Blimey, what a year it’s been for our pals in the United Republic of Britainland, eh? They have a new monarch, a new Doctor Who except he’s an old one, a new prime minister except that she’s gone already and has been replaced with a new new prime minister, and of course a brand-new November coming up any day now! I swear, sometimes it feels like they have a November every year!
This time around on Hatch, Match and Dispatch we don’t have many surprises, but it’s an interesting mix, I think, featuring some of the world’s most enduring fictional franchises: Star Trek, Tarzan, Star Wars (well, Ewoks, which is basically “Star Wars for Beginners”), Conan the Barbarian, and Lamb Chop.
And November 2022 is also a little significant because it’s the one hundredth anniversary of the third comic to give starring Ally Sloper a title role; Ally Sloper’s Half-Holiday.
First appearing in Judy in 1867, Ally Sloper is (almost certainly) the earliest example of a recurring comic-strip character. If not for his success, we might never have had a comic-book industry at all.
Ally Sloper’s Half-Holiday was preceded by an identically-titled Ally Sloper’s Half-Holiday (Dalziel Brothers, 3 May 1884 to 9 Sep 1916, 1679 issues) and Ally Sloper’s Ha’porth (Dalziel Brothers, 1899, 10 issues), and there would be at least three more to come (the most recent was launched in 1976).
Another example of the character’s importance is to be found in his legacy… Sloper is a misogynistic work-shy alcoholic, and thus was a clear and direct inspiration for the newspaper strip character Andy Capp, who (fictionally) sired the much nicer character Buster, whose comic later became the new home of both Oink! — inarguably the greatest hog-based comic in the universe — and Nipper, a barely-above-nursery-age comic that gave us one of the all-time greatest superheroes of all time, Tom Paterson’s breathtakingly ground-breaking Felix the Pussycat.
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, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2022: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct
30 years ago:
November – Star Trek final issue.
Publisher: Trident Comics
From: Mar 1992
To: Nov 1992
Duration: 8 months
Issues: 8
08 November – Batman Presents final issue.
Publisher: London Editions
From: 08 Nov 1990
To: 08 Nov 1992
Duration: 2 years
Issues: 9
20 November – Star Trek: The Next Generation (1992) launched.
Publisher: Phoenix Press Ltd.
From: 20 Nov 1992
To: 04 Dec 1992
Duration: ½ month
Issues: 2
After Marvel in the US lost the Star Trek licence to DC, Marvel UK cancelled their reprint edition. Nine months later, Phoenix launched this fortnightly title, reprinting some of the DC strips. Unfortunately it only lasted for two issues.
21 November – The Victor final issue.
Publisher: DC Thomson
From: 25 Feb 1961
To: 21 Nov 1992
Duration: 31 years, 9 months
Issues: 1657
Victor (the comic dropped the “The” with issue 651, 11 Aug 1973) was a bit of a legend, and quite voracious: in its three and a bit decades it consumed The New Hotspur (1959), The Wizard (1970), Warlord, Scoop, Buddy, and Champ.
35 years ago:
November – Ewoks launched.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: Nov 1987
To: Aug 1988
Duration: 9 months
Issues: 10
01 November – Popples final issue.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 14 Mar 1987
To: 01 Nov 1987
Duration: 8 months
Issues: 30
Absorbed into Care Bears.
Weekly at first, became a monthly with issue #29.
November – Tales of the Cyborg Gerbils only issue.
Publisher: Harrier Comics
From: Nov 1987
To: Nov 1987
Duration: One month
Issues: 1
40 years ago:
November – Monster Monthly final issue.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: Apr 1982
To: Nov 1982
Duration: 7 months
Issues: 8
45 years ago:
November – Tarzan Monthly (1977) launched.
Publisher: Byblos
From: Nov 1977
To: Mar 1978
Duration: 4 months
Issues: 5
Relaunch of Tarzan Weekly
12 November – Action final issue.
Publisher: IPC
From: 14 Feb 1976
To: 12 Nov 1977
Duration: 1 year, 9 months
Issues: 86
Absorbed into Battle Picture Weekly.
Famously, issue #37 (23 Oct 1976) of Action was withdrawn from sale and the comic put on hiatus. It returned — heavily edited and with its violence greatly toned down (some strips did not return) — at the end of Nov 1976 (cover dated 4 Dec 1976).
