Beau Peep Notice Board
Beau Peep Notice Board => Outpourings => Topic started by: Malc on May 21, 2013, 08:51:01 AM
-
I remember a comics story feature (no illustrations) in the days when comics like Hotspur carried text-only serials alongside pictures.
I don't know which comic, but the story was about a young jazz drummer in (I think) New Orleans, whose catch phrase was "gimme room!". I was only a kid, but I loved the stories, and every now and then I wonder who wrote them, and whether anyone else remembers them? They made as much of an impact on me as any classic book. The fact that the story was set in the 1920s jazz era did not phase me at all, I read it along with Braddock VC or Tough Of The Track, and the mix was seamless. I'd love it if the writer went on to become a hugely successful author, just wanted confirmation that I didn't dream this.
-
I have no recollection of this, Malc. It seems to be a very unusual storyline for the likes of The Hotspur/Victor/Wizard of that time, when the themes were mainly war-based or sporting. However, that's not to say it didn't exist and I'll ask around some of my old mates from my D.C.Thomson days.
-
Thanks Roger. I'm sure it was a DC Thomson comic, I rarely read any other Brit comic, and that's why I remember this storyline - distinctly American in a British comic.
-
I obviously don't remember them at all, but the internet tells me that "Tough Of The Track" appeared in The Rover, and further research tells me that The Rover included a story called "The Dixie Drummer", which sounds promising.
I did find the following as part of a list:
Oct 11th 1958, 13 Wks, 1737 - 1749: KID LAINE – THE DIXIE DRUMMER Jazz story with Kid Laine.
The table lacked headings, but to me it suggests that it ran in The Rover for 13 weeks, from No.1737 to No.1749.
Sadly, there appears to be literally NOTHING else about this story on the internet. I can't find any pictures, further information or references beyond it being something from The Rover.
The best I can find is The Rover No. 1737 for sale. The author is listed (at least on the internet) as "anon", but through Amazon and a couple of websites, the only place that appears to be selling it is somewhere called Victoria Bookstore based in Devon.
Amazon.co.uk link (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B008N0MK52/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all)
Another link (http://www.antiqbook.co.uk/boox/vct/500031358.shtml)
-
Brilliant, Jack. It sounded like such a strange story for the comics of that era but I'm sure you've cracked it. Malc will be relieved to know he wasn't dreaming!
-
Jack, you are some banana. It MUST be the story I'm thinking of. I will try to follow up on your research.
-
I just bought that Rover comic from Amazon. Thanks again, Jack
-
I just bought that Rover comic from Amazon. Thanks again, Jack
You told me you only read "Bunty"...
-
I just bought that Rover comic from Amazon. Thanks again, Jack
No problem. Good luck tracking down the other 12 issues though... ;D
-
I did read Bunty. And Judy. I got fed up of the war stories and wanted to delve into the permanent Cinderella complex storylines in the girls comics. Anyone remember Chained To Her Racket? Great one, that. Teen tennis prodigy controlled by evil old witch with a limp who forces her to practice all day, and she has to take her racket everywhere. You didn't get that in the boys comics. Alf Tupper made those coal briquettes VOLUNTARILY, then nipped off down to the local athletics meet to beat the toffee nosed twerps from the posh athletics club.
-
I'm afraid my early reading of comics started and stopped with "Monster Fun"...damn good it was too. Funny how as a child, things seem different mind you. I thought I bought it (well, my father bought it) for years, and it seems it was only published for just over a year. Ah the quality they must have packed into such a short time. :'(
-
I bought the Rover comic on Amazon and now have the story of the Dixie Drummer in my hot sweaty hands. No credited writer whatsoever, not with the story, nor in a list elsewhere in the comic. Yes, I know it was DC Thomsons thing not to credit their artists, but it's annoying nonetheless.
-
Is the story as entertaining as you remember?
-
Yep, excellently written, and the story doesn't talk down to its audience. This is the first in the series, so if there was only one ep available, this was the one to get. There isn't much drumming in this week's story, or description of the music and how it feels to play in a band, and those were the real selling points to me, reading it as a kid.
