THJE STORY Laljer COJLJLJECTO\N JANUARY 1964
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THJE STORY lAlJER JANUARY 1964 COJLJLJECTO\n� No. 85 :: Vol. 4 and the strength of a mighty Hero Worship Samson! The "fourth dimension" ven When Young triloquism pandered to a sense of fun. What frolics I could HERE rs a certain fascination have had with the adults (my in probing into the real-life natural, if undeclared, enemies) T story of a hero, despite the running around in circles! Even feeling of "[ shouldn't be if my ventriloquial "hero" was doing this!" So many heroes are as obtuse as Billy Bunter, he found to have feet of clay, upon was still coovincing because I closer inspection, and are found wanted to believe, and belief is, to be oh! so human. after all, one of the basic planks My juvenile reading matter in all platforms. had no place for frail humans. I wanted to read about super BELIEVED in Greyfriars and men, or superboys. The strong I St. Jim's and passed through boy, the boy who could make the phase at one time of ac himself invisible, the boy ven cepting the school characters as triloquist, the boy who could real boys. What reader of those fly-these were my.fundamental papers, The Magnet and The Qem, heroes, because youth is given to has not at some time searched day-dreams, dreams in which a large-scale map for Courtfield one is the central figure. or Rylcombe? Human nature being basically If I had not believed in tf,ese good, what good deeds I could things, my juvenile reading have done to help frail and would have "passed me by like suffering humanity; what evil the idle wind" and would never could have been eliminated have been remembered in my throughout the world (and the middle age. space beyond!) if only, as a boy Another type of hero was the of twelve, I could have had the one who, despite human limita powers of flight, of invisibility, tions, could entrance by the .. 180 THE STORY PAPER COLLE TOR glamour of colourful costume in of Blacl<wood's Magatine or The a supposedly romantic age. In People's Friend? this category is Dick Turpin, and In over 145 years Blacl<wood's Jack Over hill in his excellent has not been changed in general article in S. P. C. Number 82, appearance and it sti 11 sells at Tracing a Legend, delicately de 2/6d. a copy, as it always has bunks the glamour attached to done. that name. The People's Friend has changed It was indeed an age of little in the last sixty years, ex ignorance, filth, and cruelty. Our cept that the front cover page thanks, then, are due to the now has an illustration on white numerous hack writers of 19th paper, while it used to have ad century penny dreadfuls and vertisements on dull green 20th century Aldine publica paper. It sold for many years at tions for making Dick Turpin one penny, the present price and his times palatable to our being fourpence. taste for the romantic. In this world of ever-changing - MAURICE KU TNER public prints those two Scottish Clapton, London E.5. efforts are remarkable for their � tenacity. Can any reader recall comics Magazines From or.boys' story papers that were produced in Bonnie Scotland? Scotland If so, I would like to learn how and when they died. N THE GOLDEN AGE of British -0. w. WADHAM I story and comic papers 12 Military Road, Lower Hutt, about the years 1905 to New Zealand. 1925, I should say-I cannot re , Presumably the comics and boys' call one of the popular publica story papers published by D. C. tions of those times that was Thomson & Co ., Ltd., of Dundee produced in Scotland. are not so frequently seen on display Perhaps this is a great pity, for in New Zealand as are those fr om Scottish weekly and monthly The Fleetway House-or else the journals have an almost uncanny London address on the Thomson habit of survival. Who can say papers has misled Mr. Wadham. how much longer The Magnet, We have informed him of the many The Gem, and The Union Jack comics and story /Japers chat have would have lived had they been been published by Thomson since owned by publishers like those they launched Adventure in 192r. THE STORY PAPER COLLECTOR • No.85 Vol.4 THE LOWER BRANCHES By TOM HOPPERTON E HAVE OF LATE had accepted by H. A. Hinton or our attention so con C. M. Down between 1920 and W centrated on John Nix late 1924, while his last Gem was Pentelow as the Wicked not till 1926. Uncle of The Hamilton Babe in He seems therefore to have the Wood that we have rather had no dispute with the suc lost sight of his considerable ceeding editors, and his troubles ·achievements in other