A LOOK AT MONSTER FUN STRIPS: THE LITTLE MONSTERS

British comics had a long-time tradition of busy single-frame strips about naughty kids. From Casey Court in Chips in the 40s to Hoot Squad in HOOT in the 80s, with many memorable offerings in-between (such as the early Banana Bunch sets in the BEEZER, Terrors of Tornado Street in BUSTER, Lion Lot in LION, Moonsters in SPARKY, etc.), they gave readers lots of pleasure in studying all the gags and details.   

MFC provided the entertainment by way of The Little Monsters – a strip about the antics of a crowd of little green creatures.  It was added to the package from issue No. 16 and landed straight on the cover. Here are some examples:

The Little Monsters appeared on the front cover of nearly every issue until No. 35 when the front page was permanently reserved for Gums. More often than not, the headline of the strip came with a by-line, such as The Little Monsters visit the Motor Show (…in Outer Space, …go Mountaineering; …in Oil Strike, etc. etc.).

When the strip was moved inside to make room for Gums, it became a half-pager and looked like this:

Another transformation took effect starting from issue No. 46 when The Little Monsters  were given a full page and became more like a ‘normal’ strip with several introductory frames and the final large panel with all the action which Sid Burgon did so well.  

Sid Burgon was the main artist but a number of episodes were drawn by someone else. The style that Sid Burgon used to draw his little green monsters was easy to imitate so it is sometimes difficult to tell which sets were by the other artist. Mr. Burgon liked to sign his work, so if in doubt, look for the signature, and if it’s not there then it is most definitely drawn by someone else (both half-pagers shown above appear to be ghosted). The rule isn’t universal because the set below is definitely by Mr. Burgon but his signature is absent:

The Little Monsters first appeared in MFC issue No. 16 and lasted until No. 70. Here is the list of issue Nos. without the Little Monsters: 37, 39, 41, 56 and 66.  The monstrous midgets received their own pull-out poster in issue No. 63 (21st August, 1976).

A LOOK AT MONSTER FUN STRIPS: MEANIE MCGENIE

Meanie McGenie was a funny little strip about a mean kilt-wearing highlander genie known by the name of Meanie McGenie. Like all genies, he lived in a magic oriental lamp and emerged from it when someone rubbed on it. What made Meanie McGenie different from his kind was that he hated being disturbed and would only grant one wish. Furthermore, Meanie McGenie annoyed his “customers” by always finding a cheap way to fulfil their wishes and thus lived up to his name. It is no surprise that the folks who found the lamp didn’t hesitate to toss it away for someone else to find (and get disappointed) in the next episode.

From MFC No. 70. Art by Mike Lacey

The modest 17-episode run of Meanie McGenie started in MFC No. 2. The strip then disappeared for nearly 6 months and was re-introduced in issue 27 but failed to keep a regular schedule and ended in issue 70. Here is the list of MFC issues where Meanie Mcgenie can be found: 2, 27, 28, 30-33, 35, 38, 40, 43, 47, 53, 59, 64 and 70. All the episodes were 1/2 page long.

From MFC No. 61. Art by Mike Lacey

12 episodes of Meanie McGenie were illustrated by Mike Lacey. Tom Williams drew the episodes in issues No. 38 and 43, and the sets in Nos. 40, 59 and 64 were by yet another artist whose name I don’t know. Here are examples of Tom Williams’ and the other artist’s work:

 

A LOOK AT MONSTER FUN STRIPS: MUMMY’S BOY

Mummy’s Boy was a strip about the most possessive Mum that ever was, and her nine-year old son whom she treated as a baby and wouldn’t let him engage in normal kids’ stuff because she thought her Choochkins was too delicate. She wheeled him in a pram, dressed him in baby clothes, made him wear nappies and a silly baby bonnet, go to bed at 5:30, drink milk from a baby bottle and do all the other baby stuff which a grown lad like him found very embarrassing. Mumsy never addressed her boy by his proper name (it’s not even clear if he had one) and embarrassed him even further by calling him Diddums, Babykins, Kiddiwinky, Darling Duck, Cherub, Cutie Pie, Oody Boody Baba, Cuddlekins, Choochiface, etc.

Mumsy’s little treasure hated being treated like a baby, especially in public. He often ran away from ‘the silly old fusspot’ and acted naughty but she always tracked him down and re-organized things her way. 

Sometimes ‘the cherub’ was glad that he just couldn’t loose with Mum around:

In fact, Mummy’s Boy was a naughty little devil and a nuisance – a kind of Sweeny Toddler brought to heel, but with a crazy Mum like his that’s hardly surprising. I am trying to picture Mumsy’s relationship with her husband - yes, Diddums did have a Dad but in MFC he was only seen once, in issue No. 21; perhaps he took every opportunity to be away from home and his nutty spouse… I am sure Mumsy would have made an ideal Mum-and-son pair with WHOOPEE!’s Scared-Stiff Sam. This cross-over never happened but there were a couple others that did – in issue 33 Babykins tried using Teddy Scare’s tactics and in No. 51 he got some help from Brainy and his Monster Maker (in case you didn’t know, I’ll mention that Teddy Scare and Brainy and His Monster Maker were concurrent MFC strips).

Mummy’s Boy is one of the few strips in MFC with a dubious connection to the horror theme. On the other hand, come to think of it, having a Mum like this would certainly be a nightmare, so the strip takes horror comedy to the dimension of psychological terror.

Mummy’s Boy started in MFC issue No. 2 and continued till the last number (missing issues 16, 25, 47 and 57 in-between); all episodes were in b/w, except for the full-colour one in issue No. 33. The main artist was Norman Mansbridge; Terry Bave stepped in for him in issues 7 and 8. Mummy’s Boy made the jump to BUSTER when MFC was merged into it in 1976. The strip must have done really well in the popularity charts: it continued for more than a dozen years and was last seen in BUSTER cover-dated 12th September 1987. Of all the strips which originated in MFC, Mummy’s Boy came second only to X-Ray Specs in terms of the length of the run.

A LOOK AT MONSTER FUN STRIPS: CINDERS

Cinders was a tale about the adventures of two strange characters: Cinders, the romantically disposed she-dragon, and a cowardly knight who was the object of her affection. Cinders always tried to look her very best to make sure she was ready to meet the man of her dreams – the dishy and noble handsome knight in shiny armour on a gallant steed. She lived in a boudoir-like cave decorated with flowers and curtains and spoke in heart-shaped red speech balloons. The knight was a cissy coward who nonetheless sought a fiery dragon to fight; he was unaware that the lady dragon had a crush on him whereas Cinders considered his failed weekly attempts to fight her to be signs of his warm feelings towards her.

First episode, art by Norman Mansbridge

Cinders had the shortest run of all MFC strips: it appeared in issues 1 – 12 and missed issue No. 9 in between. The main artist was Norman Mansbridge with Alf Saporito substituting him in issues 7 to 11. All 11 episodes of Cinders were on the rear cover in full colour.

From MFC No. 11. Art by Alf Saporito

Cinders concludes the series of reviews of the strips that appeared in the first issue of MONSTER FUN COMIC. I have omitted one participation feature (Monster Hits) and the Badtime Bedtime Storybook (‘Jack the Nipper’s Schooldays’) but that’s because I am saving them for later.