June 1983 ad for The Dandy Comic Library No. 5. DC Thomson.
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Latest Phil-Comics auction offers up more British comic classics, art rarities, too
Latest Phil-Comics auction offers up more British comic classics, art rarities, too
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Trying to get a handle on my still-overlarge book collection that has to be paired down because A) I'm drowning in books and B) not any less visually impaired (making every book I keep more-or-less an act of sentiment).
Anyone want a stack of vaguely-homophobic imported Beano and Dandy comics from the late 90s to the early aughts?
What about my 1924 copy of the Victrola Guide to Opera?
My 1874 copy of Addison's On Torts?
The Complete Guide to Furniture Styles? Sexuality in Greek and Roman Society and Literature? The New York Library Desk Reference 1996? The New York Library Desk Reference American Edition? First edition copy of Franz von Papen's memoirs? The Worm Ouroboros? Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman? A bunch of not-very-good Steven Universe comics? Two volumes of the even-less-good Korra comics that decided to rank all the nations by most homophobic to least homophobic? The Star Trek Voyager cookbook?
(No you can't have my mint copy of Spider-man 2099 #1, my Latin copy of Winnie the Pooh, or my Stereoscopic Atlas of Human Anatomy Section II Head and Neck. Keeping those.)
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For sale Two #Vintage #Beano Puzzle Books from #Comic Library Special Edition No. 10 & 33 1988 and 1990 #gnasher #etsy #dennisthemenace #minniethemynx https://etsy.me/3CdSHxI (at Gallery Antiques) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmzFwgIIxGO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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went back in time last night! couldn’t sleep so decided to walk through every room of the old country house my grandparents lived in before my grandfather died. in through the kitchen, where the bread oven is always making fresh loaves. the painting of my brother by the artist down the road; she passed away two years ago now. downstairs in the cellar with the fridge for the magnums and the other room with the enormous billiard table, so big we had to stand on stools to play. upstairs again - the cloakroom, the study, the computer where we used to play flash games and under the desk where we hid for hide and seek. the dining room, or the library, with its ancient leather books, and the living room with the tv to watch wallace and gromit and the piano to play chopsticks over and over again. and the garden is huge - how it always hurt to run barefoot across the gravel before we got to the stairs leading down to the lawn. he always used to drop handkerchiefs down onto the weeds. the three enormous cedar trees at the bottom, with the blue rope swing on a branch, and the proper metal swing frame by the toolshed. then through the gate into the vegetable garden. pumpkins, string beans, carrots, tomatoe vines. the huge pile of leaves for the october bonfires and the crab apple tree where i always found the biggest easter eggs. at the end of the garden, the little stream that separated us from the cow field. when we had the trampoline we’d jump high enough over the walls to moo at all the cows, brown and shaggy and horned. back up to the house - the spiral stairs where on the landing we dangled our teddies to make a puppet show. the first bathroom with the painful hot tap. the guest bedroom - my parents room - with the painting of the scream over the fireplace. my grandparents master bedroom, window overlooking the garden and ensuite bathroom where i shaved my legs with my grandad’s razor and then swore never to shave again. the room me and my brother stayed in - that my mum and her brother stayed in when they were kids too - striped walls and a window view of the cathedral, two twin beds you could jump between and vintage garflield and beano comic books. the other guest bedroom with the step down that we always missed, the shiny slippery floorboards and the cupboards you could hide in for hours before anyone came. it was a beautiful house. he was a beautiful man. i miss him + i miss the house + i miss being seven years old more than anything else in the world
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Well, here we are again! Twitter said yes to a review post for a Miraculous magazine that suddenly showed up in my local area. ‘Tis the season after all, and by that I mean someone bought it for me as a joke birthday gift and I was way too happy about that.
I’ve done previous reviews of the Miraculous Christmas calendar, Easter egg set, superhero fashion dolls and action figures, so let’s dive into the unknown world of merchandising yet again!
(As always, if you enjoy my posts, please consider checking out my Twitter page or supporting me on Patreon for lots of bonus content!)
4 FREE GIFTS! PACKED WITH ACTIVITIES! MEET THE KWAMIS! PRANKS & LOLS! CUT-OUT MEMES! FANGIRL ALERT! NAIL ART! 100% OFFICIAL! I’m overwhelmed! It feels like I’m having a seizure just from the packaging!!!
I should preface this by saying I haven’t bought a magazine like this in years. Possibly ever. I read things like the Beano, Animals & You and the odd Disney Princess zine when I was a kid but I have no idea what to expect from a free-gift-packed kiddie magazine in 2019. If the outside is anything to go by we’re in for a wild ride.
I’m noticing that it says “Miraculous #20″ on the back. Does this mean I’ve missed 19 previous issues? I’m genuinely a little upset by that. My local area is a complete dry zone for Miraculous so I haven’t had the chance to pick these up.
