Going by some comments online recently it seems some people missed the fact that Buster and a load of other classic characters have been revived by Rebellion. In 2019 and 2020, Rebellion, who purchased the rights to the old IPC comics archives, published two brand new official 52 page Cor!! Buster specials edited by Keith Richardson. The full colour comics brought back characters such as Gums, Ivor Lott and Tony Broke, Faceache, Kid Kong, and many more in new stories by today's artists.
There were two of the original Buster artists on board too; Tom Paterson doing Sweeny Toddler and Grimly Feendish, and me doing new Buster strips (written by John Freeman).
John's scripts not only included Buster but many other vintage characters too, and it was a pleasure to draw crowd scenes featuring Bad Penny, Sid's Snake, The Swots and Blots, Fuss Pott, Gus Gorilla, and loads more. I also added a few really old characters such as Alfie the Air Tramp and Weary Willie and Tired Tim.
In 2021, Rebellion issued another special. This time it was Monster Fun, again bringing back classic characters in new stories. (Monster Fun becomes a regular bi-monthly comic from April.)
So, for all those fans on Facebook groups missing the characters of long ago, they've been back for the past couple of years! Sure, they're by new creators now (most of the artists and writers from 50 years ago are sadly no longer with us or retired) but the new folks are doing a good job, free from the constraints of any house style to make the comics look fresh and modern for today's kids.
The two Cor!! Buster Specials were collected into a 100 page softback in 2020, and you can purchase it directly from Rebellion's website by visiting this link:
https://shop.treasuryofbritishcomics.com/catalogue/RCA-H0018
2 comments:
Worth mentioning that it's available digitally as part of Humble Bundle's 'Masters of British Comics' bundle, in collaboration with Rebellion & supporting the Cartoon Museum - https://www.humblebundle.com/books/rebellions-masters-british-comics-featuring-judge-dredd-2000-ad-treasury-british-comics-books
While the digital version is £9.99 via Rebellion, Humble Bundle has a 19 item bundle including the Bumper Fun Book for £7.37. I heartily recommend the full 64 item bundle, though: £18.44 for some absolute classics, both vintage and relatively modern.
Thanks Kal!
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