Plus (you are seriously advised to check it out: the as yet tiny horror section boasts a few gems) , am currently working my way through Traitor On The Team, ( Hotspur, Sept 2nd - Nov 11th 1933, an 11 part serial featuring Miles Sweeney, the mad gasser of Greystone College, "one of the most famous public schools in the whole country." Greystone is home to the all-conquering schoolboy side, Rangers, and Sweeney is intent on acquiring their ground by foul means or fouler, and selling on to a private developer. Fortunately for him, he's discovered a parchment which shows the school was built on the site of a monastery with loads of secret passages running beneath .... This has now arrived and I look forward to it in due course (too heavy to put in the case when we go away so it can wait til I get back). Enjoy your hols, old chum. Will see you Wednesday week for wizard japes! - dem |
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Apr 24, 2015 14:41:57 GMT
What a fascinating tale. The Old Etonians sound like they totally screwed up. A huge moral victory for the working class.
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?? Are On The Pitch, illustrations depicting early instances of pitch invasions by angry bulls, a dog and a couple of birds - when animals attack footballers in Vault speak. The one disappointment is that "Great Free Footy Cards For You To Collect![/i] (Scorcher, 1970's) are almost uniquely unscary.
