Radio Fun was a weekly comic launched in October 1938 and was the first comic that was merged into Buster on 18 February 1961. As its title suggests it was a sister title to FilmFun but using strips about radio personalities rather than film comedians. Amongst its features were text stories purportedly written by celebrities, but actually more likely to be from staff writers. Although predominantly a humour comic, it also featured a noir strip in TheFalcon, and a WildBillHickok strip. In its last few years, it ran an abridged and reformatted Superman strip from DC Comics. This has made those issues highly collectible. It ran for 1167 issues, no mean feat.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 31,057Chief of Staff
Hadn’t heard of that one before…but I do know of Tommy Handley, Wilfred Pickles, Arthur Askey & Jimmy Jewel.
Crime SuspenStories was an anthology crime (now considered noir) comic published by EC Comics. It was launched with the October/November 1950 issue and ceased publication with its February/March 1955 issue, producing a total of 27 issues. Four stories were adapted for television in HBO's TalesFromTheCrypt.
CRIME SUSPENSTORIES #1 - October/November 1950 - Murder May Boomerang - (A version of this story became the first episode of the AlfredHitchcockPresents television series.)
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 31,057Chief of Staff
edited March 2025
I’m sure there must be a fair few variations on that tale…buts it not one I’ve read before, so thanks 🙂
Good story. As Sir M says there are other variations of it (Stephen King has one) but that's true of most stories and this is a good telling of it, patiently gaining empathy with the characters before the crux of the tale.
The 1960’s began the advent of the British Summer Special. These were tabloid sized versions of the regular weekly comics and were on sale from June until September each year. They contained the usual strips from the comics alongside some one-off adventure strips. The Buster issue pictured below had 96 pages! 1963 saw the first “summer special” which was a joint Beano-Dandy issue. From 1964 they had their own separate editions. Hundreds of thousands of these specials were sold each summer as families headed to the beaches. Not that many survived and early issues are at a premium.
These Dandy issues are from 1964, 1966 and 1969 - note the price - not much inflation in those days!
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Bimbo was my first ever comic that I got. I remember that first issue well, the now long perished free gift balloon was magical for a four year old kid. I turned five later on in the year and I decided that I was old for Bimbo’s adventures (the name didn’t have that connotation in those days, it wouldn’t be allowed today, of course) and my weekly purchase was then TVCOMIC.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I loved the Summer Specials, I used to buy every one I could find 😁
As promised, I’m trying to post a different “birthday” comic cover every day without repeating a title. I’ve managed it so far (titles of merged comics like Smash! and Smash! &Pow! count as separate titles) so there will be many lesser known titles too.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I wonder if Batmsn keeps his spare outfit in his utility belt next to the Bat-shark repellent spray? One of the sillier stories, but still fun. I liked the "Superboy good advice" short at the end. Those were frequent back in the day, don't know if they still crop up.
Published by Atlas AMAZING DETECTIVE CASES starts with #3 (November 1950) and runs through #14 (September 1952), with the last 4 issues changing over to pre-code horror before cancellation. The strange numbering stems from the comic taking over from the original same titled magazine from Timely.
AMAZING DETECTIVE CASES #7 - July 1951 - Herbert’s Hideous Crime - Are You A Detective?
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
On 15th March 1969 newsagents saw the launch of IPC's revamped Smash! weekly. The original comic was launched in 1966 by Odhams, and was a mixture of funnies, adventures, Marvel reprints and the Batman newspaper strip . Now under IPC's charge, radical changes had arrived. Smash! had been non-conformist in many ways, and readers were smitten with that aspect of it. IPC's takeover heralded a move to sterilise the old Smash!’s maverick nature and turn it into a standard boy's adventure comic. Most of the 40 page comic featured brand new strips and the cover numbering was dropped, making the revamped Smash! feel like a totally new comic, as was the intention of course. The Marvel material was dropped for the Smash! relaunch. With a new logo, the new Smash! was totally unrecognisable from the comic it had been just seven days earlier. The two strips that made the new version worthwhile were Cursitor Doom and The Incredible Adventures of Janus Stark. Smash! had lost its unique identity. IPC tried to emulate the successful format of Lion and Valiant. As it turned out Smash! only ran for another two years before merging into Valiant. Most Smash! fans only collect to the last issue…
The relaunch the following week…
The free gift…
The two strips that were pretty good…
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Kids don't worry about all that, of, they just know that their comic has changed and they either like it or stop buying. So as one of those who stopped it's good to know the background.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 31,057Chief of Staff
I can just about remember reading The Swots and The Blots…couldn’t remember it being from Smash! though 🤭
AdventuresIntoWeirdWorlds was a science-fiction/horror anthology comic published by Atlas. It ran for 30 issues until being cancelled along with another four titles at the same time, which reduced Atlas’s sci-fi output to 8 titles at that point.
ADVENTURES INTO WEIRD WORLDS #1 - January 1952 - The Walking Death
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 31,057Chief of Staff
Comments
Lovely stuff @CoolHandBond - could have been adapted for two Inside No.9 episodes 🙂
I can see me being tempted that Mystery Novels ad, back in the day.
The first story is very like "The Little Shop Of Horrors" but years earlier. I wonder if the author ever sued?
As ever, many thanks for these cos I really enjoyed them.
Thank you, gents.
Radio Fun was a weekly comic launched in October 1938 and was the first comic that was merged into Buster on 18 February 1961. As its title suggests it was a sister title to Film Fun but using strips about radio personalities rather than film comedians. Amongst its features were text stories purportedly written by celebrities, but actually more likely to be from staff writers. Although predominantly a humour comic, it also featured a noir strip in The Falcon, and a Wild Bill Hickok strip. In its last few years, it ran an abridged and reformatted Superman strip from DC Comics. This has made those issues highly collectible. It ran for 1167 issues, no mean feat.
