As mentioned (at great length) in the previous update, one of the items we chanced upon today at the car boot sale was the first issue of School Fun comic. It launched in 1983 on the premise that the one thing all kids have in common is school. Unfortunately, this meant to many of the strips turned out to be fairly similar (despite IPC drafting in some artists with markedly different styles to that seen in Whizzer and Chips, Whoopee! or Buster), and the last thing kids wanted to read about when they got home from school was, well, more school. After only a few months, the dread words "Exciting news of all readers inside!" graced the front cover and the more popular characters (School Belle, and - we think - Young Arfur) received free transfers to Buster comic, and it was quietly shelved.
However, it is worth a look today for the way several TV staples were officially and unofficially converted to comic form. Coronation Street School saw the Weatherfield residents as kids hanging out at, of course, the Rovers Return tuck shop. Grange Hill Juniors saw a toned down but otherwise serious rendition of the goings on at the titular comprehensive. Dredge's Young Arfur saw a character called - oho! - Arfur Dally conning unsuspecting adults.
Of course, with no strips from the likes of Tom Paterson or the late J Edward Oliver, it was pretty much doomed from the off. It's not a proper British kids comic without a smelly sock factory or an Abolish Tuesdays sign. But anyway, now you can gauge the effectiveness of School Fun all for yourselves, as we've scanned and uploaded the entire issue. Read and enjoy!
However, it is worth a look today for the way several TV staples were officially and unofficially converted to comic form. Coronation Street School saw the Weatherfield residents as kids hanging out at, of course, the Rovers Return tuck shop. Grange Hill Juniors saw a toned down but otherwise serious rendition of the goings on at the titular comprehensive. Dredge's Young Arfur saw a character called - oho! - Arfur Dally conning unsuspecting adults.
Of course, with no strips from the likes of Tom Paterson or the late J Edward Oliver, it was pretty much doomed from the off. It's not a proper British kids comic without a smelly sock factory or an Abolish Tuesdays sign. But anyway, now you can gauge the effectiveness of School Fun all for yourselves, as we've scanned and uploaded the entire issue. Read and enjoy!
1 .:
That's definitely Tom Paterson doing School Belle.
The Schoolditz strip is jaw-droppingly un-PC! I remember buying almost every edition of School Fun. I must have been an odd child, as I liked it.
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