First step: let’s separate everything out and get a look at these freeeee giftssss. Except they aren’t free, because this magazine was like £3.99. This does seem to be the current trend - it’s kinda rare to see any kids’ zines without the excess packaging crammed with ‘free’ stuff. Is it really too expensive to just produce the magazine? Probably, in this economy.
Chat Noir is revealed on the cover! He was on the back of the plastic jacket, but it’s still nice to see the kids as a front-cover duo. Apparently we’re going to learn to draw Pollen, too, which sounds fun. I’m actually liking the look of the gifts as well, but we’ll get into those in a minute.
This hairbrush............. is adorable. Oh my god. It’s pretty cheap and flimsy but it functions the way it’s supposed to, and the Ladybug design has been taken into account in a better way than “it’s red/black, that counts” (lest we forget the UTTER BULLSHIT of the Christmas calendar, and YES I’m still mad about that). I don’t know how well I expect the outer sticker to last, but if it can take a bit of wear and tear this would be an adorable little travel brush. Nicely done, lads!
These nail stickers? Also adorable. They remind me of the kiddie makeup sets I had when I was little, back in the early 00s when plastic stick-on nails and decals were all the rage. Are they still a thing? That’s nice to know.
There are 13 designs (that I can count) - a Queen Bee mask, Chat Noir pawprint cake, macaron, cupcake, heart-print cookie, Ladybug stud, flower, lightning bolt, love heart, Marinette heart, bee, fox tail and star. The majority are directly related to the show and that makes them feel special. No Carapace though? :(
I’ve put a little Marinette heart on my furthest finger. At the time of typing this up (about a day later) it’s still firmly in place. I haven’t really knocked it around, granted, but it’s not flimsy enough to fall off after five minutes either. It’s also really cute to look at. Guess I’m still a decal-loving 2004 girl at heart......
These stickers though!!! Wow! They’re those holographic and slightly-puffy kind and they feel like pretty good quality, and the designs are so cute! I can’t fault these, they’re absolutely adorable. I immediately want to stick them everywhere.
So I’ve stuck them everywhere. I’m especially proud of the light switch pun. My room looks GREAT.
I saved these “mystery stickers” for last because I’m weak for the thrill of mystery bags, and there wasn’t anything on the packaging to indicate what kind of designs to expect. And OH!!!! OH, IT’S MY BOY!!!! Look at him!!!!
I made jokes with the Christmas calendar about all the Chat Noir items being stolen ahead of time, but that’s definitely NOT the case with this magazine. I have been SPOILED with the presence of my cat son.
These stickers are similar to the sticker sheet (and the Chillin’ Out design is reprinted), but they’re puffier and non-holographic. I’m deeply allured by the “decorate your phone or tablet” suggestion on the packet, but I’m going to see how the previous stickers withstand the wear-and-tear of my laptop lid before adding any more. If I damage these beautiful Adrien stickers I’ll be devastated.
Those are our free gifts! They’re actually very fun and cute, I’m really happy with them! I guess now it’s time to get into the magazine itself...........
I genuinely almost forgot the magazine was the main part of this package. I figured I was done, but we’ve barely even started! Here’s a splash page of the kwami. Kwami with a capital K? Kwamis? I still feel like it should be singular-lower-case-k-kwami. I’ve never been happy about this “miraculouses” business either.
But is that--
It IS!!!! It’s Nino!!!
I guess this is the new flavour of Miraculous tie-ins. Now they’ve broadened out to a full team we’re seeing a lot more of Adrien alongside the girls, and Nino is the elusive hero who shows up once in a blue moon. At least this time his name isn’t in the title of the gotdam show.......
Anyway, I can see I’m supposed to draw my “fave Kwami”. Better get to it.
Felix just wants a break. Just one break. But not in this magazine.
Speaking of seeing more of Adrien (and, tragically, less of Nino), this is the kind of splash page I want to see! Both kids are here! The banner themed with Marinette’s signature flowers is a nice touch too; that’s associated with her arts ‘n’ crafts in the show already and it makes sense to apply it to the creative portion of this magazine too.
I LOVE the promotion of Chat Noir nails as something the little girls buying this magazine will definitely want to try. I’d expect them to do Marinette vs Ladybug nails, but instead we get a boyish option! Hell yeah!
I’m a little confused by the Queen Bee masks apparently going on the Chat Noir nails though. I guess they’re friends? Is this secret AdriChlo confirmation? Watch out, Marinette, Kagami’s not the one to be worried about.
SURE WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE SOME TURTLE STICKERS FOR AN ALL-BOYS THEME BUT I GUESS NOT HUH
Next up is a short merch catalogue (why would you put the big bold arrow pointing right to the underoos.....). Would those Chat Noir socks come in my size? Asking for me.
