The New Year CHIPS (1941)

Here we are at our final destination in our travels through British comics history, and we've landed on New Year's Eve 1940 ready for the dawn of 1941! It's the original Chips comic (AKA Illustrated Chips) with a seasonal cover by Percy Cocking that's bursting with life.

They were grim days for kids back then, in the heart of World War 2, their fathers probably away with the forces, and themselves perhaps even evacuated far from home. Comics such as Chips played an important part in trying to keep their spirits up, as this editorial explains...

Chips would later be affected by paper shortages, reducing its size and appearing fortnightly, but at this point it was still in its original tabloid size, 8 pages, on pink paper, and weekly. Contents were typical fare from the publishers The Amalgamated Press, with a good balance of strips and prose stories such as Dane, The Dog Detective...

Here's a selection of the strips, starting with Professor Jolly and His Magic Brolly by Harry Earnest Pease (H.E. Pease), the younger brother of artist Albert Pease...

Pa Perkins and his son Percy drawn by Bertie Brown...

Homeless Hector, also by Bertie Brown...

Here's an advert for some early Disney merchandise!

Finally, on the back page, the brilliant Casey Court by Albert Pease, who also drew Alfie the Air Tramp beneath it...

...and now an IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT about this blog.

We all know that nothing lasts forever, and after 12 years I feel that it's time to wind down Blimey! I will blog again, and the next post will be in about a week's time or so, but posts after that will be few and far between. Eventually they'll cease altogether. However, there'll be some exclusives as the year progresses.

Yeah, I know I said something similar 12 months ago, then carried on blogging practically every day "due to popular demand" as they say, but after all these years I'm finding it a bit of a chore. Also, I've felt that the last year has taken Blimey! off course a bit by focusing too much on current comics and not enough on the past. It was never intended to be a review site but it seems to have veered that way a lot. The whole point of Blimey! was to show old UK strips that modern readers may not have been aware of, although after 12 years of blogging I think I've done my bit. I'll be 60 in a few month's time, which feels like a turning point, and I intend to make some changes in my life.

In case you were wondering, yes, the old posts will remain on the 'net and you'll still be able to leave comments. Bear in mind though that all comments are subject to moderation (to deter trolls and spammers) so please don't post the same comment multiple times if it doesn't appear straight away. I can only verify them for publication when I log on.

For 2019 and beyond I need to focus more on my career, and Blimey! can sometimes be too much of a time-consuming distraction. My other blog, lewstringercomics.blogspot.com - the one about my own strips, - will continue, and I'll probably spend more time on that promoting my work, showcasing my old strips, and talking about my experiences and thoughts about the comics industry. You'll find that here:
http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com

There are of course other blogs out there to keep you informed about the UK comics scene. The best by far, in my opinion, is John Freeman's Down the Tubes blog, where you'll find the latest news on 2000AD, Commando, and pretty much everything that's going on in British comics. It's also an ideal place to let people know about your new comics if you're self-publishing:
https://downthetubes.net

There's also Steve Holland's Bear Alley blog, for very well researched articles on classic material:
https://bearalley.blogspot.com

For the latest news on the Marvel Collectors Editions published by Panini UK the best place is from their official Facebook page:
https://en-gb.facebook.com/MarvelCollectorsEditions/

Likewise, the best place for news about the upcoming Treasury of British Comics collections is here:
https://en-gb.facebook.com/britcomics/

Official site for indie comics publisher Kult Creations:
http://kultcreations.blogspot.com

Official site for indie publisher Time Bomb Comics:
http://timebombcomics.com

Irmantas Povilaika's Kazoop! blog for lots of classics by Ken Reid and others:
http://kazoop.blogspot.com

Phil Boyce's Oink! Blog and Beyond for features on Oink! and other comics of the 1980s and beyond:
http://the-oink-blog.blogspot.com

Peter Gray's Comics and Art blog for classic comics:
http://petergraycartoonsandcomics.blogspot.com

Colin Noble's blog:
https://nothingbutafan.wordpress.com

...and you'll also find links to many other blogs and websites in the right hand sidebar of this blog (if you're reading this on a desktop computer).

I'd like to thank you all for following and supporting Blimey! over the years. I know some of you have been reading it since it began in 2006! We've seen off one or two silly troublemakers over the years but that was a while ago now and 99% of you have always been fantastic, posting positive comments and helpful info. For those of you who have come on board more recently, have a rummage through the archives to see what you've missed. There are over 3,000 posts here, so you should find something of interest! Simply type the name of a comic, a story, character, or creator into the search window on the right hand column of this blog and Bob's yer uncle. It looks like this:

As I said, I will post again, but very infrequently, and remember you can still find me at my other blog at http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com. 

For now though, I wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year and hope that you enjoy the New Year's Eve celebrations with good company. I certainly intend to! 

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