Wednesday 27 May 2015

WHO'S A LITTLE STAR THEN?


Copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

I'm not sure what I was doing buying nursery comics at the age of 13, but I certainly bought the first three issues of LITTLE STAR when the weekly title hit newsagents' counters back in 1972.  I may even have got more than that, but I simply can't remember.  It was probably just the collector's mentality in me that compelled my purchase of the first issue at least, as I could seldom resist the allure of a new comic.

Anyway, I recently had the chance to obtain the first 25 issues, plus #36, for an absolute song.  In fact, the postage cost more than the comics, so they were quite a steal.  I haven't had much chance to go through them yet, but any comic with artwork by TOM KERR and BILL RITCHIE can't be all that bad.

Number 36 is a puzzler, because I'm sure I wasn't still buying the comic that far into the run - but the free gift of a paintbox seems familiar, so either I bought the issue specifically for the gift, or another periodical also gave away a paintbox at some time or other.  As I associate the gift with my previous house, and not the one I moved to in June of that year (#36 came out in September), the latter scenario is not altogether impossible.

(Unless, of course, I acquired the issue in the newsagent's shop across from my old home - I still attended school in the area - and the neighbourhood associations have coloured my memory.)

Anyway, I don't imagine there'll be much interest amongst you Criv-ites (and Criv-kids) in such a periodical, but it makes a nice change of pace I think, and there's a slim chance that some younger members may recall it from their youth.  Let me know if you'd like to see some of the contents in a future post.


14 comments:

baab said...

The magic bus!
I remember getting a paintbox and I read the Twinkle.

Kid said...

I don't recall ever buying Twinkle, Baab. I wonder if Yogi and his Toy ever had one as a free gift?

baab said...

Ha ha ,That was some mistake to make.
I had to read it a couple of times.
It was as if I was making some kind of statement!

Oh my,I was commenting on the Little Star,I remember the magic bus and I remember the paint box set,but do not know which comic I got it from.

I have read the Twinkle.
Much mirth!

What is Yogi and his Toy?

Kid said...

Yogi and his Toy was a comic that came out around '71 or '72, which had a 'free' (cheap) toy every week. It was for much younger kids, but I bought it anyway, being a fan of the bold bruin.

Philip Guest said...

I remember being soundly told off by my parents for blowing my pocket money one week on buying Yogi And His Toy, as it was the extortionate price of 10p - quite a bit more expensive than other comics of the time!

Kid said...

Yeah, and let's face it, Phil - the 'toys' were usually cr*p.

Dougie said...

Thanks, gentlemen. I had forgotten about Twinkle, Little Star and Yogi. I probably read them all in the homes of other kids when I was around six or seven.
There were a couple of times when the content of "American comics" encouraged my mum to direct the very young me to more "wholesome" fare ( TV Comic and, later, Look-In would be good examples). I always drifted back to the hoodlum material though.

Kid said...

Look-In? More wholesome fare? With all its photos of Gary Glitter and Rolf Harris and The Bay City Rollers and folk of that ilk? Just as well we didn't know then what we know now, eh, Dougie? Our childhoods would've been ruined. In fact, I'm not sure they haven't been, in some kind of weird way. Ah, but now - TV Comic - that's what I call a comic.

Colin Brown said...

Hi Kid I'm helping someone compile a Tom Kerr bibliography. Did the Magic Bus appear as a strip in the first two issues? And was it still running in issue 36. I have issue 30 and it was in there though wasn't on the cover every issue by then. Thanks!

Kid said...

Yes to all three questions, CB.

Kid said...

Okay, TWO questions, but with THREE aspects.

Colin Brown said...

Thank you!

Colin Brown said...

Thank you!

Kid said...

And thank you for your thank yous.



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