Then there’s......... this page. FANGIRL ALERT. God. It’s like the Ladyblog, if only the Ladyblog ever gave a heck about reporting what Chat Noir’s up to.
THE SPELL WAS BROKEN AND THE FANDOM IMPLODED WITH JOY.
I really have to wonder what age range this is meant for. Do kids know what a “fandom” is? Do little girls consider themselves “fangirls”? I guess most kids have enough internet access to figure it out these days (all the hashtags and LOLs and memes speak volumes), but I can’t imagine being young enough to fit the target range of this magazine while also knowing these terms. I dunno.
(Also, the definition of ‘implosion’ is ‘an instance of something collapsing violently inwards’, so I’m not sure that’s the word they’re looking for. Unless the return to the status quo in Dark Cupid and the continuing stagnation of the love square was enough to make people quit in frustration? Probably.)
I’m filling it in, of course. Because I must.
I gave up on the pre-approved ratings system pretty much right away, but I think this is an accurate rating of my LadyNoir opinions.
I might be kinda cynical about it here, but I am actually pretty fond of how this magazine sells Ladybug and Chat Noir as a couple. The show’s portraying it as very onesided lately, with Chat pining over Ladybug who has absolutely no interest in him (Glaciator was a TERRIBLE episode and I’m still hurting from it), but reading this zine I’d guess they were already dating. It’s cheesy, but in a nice way.
I have to laugh at “the most amazing thing about this super duo is that they always look out for and protect each other” though. Chat’s usually pretty focused on LB, sure, but there are endless instances of LB using Chat as cannon fodder and just generally abandoning him to get mauled by akuma while she carries out her personal private plan to save the day. Maybe we’re just focusing on the better-written episodes, huh?
Moving ahead. I’ve been dreading this page since reading “Plaggs Pranks & LOLs” on the back of the packaging. I feel hatred in my very bones just looking at it.
I like that there’s ONE instance of the term “ladybird” in the joke column. This is a UK-based magazine and that IS the word we tend to use over here - “ladybug” is an Americanism - but it’s like they’re worried kids could have got to the middle of this magazine about a superhero named Ladybug and then not understand the bug jokes. Maybe whoever was writing this page slipped up?
OH NOOOOO. MARINETTE, NOOOOOOOOOO.
THIS IS WHY FELIX GOT RID OF YOU, PLAGG. THESE ARE ADRIEN’S PROBLEMS NOW.
(mmm whatcha saaaaay)
I mean........... YEAH, I guess, but we absolutely did see Plagg destroy Felix with an entire shelf of heavy books. I guess he’s nicer with Adrien. It’s all fun and games until someone has a nervous breakdown in the library.
I do love the concept of Tikki getting glitter-bombed by Plagg through the mail. She just curiously opens up the little letter which got slipped into Marinette’s purse, and-- WOOSH. One entire wall of Mari’s room is glittery except for a little Tikki-shaped silhouette.
Next up is a two-page comic which is absolutely adorable! Look at those little chibis! The warm and soft colour palette! This is nicer than most of the official Miraculous comic book art I’ve seen, I hope they keep giving this artist work.
Nino’s here too (and he looks great!), and I like the touch of Marinette and Adrien playing as each other’s superhero characters. Adrien even wins the match, though I guess there’s something to be said about Ladybug beating Chat Noir (again)......
It does raise the question yet again of where this tie-in merchandise is coming from! They’ve had action figures, a movie, music video features, now an arcade game... Who’s getting the royalties here? Who’s profiting? Is this how Fu can afford to buy all those rare ingredients for the magic potions?
Over the page we have an activity to Design your Secret Lair! Right away I love the Marinette theme of the page, the soft pink and flowers, and the drawing space looking like a page in a binder with marker tabs and everything.
I have to design my secret lair, of course:
What do you think? I’m very creative. I’ll need an adult to send in the drawing of my hideout but I think I’ve really got a shot at those unicorn headphones.
Now we’re on to puzzles and character pages. I don’t know what ol’ Gabe is doing trying to meet a 13 year old girl in the dead of night without telling anyone, you’d think if he’s got that much free time on his hands he could be spending it with his son.
I don’t know how those points in Ladybug’s power profile are awarded or what they mean, but you can tell this is a fan magazine. Official sources would have put her at a 10.
Standard House of Villains page! Most of these were good episodes but I’m deeply offended Riposte isn’t on here. Maybe her motives weren’t dramatic and cartoonish enough to be up in the ranks with Glaciator and Gorizilla?
“Cat Noir’s dad is also the evil Hawk Moth”, huh? I mean that’s not WRONG, but is it really something to put in his power profile when Adrien doesn’t even know yet??? Feels like we’re kinda jumping the gun on the poor boy. What if he picks up this magazine?
