Beetle Bailey, one of my favorite comics strips, came in full color in the Illustrated Weekly of India during my childhood in the 70s and 80s (If my recollection is right).
I waited eagerly by the gate for the newspaperwallah on Monday mornings for the Illustrated Weekly. It was such a pleasure if the magazine came on the Monday and not delayed. My sister and I would rush out to grab the magazine and dive into the comic section. I loved all 4 comics which were printed in two pages i.e. Beetle Bailey, Phantom, Hubert and Beau Peep. I think when Beau Peer started it became my favorite but Beetle Bailey and Phantom were definitely long time favorites.
It is sad that Mort Walker is dead. I do know his son is continuing the strip. I was lucky enough to find Beetle Bailey comic books on sale (25 cents each!) at the Toronto Reference Library book sale in the summer of 2004 when I had just come to Canada and still looking for jobs. Toronto and Canada were still a mystery which I was slowly figuring out at the time. I happened to see a flyer about the sale and my husband and I, being unemployed and free, went on the day. I was one of the first in line and I spotted these books as soon as I entered and I could not believe my eyes! I grabbed all the Beetle Bailey books and was prepared to pay a dollar each and then saw they were 25 cents each!
One difficult experience as a new comer to any country is trying to understand the 'value' of that country's currency. At that time, I was not sure how much goods or services I could expect for a dollar(I am still unsure!). I have still not figured out how a cup of coffee in Canada can cost more than a litre of petrol. These sort of values sort of throw me off balance!
I subsequently acquired a few hardcover Beetle Baileys (Titan publications) from Amazon. But they were not in colour like the strips in the Illustrated weekly of India which I loved. The colours were vibrant and poured life into that page. I loved all the characters and Mort's drawings were excellent and his lines drew the expressions and emotions of the characters. Many of the strips were almost silent but the lines did all the talking that was needed.
Beetle Bailey was a part of my growing up. I am so thankful that the Weekly could afford to buy and did buy this strip from USA.
I had torn the Beetley Bailey pages and bound them into a book. Like a fool I loaned this book to a kid who never did return it. So now I have these black and white comic books which are funny but not colourful.
Thank you Mort Walker. For bringing joy to your readers.
I waited eagerly by the gate for the newspaperwallah on Monday mornings for the Illustrated Weekly. It was such a pleasure if the magazine came on the Monday and not delayed. My sister and I would rush out to grab the magazine and dive into the comic section. I loved all 4 comics which were printed in two pages i.e. Beetle Bailey, Phantom, Hubert and Beau Peep. I think when Beau Peer started it became my favorite but Beetle Bailey and Phantom were definitely long time favorites.
It is sad that Mort Walker is dead. I do know his son is continuing the strip. I was lucky enough to find Beetle Bailey comic books on sale (25 cents each!) at the Toronto Reference Library book sale in the summer of 2004 when I had just come to Canada and still looking for jobs. Toronto and Canada were still a mystery which I was slowly figuring out at the time. I happened to see a flyer about the sale and my husband and I, being unemployed and free, went on the day. I was one of the first in line and I spotted these books as soon as I entered and I could not believe my eyes! I grabbed all the Beetle Bailey books and was prepared to pay a dollar each and then saw they were 25 cents each!
One difficult experience as a new comer to any country is trying to understand the 'value' of that country's currency. At that time, I was not sure how much goods or services I could expect for a dollar(I am still unsure!). I have still not figured out how a cup of coffee in Canada can cost more than a litre of petrol. These sort of values sort of throw me off balance!
I subsequently acquired a few hardcover Beetle Baileys (Titan publications) from Amazon. But they were not in colour like the strips in the Illustrated weekly of India which I loved. The colours were vibrant and poured life into that page. I loved all the characters and Mort's drawings were excellent and his lines drew the expressions and emotions of the characters. Many of the strips were almost silent but the lines did all the talking that was needed.
Beetle Bailey was a part of my growing up. I am so thankful that the Weekly could afford to buy and did buy this strip from USA.
I had torn the Beetley Bailey pages and bound them into a book. Like a fool I loaned this book to a kid who never did return it. So now I have these black and white comic books which are funny but not colourful.
Thank you Mort Walker. For bringing joy to your readers.
3 comments:
Hi there! The four strips in IWI in the 70s and early 80s were Hubert by Dick Wingert, Dennis the Menace by Hank Ketcham, Beetle Bailey by Mort Walker, and The Phantom by Lee Falk. Beau Peep was a later addition, and on a separate page. It was never in colour.
Hi
Thanks for your comment. I said that Beetle Bailey was in colour. I did not say that Beau Peep was in colour. One Beau Peep book published in 1987 is in colour...but not the strips in the weekly as you pointed out.
Hi Blistering Barnacles. I enjoyed your captions for 'The road to Agumbe'.
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