fields. with Frank Richards did not There is obviously a great deal affect his status with the Amal to be said on that subject which gamated Press. When Hinton has not yet reached print, but returned from the Army in 1919 this present series is not the to resume control of the Com place for it. Pentelow himself panion Papers, Pentelow was would be surprised to find so switched to reviving the sus much attention being paid -to pended Boys' Realm, and he fol what he must have regarded as lowed this by launching The a fleeting and unimportant part Prairie Library, The Robin Hood of his career. Library, and Sport and Adventure, He wrote in all about 132 Gems all of which took him further and Magnets, and his work here away from the school story. has received plenty of comment As far as his actual writing is but very little connected consi concerned, the thing for which deration. It should not be over he was most hotly criticised was looked that it was not just shoved his killing-off of Richards' lead in when Pen�low was editor ing Sixth-former, Courtney. Mr. and so able to do as he pleased. G. R. Samways, who is one of He wrote at least 69 Magnet tales the few people in a position to and practically half of them-34 know, informed us in S. P. C. that to be exact-were certainly pro Pentelow was not an indepen duced after he quitted the chair dent agent in this: he acted un and were either commissioned or der higher directive to simplify lllllllllHlll111Hllll/1111llllllllllllllllllQlllllll[]lllllllllllltJmlllWJlmm11111111m11111111111r1pARTTHREE 11111111111i1l1llllllnl\IKJlllmllUllt:.JUlllllllll(lllllU!Umt1111�1111111r11m111111111m111111mtr 182 THE STORY PAPER COLLECTOR matters for readers who had and sim/)/e, bu t as I don't want been writing to complain of the to precipitate another semantic confusions caused by Courtney debate we can compromise with and Courtenay. This is one of Pentelow as Pentelow. the most surprising things I have Like so many of the Amal heard of in connection with gamated Press authors, he began boys' weeklies. One would have as something of a boy wonder, thought that boys who hadn't and he was only fifteen when the savvy to distinguish between he started contributing serials a Greyfriars senior and a High and long-completes of a highly cliffe junior, whose names were dramatic nature to Guy Rayner's not even spelt alike, would weeklies under such titles as hardly have had the initiative to Captain Nemesis and Vanoc; or, grumble to the editor about it. The Gladiators of Old Rome. He When, in the fullness of time, drifted casually into the occa these muddled Magnetites came sional school story and does not to read that remarkable Cana· appear to have made any sus dian classic The Awful Disclosures tained effort with them until he of Maria Monk and found that became a regular in Pluck. His the villainous priest who seduced most concentrated spell was the much-harassed Maria was during his Magnet days, and Fr. Richards, I hope they appre once that compulsion was re ciated that the "Fr." was an moved he reverted to being abbreviation of "Father" and something of a jack-of-all-trades, not of "Frank." Unfortunately, writing anything on demand they already had it on the and indifferent to whether his authority of The Boys' Friend that action was sited in Tex as, Sher Frank had been educated in wood Forest, or Lords Cricket Canada, and I fear that they Ground. went through life suspecting the There is no doubt about his worst. popularity. The A. P. reprinted no less than 56 of his serials in T rs NOW perhaps inevitable the 1st Series of The Boys' Friend I that the original writer will Library, and he was only out be subordinated to the stop scored by Clarke Hook with 66 gap substitute, but even to un and David Goodwin with 64. derstand Pentelow as an imita Pentelow shared this high tion Frank Richards it is still opinion of his literary ability necessary to consider Pentelow and he had no inhibitions as an --I nearly said Pentelow pure editor. Confident of improve- THE LOWER BRANCHES 183 ment, he would most likely have series which ran for years and meddled with the text of the were popular reprints. Even so, Ten Commandments if he had it is now impossible for an adult been on hand when the MS. to read them without mixed was delivered, but as he wasn't feelings. he had to content himself with The thing that hits one almost re-writing bits of his contribu at once is that there is a re tors' efforts and interpolating markably contrived air about his pieces of his own to add tone work.