Apparently he’s one point weaker than Ladybug (seriously???), two points faster, equally as agile, one point less skilled and two points less cool. Despite all those lesses he still comes out at an equal 9, which is a relief! These kids are a team, putting either of them below the other would have been a big no.
I did the colouring page too, naturally. Je suis un artiste.
Now we’ve got a page fresh from the Ladyblog, a Miraculous quiz! Not a lot of excitement, but it’s nice to see Alya getting her own section.
I like that the qualifications of “you could be Ladybug herself!” are knowing what city Marinette lives in and what school she goes to. Well done, Mari! You’re doing your best!!!
TEACHER I AM SO HUNGRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
I gotta say, I’m not so sure about decorating donuts with fondant. I’ve never tried it so I could be wrong, but it feels like rolled icing instead of frosting(?) would be too heavy for an entire donut. The texture is totally different.
I mean I guess if you’re going to load your kids up on sugar you might as well go all the way. They’re going to look like they’ve eaten something horrible with all that black fondant, but they’ll have fun. Adrien would love these.
WHERE’S NINO. THIS IS JUST UNFAIR. You’ll have four out of five heroes, then a double of Marinette and Tikki? Maybe this just goes to show how little memorable dialogue Carapace has.
Though if “Spots On!” is Marinette’s dialogue and not Ladybug’s, why are the other transformation phrases attributed to Rena Rouge and Queen Bee instead of Alya and Chloé? Surely they could have picked something better for Marinette to justify having her on this list twice instead of Nino.
The next page brings us one of those flowchart quizzes! And ouch, yet again the absence of the other heroes is obvious. I can understand not including Chloé here since she’s technically not a “friendly” character yet, but no Nino? Alya and Marinette are close friends, but Adrien doesn’t really hang out with them without Nino around. Having the three of them together just seems strange.
I do like the little fashion page! They’re all cute and affordable and easy to find on the high street here. I’d love to see how other issues of this magazine are structured; is there a different fashion spot every time? Styles to channel each individual hero would be adorable.
Moving on to a tutorial for a Ladybug notebook! I would have made this, but I didn’t have the time nor a notebook to stick it to.
Between this and the donuts, it seems weird that these designs are based on, like... an actual beetle, eyes and antennae and all. Shouldn’t it be Ladybug’s symbol? These come across more like “fun animals” arts ‘n’ crafts instead of themed after Miraculous specifically. I think if I made this (or decorated the donuts) I’d miss out the head and match the spot pattern to Ladybug’s symbol.
The hidden message design is adorable though. I can see this being a craft kids are super proud of.
Another activity page! I didn’t have a go at these but they’re pretty standard. It’s cute that the coded message designs are the same as the stickers and nail decals!
Also, apparently Ladybug’s ‘secret’ is “LB mask + heart + CN mask”, which was (somehow) stolen by Volpina. Is that the secret Hawk Moth was talking about earlier in the magazine? Is he blackmailing Ladybug with revealing she has a crush on Chat Noir? How did Volpina ‘steal’ this secret? Is LadyNoir finally reciprocated???? THIS IS A WHOLE EPISODE IN ITSELF, I NEED ANSWERS--
Next page we have an ad for another girly magazine (Quizzes! LOLs! Celebs! Cringes! Puzzles!). I think I’ll pass, no matter how appealing that giant microphone pen is.
And a “Miraculous Identity” quiz! Tikki’s apparently super fickle with her wielders, three seasons of relentlessly praising Marinette and now she’s telling us we’re the Chosen Ones. You can’t fool me with those big ol’ eyes.
My inner superhero is Marvellous Fox, by the way. Though yet again I’m noticing we don’t have turtle options...................
And on the back cover... the memes. Oh, sweet lord, the memes. They’re hashtag-SoRelatable! And I can cut them out to keep! Oh boy!!!
Is this what kids do when they have limited internet access? Cut fresh memes out of magazines and carry them around? I need to know.
That’s a very sinister Ladybug at the bottom of the page though. What’s-- What’s she going to do to me if I don’t cut out and keep these memes. Ladybug what are you going to do if I d--
Well that brings us to the end of the magazine! And yet again I’m surprised by how much time it takes to just put a bunch of photos together and write about them.
This is a neat little magazine all in all! The ‘free gifts’ are pretty nice, there’s a fair amount of content and the whole thing is pretty cute for young fans of the show. I could see myself buying this again - if it ever shows up on shelves, Miraculous is so scarce around here that I fully expect it to disappear again after this one issue - just for the free junk, but it would be interesting to see how they’d structure different issues too!
I notice we never did get that promised tutorial on how to draw Pollen; the one advertised on the cover. Was the “draw your favourite Kwami” activity supposed to cover that? I’m not sure that really counts.
