Puzzle pages for young readers are they dumbed down?

From 1997

I'm sure it is much the same. Just a higher price!


This colouring page is so boring..they stand there...every flower has to have three in each bunch...even one flower is cropped off in the corner...badly cropped and a very lazy drawing...no action.
Look at your latest young kids magazine is it lifeless like this.
Look at the colouring page now and let me know.

This maze is soo basic. Is it possible to go wrong? Maybe once:)
Is your maze page this bad now? Let me know...maybe things have changed from The Tellytubbies mag from 1997.

This is from 1963. The same age group.
Whats is the difference. Less bright garish colour! A drawn cover rather than a photo cover.


The drawing is very good and interesting. That is a better colour challenge. Also tips on how to draw in this case a snail.


This puzzle page has a great maze. Computer graphics are not hiding the drawing like the other one. Partly as this was before computers:)
Also other nice puzzles.

Do other young kids magazines today have puzzle pages this simple, basic and boring.

Let me know in the comments.

Bill Ritchie- Bimbo comic work

Didn't know Bill also drew this in Bimbo...a long eared Donkey. Bill is great at drawing cute.


Mums always wore aprons in those days. Fathers always smoked a pipe:)







Great colours and Bimbo is printed on nice paper.

Nice the different shape frames and the Blue or red background.


Finally got some Bimbo comics. Love penguins so this strip is tops for me. The ideas are simple, cute, fun and clear.

Leo Baxendale- The Cave kids and The Lion Lot

Reprinted in Shiver and Shake holiday special 1978 and called the Shake Squad.

Leo Baxendale drew The Cave Kids for Buster (3/6/67-13/1/68) and while some do contain the odd dinosaur/pterodactyl the creatures that most frequently appear are woolly mammoths. As far as I'm aware Leo drew all of Cave Kids appearances in the Buster comic. The same can't be said of his other Buster strip at the time 'The Pirates' (15/10/66-13/1/68) which did feature the work of other artists from time to time. thanks for the info Kashgar.

Yes, the Shake Squad is the Lion Lot. (From Lion!) It can be quite hard to distinguish Mike Brown from Baxendale during this period (late 60s) especially as I believe Mike Brown did some inking for Leo around this time. thanks NP

thanks Matthew for these images.
reprinted in 1982 Cheeky Annual.

http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2139

Bill Holroyd's Nobby the Enchanted Bobby...his Beano work

Beano Dec 27th 1952.

Nobby the Enchanted Bobby (535-563)info from Kashgar.

Have-a-go-Joe (354-458)




Tick-Tock Tony (430-447)




Bucktooth (464-487)


1957 his last work for The Beano.
(Beano issues number 778-788)


Ding-Dong Belle (issue numbers 368-465)



Working mostly for The Dandy after.


He drew many top strips for DC Thomson. See the link to see them all.

http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=127&t=2134

Dandy's Brassneck, Screw Driver, Jack Silver....
are just a few. I'll be covering these in the future.
He was great at drawing slapstick. Must of loved Laurel and Hardy! as a good guess.

Gordon Bell- Dash-along Dot

In the new Classics Beano 70 years special is another new character I've never seen Dash-along Dot. Kashgar (thanks again)told me the artist.

Peter, the Dash-along Dot strip was drawn by Gordon Bell as was the Roger the Dodger strip printed above it on the same page.

For your records she appeared in Beano's 855-870 (1958/1959).

http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=142&t=2041

http://uk.geocities.com/pjggordonbell/

Leo Baxendale- Ghosts draws Biffo the Bear

This issue is out now!




Discussing the Classics from the comics Beano 70 years of fun special on comicsuk forum. Interesting comic pages inside.

http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=142&t=2041

On page 6 the 'Biffo and Buster' strip is a reprint from the 1957 Beano Book and was drawn by Leo baxendale. I never understood why they gave Leo Dudley Watkin's stuff to ghost myself, the expression chalk and cheese comes to mind. from Kashgar...thanks for the info.

Reg Parlett- Kid King

Heres another character I missed from my fansite drawn by Reg.
From Jackpot 5th May 1979 number 1. A good fun feature it was as well. Later drawn in Jackpot by Robert Nixon.



Thanks Paul for the great present of Jackpot number 1 and The Penguin book of comics this will help me a lot in doing this blog. Will meet you again. Also a good magician:)

Paul Squire is a Independent film maker. Here is his website.
www.paulsquires.com

Ron Smith- Lone Wolfe and For Valour from Beezer books

A great cowboy strip.


Ron is great at the framing of pictures and the unusual layouts of the page...a great drawer.









More information about Rons other work in the latest issue.

Leo Baxendale- The Gobbles in Beezer 1962-64

Missed this character from my fansite on Leo Baxendale.
http://uk.geocities.com/pjgleobax/


Another strip I found out Leo drew in The Beezer was-

Tommy Taylor's Toybox from Leo Baxendale in 1964.
For your records Peter, in case you don't know, Tommy Taylor's Toybox (Beezer Nos 417-576) was the story of a lad who found a kind of Meccano kit from outer space with which he could build all sorts of weird and wonderful gadgets. It was the last new strip that Leo Baxendale embarked upon before he left Thomsons, he drawing the first ten issues 417-426. Thanks Kashgar

I don't have an example of this to show...But when I do I'll add to the blog.
http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2118&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15

Bill Ritchie- Woolly West an early version of Hungry Hoss!

Another new one I've discovered was drawn by Bill- Woolly West.


Again the colouring is super in the original comic the reprint misses a lot...
I like the horse with the subtle colours...note the hat has no stripes in the black and white version. Also noticed that red is invisible in the reprint. Which can lose action lettering and clothes patterns for example.







Lovely colouring from The Beezer annual.
Bill did the colouring...he was very good.

Bill Ritchie- Baby Crockett and his latest cartoon work

Lovely and colourful seeing the real thing...also seeing it larger makes it more special..its a real eye opener! You can see the little animals more clearer in the jungle for example. Much better than the reprints in The Best of Beezer awhile ago now and the latest Classic from the comics..

Just to set the record straight Bill Ritchie is semi retired and still submits single frame cartoons to the Weekly News. He's in there just about every week. stevezodiac

http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1734&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=30
See more cartoons by Bill at the comicsuk forum...thanks to stevezodiac for the info and pictures. Great Bill is still drawing top cartoons also very funny!