 Doodlebug and Humbug on the front cover of Nutty comic No.3 Dated March 1st 1980, issue 3 of Nutty included The Whirlyjig, which was the last of the free gifts from the comic's introductory period. Essentially a tied-off balloon with an extra neck at the opposite end, a rectangular plastic tube was inserted into this in order to blow it up with a few strong breaths. Upon release, the balloon would spin around in a whirling motion and make an entertaining noise. Hours of fun to be had!  The Whirlyjig was previously a free gift for another DC Thomson comic, under a different name. Issue 1 of Plug (he of Bash Street Kids fame in The Beano), dated September 24th 1977, included The Screamin' Demon! Highlights in this week's issue include an appearance by Dennis the Menace (of The Beano) in Big 'N' Bud, Steevie Star as Captain Quirk in Star Trick (a parody of Star Trek), General Jumbo mobilising his army of model soldiers to foil a bank robbery and Scoopy the dog reporter bringing excitement to a dull game of cricket.
Bananaman's story on the back cover marks two firsts for the 'nana-brained nitwit. Not only does he nab his first baddie (a stereotypical bank robber called Fingers Fraser), he also uses the Bananarang (a spoof of Batman's Batarang) to do so!  The moment Bananaman uses his Bananarang for the first time The whole story can be found in the nanamanfan gallery. FOLLOW NANAMANFAN.COM ON SOCIAL MEDIA!Join a bunch of Bananaman fans on X and Instagram. Follows, likes and shares appreciated. Thank you!
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 Dick Turban - Desert Highwayman and Doodlebug appear on the front cover of Nutty No.2 The second issue of Nutty, with cover date of February 23rd 1980 included free gift The Zoomerang which was not unlike popular 80s flying discs produced by the likes of Aerobie and Frisbee. Dick Turban - Desert Highwayman and Doodlebug feature on the front cover. All of the characters mentioned in my previous blog post return inside the comic, with Pearl Potter bringing her fierce pet dog Bonzo to the filming of a dog food commercial, Steevie Star starring in King Kong parody "King Konk" and Ethel Red coming into a spot of bother with a whale while at sea.  Bananaman's second comic adventure sees him attempt to rescue the pilot of an out of control 'plane On the back cover, Bananaman comes to the rescue of a pilot in an out of control 'plane, only to make matters worse, angering a farmer with a distinct West Country accent in the process.  Check out the nanamanfan gallery to see a picture of the Zoomerang - and more!
 Comic characters Wacky and Doodlebug appeared on the front cover of Nutty No.1 Launching with a cover date of February 16th 1980 and comprising of 24 pages, Nutty was DC Thomson's attempt to produce a more tumultuous weekly comic compared to many others on sale at the time. Available every Saturday for the pocket money-denting sum of 10p, this likely helped give the impression Nutty's content was more chaotic than established titles such as The Dandy and The Beano, which cost 7p respectively. The cover and centre pages were printed in full-colour, the reverse of these black ink plus one colour (red in this instance), and the remaining pages black ink only. A packet of Space Dust bonbons (popping candy) was included with the first issue as a free gift, taped to the inside front cover. Various flavours were available, including lemon, orange and strawberry.  A packet of Space Dust popping candy was the free gift included with issue one of Nutty Stories consist of Big 'N' Bud (a couple of wise-cracking boys, one of which is tall in stature), Pearl Potter (daughter of a TV and film producer), Mitey Joe (a boy with aspirations to be a strong man), Scoopy (a news journalist dog), Steevie Star (a boy whose adventures mimic popular movie plots, he also appeared in The Topper), Peter Pest (a young boy who inadvertently yet frequently bothers his older sister), Pig Tales (a family of pigs not unlike The Three Bears in The Beano), Wacky (a crackpot inventor), The Wild Rovers (a pack of mongrel dogs), Dick Turban (a young desert highwayman somewhat similar to Baby Face Finlayson in The Beano), Doodlebug (a mouse who likes to draw using a magic pencil), General Jumbo (from The Beano), The School Belles (rebellious schoolgirls in a similar vein to those in 1954 movie The Belles of St. Trinian's), Samuel Creeps (a teacher's pet), The Bar-O Boys (a family with the characteristics of American Wild West cowboys, only living on a farm somewhere in England), and Ethel Red (a Norse Sea Viking who looks strikingly similar to Minnie the Minx from The Beano). The front cover features Wacky and Doodlebug, along with an eye-catching depiction of the free gift. The Wild Rovers have a two-page story across the comic's centre pages. Contributors to the first issue included editor David Donaldson, writer Steve Bright and the late British artists John Geering, Gordon Bell and Michael Attwell.  Both Bananaman and Eric Wimp debuted in issue one of Nutty Bananaman's Nutty adventures began on the back cover of issue one. Appearing not too dissimilar to how he looks today, notable differences are more prominent banana-shaped head horns, a banana-styled emblem on his chest, red gloves and short pants, a utility belt, and a scalloped-edge cape. The appearance of Eric Wimp, his secret schoolboy alter-ego, is vastly different, with buzzcut hair and brown duffel coat. Note it's revealed in the second panel that Bananaman originates from the moon "which is really the biggest banana in the sky". More on this to come.  The promise of more free gifts to come with issues two and three of Nutty comic Do you remember reading Nutty? If so, at what point did you start reading it? What are your fondest memories of the comic? Who were you favourite characters? What were your likes and dislikes? Leave a comment below!
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