If you got this far, thanks for joining me on this Miraculous journey! We’ll meet again whenever I get another piece of weird ML merch to cover. Bien joué!
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The First Scarfolk Annual: a mysterious artifact from a curiously familiar eternal grimdark 1970s
Since 2013, Richard Littler has been publishing Scarfolk, a darkly comic series of brilliantly photoshopped artifacts from a dark and brutal English town trapped in a loop between 1969 and 1979; Littler published his first Scarfolk book in 2014, a pretty straight-ahead best-of anthology that was a sheer delight, and since then, he's taken a brilliant detour into animation, while still keeping up on Scarfolk, which has now spawned its second -- and even better -- book: The Scarfolk Annual.
The "annual" is a British comics tradition, in which a beloved comic like the Beano produces an end-of-the-year gift book full of puzzles, short stories, artwork, games, comics, and suchlike.
The Scarfolk Annual is a facsimile of a notional annual produced for the blighted children of Scarfolk, distressed and scuffed to give it the appearance of a discarded library book that's been discovered in a charity shop bin (an introduction informs the reader that this is just what's happened, and that, moreover, the erstwhile owner disappeared under mysterious circumstances).
The Annual is a showcase for the brilliance of Scarfolk, which uses the iconography of the Thatcher-era authoritarian malaise to skewer Thatcher's ideological descendants, who combine cruelty and clownishness with barely disguised racism and eugenics as they drive the country towards catastrophe while serving the ultra-rich, punishing the poor for the sin of poverty, and use racism to cement a thoroughly despicable coalition of the hereditarily posh, sociopathic financiers, and terrified, small-minded Little Englanders.
As with all of Littler's work, the Annual presents itself as a deceptively simple satire, but rewards close attention as the fine details and hidden gags add texture and depth.
This is Littler at the top of his Scarfolk form -- an unpredictably wonderful, brilliant piece of political satire.
The Scarfolk Annual [Richard Littler/William Collins]
https://boingboing.net/2019/10/30/the-first-scarfolk-annual-a-m.html
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Treachery and treason
Words: Mark Bryant; Photo by Paul Popper/Popperfoto/Getty Images
This year, 2019, not only marks the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War, but also the departure for Nazi Germany of a former Dulwich resident who became one of modern history’s most notorious propagandists – William Joyce, better known as “Lord Haw-Haw”.
Joyce was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 24 1906, the eldest of four children of an Irish émigré builder and a doctor’s daughter from Lancashire. When he was three the family returned to Ireland and 12 years later he was sent to England to stay with his mother’s relations in Oldham.
Intending to study medicine, he moved to London in 1922 to attend the Battersea Polytechnic Institute (later the University of Surrey in Guildford), while living in digs nearby.
The following year his parents and siblings moved to Allison Grove, Dulwich, just off what is now the south circular near West Dulwich Station, and William joined them. His father had set up shop as a grocer nearby.
Their new home, to paraphrase from Rebecca West’s book The Meaning of Treason (1949), was “a house as delightfully situated as any in London. Allison Grove is a short road of small houses which has been hacked out from the corner of the gardens of a white Regency villa in the greenest part of Dulwich.
“Not far off is Mill Pond, still a clear mirror of leaves and sky, and beyond it Dulwich College amidst its groves and playing fields. The neighbours all noted that William was the apple of the family’s eye, and they could understand it, for the boy had an air of exceptional spirit and promise.”
However, his studies at the polytechnic did not go well and he failed his exams soon after moving to Dulwich. Undaunted (he was still only 17), he got a place to study English at Birkbeck College, University of London.
While at Birkbeck he became chairman of the Conservative Student Society and had ambitions to become a Tory MP.
In December 1923, while still a student, he also became a member of the British Fascists (BF) group which canvassed for the Conservative and Unionist parties and acted as stewards for their meetings.
In the run-up to the general election of October 1924, Joyce was a steward at a rally at Lambeth Baths hall near the Imperial War Museum (now the site of Lambeth Towers) for the Unionist candidate for Lambeth North, Jack Lazarus.
However, a fight broke out with Communist hecklers and Joyce was badly slashed in the face by a razor. The Evening Standard reported the incident on its front page, quoting Lazarus as saying “The man Joyce, one of our supporters, fell down, his face covered in blood”. The article continued: “Mr William Joyce, of Allison Grove, Dulwich, had... to be confined to hospital.”
A week after his 21st birthday, when he was still living at home in Dulwich, he secretly married a fellow Birkbeck student. In June 1927 he received a first class degree in English and soon afterwards began a postgraduate course in philology.
