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A Quarterly Dandy Special No.8 features Bananaman's fourth story in the series - and what an adventure it is! Based on the 1886 gothic horror novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Bananaman in Dr Jackal and Mr Hide sees the Man of Peel face a fiendish foe! Note: At this point, the series changed from being a monthly publication to a quarterly one, hence "quarterly" now added to the title.  Front cover of Bananaman in Dr Jackal and Mr Hide The story begins with Police Chief O'Reilly believing his office is haunted. Calling upon Bananaman for help, it's soon revealed the ghostly goings-on are actually down to supervillain Mr Hide, who is capable of becoming invisible and passing through solid matter at will.  Mr Hide demonstrates his superpowers A flashback sequence reveals ever-so-nice inventor Dr Jackal was testing a new formula for a vindaloo curry powder when disaster struck! The formula changed him into the hideous Mr Hide, who aspires to be the world's greatest criminal!  Supervillain Mr Hide in his hideout Mr Hide leaves Bananaman and Chief O'Reilly to begin his bank robbing crime spree but it's not long before Bananaman's on his tail. However, thanks to his slippery superpowers, Mr Hide evades capture once again so Bananaman tries several ways of working out where he could be, including receiving tips from the computer in his secret hideout, wearing heat-spotting specs, donning his thinking cap, laying elaborate traps and even taking advice from the reader.  Bananaman dons his thinking cap None of these work so he decides to simply look up the address for Mr Hide's hideout in the "Villain's Directory", which is not unlike a phone book (you might want to ask an adult to explain what a phone book is, young 'uns - Ad). Catching Mr Hide red-handed, Bananaman is set upon by the repurposed robot inventions of Dr Jackal. I won't reveal how but after a good pummelling Bananaman eventually figures out a way to beat the contraptions and change Mr Hide back into his innocent alter-ego.  Bad robots beat down on Bananaman A very grateful Dr Jackal takes advice from Bananaman on how to make amends, do some good and make money in the process. However, as one might expect, such well-intentioned advice ultimately makes things a whole lot worse... Published by DC Thomson & Co. in 1991, Bananaman in Dr Jackal and Mr Hide is once again a first-rate comic adventure suitable for all ages. The story by Steve Bright flows nicely with no dull dips and the late John Geering's art is always a delight to look at, packed with energy and excitement and littered with lots of little visual gags. It's a recommended read if you can get your hands on a copy.  Nutty editor David Donaldson gets a subtle namecheck Next time I'll be summarising Bananaman's final adventure in the A Quarterly Dandy Special series. Bananaman in Double Trouble coming soon!
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 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!  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!
 Today marks 45 years since Bananaman's debut on the back page of the first issue of Nutty comic, so what better date for this superfan to launch a Bananaman fansite!
It's early days yet but keep your eyes peeled for a whole bunch of stuff coming soon! |
