Hatch, Match & Dispatch – May 2021

There’s a nice range of British comics noting notable anniversaries this month, chums… And there are some crackers in there, too: a bunch of Marvels (including two cartoon tie-ins and a comic that reprinted Marvel strips before Marvel UK was a thing), a Junior Judge Dredd comic, the amalgamation of two classic girls’ titles, a few golden (well, yellowing) oldies from the ancient bygone days of yesteryear, and a bona fide classic comic with a big pink logo.

Standard disclaimer: unless I decide otherwise, these are only the “big” anniversaries (25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 60, 70, 75, 80, 90 & 100+ years); dates are cover-dates where known; monthly comics with no confirmed day of launch default to the start of the month; and this list is accurate only to the best of my knowledge, so do please let me know of any important errors or omissions!

Previous episodes of Hatch, Match & Dispatch:
2019: Oct, Nov, Dec
2020: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2021: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr

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25 years ago:

22 May – Rugrats launched.
Publisher: Marvel/Panini UK
From: 22 May 1996
To: 08 Apr 1998
Duration: 1 year, 11 months
Issues: 29

29 May – Beavis and Butthead final issue.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 24 Aug 1994
To: 29 May 1996
Duration: 1 year, 9 months
Issues: 24

31 May – Judge Dredd: Lawman of the Future final issue.
Publisher: Fleetway
From: 28 Jul 1995
To: 31 May 1996
Duration: 10 months
Issues: 23
You know, the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that this fortnightly comics really could have worked if the Sylvester Stallone Judge Dredd movie had been aimed at a younger audience. Shame, that.

30 years ago:

May – Shockwave final issue.
Publisher: London Editions
From: Feb 1991
To: May 1991
Duration: 3 months
Issues: 4
See: HM&D Feb 2021

11 May – Judy final issue.
Publisher: DC Thomson
From: 16 Jan 1960
To: 11 May 1991
Duration: 31 years, 4 months
Issues: 1635
Absorbed into Mandy & Judy.

11 May – Mandy final issue.
Publisher: DC Thomson
From: 21 Jan 1967
To: 11 May 1991
Duration: 24 years, 4 months
Issues: 1269
Absorbed into Mandy & Judy.

18 May – Mandy & Judy launched.
Publisher: DC Thomson
From: 18 May 1991
To: 24 May 1997
Duration: 6 years
Issues: 315
Later rebranded as M&J from issue #74 (10 Oct 1992).

35 years ago:

03 May – Oink! launched.
Publisher: IPC/Fleetway
From: 03 May 1986
To: 22 Oct 1988
Duration: 2 years, 5 months
Issues: 68
This was a really silly comic — but it was great fun!

40 years ago:

06 May – Marvel Super Adventure launched.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 06 May 1981
To: 28 Oct 1981
Duration: 5 months
Issues: 26
Like its companion title Marvel Action, launched a month earlier, this one broke what had become an annoying tradition of reprinting the US stories in three- and four-page slices! Yay! (Horrible title, though.)

50 years ago:

01 May – Jet launched.
Publisher: IPC
From: 01 May 1971
To: 25 Sep 1971
Duration: 4 months
Issues: 22
See: Pocket-Money Comics: Jet

03 May – Smash! final issue.
Publisher: Odhams/IPC
From: 05 Feb 1966
To: 03 May 1971
Duration: 5 years, 3 months
Issues: 265
Absorbed into Valiant.
You know, I find it hard to get my head around the idea that there was only a ten-year gap between the demise of Smash! — which reprinted a bunch of Marvel strips before Marvel UK existed — and the launch of Marvel Super Adventure, above.

80 years ago:

24 May – Bubbles & The Children’s Fairy final issue.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 16 Apr 1921
To: 24 May 1941
Duration: 20 years, 1 month
Issues: 1024
Absorbed into The Chicks’ Own.
This was a relaunch of The Children’s Fairy: after a couple of years it dropped the “Children’s Fairy” part of the title and became simply Bubbles. See: Playhour timeline.

31 May – Crackers final issue.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 22 Jan 1929
To: 31 May 1941
Duration: 12 years, 4 months
Issues: 615
Absorbed into Jingles.

90 years ago:

02 May – Schooldays (1928) final issue.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 03 Nov 1928
To: 02 May 1931
Duration: 2 years, 6 months
Issues: 131
Absorbed into The Schoolgirl (1929).

100 years ago:

01 May – Young Folk’s Tales (1906) final issue.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 01 Sep 1906
To: 01 May 1921
Duration: 14 years, 8 months
Issues: 546
Relaunched as Young Folk’s Tales (1921).
Dates are estimated.

14 May – Young Folk’s Tales (1921) launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 14 May 1921
To: 04 Mar 1922
Duration: 10 months
Issues: 43
Relaunch of: Young Folk’s Tales (1906)
I’ve been unable to track down a cover for this relaunched version… if you can help point me in the right direction, I would be very grateful!

105 years ago:

01 May – The Nugget Library (1908) final issue.
Publisher: James Henderson
From: 07 Jan 1908
To: 01 May 1916
Duration: 8 years, 4 months
Issues: 330

110 years ago:

06 May – The Empire Library (2) final issue.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 29 Oct 1910
To: 06 May 1911
Duration: 7 months
Issues: 28
Absorbed into The Boys’ Realm Football and Sports Library.

115 years ago:

05 May – Smiles launched.
Publisher: Trapps & Holmes
From: 05 May 1906
To: 10 Nov 1908
Duration: 2 years, 6 months
Issues: 133
Relaunch of The Coloured Comic

120 years ago:

25 May – The Funny Wonder (1893) final issue.
Publisher: Harmsworth/Amalgamated Press
From: 04 Feb 1893
To: 25 May 1901
Duration: 8 years, 3 months
Issues: 109 (at least)
Relaunched as The Wonder (1901).
Issue count is almost certainly incorrect… See The Mysteries of Wonder for more details on this one!

125 years ago:

06 May – Pals (1895) final issue.
Publisher: Shurey’s Publications
From: 07 Oct 1895
To: 06 May 1896
Duration: 7 months
Relaunch of Comrades (1893).

130 years ago:

01 May – Schooldays (1891) launched.
Publisher: Commonwealth Pub.
From: 01 May 1891
To: 01 May 1905
Duration: 14 years
Issues: 173
A monthly title… No known connection with Schooldays (1928) (see above). Again, if you can supply a cover for this publication, that would be great!