He and his wife then moved to Chelsea, where he joined the Conservative Party (he had left the British Fascists in 1925) and, having failed to be nominated as a Tory candidate, he tried unsuccessfully to get a job at the Foreign Office. He then worked as a tutor of languages and history at the Victoria Tutorial College in Eccleston Square.
By 1932 he and his family (which then included two daughters) had moved south of the river again and settled in a flat on Farquhar Road in Gipsy Hill, near the Crystal Palace before it burnt down. The house was within walking distance of Joyce’s parents in Dulwich.
While on Farquhar Road Joyce continued working as a tutor and, having given up his philology course, he began to study part-time for a PhD in educational psychology at King’s College London.
Meanwhile, he joined Oswald Mosley’s newly founded British Union of Fascists (the Blackshirts) in August 1933 and when he was offered a well-paid job working for the BUF in November, he gave up his PhD and his tutoring work. Within two years he became the BUF’s director of propaganda and deputy leader.
Meanwhile, his relationship with his wife had deteriorated and in 1936 the marriage was dissolved. He then remarried and moved to north London. As Rebecca West says: “He left south London, which had been his home since he was a boy with the exception of a few brief episodes; which was still the home of his father, Michael Joyce, and his mother, Queenie, and his brothers and sister.”
However, before long he returned to Dulwich. In 1937 he left the BUF and founded – with ex-BUF members John Beckett (fomerly the independent Labour MP for Peckham) and John McNab – his own party, known as the National Socialist League.
The NSL held a number of meetings in Dulwich on the corner of Calton Avenue and Dulwich Village, outside Dulwich Library on Lordship Lane and sometimes inside when permission for the use of St Barnabas’ Parish Hall in Dulwich Village was refused).
His brothers also supported the NSL. To paraphrase Mary Kenny: “Frank had spoken for the Mosley Blackshirt movement on a couple of occasions, mostly at local meetings in Dulwich. Quentin also became caught up in the fringes of fascist politics because of his unquestioning devotion to his brother William.
“Indeed, William seems to have roped in his whole family. He even had his teenage sister, Joan, hand out Fascist propaganda leaflets at Sydenham School for Girls. He also dressed little Robert up in a black shirt. ‘Poor Mrs Joyce!’ the neighbours in Dulwich used to exclaim. ‘With all those terrible children in their black shirts!’”
The NSL was disbanded in 1939 and Joyce and his wife moved to Germany on August 26 that year, only days before the Second World War broke out. Within a short while he began his infamous nightly propaganda broadcasts to Britain prefaced with the words “Germany calling”.
The nickname Lord Haw-Haw originated from an article written by Daily Express radio critic Jonah Barrington, who added: “I imagine him with a receding chin, a questing nose, thin yellow hair brushed back, a monocle, a vacant eye, a gardenia in his button-hole. Rather like PG Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster.”
In 1939 Barrington produced a humorous book, Lord Haw-Haw of Zeesen – one of the German radio stations Joyce broadcasted from). It was illustrated by the cartoonist Ian Fenwick, who was killed during the war.
Many other cartoonists lampooned Lord Haw-Haw including William Heath Robinson and Leslie Illingworth, who lived in Dulwich in the 1960s. The Beano comic’s “Lord Snooty” strip even featured him during the war.
He was also the butt of comedians such as Max Miller in the revue Haw-Haw at the Holborn Empire, Arthur Askey as “Baron Hee-Haw” on BBC radio’s “Band Waggon”, Geoffrey Sumner, presenting “Nasty News” on British Pathé newsreels and the Western Brothers in their song Lord Haw-Haw, the Humbug of Hamburg.
Joyce broadcast throughout the war years but, ironically, one of the first German bombs to land on Dulwich during the London Blitz in August 1940 completely destroyed his family home. His parents, sister and youngest brother then moved into a flat on Underhill Road, East Dulwich.
His parents both died there in the 1940s, after which his sister and brother Quentin lived in the flat for a while. Quentin was arrested as a possible spy in 1939 but was released from prison in 1943. He later married and lived nearby in Sydenham Hill.
His other two brothers, Frank and Robert, both served in the British Army during the war. Frank’s first wife was the daughter of Harry Weeks, who ran the Magdala pub in Lordship Lane (now The Lordship).
In the last days of the war Joyce was captured by the Allies and put on trial. By a strange quirk of fate the chief prosecutor was Old Alleynian Sir Hartley Shawcross (the future Lord Shawcross), who later became chairman of the board of governors of Dulwich College and was president of the Alleyn Club.
At first it seemed that Joyce might be acquitted as he was born in the USA (and was thus not a UK citizen), but he was eventually condemned of high treason and hanged as a result of his application for a British passport in 1933 while living in Farquhar Road.
In 2009, when she was in her 80s, Joyce’s elder daughter Heather, interviewed on BBC Radio 4, said that she was at boarding school when war broke out and was not aware of his activities.
