Comments on: “This is the British ninth art. We should be proud of our comics history” – FPI explores Comics Britannia

By: Linkyland « Torque Control

Linkyland « Torque Control — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 10:40:24 +0000

[...] You remember last year’s rather good sf season on BBC4? This year they’re doing comics. It starts tomorrow. [...]

By: Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » Sept. 5, 2007: Hell, I’ll volunteer to kill Northstar myself

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:34:54 +0000

[...] [Profile] The Forbidden Planet Blog presents an interview with Alastair Laurence, producer/director of a forthcoming series of documentaries on British comics set to air soon on the BBC. [...]

By: The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log » Comics Britannia - Leo’s experience

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 10:34:41 +0000

[...] After reading the Comics Britannia article the other day Leo Baxendale, who features heavily in the first episode, dropped me a line about his experiences with making the programme. After being less than impressed with a much earlier BBC programme on the Dandy and Beano he was, he says, not best disposed to the BBC and the production team had to work to persuade him that they were intent on treating him and the comics genre with respect (which as I said yesterday I think they have). Leo also had some issues with the moral rights to the work, which seems appropriate since the issue of the creator’s rights is picked up in the series. Fortunately these issues were all resolved so we could be treated to Leo in the first episode. Leo’s kindly given permission to post his thoughts here -I thought it served to give a little more insight into the programme and the efforts that go on behind the scenes by the production people and the contributors which normally we’re largely unaware of when we actually watch the show: [...]

By: Lew Stringer

Lew Stringer — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 09:41:28 +0000

Having received my review discs now I see the first episode is mainly a history of Dandy and Beano, which it does very well, but it’s definitely not a history of UK humour comics in general. There’s a chapter on Wham!, which is well deserved, but Whizzer and Chips is dismissed somewhat, and other humour comics are mainly ignored, as are the 50 or 60 years of comics before Dandy.

I’ll be reviewing the shows in full on my own blog later in the week.

Lew

By: Steve Flanagan

Steve Flanagan — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 20:09:15 +0000

Thanks for the interesting interview. I am very much looking forward to the broadcasts, but the missing 50 years that Lew mentions (and that's just comics as publications, rather than as an art) are rather significant. I quite understand why they've stared in 1937, but i wish the trailers didn't claim this was "the very beginning".

By: Lew Stringer

Lew Stringer — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:30:19 +0000

I’ll reserve further comment until I actually see the series. Just to add that the Victorian comics had more influence on the direction of UK comics than they’re often given credit for. From the themes of slapstick and irreverence to authority, to the body language of the characters, it all stemmed from titles such as Illustrated Chips and Funny Wonder way before The Dandy and Beano came along.

I appreciate that not everything can be covered, and that Dandy and Beano are an excellent starting point for the programme because of their familiarity. (After all, these are shows aimed at the public, not just comic fans.) But it’d be tragic if this window of opportunity to spotlight British comics casually dismissed the 50 years in which the themes of British comics evolved from. (Imagine the uproar if a history of pop music began with the Bay City Rollers! )

Lew

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:38:16 +0000

No, they said only Lew Stringer reads those so we’re not bothering with them . And sometimes Steve Holland.

No, seriously, they do acknowledge (briefly) the existence of comics before 1937 but they had to pick a starting point somewhere and to be honest the Dandy and Beano seem like a good starting point to me. If they were doing the definitive history of Brit comics then they’d have to cover the earlier material too, but with 3 episodes I guess they have to pick and choose what they can realistically cover in that time. But look on the bright side, we’re getting three good programmes all on British comics and their place in our shared culture.

By: Lew Stringer

Lew Stringer — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 14:56:12 +0000

“begins largely at the beginning, with the colourful and crazy antics of DC Thomson’s Dandy and Beano exploding onto the 1930s scene”.

Don’t the numerous British comics that appeared in the 50 years before The Dandy was launched get a mention? Comics began long before 1937, and were hugely popular with kids way back in the 19th Century!

Lew