I owe an apology to
those of you who have dropped by to read about MONSTER FUN COMIC because I will
have to postpone the series by just a little bit and write about BUSTER
instead...
Feel free to leave your guesses in the
comments section and come back in a day or two for the correct answer.
EDIT 11th January, 2016: Further to some new information that has recently come to my attention, this post has become misleading because in fact I should have shown the cover of the issue dated 12th January, 1980. You can view it HERE, alongside with the answer to the puzzle question. I should have probably deleted this post, but decided against it. I will leave it as an illustration that researching comics is an ongoing live process :)
EDIT 11th January, 2016: Further to some new information that has recently come to my attention, this post has become misleading because in fact I should have shown the cover of the issue dated 12th January, 1980. You can view it HERE, alongside with the answer to the puzzle question. I should have probably deleted this post, but decided against it. I will leave it as an illustration that researching comics is an ongoing live process :)
-20 years old Buster..?
ReplyDeleteThey did celebrate the 21 years of Buster for most of the year...
Nope, the first issue had the cover date of 28th May 1960, so the anniversary was still a few months away...
DeleteThe first Buster without Monster Fun in the title?
DeleteNot quite - the last Buster and MF came out in the end of August in 1979...
DeleteI just knocked up a quick spreadsheet which shows that if Buster had been published every week since it first appeared, the 16 February 1980 edition would have been number 1030, so I'm guessing that allowing for issues that failed to appear due to industrial action etc, the 16 Feb 1980 edition was actually number 1000.
ReplyDeleteNiblet, I ought to have censored your comment out to keep the suspense, but yes, you are right! This is the cover of Buster issue No. 1,000!
Delete...The only thing is that according to my calculations, it was week 1029, so it should have been issue No. 1029, not 1030. I hope I haven't missed something because it would be quite embarassing...
DeleteOn 13/3/82, someone wrote in to ask how many issues of Buster there had been up to that point. Buster’s response was, “Shall we settle for 1140”, based on 21 years × 52 issues (1092), plus the issues since the comic’s 21st birthday the year before. If this date for the 1000th issue is correct, Buster’s figure is off by at least 30 issues. I’d give a precise figure but can’t remember offhand how many issues there were in 1980, what with the nasty gap in May/June.
DeleteTheir assumption that there were 52 issues published during all of the 21 years preceding 1982 was incorrect because there were quite a few gaps, particularly in the seventies with 1970, 1971 and 1974 being the years which were worst affected.
DeleteYou’ve probably noticed something funny happens when you count the issues of a year of which the first issue is 1st Jan, such as 1977: “17th Dec, no 51, 24th Dec, no 52, Dec 31st … no 53?!!”
DeleteStephen, your find is another proof of how poor IPC were at keeping the count of their issue Nos: I checked my list and found that the issue with the cover date of 13th March, 1982 was in fact No. 1104. They forgot to take into consideration that Buster No. 1 came out on May 28th, 1960 which means there were only 32 issues in the first year. Buster had two double-dated issues in 1970 and missed 6 weeks later that year. In 1971 it missed 5 weeks and as many as 10 weeks in 1974, followed by 2 more in 1975. Then all was good until 1980 when Buster was not published for another 8 weeks (two 4-weeks’ sequences).
DeleteAs for editions with the date of Jan 1, there were 3 by then (1966, 1972 and 1977).
I daresay if anyone were about to put this point to, they’d say, “We meant 1104 but got the last two digits the wrong way round”. ‘Do Me a Favour Buster’ was supposed to be Buster himself answering questions, but as adults were actually in charge you’d think they’d get their numbering right. Makes you wonder where you stand: was 7/5/83 REALLY Whizzer & Chips’ 700th issue?
DeleteStephen, I suggest you download this very useful Wh&Ch numbering guide here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/13euoibi3512axj/Issue+Guide+%28WC+WCM+WP%29.xlsx
DeleteYou probably won't be too surprised when you find out that Whizzer and Chips with the cover date of 7th May, 1983 was in fact No. 708. The same happened to Whoopee - IPC celebrated the issue of 5th November, 1983 as No. 500 of the comic although it was No. 494... Getting their numbering right appears to have been quite a challenge for IPC staff.
Just spotted the link – very useful indeed – and no the 700th issue of W&C occurring about two months before doesn’t surprise me in the least! Also the missing issues of Whoopee from early ’75 explain the gap in the British Library’s collection for that year. One wonders though – how was this information derived? The obvious answer’s from the comics themselves but there are few of us who’ve so complete a run. If it were you who drew this up, congratulations – and well done!
ReplyDelete