However, she added: “I saw him in my mind’s eye at the parental home, where my grandparents lived, in Allison Grove and he was pacing the carpet of their living-room with the lace curtains and the piano, and he had his little German songbook and he was walking up and down and he was singing, ‘Dulwich-Land, Dulwich-Land Uber Alles’.”
William Joyce died in Wandsworth Prison on January 3, 1946 aged 39. He was the last person to be executed for high treason in the UK.
Mark Bryant lives in East Dulwich and is the author World War II in Cartoons and other books.
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Vintage Collection 250X DANDY & BEANO COMIC LIBRARY 21X BEANO SUPERSTARS - C73 | eBay https://ift.tt/2pRCsAS
More charity shop finds in our Superheroes & Comic Book Memorabilia for Charity section.
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A fangtashtic 1982 ad for the Beano Comics Libraries. First two issues featuring Dennis the Menace and The Bash Street Kids.
DC Thomson.
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British comic art, rare “Free Gift” TV Century 21 comics, Marvel UK gems offered in latest Phil-Comics auction
Some great items on offer again including rare Beano, Dandy and Gerry Anderson-related items from this British comics-focused eBay auction house
The latest Phil-Comics auction on eBay is now live, its prime focus as ever on British comics, including some rare issues of the Gerry Anderson series focused TV Century 21, with free gifts. But there are some fantastic original artworks on offer in this auction, too.
Overall, the auction has 385 diverse listings, including comics, annuals, free gifts, summer/holiday specials, picture libraries,…
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For Sale via my #EtsyShop #galleryantiques Two #Vintage #Beano #Puzzle #Books from #Comic Library Special No. 10 & 33 1988 and 1990 #etsysellersofInstagram #etsysellersonInstagram #vintagesellersofinstagram #gnasher #minniethemi #dennisthemenace #etsy https://etsy.me/36hRtCx https://www.instagram.com/p/CFpl4lVHIUo/?igshid=1l3qk4jqahe4m
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Happy Birthday to the multi-talented Kev F Sutherland
Sutherland is a comic writer and artist whose work appears in, amongst others, The Beano, 2000 AD, Oink!, Viz, and the Red Dwarf Smegazine. He has also worked for Marvel Comics in the US.
On stage, online and on TV he is the man behind the world-famous Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre.
He presents Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres and is the creator and executive producer of The Sitcom Trials.
Kev also works as a caricaturist, author for TV and radio, Comic Festival producer, comics historian and pundit, stand-up comedian and public speaker.
If you want a guid laugh take a look at his sketch from the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre
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When the Wind Blows
When I was in Year 7, I found a comic book in my school library. When the Wind Blows, from Raymond Briggs, author of The Snowman. Intrigued, I gave it a read, and my 11 year old mind completely failed to grasp the subtext and horror within. For all I cared, it was about a silly elderly couple who spoke by Beano characters who survived a bomb attack. Sometime later, when I understood the world better, I finally got the chance to watch the animated adaptation. And what better time to talk about it, than August 2017? Jim and Hilda Bloggs live comfortable lives. They've lived through two world wars, have a nice house in the countryside, and are happily retired. But this is the Cold War, and something bad is stirring among the politicians. War is imminent, and they have new toys to play with. The government are doing their best to prepare the public for the worst, but none of their advice is consistent. All Jim and Hilda can do, is create a shelter and hope for the best. When the bomb drops, they will be pushed to their absolute limits. In the UK, Raymond Briggs' comics have been adapted into TV short films before, beloved across the nation. (I've been lucky enough to meet one of the animators of The Snowman.) But instead of drawing each frame pencil by pencil, Jimmy Murakami, T.V.C. London and all their affiliates go for something far, far bolder. Telling a simple story of just two characters struggling to survive nuclear fallout, they use a variety of techniques, from cels over stop-motion settings, to elaborate pencilled sequences that would make Richard Williams proud. The U.K. may not be known for its animation, but that's not for lack of talent. You really do feel sorry for Jim and Hilda, portrayed by John Coats and Peggy Ashcroft respectively. Chances are, you'll know someone a little similar to them, with their innocent unawareness and naive trust in a clueless government. Hilda struggles to understand the impending threat of the bomb, and tries to go about her life, while Jim tries to do what he can to ensure their survival, even with the misleading information they're given. Theirs not to reason why, he argues. Even when the fallout hits them, their spirits stay high while they grow sick. All they can do, is wait. All of this is perfectly accompanied by Roger Waters and his band, with an intro song by Bowie. The former Pink Floyd singer captures the terror and power of the bomb, the bleak waste of the fallout, and the innocent hopelessness of the characters' plight. It's fortunate that the plot is so simple and free of spoilers, but it is bleak. Oh, so bleak. Some people will be terribly disturbed, or perhaps bored by the inaction. A patient mind is needed, and if the theme of nuclear war is a trigger, I advise you skip on this. Now I am older, I understand the anxieties of preparing for war, fear the bomb like never before and wonder just what will happen, if it is ever our turn. Ours is to reason why. 8/10
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Microreview: Bookshelves
This round is open to interpretation, so don’t let the word bookshelves stop you. Whether your collection is big or small, physical or digital, your parents’ or from the library, it counts as a bookshelf here. To play: answer the prompts and tag your friends to do the same. Optional: use #microreview and check out @microreviews for “rules,” reviews, and more!
