STORY PAPER COLLECTORS' DIGEST VOL. 47 No. 563 NOVEMBER 1993 UNION.JACK I S~ ~~ OllHt 'Pa/JUI.. SEXTON !LAKE - the world's mo~tpopular detli!etive-in A PROBJ,EMOF PROOF a % EN I.TH storlJ .p complete 1';, this ls~ue. c(;,J £I/IRV THUft80AY . COLIN CREWE COLLECTORS BOOKS 12B WES1WOOD ROAD, CANVEY ISLAND, ESSEX TELEPHONE: 0268-693735 EVENINGS: BEST CHRl.'iT!olA4i SHOP wrvnow FI':ATURl.\'G 11/0SL{ DELIGHTH IL OU> THft: M,'SUAIS GOOD MORJ'lilNG LAD IES & GENTLEMES. I 11mproud tu be nblc to ofter you th1~ b,1 ol AnnlUllscontummg quite a 101of r:!rcJlem, from 1ha1golden era before 1940. I will be very happy w re~l"'C any uems from thi, h,1 ,m<lscn<l in good tmic for the Holiday PLA YHOX AV'IL \L 1942 VG £35.00 HOLID,\ Y A"'°'L AL 1937 VG £28.00 MRS. IIIPPO ANNUAi. 1929 VG £22.00 HOLIDA \ A'iNUAI. 1938 VG £30.00 PLCK ANNUAL 1937 REPAIRED £16.00 GHA's Most other years in stock. BOYS Cl!'.EMA AN!\CAL 1951 VG £10 Bil.LY BUNTERS IIOL. A:'>IL. 1967 SUPER CINEMA AN~UALS 1953. VG £10.00 1954. 1955. All VG Copes each £9.00 BF..\:\O BOOK 1959 GooJ cheap copy £24 PICTURE SIIOW ANNUALS 195 I, WIIIZZ BANG COMICS 1943 File Copy 1953. 1954. 1955. 1956. 1957. 1958. 1959. ol AMAl Press Rare Annual issued for one ~111in lovely condition file copie-. EA £8.50 year onl) m nc:ar fine condition £50.00 HOBBY ANNUAL 1931 Fairly BOYS & GIRLS FOR 1938 VG Copy good £ I 2.50 is,ued by Daily fapress (Lot, Ru!)l!rt) £40.00 UNCLE 00.JAll'S AN~UAL 1930s \.11CKEY ~tOlSE A"!\. 1948 VG £45 VG £25.00 BEANO BOOK 1967 Good copy. £16.00 Sl"iNY STORIES 3 Diff. Annual'> SPEED BOOK FOR BOYS ~D . Rare enchanting L·ovcrsVG each £ I 0.00 11~mfrom OCT Repaired Copy. £18.00 UTILE FOi.KS 1906 VG Copy £22.00 RADIO FL""I ANNUAL 1942 vcrv scarce TIIE PRIZE 1930 VG Copy £16.00 murh loved Annual War year's VG · £65.00 ,JAPIIET & HAPPY 1934 VG Copy £18.00 CHAMP ION ANNUAIJ 1939 H.T.F. BUBBLES ANM AL 1943 Good 1:16.00 )' I.AR Superb copy of this annual £40.00 IIERHERT STRANG'S ANNUAL 14th CHAMPION ANNUALS 1940,1941.1942 & 15th years both go<-.<lcopies EA £8.50 Superb copies rare war ycar.s Eu £45.00 BBC CHILDREN'S HOUR A'.'liNUALS2 RAJ'iBOW ANNUAi. 1926(a bcautv) no Dirr. both VG in OW each £12.00 RAINBOW ANNUAL 1928 (A Gem) £30 GOLDEN ANNUAL FOR GIRLS 1927. MODER~ BOYS ANNUAL 1931 vg £25 1930 & 1931 Love I) Copies each £ 16.00 MODER" BOYS AN~UAI. 1932 vg £22 SCHOOLFRIE~D ANNUAL 1938 MODERN BOYS Al\iNUAL 1933 G £20 ~ fUOO MODER~ BOYS BOOK OF SCHOOLFRIEND ANNUAL 1927 rirst AIRCRAFT Contains 4 plates in lull colour one C\ er fairl} good condition and 7 items aJJ by W .L Johns VG £55.00 (lovely) £35.00 TIGER TIMS Al\"it:AL 1923 G \'G L.tO SCHOOLFRIEND 1928 Second year VG TIGER TIMS ANNl1AL 1927 VG D2 copy superb cmer £28.00 TIGER Tl\fS A''i"''il'AI 1928 VG 02 SCHOOLFRIEND 1929 third year VG TEDDY TAILS Al'iNUAL 1936 VG £30 cop:,-again ~upcrb cover £25.00 PLAY llOX A!'iNUAL 1919 VG £12 UOLI I>A Y A1'NUAL 1920 First one ever Pl.A YBOX A:'li:\'lJAI. 1920 \'G t.28 superb Warnick Re)nolds cover £65.00 PLA YBOX ANNUAL 1928 VG £25 IIOLIDA \ i\~"UAI. 1921 2nd one GREYFRIARS HOLID .\Y A"I!>. llo\\ard Macdonald Sports cC1verVG £40.00 B,,kcr Editionstillt· copic, in ow',all pnccd£16 ca 1941. HOU DA\" .\ ""J~l \L 1924 5th year E .. I 920, 1921.1925.1927.1928.1935.194-0. SCHOOLGIRLS'S 0\\ ~ A!\'~l1AI.S all are Bnscoc Rail"ll.a) cover VG U0.00 good .:op1,:, priced at fl 4 each JlJ24. 1925.19.:!6, IIOLWA \' ANNUAL 1925 Splendid 1927. 1928. 1929. 1930, 1931. 1932.& 1933. Macdonald lootball rnvcr \'G £.28.00 2 STORY PAPER COLLECTORS' DIGEST Editor: MARY CADOGAN STORY PAPER COLLECTO R COLLECTORS' DIGEST Founded in 1941 by Founded in 1946 by W.H.GANDER HERBERT LECKENBY S.P.C.D. Eclited and Published 1959 - January 1987 by Eric Fayne VOL. 47 No. 563 NOVEMBER 1993 Price £1 THE EDITOR'S CHAT l 00 YEARS OF SEXTON BLAKE TheEditor's Chat This month a large part of lhe C.D. is devoted to articles and illustrations in celebration of the Centenary of Sexton Blake who is. of course, the most famous and popular of all boys' paper detectives. IL is even arguable lhat Blake is lhe most written­ about of all fictional detectives and indeed of all fictional charac ters. I don't suppose anyone has ever essayed a word count of his adventures from number one in that De~ember 1893_MA~VEL to today, when arttcles