30 November – The Savage Sword of Conan (1977) launched.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 30 Nov 1977
To: 31 Jul 1985
Duration: 7 years, 8 months
Issues: 93
Monthly. See Marvel UK 1900s Timeline
50 years ago:
01 November – Hanna-Barbera’s Fun Time launched.
Publisher: Williams Publishing
From: 01 Nov 1972
To: 30 Jun 1973
Duration: 7 months
Issues: 25
Relaunch of Yogi and his Toy.
See also Pocket-Money Comics: Hanna-Barbera’s Fun Time.
01 November – Lamb Chop Weekly launched.
Publisher: Shelbourne
From: 01 Nov 1972
To: 21 Nov 1973
Duration: 1 year
Issues: 56
At least 56 issues… Info on this one is scarce! Dates are unconfirmed.
70 years ago:
November – Lone Star Comics launched.
Publisher: DCMT
From: Nov 1952
To: 1956
Duration: 3 years, 7 months approx
Issues: 46
Exact end date unknown. Volume 1 consisted of 34 issues, volume 2 had 12 issues. Later continued as Lone Star Magazine
November – Picture Epics final issue.
Publisher: Swan
From: Oct 1952
To: Nov 1952
Duration: 1 month
Issues: 4
#1 reprinted Back from the Dead from War Comics (1940) and Topical Funnies.
75 years ago:
11 November – Sun launched.
Publisher: J.B. Allen/Amalgamated Press
From: 11 Nov 1947
To: 17 Oct 1959
Duration: 11 years, 11 months
Issues: 558
See also: Pocket-Money Comics: Sun
90 years ago:
05 November – Secrets (2) launched.
Publisher: John Leng & Co./DC Thomson
From: 05 Nov 1932
To: 20 Jun 1992
Duration: 59 years, 7 months
Issues: 2950
A long-running story-paper… Secrets (1) was a six-issue test-run (24 Sep 1932 to 29 Oct 1932), and clearly successful enough to be relaunched (with the same title) on 5 Nov 1932. With issue 403 it absorbed Flame (24 Aug 1935 to 13 Jul 1940, 256 issues), and kept the title Secrets and Flame until sometime in the late 1940s. The dates and number of issues remain unconfirmed, but we’re talking at least three thousand issues, which would place it in the British Comics Top-10 Issue-Count Chart, except that it wasn’t a comic
05 November – The World of Wonder (1932) launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 05 Nov 1932
To: October 1933
Duration: 1 year
Issues: 52
A child-targetted fact-based magazine with the same cover illustration on every issue. Subtitled “10,000 things every child should know.” This first series ran for a year, and was followed by a second series that lasted twenty-six issues. The title was revived in the 1970s for a similar magazine, presumably with updated contents.
19 November – Girls’ Cinema final issue.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 16 Oct 1920
To: 19 Nov 1932
Duration: 12 years, 1 month
Issues: 631
Relaunched as: Film Star Weekly (1932).
26 November – Film Star Weekly (1932) launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 26 Nov 1932
To: 28 Sep 1935
Duration: 2 years, 10 months
Issues: 149
Relaunch of: Girls’ Cinema
Titled Film Star Weekly and Girl’s Cinema for first seven issues, thereafter Film Star Weekly
95 years ago:
01 November – Dixon Brett Detective Library final issue.
Publisher: Aldine House
From: 30 Oct 1926
To: 01 Nov 1927
Duration: 1 year, 1 month
Issues: 28
05 November – The Joker launched.
Publisher: Fleetway/Amalgamated Press
From: 05 Nov 1927
To: 18 May 1940
Duration: 12 years, 6 months
Issues: 655
15 November – Aldine Adventure Library launched.
Publisher: Aldine House
From: 15 Nov 1927
To: 01 Dec 1928
Duration: 1 year, 1 month
Issues: 20
100 years ago:
01 November – Racing Novels (1922) launched.
Publisher: Aldine House
From: 01 Nov 1922
To: 01 Feb 1932
Duration: 9 years, 3 months
Issues: 116
Followed by a four-issue revival that reprinted some earlier stories.
04 November – Girls’ Own Stories final issue.
Publisher: Hulton
From: 05 Jul 1919
To: 04 Nov 1922
Duration: 3 years, 4 months
Issues: 172
Relaunched as Betty’s Paper.
05 November – Ally Sloper’s Half-Holiday (1922) launched.
Publisher: Sloperies
From: 05 Nov 1922
To: 14 Apr 1923
Duration: 5 months
Issues: 23
11 November – Betty’s Paper launched.
Publisher: Allied Newspapers
From: 11 Nov 1922
To: 15 Nov 1941
Duration: 19 years
Issues: 991
Relaunch of Girls’ Own Stories
Rusty Staples 