A LOOK AT MONSTER FUN COMIC FEATURES: MONSTER HITS

Monster Hits (Top 10 Gags) was a regular reader participation feature in MONSTER FUN COMIC in which readers were offered cash prizes for sending in their jokes. Every week contributors of the gags ranked 10 to 2 in the “chuckle charts” received a pound each, while the sender of that week’s chart-topper (printed at the bottom of the page) collected 2 quid. Production process took approx. two months, so the names of the first participants appeared in MFC No. 8.  We may not know who sat on the “panel of experts” that compiled the charts and ranked the jokes at MFC offices but we know who the illustrators were – and this is what matters. 

A few of the weekly sets were by Artie Jackson who drew the jokes in MFC Nos. 1, 4 (together with Mike Lacey), 49, 50, 52, 61 and 70. Mike Lacey illustrated the chart in MFC No. 2 and drew some of the jokes in No. 4 (others were by Artie Jackson). Here is the page from MFC No. 4 with Artie Jackson’s and Mike Lacey’s work side-by-side:

Leslie Harding drew three sets in MFC issues 5, 6 and 7:

Starting from MFC issue No. 8 the vast majority of the sets were by Tom Paterson whose style was still shaping itself at the time. It looks like at that stage he was studying and trying to imitate Graham Allen – his other strong influence besides Leo Baxendale. Here are two early examples from MFC No. 8 and 14:

Monster Hits continued throughout the entire run of the comic, missing only one issue (No. 3). All were in b/w except in issues 11, 24 and 26 were they were printed in full colour. This one is from No. 24:

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A LOOK AT MONSTER FUN FEATURES – BADTIME BEDTIME BOOKS – Part FOUR

With Mike Brown on board, Bob Paynter’s headaches over Badtime Bedtime Books were over because the artist was an excellent imitator of Leo Baxendale’s drawing style. IPC script writer(s?) also did a decent job.

The Mike Brown period proper started with Doctor Poo. It was the BBB No. 28 and appeared in MFC No. 39 (6th March, 1976). In the previous post I speculated that it may have been drawn by someone else because it had no signature of Mr. Brown, but having taken a closer look, I am now convinced it was his work. Here is the front cover once again, and you can see the complete book in the last week's post HERE:

A Fistful of Chips (BBB No. 29 in MFC No. 41 cover-dated March 20th, 1976) was the first one to have Mike Brown’s initials in tiny letters in the bottom right corner of the front cover:

You may have noted the word “proper” in first paragraph of this post. That’s because I’m now inclined to believe that Dick Twerpin was the first BBB which Mr. Brown had contributed back in 1975 during the Leo Baxendale period. Just take a look at the horse in the two panels below. The one on the left is from Dick Twerpin and the one next to it is from A Fistful of Chips:

30) Planet of the Japes (MFC No. 43, 3rd April, 1976) was about a weird planet on which kids were persecuted by practical jokester school teachers. Initialled by Mike Brown in the last panel. Here is the front page:

31) Cooljock (MFC No. 47, 1st May, 1976). After Planet of the Japes, BBBs took a month’s break to return in May in the shape of the only BBB by Artie Jackson who signed it with his first name in one of the panels.

They compensated for the break with as many as three BBBs during the rest of May:

32) Ten Little Renegades (MFC No. 48, 8th May, 1976) – in black and white only. Initialled by Mike Brown on front cover.

33) The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimply Neddy (MFC No. 50, 22nd May, 1976). This one is unsigned but artwork leaves little space for guesswork as to who the illustrator was, don’t you think?

34) Mummy's the Word (MFC No. 53, 29th May, 1976). In black and white only. Mike Brown initialled this one on the last page.

BBBs then disappeared once again: not a single one came out in June.

35) The Greatest Escape (MFC No. 56, 3rd July, 1976) was illustrated by Mike Brown:

36) Rumpimpleskin (MFC No. 58, 17th July, 1976). Illustrated by Mike Brown:

After another short break there were two consecutive issues with BBBs, but only one was drawn by Mike Brown. Leslie Harding made a surprise comeback with BBB No. 37 - The Hound of the Backstreet Villa (MFC No. 61, 7th August, 1976):

38) Space 999 (MFC No. 62, 14th August, 1976). Things were back to business as usual, with Mike Brown prominently signing his name on the front cover. Here is the story in full:

30)  The Wonderful World of Hannibal (MFC No. 64, 28th August, 1976):

Mike Brown concluded the run of Badtime Bedtime Books in MONSTER FUN COMIC weeklies with a sequence of 4 stories in MFC issues 69 – 72:

40) The McCurse o' Red Hairy McLegs, or The McPhantom o’ the McGlen! or The McRebellion O’ ‘45 R.P.M. (Rebellions Per Minute) (MFC No. 69, 2nd October, 1976) – this one had quite a title, don’t you think? Signed by a Mike McBroon…

41) The Ghoulies (MFC No. 70, 9th October, 1976) – the text in the bottom left corner of the front cover suggests that Mike Brown not only illustrated but also wrote the story! This makes me wonder if he also wrote scripts of other BBBs that he drew and signed?

42) Supa Spyderbat (MFC No. 71, 16th October, 1976). If it wasn’t for Mr.Brown’s signature, some panels could be easily confused for Leo Baxendale’s work. Mike Brown must have studied Leo’s style very carefully. Here is the front page:

43) At the Apple's Core (MFC No. 72, 23rd October, 1976). The credits say “Directed by Mike Brown” – is this another hint that he had something to do with the script, not just the artwork?

That’s a total of 14 Badtime Bedtime Story Books by Mike Brown, 16 if we agree to include Dick Twerpin and Gong of Kong. This makes Mike Brown the runner-up to Leo Baxendale whose stats amount to 19 confirmed books, plus one that was drawn by him but not as a Badtime Bedtime Book (I Spy With My Little Guy (BBB No. 10) was stitched-together by IPC from Mervyn’s Monsters artwork of Mr. Baxendale), plus Ghoul Dilocks and the Three Scares which I’m also inclined to attribute to Mr. Baxendale. Leslie Harding illustrated three books while Terry Bave, Artie Jackson and Tom Paterson contributed one BBB each.

So much for the Badtime Bedtime Books in the weeklies. BUT, there were a few more in the Annuals and I’ll be looking at them here in due course.

All Images 2014 © Egmont UK Ltd.  All rights reserved. Used with permission.