FOOTBALL THEME IN BRITISH HUMOUR COMICS TO CELEBRATE EURO 2012 (DAY 16)

Giant-size colour sets of Banana Bunch by Leo Baxendale graced the back page of the early issues of the BEEZER. This one is from issue No. 13. There is so much action going on in the last panel that I decided to split it in two to allow for a closer look at all the details.

FOOTBALL THEME IN BRITISH HUMOUR COMICS TO CELEBRATE EURO 2012 (DAY 15)

Here are three BUSTER football cover stories from very different eras: the first one from the early 60s is by Hugh McNeill, the second from the 70s by Angel Nadal and the third from the early 90s by Tom Paterson. Followed by a nice crowded set of Terrors of Tornado Street by Juan Rafart – another Spanish artist who freelanced for Fleetway.

 

From BUSTER dated 6th May, 1961

FOOTBALL THEME IN BRITISH HUMOUR COMICS TO CELEBRATE EURO 2012 (DAY 14)

Here is a triple helping of Dennis the Menace footy action by David Law:

From BEANO No. 858 (27th December, 1958)

From Dennis the Menace 1962 Annual

FOOTBALL THEME IN BRITISH HUMOUR COMICS TO CELEBRATE EURO 2012 (DAY 13)

I find it interesting that many DC Thomson characters were so broke that the majority of  football strips I managed to find in my collection show their efforts to see a match for free… 

From BEANO No. 896 (19th September, 1959)

From BEANO No. 750 (1st December, 1957)

From BEANO No. 765 (16th March, 1957)

FOOTBALL THEME IN BRITISH HUMOUR COMICS TO CELEBRATE EURO 2012 (DAY 12)

SMASH! No. 3 (19th February, 1966) had as many as four strips with the footy theme! Plus a nice Bad Penny rugby set signed by Leo Baxendale, but this is a football post, so it doesn’t count :)

Percy's Pets was drawn by Cyril Price, Tellybugs by George Parlett, Charlie's Choice by Brian Lewis. Absence of Leo Baxendale’s signature in The Swots and the Blots set suggests it may be by one of his ghosters...

FOOTBALL THEME IN BRITISH HUMOUR COMICS TO CELEBRATE EURO 2012 (DAY 11)

My last two football posts contained back covers of JAG with official team photos. Below is a take on the “genre” by Ken Reid. The Were’Wolves’ United was the last in the long-running series of World-Wide Weirdies monster pin-ups in Whoopee!  It appeared in the issue dated 21st October, 1978. The only other football-themed World-Wide Weirdies poster (The Mid-‘Freak’ Match) was in Whoopee! issue dated 24th April, 1978. 

FOOTBALL THEME IN BRITISH HUMOUR COMICS TO CELEBRATE EURO 2012 (DAY 10)

In the interview for the FANTASY EXPRESS fanzine Joe Colquhoun regretted that “…Football Family Robinson was rather cut off in my prime. Even though it was football, it was football with tongue in cheek, and a lot of rather ribald humour, and offered some good characterisation of the entire family. It appealed to me, the zaniness of it really, and it had a good author, Tom Tully”.