Great News For All Readers

Front cover of “the women’s football fan yearbook 2026”.

Double page spread of the page in the book on Glasgow City

Got this yearbook through the post today as a freebie because I contributed to the Glasgow City page. Really nice to see and the type of thing I would have loved as a child but was ofc not available in the 90s

All this week I’m posting some glimpses of one the titles on display on the racks of my time-travelling newsagent – visiting this week from the first full week of September 1978. Pop back tomorrow for another inky-fingered memory from when comics ruled the world.

‘Gunga Jim’, one of the recurring characters, is lazily named after a racial trope – typical of the day, and the sort of thing that makes a reprinting of Cheeky for a contemporary market seem unlikely. Thankfully the readers’ gags all seem pretty innocent!

Cheeky's a great nostalgia blast. Principal artist Frank McDiarmid was a unique talent, his strips so full of life and quirk (spot the Smurfs cameo). But a lot of the humour jars. There’s a cruelty there, mocking humour based on appearance or failings; less so in today's comics.

Kids love a joke. There must have been more one-liners packed into an issue of Cheeky than in any other comic. The title was based on the central figure, gag-master-in-chief Cheeky, and a large cast of supporting regulars – some of whom sat on this Joke Box Jury.

The Uncanny is a bit bonkers but really entertaining. Hope you enjoy!

All this week I’m posting some glimpses of one the titles on display on the racks of my time-travelling newsagent – visiting this week from the first full week of September 1978. Pop back tomorrow for another inky-fingered memory from when comics ruled the world.

Starlord showcased its roster of incredible creators with superior print quality on a higher grade of paper than most comics of its day. Look at the fantastic colour on this centre-page spread of Strontium Dog. Ian Gibson was the artist, John Wagner and Alan Grant the scribes.

Wakelin's cover trailed the latest instalment of psi-fi space opera Mind Wars, written by Alan Hebden and drawn by Jesus Redondo. Beautiful Spanish and South American art such as this was as influential for our generation as Manga is today.

I’m not sure at what age of reader Starlord was targeted. The adverts within suggest perhaps 8-11 years old? If that’s right, it’s remarkable that it carried such mind-bending cover artwork as this (by Bob Wakelin). Little wonder it’s so fondly-remembered.

Watch the stars!

All this week I’m posting some glimpses of one the titles on display on the racks of my time-travelling newsagent – visiting this week from the first full week of September 1978. Pop back tomorrow for another inky-fingered memory from when comics ruled the world.

This edition of Misty carried the third and final part of a stunning Misty board game, featuring art from Shirley Bellwood and a selection of covers and memorable moments.

I’ve put this together with parts one and two – something spooky to play as the nights draw in.

It’s possible some of the inspiration for this series may have come from the 1977 Amicus movie The Uncanny, in which Peter Cushing plays a writer narrating three stories of cats with devilish qualities. Great fun if you ever get to see it!

The cover illustrated the third instalment (of eleven) of The Cats of Carey Street. A pack of ferocious felines guard the only remaining residents of an estate listed for demolition.

This week they saw off the ‘Slum Demons’ gang – proper scary stuff for a young readership.

This Misty cover positively purrs with dark mystery and peril.

The artist was Mario Capaldi, a regular on the cult supernatural thriller comic intended for girls, and which ran for two years between 1978 and 1980.

This issue of ROTR is one of the titles on display in the time-travelling newsagent from the first full week of September 1978. I’ll be posting about a few more of them over the next few days.

The back page of this week’s Roy of the Rovers carried this striking Smiths Crisps ad drawn by Paul Sample, creator of Ogri - a comic cult-hero in the biker community.

Roy did eventually go to Basran in the summer of 1986, and all the Rovers went with him (on a summer tour). Not all of them returned.

www.greatnewsforallreaders.com/blog/2016/7/...

The ‘comedy Arab’ is typical of broad-stroke 70s racial stereotyping, and Roy’s patronising of Penny is also pretty cringe.

The outlandish and sensational transfer scenario played out through the media of the day seems quite foresighted, however.

It’s transfer deadline day in England, and a suitable opportunity to look back at an audacious attempt by the fictional Middle-Eastern nation of Basran to lure Roy Race away from Melchester Rovers at the start of the 1978-79 season. David Sque was the artist.

This copy of Whizzer and Chips is one of the titles on display in the time-travelling newsagent from the first full week of September 1978. I’ll be posting about a few more of them over the next few days.

The Louis Marx promo seems as though it was quite a big deal for IPC, who also advertised it heavily in this week’s Buster, Whoopee! and Cheeky. Here’s the competition page. Sadly, we’re all 47 years too late to enter.

In this week’s issue dentally-decayed confectionery aficionado Sweet-Tooth joined forces with The 12 1/2p Buytonic Boy Steve Ford to foil an elephant-riding crook. Kids in the seventies regularly received cash rewards for doing coppers’ jobs for them. Art by Bob Nixon.

Sid Burgon drew this eye-catching cover of Whizzer and Chips (with Krazy) to promote a Louis Marx toy competition in early September 1978.

Curiously, one of a tiny number of W&C covers from the comic’s first 16 years not to include an image of Sid’s pet snake Slippy.

Lovely memory. I have a recollection of being bought an earlier issue of Star Lord (unusually) at Bishop’s Stortford railway station for a journey into London. Sense memories of the smell, sounds and feel of the seats on those old trains mixed with awe at what seemed such a sophisticated comic.

Memories frozen in time.

Oh wow that really is the stuff of anxiety dreams. Do you mean it was closed but still had old comics visible inside?

Ever dream of travelling back in time just to pop into a newsagent and see what comics were on display? Here’s a selection of some of the titles on sale in early September 1978 (off-sale date Saturday 9th).

I’ll post some of the covers and contents over the next few days.

Stunning ❤️

Statue of Kim at the Emirates. Now!