about h~m sttll appear regularly in our o~n rnaga_zmeas well as cropping up from time ~o ll~1e e!sewberc. His exploits have certamly msp1red many millions of words, plus plenty of stage, screen, radio and TV adaptations. As well as remembering the authors and illustrators who have produced and perpetuated the Blakian legend. it_seems appropriate in this Centenary issue of the C.D. to recall members of our ho~by circle who have_helped to keep the great sleulh's image ever-bright. From the first issue of the C.D. (m November 1946) H. Maurice Bond conducted a Blakian section which was subsequently taken over by Josie Packman. Josie. whose husband Len was a founder-member of the London Old Boys' Book Club. was 3 until her death a few years ago indefatigable in her championing or che Blake saga. She not only ran Blakiana in the C.D. but organized the London Club's Sexton Blake lending library (now ably carried oa by Duncan Harper ) and we remember with much pleasure her Blake contributions at many meetings. Amongst stalwart past and present-day Blake contributors, special mention should be made of Walter Webb. Jack Adrian (whose recent compilation of stories SEXTON BLAKE WINS is a 'must' for collectors) and J.E.M.• whose frequent features in Bla!Jana we so greatly enjoy. A CENTENARY PUBLICATION 1 am very happy lo report that the hoped-for Sexton Blake Centenary book will be pubHsbcd. Nonnan Wright and David Ashford have produced a fascinating and wonderfully illustrated manuscript, which John Wemham l1as agreed to produce under the imprint of the Museum Press. (Further details are given elsewhere in this issue of the C.D.) THE C.D. ANNUAL As always I hope to have the Annual ready for distribution early in December; ii is already well into production. T have already 'trailed' several items. and now give a further foretaste of some of its 'goodies'. Last month r reported that our Annual would include a story by Richmal Crompton, the author of the William books. 1 am now extremely happy to announce that a hitherto unpublished story by the creator of that other illustrious William (the Owl of the Remove) will, like Richmal's tale. be anocher of t11eAnnual's 'star turns': Frank Richards' Litrle Children D011 11 Tell, though very different in mood from bis Greyfriars stories, shows che insight into the minds of the young that we always expect of him. Tony Glynn has contributed a touching Christmas memory from fifty years ago. with a strong Hamilt onian flavour, Dennis Bird recalls a wide range of extremely popular juvenile reading while Ernest Holman reflects on cinematic delights of sixty years ago, from King Konfl to Flyin.~ Down to Rio. and Des O'Leary bids an atmospheric Goodbye to rhe Hotspur. The ever popular Bruin Boys. and many of the other attractive characters with whom they rub shoulders in the RAINBOW, are lovingly remembered by Reg Hardinge. and George Beal has delved into the stories and pictures of the lesser-known but also very appealing paper called FAIRYLAND TALES. Cliff House and Morcove are also represented : I'll be trailing them more fully - as well as other articles - next month. lf you have not already reserved your copy of the ANNUAL please don't forget to send your order to me soon. It costs £9 for U.K. readers and £10 for those Jiving abroad (bot11prices include post and packing). r wish you all lots of time for happy reading. MARY CADOGAN ***************************************** 4 CENTENARY CALL by Ernest Holman T he end of the year in ninety lhrce H olds a most pleasant memory E xaclly one hundred years ago M arvel came along to show A name that soon would be well,k:nown R ight from the start this man had shown V illians that their way was grim E ach time they came into his swim L ater in another paper L ong to tell his every caper 0 o the way to rising sales U nion Jack took up the tales S o soon bis way was very clear S olviog matters far and near E ven the files of Scotland Yard X marked cases that were hard T o them he gave the acid test 0 n every one he came out best N ow is the moment one and all 8 efore the days of winter caJl L ook out your pens in time allowed A nd try to do this hero proud K ecp on the tracks thac he would take End up by toasting Sexton Blake From Penny Pictorial C.