Nautical
antics was one of Ken Reid’s favourite themes. The Queen of the Seas in SMASH!
comic is a classic example considered by many to be his best work.
Interestingly,
my mate and UK comics collector and researcher extraordinaire Peter Hansen has discovered that Ken’s inspiration for the pompous skipper Enoch Drip and his one-man-crew
Bertram Bloop came from the 1964 British comedy film The Bargee by Duncan Wood.
The
film is about two boatmen operating a commercial canal-boat. The main character
is Hemel Pike (played by Harry H. Corbett) who is quite a bit of a lothario with
girlfriends all across the canal network. As such, Hemel wasn’t suitable for a
children’s paper, but his cousin Ronnie (played by Ronnie Barker) became the
prototype for Ken’s Bertram Bloop:
..
while the character of the inept mariner (played by Eric Sykes) was the inspiration
behind Queenie’s skipper:
Ken
actually owned a boat and had quite a few comical adventures when sailing the
canals. If you take a close look, Enoch Drip often looks like Ken’s self-portrait.
Well, if I ever knew that, I'd forgotten. Which strip do you prefer, Irmy - Jonah or Queen of the Seas?
ReplyDeleteI think they're both excellent.
DeleteExcellent in equal measure, or do you have a preference as to which one is funnier? (I'm practicing to be a Hard Talk interviewer.)
DeleteExcellent in equal measure, I guess, although I am not quite sure how to measure the degree of funniness :) The Queen of the Seas is much better drawn of course.
DeleteI suppose the way to measure the degree of funniness is to go by which one makes you laugh (or smile) more. I haven't seen too many Jonah strips, so I can't compare them, but because I saw 'Wacker' (which was a reprint of Elmer, 'though I didn't know it at the time) in Smash! first, I tend to view Jonah as an imitation of him. (Even 'though Jonah appeared first.) I've got a book with all the Queen of the Seas strips, which I'm currently working my way through. The art is amazing.
DeleteI'll have to check out that film some great comedy people their and actors..
ReplyDeletehopefully its on youtube..
Great find Irmantas..
A fascinating post (as ever!). I'd be surprised if the TV series 'The Vital Spark' wasn't another influence, however (I certainly assumed it must have been at the time). This was a popular 1965/6 comedy series based on Neil Munro's 'Para Handy' stories set in the western isles of Scotland during the 1930s.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, are you still interested in the 'Blunderbirds' strip Irmantas? I was suddenly reminded that you'd asked me about them when a pile of old Eagles fell on my head a couple of weeks ago! :)
I didn't know about The Vital Spark, thanks for mentioning it! I can see there a lots of episodes on youtube and I will definitely watch one or two. The general idea and the setting of the series as well as the time when it was on clearly show that it served as an inspiration for Ken.
DeleteAs for Blunderbirds - I have managed to find the issues and some more info about Ken's involvement, but thanks for remembering!
DeleteExcellent! Good find, Irmantas! I never knew that.
ReplyDeleteI bought The Bargee on DVD a few months ago, but didn't notice the similarity between the film and strip characters - it's obvious now that you've mentioned it - well spotted. I'm a big fan of old British comedy films and was wondering whether Norman Wisdom, British film star of the 50s and 60s, is known in Lithuania. I understand he was extremely popular in Albania during the communist era.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Norman Wisdom enjoyed special fame here although I do recall his Pitkin character from TV. Differently from Albania, we had lots of Western films here in those days both in cinemas and on TV :)
DeleteIt's good to know that Sir Norman did appear on the small screen in your country.
DeleteGiven that Ken owned a boat, and that he could no longer draw Jonah for DCT (or anything else for them for that matter), it seems obvious that The Queen of the Seas was his way of keeping his interest in the subject afloat in comics.
ReplyDelete...Of course the ghost of Jonah continued to haunt poor old Ken after he left DC Thomson - supposedly causing his own boat to sink! :-)
ReplyDeleteIs the BBC 50's/60's radio program the Navy Lark an influance..or the other way round?
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Navy_Lark
ReplyDelete1959 it started..
There seems to be quite a lot of comedy content based on the nautical theme at the time! I am not familiar with the radio series and it looks like it has also spawned a film in 1959. I doubt if a strip in a children’s comic could have inspired a radio show, but who knows…
DeleteI believe Ken must have surely listened to the program on the radio and watched the film when drawing Jonah, and the show may have very well been an influence behind the idea of the Queen of the Seas.
As Ken had a boat, it seems that his interest in the subject already existed. Looking at the photos you posted, it seems fairly evident that the characters in Queen of the Seas were mainly inspired by The Bargee.
DeleteI think Leo Baxendale said that Ken bought his barge with the increased page rate he got after leaving DC Thomson for Odhams.
DeleteIn a letter written in summer 1969 Ken says he bought the boat "three summers ago". Could someone help me understand which year did he have in mind? The summer of 1966 perhaps?
ReplyDeleteIf he was including the then-current Summer of '69, it would probably have been 1967, Irmy. Two years equals three Summers in the same way that a fortnight starting on a Saturday includes three Saturdays.
DeleteYes, the big question here is whether he was including the summer of 1969 or not.
DeleteAs he said it during the Summer of '69, it would seem likely he meant '67. If he'd said it in March, for example, he'd have been referring to '66. Hopefully, someone will know for sure.
Delete