What genres or types of books dominate your shelf?
It’s hard to tell, mainly because it’s more of a bookcase than a shelf, but what dominates that I own are fantasies or reference books.
What do you wish you had more of?
None currently, just more space.
Smallest book? Largest book?
Smallest book is the New Testament in Maltese given to us by the secondary school that I attended. The largest book is a reference book on historical disasters.
Oldest book? Newest book?
Oldest book is the 1997 Beano Annual given to me by an old friend who was a huge fan of the comic series, though if you’re looking for the oldest that I always owned it’s the first Harry Potter book. The newest book is the Discworld Atlas.
Does anything live there besides books?
Probably spiders, moths and dust mites. Really hope there aren’t any termites or bookworms.
I’m Tagging: Anyone reading this and interested in joining.
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Paintings by Sally Kindberg
Sally Kindberg is an artist and author who runs drawing workshops for both children and adults, Her painting is abstract and creative that gives audience a really strong sense of mysterious feeling, she integrate surrealism into traditional painting method, using human face/head as an main part to do creative illustration.
Her painting gives me an inspiration in illustration and color art which i could do photography experiments based on that and develop it further as a method.
what inspires Sally Kindberg?
Sally Kindberg is an illustrator and writer, who uses comic strip frames as ‘little theatres’ and is drawn towards dark humour and velvety black ink. She lives in London, has one daughter and many robots.
What inspires you?
Comics, journeys, bits of obscure information.
Did you always draw?
I started making notebooks when I was about 9, cut out bits from comics, drew stories, stuck in sweetie labels etc. I didn’t start reading till I was 8. My eyesight was very bad, and my mum didn’t want me to wear glasses, so she tried prayer which didn’t quite work. Luckily one of my teachers had a word with her, and National Health specs did the trick.
What did you read?
The first book was Grimm’s Fairy Tales – terrifying and wonderful. Reading seemed like magic to me, and still does.
What attracted you to drawing comics?
Early influences were Beano and Dandy – Desperate Dan’s creator Dudley D. Watkins was a marvellous illustrator.
I love the way you can give anyone or anything a voice by using speech bubbles, use the frames as little theatres full of surprises, and the way cropping and scale can be almost cinematic. Visual humour is most important too of course.
Who are your favourite comic book artists?
There are loads of them! Matt Groening, Yuichi Yokoyama, Marjane Satrapi, Art Spiegelman, Jochen Gerner, Roz Chast, and many more. And especially those with very dark humour like Mark Beyer.
I like pictures which are punchy black and white, there’s something exciting about velvety black ink.
Do comics get a bad press?
I think in the past they did – they weren’t taken seriously. Some writers I know kind of looked down on graphic novels/comic strips because they use pictures, which is crazy because some of them combine words and images in an incredibly powerful way, and it’s not always easy getting them to work together.
Graphic novels are viewed differently now, they get much more respect (I hope).
What was your lucky break?
During my second year at art college in the Midlands we were encouraged to get work experience, so I came to London and very nervously took a folder of illustrations round to a magazine called New Society.
I got my first commission, for a little black and white drawing which earned me £5 – it felt amazing. Then I worked for Honey Magazine.
What quality do you need as a freelance?
Getting work before I left college made me feel I might do anything – not strictly true of course – but you need to be pretty optimistic and determined to work as a freelance.
Ever been tempted to write?
Much later when I was drawing regularly for the Independent, illustrating travel features, possibly a bit cheekily I thought, why not write the features myself?
I worked as a freelance travel writer for various newspapers for a few years, and had some fascinating trips – including going to Elf School in Iceland, investigating horse-racing in Newmarket, and sailing on a Tall Ship to Lisbon.
What’s happening at the moment?
I’ve been collaborating with author Tracey Turner on a series of comic strip books for Bloomsbury which is great fun. I’m drawing pictures for the next one, which will be our third.
I’m also running comic strip workshops in libraries for children, developing other comic strip ideas and occasionally writing interview features.
Have you had rejections from publishers/agents?
Yes, of course! If they make constructive criticisms then I respect them, if not then I think, how dare they, it’s their loss etc… and wipe the tears off my glasses.
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