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:

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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

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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.

SERIALISED FACEACHE STORIES – PART NINE: PHOTOGRAPHY

The next serialised Faceache story by Ken Reid appeared in two consecutive issues of BUSTER cover-dated 28 April and 5 May, 1979 and it went like this:

The Headmaster starts a Belmonte school young photographer’s club. For the first project he wants his students to go out on the moors and photograph some of the most unusual forms of bird life that abound there. Faceache comes up with an idea to scrunge into a Stripe-breasted Tail-less Gruk and snap himself with the camera on automatic ... 

...but forgets to remove his photographer’s club badge and Mr. Snipe quickly spots the trick. 

The teacher instructs Faceache to photograph a genuine woodland bird and sneaks after him to make sure the boy doesn’t scrunge.  Faceache discards his badge and is about to scrunge into another unusual creature when he runs into a real monster-bird…

As it turns out, it is only an actor in padded make-up engaged in the making of a film entitled “The Bird-Beast of Blackfell Moor”.

Faceache prepares to take his picture for the project but Mr. Snipe thinks he has caught Faceache in the act of scrunging and assaults the actor with his cane. Faceache tries to warn the teacher that he is thrashing a big musclebound actor with an uncontrollable temper but it’s already too late, and the actor never accepts an apology... 

Faceache photographs Mr. Snipe in full flight from the actor’s blow – an unusual bird indeed.

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.