You can tell the writer is a jazz fan, and very probably a drummer himself.
This set-up episode was chiefly Blyton-esque, concerned with derring-do, a robbery and heroic saving of a crook from drowning.
Kid Laine (the drummer) is an Alf Tupper figure, so you just swap the worn out ragged pair of spikes for a worn-out pair of drumsticks. He's honest, perennially cheerful and supernaturally talented. He's in effect the boy's Cinderella, pure in heart and indomitable.
Kid doesn't offer up his catch-cry "gimme room!" in this story, but I remember the ones I read as a boy weren't concerned with his life on a Mississippi steam boat (as this first one is) but with life in the grimy city, where he played in a band of youngsters, often on floats drawn through the town. I guess the writer warms to his theme later, and develops the world the Kid lives in.
I would love to know who wrote this.
-
Incidentally, the comic (as I remembered) is mostly text stories. They are fascinating. One is called The Saturday Wonders, where a football team employs a couple of scientists to improve the abilities of the squad. In one game they introduce a man with an artificial leg to take the free kicks. They have schooled him in the scientific principles of shooting from free kicks and he ends up taking the penalty that wins the game - after bursting the ball twice.
Then there's The Clenched Fist, a story about a boxer who is identified by an obscure group of Orientals as the "Pong", a Dalai Lama-type figure whose career is subsequently taken over and guided by them.
Also there is a story featuring Grizzly Adams, the backwoodsman who has an affinity with a huge bear, next is I Flew With Braddock, and finally an Alf Tupper story, where he comes up against a Mysterious Stranger, W.H. Oami, whose running abilities exceed his own, and whose portrait he later finds in a big posh house - the portrait of a man who died 200 years ago!
Hang on - W.H. Oami.... why, that's "Who Am I". Gripping stuff.
-
I was browsing eBay this afternoon and for the hell of it, thought I'd have a look for this. I found this listing (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OLD-THE-ROVER-1958-COMIC-/151052210316?pt=UK_Books_comics_Magazines_UK_Comics_ET&hash=item232b69d08c) for The Rover No.1743, which by my reckoning would be part 7 of the 13 part story.
The seller is based out of Kilmarnock too, so in my head this is probably the exact copy of the comic you read as a kid. :o
-
I shall put in a bid for it later, hope it's cheaper than the last one (12 quid).
-
I shall put in a bid for it later, hope it's cheaper than the last one (12 quid).
12 squid, outrageous! I wouldn't go much more than 2 cockles, 3 mussels and a whelk this time! :o
-
Or a poorly cephalopod - sick squid.
Six quid is better deal than 12.
Egg, wouldn't mussels be better than the soft tissue you have in your arms?
____________
Ooh - you amendified it, making my post look unnecessary, and me an idiot.
-
:-[
-
I wrote several series for boys' comics when I first went freelance and was trying to scrape a living. One was Codename Warlord, about a wartime secret agent called Lord Peter Flint. Another was about a mercenary footballer called Jon Stark who would turn out for any team for £1,000 per game and £250 per goal (good money back then!). When you throw in Beryl the Peril and Andy Capp, it's safe to say I've had a varied career.
Or would try anything to pay the bills...
-
My brother and I used to write comics. In the tradition of Dan Dare, my brother came up with Ron Risk, and I came up with Fan Fearless. I still remember finally giving up trying to think of a name beginning with F.
-
I'd have gone with Phil Phearless.
-
Another was about a mercenary footballer called Jon Stark
Mercenary indeed. From footballer to Game of Thrones royalty...what a career leap. :o
-
Just went to see how much that one on ebay went for, but apparently there's still 23 hours left. It runs out just after 2pm tomorrow. No bids yet, so it looks like going a lot cheaper than 12 quid. More like £2, plus 50p postage.
-
Psst...don't tell Malc, but lets all stick bids in and bump the price up for a laugh.
Sneaky, eh?
;)