bulging Billy Bunter from 1908, was unique in that during its 1, 197 episodes boys
arrived at school, rose from form to form, and in six years or so left as other boys came
in to replace them (masters, however, stayed on for ever!)
The Second World War saw the demise through paper shortage of many of the British
boys’ weeklies (by then, fortnightlies). The Amalgamated Press was left with one,
Champion, while Thomson lost only one, Skipper. After the war some of the papers went
over to serial strips and became comics (The New Hotspur, 24 October 1959); others died
and were incorporated into comics (Tiger and Champion, 26 March 1955). The last of
them all to go was Rover, joining Wizard (revived as a comic) from 20 January 1973.
Some heroes continued as strips (‘The Wolf of Kabul’); some went into paperbacks
(‘Sexton Blake’)—but it was the end of an enjoyable and nostalgically remembered era.
Further ReadingCrawford, H. (1978) Crawford’s Encyclopedia of Comic Books, New York: World.
Daniels, L. (1991) Marvel, London: Virgin.
Gifford, D. (1971) Discovering Comics, rev. 1991, Princes Risborough: Shire.
——(1975) Happy Days: 100 Years of Comics, London: Jupiter.
——(1975) The British Comic Catalogue, 1874–1974, London: Mansell.
——(1976) Victorian Comics, London: George Allen and Unwin.
——(1984) The International Book of Comics, rev. 1990, London: Dean/Hamlyn.
——(1985) The Complete Catalogue of British Comics, London: Webb and Bower.
——(1987) Encyclopedia of Comic Characters, London: Longman.
——(1988) Comics at War, London: Hawk.
——(1990) The American Comic Book Catalogue, 1884–1939, London: Mansell.
——(1991) Christmas Comic Posters, London: Blossom.
——(1992) Space Aces, London: Green Wood.
——(1992) Super Duper Supermen, London: Green Wood.
Godstone, T. (1970) The Pulps, New Rochelle: Chelsea House.
Goulart, R. (1972) Cheap Thrills, London: Arlington House.
——(1975) The Adventurous Decade, New Rochelle: Arlington House.
Haining, P. (1974) The Penny Dreadful, London: Gollancz.
Horn, M. (ed.) (1976) The World Encyclopedia of Comics, New York: Chelsea House.
James, L. (1963). Fiction for the Working Man, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kurtzman, H. (1991) From Aaargh’ To ‘Zap’, New York: Prentice-Hall.
Lupoff, D. and Thompson, D. (1970) All in Color for a Dime, New Rochelle: Arlington House.
——(1973) The Comic-Book Book, New Rochelle: Arlington House.
Pumphrey, G. (1955) Children’s Comics, London: Epworth.
Reynolds, Q. (1965) The Fiction Factory, New York: Random House.
Robinson, J. (1974) The Comics, New York: Putnam.
Rollington, R. (1913) The Old Boy’s Books, London: Simpson.
Rovin, J. (1985) The Encyclopedia Of Super Heroes, New York: Facts on File.
Server, L. (1993) Danger Is My Business, New York: Chronicle.
Simon, J. and Simon, J. (1990) The Comic Book Makers, New York: Crestwood.
Summers, M. (1940) A Gothic Bibliography, London: Fortune.
Turner, E.S. (1948) Boys Will Be Boys, London: Joseph.
262 POPULAR LITERATURE: COMICS, DIME NOVELS, PULPS AND PENNY DREADFULS