iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Can’t get much more Spursy than this.

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

All this week I’m posting some glimpses of one the titles on display on the racks of my time-travelling newsagent – visiting this week from the first full week of September 1978. Pop back tomorrow for another inky-fingered memory from when comics ruled the world.

000

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

‘Gunga Jim’, one of the recurring characters, is lazily named after a racial trope – typical of the day, and the sort of thing that makes a reprinting of Cheeky for a contemporary market seem unlikely. Thankfully the readers’ gags all seem pretty innocent!

110

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Cheeky's a great nostalgia blast. Principal artist Frank McDiarmid was a unique talent, his strips so full of life and quirk (spot the Smurfs cameo). But a lot of the humour jars. There’s a cruelty there, mocking humour based on appearance or failings; less so in today's comics.

100

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Kids love a joke. There must have been more one-liners packed into an issue of Cheeky than in any other comic. The title was based on the central figure, gag-master-in-chief Cheeky, and a large cast of supporting regulars – some of whom sat on this Joke Box Jury.

221

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

020

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Starlord showcased its roster of incredible creators with superior print quality on a higher grade of paper than most comics of its day. Look at the fantastic colour on this centre-page spread of Strontium Dog. Ian Gibson was the artist, John Wagner and Alan Grant the scribes.

141

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Wakelin's cover trailed the latest instalment of psi-fi space opera Mind Wars, written by Alan Hebden and drawn by Jesus Redondo. Beautiful Spanish and South American art such as this was as influential for our generation as Manga is today.

100

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

I’m not sure at what age of reader Starlord was targeted. The adverts within suggest perhaps 8-11 years old? If that’s right, it’s remarkable that it carried such mind-bending cover artwork as this (by Bob Wakelin). Little wonder it’s so fondly-remembered. Watch the stars!

141

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

040

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

This edition of Misty carried the third and final part of a stunning Misty board game, featuring art from Shirley Bellwood and a selection of covers and memorable moments. I’ve put this together with parts one and two – something spooky to play as the nights draw in.

162

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

It’s possible some of the inspiration for this series may have come from the 1977 Amicus movie The Uncanny, in which Peter Cushing plays a writer narrating three stories of cats with devilish qualities. Great fun if you ever get to see it!

131

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

The cover illustrated the third instalment (of eleven) of The Cats of Carey Street. A pack of ferocious felines guard the only remaining residents of an estate listed for demolition. This week they saw off the ‘Slum Demons’ gang – proper scary stuff for a young readership.

220

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

This Misty cover positively purrs with dark mystery and peril. The artist was Mario Capaldi, a regular on the cult supernatural thriller comic intended for girls, and which ran for two years between 1978 and 1980.

1112

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

This issue of ROTR is one of the titles on display in the time-travelling newsagent from the first full week of September 1978. I’ll be posting about a few more of them over the next few days.

000

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

The back page of this week’s Roy of the Rovers carried this striking Smiths Crisps ad drawn by Paul Sample, creator of Ogri - a comic cult-hero in the biker community.

120

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Roy did eventually go to Basran in the summer of 1986, and all the Rovers went with him (on a summer tour). Not all of them returned. www.greatnewsforallreaders.com/blog/2016/7/...

100

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

The ‘comedy Arab’ is typical of broad-stroke 70s racial stereotyping, and Roy’s patronising of Penny is also pretty cringe. The outlandish and sensational transfer scenario played out through the media of the day seems quite foresighted, however.

100

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

It’s transfer deadline day in England, and a suitable opportunity to look back at an audacious attempt by the fictional Middle-Eastern nation of Basran to lure Roy Race away from Melchester Rovers at the start of the 1978-79 season. David Sque was the artist.

121

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

This copy of Whizzer and Chips is one of the titles on display in the time-travelling newsagent from the first full week of September 1978. I’ll be posting about a few more of them over the next few days.

010

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

The Louis Marx promo seems as though it was quite a big deal for IPC, who also advertised it heavily in this week’s Buster, Whoopee! and Cheeky. Here’s the competition page. Sadly, we’re all 47 years too late to enter.

100

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

In this week’s issue dentally-decayed confectionery aficionado Sweet-Tooth joined forces with The 12 1/2p Buytonic Boy Steve Ford to foil an elephant-riding crook. Kids in the seventies regularly received cash rewards for doing coppers’ jobs for them. Art by Bob Nixon.

110

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Sid Burgon drew this eye-catching cover of Whizzer and Chips (with Krazy) to promote a Louis Marx toy competition in early September 1978. Curiously, one of a tiny number of W&C covers from the comic’s first 16 years not to include an image of Sid’s pet snake Slippy.

130

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Ever dream of travelling back in time just to pop into a newsagent and see what comics were on display? Here’s a selection of some of the titles on sale in early September 1978 (off-sale date Saturday 9th). I’ll post some of the covers and contents over the next few days.

1332

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

You’d like to think that was positioned ironically by the editorial team, but I suspect not. PM just commented on it on Twitter:

110

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

One of history's most important comics was Charley's War, published initially in Battle and written by the great Pat Mills. Now Pat's sequel is on the way! Please back Ragtime Soldier here, and share as widely as possible. t.co/zuByo5Ga2B

131

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

I’m sure this Thrills, Spills & Chills advert will be very familiar to original readers of a certain age, as will the thrilling Cushing movie film poster reproduced on this issue’s back cover.

010

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

As well the comic strips, DWW included lots of lovely articles and regular features, including A Letter from the Doctor, Crazy Caption and Who Cares! I cut the Photo-File out of every issue of my original collection and blu-tacked them to my bedroom wall.

