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The History of Buster

 

 

 

The first issue of Buster comic went on sale on Monday 28th May 1960. For the first time we met the son of Andy Capp, a character who was already enjoying his own comic strip and later TV fame. The first edition not only introduced us to Buster, but other long running favourites, including Lazy Sprockett, Roaring Forties and The Terrors of Tornado Street (who made a guest appearance in a Tom Thug Strip to celebrate Buster's 34th Birthday).

At the time, Fleetway publications had only recently acquired the
Amalgamted Press with several other comics running. Eight months into
Buster's run, Radio Fun joined the pages of Buster. Radio Fun launched in
October 1938 and merged with Buster on the 25th February 1961, bringing
characters such as Whacko, Superman, and Charlie Drake.

Buster's second merger was with another long running title; Film Fun, which
was launched in January 1920. The two merged in September 1962, and new
characters to Buster from Film Fun, included Bruce Forsyth and Nick Shannon.

By this time, the Buster strip itself had changed to the more familiar
Buster's Diary, present for many years in the comic and the annual.

Just before the fifth birthday of Buster, the comic made it's third merger,
taking over The Big One a reprint comic, which launched in just four months
beforehand in October 1964.

By this time, most of the Buster strips had regressed into Black and White
with just the front page in colour. Large colourful strips would not return
until the nineties, with Black and White being used for the seventies, and
red being the only colour used on some strips in the eighties.

Over the next few years Buster would introduce some of it's own new strips
including, Pete's Pocket Army and Nellyphant. Around the same time, Buster
made it's final merger of the sixties.

Giggle joined Buster in 1968, after just under ten months as a solo title.
It's merger bought characters Captain Swoop, Cruncher and Patch Eye Hooker.

Buster was still popular as it entered the 1970s and celebrated it's tenth
birthday. Then in October 1971 the first incorporation of this decade took
place.

 

 

 

           

 

Jet was largely a Boys Adventure Comic that ran for just five months before
it merged with Buster. Von Hoffman's Invasion and the ever popular Faceache.

In 1973, the first reprints appeared in Buster. Repeated stories were used
from Bluebottle and Basher (Valiant), Blarney Bluffer (Knockout/Valiant) and
Nits of the Round Table (Tiger). It was beginning to become clear another
merger was needed.

Cor!! was four years old when it merged with Buster. In June 1974, Cor!!
star Gus the Gorilla joined the Jokes page whilst Football Madd, Val's
Vanishing Cream and Chalky joined in their own strips.

This gave extra life into a comic which could have ended at it's tenth
birthday. However, just two weeks into the merger Buster was stopped for
four weeks. The 6th July to 3rd August 1974 saw industrial action within the
comic industry. On it's return in August 1974, Buster began going from
strength to strength and the new characters were as popular as ever.

Buster's next merger was with Monster Fun which launched in June 1975.

This comic ran for 72 issues, and merged with Buster in October 1976. With it,
came the strips that more modern Buster readers are likely to remember.
Gums, Mummy's Boy, X Ray Specs and Kid Kong all became Buster regulars.
Buster was beginning to take the form that would last to its end, with some
characters that would still be hanging around when the comic ended some
twenty five years later.

When the 80s began, Fleetway had just five comics to its name, and whilst
Buster only incorporated one of these, it swallowed up three of the four new
comics that were launched.

In February 1982, Jackpot joined Buster, becoming the 8th comic to do so.

This bought in new characters such as The Winners, Top of the Class and Jack Pott himself.

The Leopard of Lime Street was still going strong, being the
final adventure story Buster was to use in its pages. Red was appearing in
the centre and back pages, the first colour for many years.

 

 

           

However, all comics were suffering with the new technologies that were
coming out, with comic reading was slowly losing popularity. The Beano and
the Dandy had always been the most well known of comics, but every comic
felt the brunt of the trouble, with Fleetway publications coming off worst.