Hadn’t heard of that one before…but I do know of Tommy Handley, Wilfred Pickles, Arthur Askey & Jimmy Jewel.
....and I bought a set of The Falcon's movies only recently.
Crime SuspenStories was an anthology crime (now considered noir) comic published by EC Comics. It was launched with the October/November 1950 issue and ceased publication with its February/March 1955 issue, producing a total of 27 issues. Four stories were adapted for television in HBO's Tales From The Crypt.
CRIME SUSPENSTORIES #1 - October/November 1950 - Murder May Boomerang - (A version of this story became the first episode of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television series.)
I’m sure there must be a fair few variations on that tale…buts it not one I’ve read before, so thanks 🙂
Good story. As Sir M says there are other variations of it (Stephen King has one) but that's true of most stories and this is a good telling of it, patiently gaining empathy with the characters before the crux of the tale.
SAUCER COUNTRY Part 7 - 1 of 2
WARNING: This story contains strong language and scenes that may cause distress.
Continues tomorrow…
Ooooh this wouldn't be a conspiracy theory now would it?
SAUCER COUNTRY Part 7 - 2 of 2
WARNING: This story contains strong language and scenes that may cause distress.
To be continued next weekend…
Damn, another week. Well, we've done that before we can do it again!
I’m getting into this now 😁
The 1960’s began the advent of the British Summer Special. These were tabloid sized versions of the regular weekly comics and were on sale from June until September each year. They contained the usual strips from the comics alongside some one-off adventure strips. The Buster issue pictured below had 96 pages! 1963 saw the first “summer special” which was a joint Beano-Dandy issue. From 1964 they had their own separate editions. Hundreds of thousands of these specials were sold each summer as families headed to the beaches. Not that many survived and early issues are at a premium.
These Dandy issues are from 1964, 1966 and 1969 - note the price - not much inflation in those days!
This weeks birthday issues from 17-23 March…
Bimbo was my first ever comic that I got. I remember that first issue well, the now long perished free gift balloon was magical for a four year old kid. I turned five later on in the year and I decided that I was old for Bimbo’s adventures (the name didn’t have that connotation in those days, it wouldn’t be allowed today, of course) and my weekly purchase was then TV COMIC.
Never a fan of the Summer Specials, oddly enough.
What is Spiderman supposed to be attached to? 😛
And thanks for throwing in some lesser known comics, too.
I used to get the Beano & Dandy summer specials on occasions…usually to keep me quiet in the back of the car as we went on holiday - never worked 🤣
I loved the Summer Specials, I used to buy every one I could find 😁
As promised, I’m trying to post a different “birthday” comic cover every day without repeating a title. I’ve managed it so far (titles of merged comics like Smash! and Smash! & Pow! count as separate titles) so there will be many lesser known titles too.
BATMAN #75 - February/March 1953 - The Gorilla Boss Of Gotham City - In which our heroes are involved in a Frankenstein/King Kong mash-up!
I wonder if Batmsn keeps his spare outfit in his utility belt next to the Bat-shark repellent spray? One of the sillier stories, but still fun. I liked the "Superboy good advice" short at the end. Those were frequent back in the day, don't know if they still crop up.
Published by Atlas AMAZING DETECTIVE CASES starts with #3 (November 1950) and runs through #14 (September 1952), with the last 4 issues changing over to pre-code horror before cancellation. The strange numbering stems from the comic taking over from the original same titled magazine from Timely.
AMAZING DETECTIVE CASES #7 - July 1951 - Herbert’s Hideous Crime - Are You A Detective?
Yes, sign me up for that Salve! 13 boxes!
I liked the stories, too.
On 15th March 1969 newsagents saw the launch of IPC's revamped Smash! weekly. The original comic was launched in 1966 by Odhams, and was a mixture of funnies, adventures, Marvel reprints and the Batman newspaper strip . Now under IPC's charge, radical changes had arrived. Smash! had been non-conformist in many ways, and readers were smitten with that aspect of it. IPC's takeover heralded a move to sterilise the old Smash!’s maverick nature and turn it into a standard boy's adventure comic. Most of the 40 page comic featured brand new strips and the cover numbering was dropped, making the revamped Smash! feel like a totally new comic, as was the intention of course. The Marvel material was dropped for the Smash! relaunch. With a new logo, the new Smash! was totally unrecognisable from the comic it had been just seven days earlier. The two strips that made the new version worthwhile were Cursitor Doom and The Incredible Adventures of Janus Stark. Smash! had lost its unique identity. IPC tried to emulate the successful format of Lion and Valiant. As it turned out Smash! only ran for another two years before merging into Valiant. Most Smash! fans only collect to the last issue…
The relaunch the following week…
The free gift…
The two strips that were pretty good…
Kids don't worry about all that, of, they just know that their comic has changed and they either like it or stop buying. So as one of those who stopped it's good to know the background.
I can just about remember reading The Swots and The Blots…couldn’t remember it being from Smash! though 🤭
The strip did transfer to the merged Valiant and Smash! comic, so you may have read it there.
Adventures Into Weird Worlds was a science-fiction/horror anthology comic published by Atlas. It ran for 30 issues until being cancelled along with another four titles at the same time, which reduced Atlas’s sci-fi output to 8 titles at that point.
ADVENTURES INTO WEIRD WORLDS #1 - January 1952 - The Walking Death
Now you show me this 😩👀😁
That story didn't develop the way I thought it would, shows me up for anticipating wrongly. Still, they shouldn't run away from the Tyrannosaurus 🦖
Dr Grant definitely said its vision is based on movement.
SAUCER COUNTRY Part 8 - 1 of 2
WARNING: This story contains strong language and scenes that may cause distress.
Continues tomorrow…