110

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Steve Moore and Steve Dillon created The Stolen Tardis for the non-Doctor, Whoniverse-based series of comics at the end of DWW. This particular tale, set on Gallifrey, includes the first instance of what would become the famous ‘Vworp! Vworp!’ TARDIS dematerialisation effect.

120

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

The comic ran two back-up strips, including this adaptation of HG Wells’ The War of the Worlds by Chris Claremont and Yong Montano (first published by Marvel in 1976). I’ve read, watched and listened to many adaptations of TWOTW but this version is how I'll always visualise it.

130

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

It’s been several decades since I last looked at this strip, but some of these panels made such an impression that it seems like yesterday. If anyone ever mentions Benidorm I instantly think of the Fourth Doctor looking down on this city.

230

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

This issue of Marvel’s DWW introduced the City of the Damned comic, written by John Wagner (with Pat Mills) and drawn by Dave Gibbons. I took these Doctor Who strips so seriously, repeatedly poring over the script – so intelligent, compelling – and art – so captivating, iconic.

111

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Doctor Who Weekly, cover date 12 December 1979. One of telly’s greatest monster designs in close-up on the front of one of history’s greatest comics makes for a superb cover. Aged 9, I loved Doctor Who, I loved DWW, and Zygons scared the Y-fronts off me. A true classic.

2192

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Dennis the Menace and Gnasher (Sutherland again) were still on the back page in 1973 (he booted Biffo off the front the following year). Contrast Biffo being nice to an elephant to Dennis training Gnasher for a street brawl … it’s pretty clear which strip had more bite.

040

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

This issue was packed with the usual familiar names, including Minnie the Minx (artist Jim Petrie), Lord Snooty (Jimmy Glen), The Bash Street Kids (Sutherland) – gross racism sadly par for the day – and Billy Whizz (Malcolm Judge).

110

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

This issue came with a four-page pull-out on Financial Times pink-coloured paper bigging up the publisher’s annual offerings – and yet another annual ad later in the comic. There was a huge profit margin in annuals so there was little holding back on the promotions.

110

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

The Beano, cover date 8 December 1973. Shameless promotion of its own wares by DC Thomson here. Biffo the Bear's strip is just an extended advert. But who cares? It’s good-looking art by David Sutherland, and it's always fun to see in-strip references to newsagents and printers.

1100

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

But it still offered a broad range of comic strips, including Billy’s Boots (script Fred Baker, art John Gillatt), The Thirteenth Floor (Ian Holland, Jose Ortiz), Death Wish (Barrie Tomlinson, Vanyo) and Shadow, an ex-NYPD dog on the run (John Wagner, Mike Western).

020

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

In both its incarnations (50s/60s and 80s/90s) Eagle always tried to be a comic relevant to the hobbies of kids of the day. Home computer games are oft cited as one of the reasons comics lost sales from the 80s onwards, but Eagle made a point of connecting with this interest.

110

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

Eagle’s other top strip at this time was Doomlord, in this week’s issue teaching his son Enok the skills needed to become a Servitor of Nox. The script was by Alan Grant, and typically beautiful artwork by Eric Bradbury.

110

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

The Mekon thought Dan Dare was seafood in his latest mad scheme. But ‘It was a trick! It … Yeeeaaargh! ‘Fool! Do not state the obvious!’ Dan pulled the old robo-double switcheroo ploy, but was too late to stop the Mekon launch rockets at Earth. ‘Brainless nonentity!’

110

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

Eagle and Tiger, cover date 7 December 1985. Here’s a rather age-stained Eagle from my collection (art by Carlos Cruz). It had merged with the longer running Tiger comic earlier in the year as IPC’s roster of boys’ comic titles reduced in line with a gradually declining market.

153

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Christmas 1975 was drawing closer, and the ads in this week’s Buster give a good flavour of what nature of goodies would be under the tree. Footballs, ‘Attack Dolls’, the Floundering board game and Matchbox Battle Kings. And the Buster annual, of course.

010

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

But new kids on the block (plus a dog and a gran) were promised for next week’s issue.

200

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Other Buster regulars at this time included Faceache (art by Ken Reid), Ivor Lott and Tony Broke (Jim Crocker), Rent-a-Ghost (Reg Parlett) and Val’s Vanishing Cream (Mike Lacey).

110

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

There was a nice egalitarian conklusion to this week’s episode - drawn, I believe, by Martin Baxendale following the style of his dad, and the strip’s creator, Leo Baxendale.

110

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Buster, cover date 6 December 1975. The jokes in Snooper were based as much on the character having an enormous hooter as on the nosiness it denoted. Making fun of physical characteristics was common in 70s comics, certainly more than in kids’ comics books and cartoons today.

120

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Ken Reid’s Creepy Creations usually occupied the back page, and what a treat they were. I expect the colours were much more striking when this comic hit the newsagents (51 years ago!) but The Gruesome Grannie of Grantham is still a sight to behold.

090

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Other regulars in Shiver and Shake at this time included The Hand (drawn by Reg Parlett), The Desert Fox (Terry Bave; national stereotyping warning), Horrornation Street (Tom Williams), and – of course – Leo Baxendale’s demonic baby Sweeny Toddler.

170

Great News For All Readers @gnfar.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

This issue featured a cross-over between the two Brian Walker strips. Merlin’s apprentices Brimstone and Treacle of Wizards Anonymous (from the pages of Shake) paid a visit to the legendary Scream Inn (of Shiver).

110