Seven months after it's launch, School Fun joined Buster in 1984. At the
same time Whopee (considered by some to be the third great Fleetway comic
with a run of over 10 years) was entering it's final stages before joining
Whizzer and Chips. School Fun's arrival at Buster comic bought with it more
familiar characters to later readers like School Belle, Young Arfur and Walt
Teaser.

Eight months into it's run, an experiement by Fleetway into a younger
readership failed when Nipper joined Buster in September 1987, leaving just
three comics to Fleetway's name (Oink! Whizzer & Chips and Buster). Nipper
kept Buster going some more, with chracters such as Brad Break, Ricky
Rainbow, Mighty Mouth and, of course, Nipper himself.

Although starting strong with an older readership, crazy comic Oink!, joined
Buster's pages after a two and a half years solo run. New characters
included Tom Thug's Skooldayz and Pete's Pimple.

Now boasting more colour pages, and with X-Ray Specs on the front cover
Buster appeared to be strengthening with the new life from it's more recent
mergers. However, time's were still tough in the comic industry, and with
now just two titles to it's name, Fleetway and IPC were losing what had been
a comic empire.

It was evident that at some point, the two strongest titles in Fleetway were
to merge. In November 1990, Whizzer and Chips joined Buster becoming the
final title to join the comic. Although still continuing with The Best of
Whizzer & Chips monthly, and releasing annuals it was as if Whizzer and
Chips had never left, though joining Buster's weekly output made a clear
final blow to the Fleetway comic industry. The merger between the big two,
bought in strips such as Joker, Junior Rotter, Sweeny Toddler and The
Bumpkin Billionaires although they were all reprints from the older days of
the comics.

 

As a 32 page colour production, Buster continued weekly until January 1995.
But it was evidently struggling. With the price rising gradually from 55p
weekly to a final price of £1.10 fortnightly production costs were obviously
high. However, whilst still boasting to be the only 32 page all colour comic
(even if most of it was reprints coloured in) Buster did manage to push
through the decade.

It was obvious though the axe was beginning to fall. Despite spin off
publications such as Buster Classics, The Best of Buster and of course Big
Value Comic, none managed to put Fleetway back in the position it had been
in many years beforehand.

The first signs began appearing just over a year before Buster's end.
Classic strips were starting to appear, such as the early Cliff Hanger
episodes, and the first ever Bobby's Ghoul. Plus returns from characters who
had not been seen for some while such as The Savers, and Adam Adman.

During this time the only new strip to Buster was Dr. Zitbags Transylvanian Pet Shop,

running in the mid nineties based on the television programmes.

39 years into it's run, Buster went to town in it's birthday celebrations,
presumably knowing that it wouldn't reach forty. Two strips were dedicated
to the birthday. Tom Thug stole some of Specky Hector The Comic Book
Collectors comics to read old Buster's and Chalky drew a huge image on the
side of a building showing Buster edition one (a strip reprinted from 1995
and the 35th Birthday).

Four months before the close of Buster, the final letters page appeared,
listing all of the remaining reader birthdays, and the closure of Cliff
Hanger, with every option leaving Cliff to lead a life without the evil
spies.

Finally, the edition marked 22nd December 1999 to 4th January 2000 was also marked the last one.

Artist J. Edward Oliver (who created such strips as 

Cliff Hanger, and Mastermind) took his character Crazy Maisie to the end,
revealing how each character's story ended.

The final frames revealed Buster removing his hat to show off a Dennis the
Mence style haircut, and Vid Kid's remote control getting caught out by the
Millenium Bug, and plunging the comic into darkness.

After nearly forty years, 12 Mergers, 344 different strips and Millions of
readers Buster breathed it's last, becoming part of comic history, along
with it's makers Fleetway, who's comic empire had crumbled. With no comics
left to merge with, it was clear that Buster was on his way out, but to make
it to Forty years was one huge achievement.

The Final Word goes to Ray Moore who helped compile The Buster Index
released in 1995.

"Now, sadly, Buster is a bridge from nothing to nowhere as it stands alone,
having ironically outlived all it helped create."

 

 

Thanks to Matt Bowen for writing this History of the Buster comic for use on Scarce Comics.