KEN REID’S SELF-PORTRAIT IN JINX

I once did a series of posts featuring various strips with artists’ self-portraits in them. I recently discovered another nice example in the opening episode of JINX – Ken’s last new strip that he illustrated for the BEANO before leaving DC Thomson. 

It can be found in the BEANO issue No. 1108 cover-dated 12th October, 1963.

The self-portrait is not as detailed as the one in POW!’s Dare-A-Day Davy (that appears on the slipcase of my POWER PACK OF KEN REID collection and in Rebellion’s CREEPY CREATIONS album), but I was still happy to have found it! Click to enlarge:

 Images © DC Thomson Ltd

 

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QUEEN OF THE SEAS PANEL

Ken Reid was known to have sometimes been ‘text heavy’ in the strips that he scripted himself, making it necessary for editors to cut his writing down. Below is a nice example of that. The panel is from original Queen of the Seas artwork. I am not completely sure, but I believe I photographed it from the original piece owned by Peter Hansen:

The episode was printed in Smash! No. 31 (3rd Sept., 1966). The ugly colouring ruined the beauty of Ken’s linework,  but the reason I am showing the panel here is Captain Enoch Drip’s new speech balloon:

The Editor apparently thought Ken’s original version was too long, or eccentric…

This is how the panel looked in the reprint of the same episode in Buster cover-dated 8th July, 1972:

Click on the POWER PACK banner in the right-hand column and get your copy of the POWER PACK OF KEN REID - the deluxe two-volume set of Ken’s strips in WHAM!, SMASH! and POW! comics of the ‘60s.

SERIALISED FACEACHE STORIES – PART ELEVEN: PIG’S HEAD

The next Faceache story arc by Ken Reid was in the two consecutive issues of BUSTER with the cover dates of June 23, 1979 and June 30, 1979:

School cookie asks Faceache to nip down to the butchers and get him a pig’s head for school dinners. On his way to the village Faceache becomes thirsty, so he decides to call at farmer Jasper’s farm and ask for a drink of milk. Knowing that the farmer hates school kids but loves cats, Faceache scrunges into a stray pussy. 

Farmer Jasper has just created a potion that will increase his bacon production. Faceache drinks the “milk” and it alters Faceache’s normal self drastically. When he demands a pig’s head at the butchers’ the butcher tells him he’s in luck because he’s already got one…

Terrified, the lad rushes to the school clinic. On the way back to school, the effects of the pig-potion wear off without Feceache’s knowledge. 

Faceache tries to explain his situation to the cook who can’t make any sense of his babbling and takes him to the Headmaster. 

Characters are © Rebellion Publishing Ltd

Click on the POWER PACK banner in the right-hand column and get your copy of the POWER PACK OF KEN REID - the deluxe two-volume set of Ken’s strips in WHAM!, SMASH! and POW! comics of the ‘60s.

SERIALISED FACEACHE STORIES – PART TEN: POLTERGEIST

The next serialised Faceache story by Ken Reid appeared in two consecutive issues of BUSTER cover-dated May 19th and 26th, 1979, and it went like this:

Mr. Snipe is terrified of the Belmonte Beastie, the famous invisible spook, which haunts the school’s stock room, and Faceache volunteers to get rid of it. 

The spook is impressed with Faceache’s ability to scrunge. Flattered, Faceache nevertheless tells him to scat so that the lad can claim his month off homework. The ghost vanishes and Faceache reports to Mr. Snipe that the little horror has departed from the school forever. But somewhere in the limbo the Belmonte Beastie meets his fellow-spooks, and invites them back to Belmonte school to see a genius kid who could teach them all a few tricks…

The Belmonte Beastie returns to school with some of his pals: 

Thinking that it’s now safe, Mr. Snipe enters the stock room and is pelted by invisible ghosts. Upon hearing the racket, Faceache rushes to the stock room, thinking that the spook has returned and he’ll have to scrunge again to scare it off. Mr. Snipe takes the scrunged Faceache for the spook that has become visible, and assaults him with a stick, threatening exorcism:

Seeing what scrunging may lead to, the ghosts leave the school stock room for good, not wanting any part of it...

Characters are © Rebellion Publishing Ltd

Click on the POWER PACK banner in the right-hand column and get your copy of the POWER PACK OF KEN REID - the deluxe two-volume set of Ken’s strips in WHAM!, SMASH! and POW! comics of the ‘60s.