Buzz (DC Thomson)
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox comic book title Buzz was an A3 (broadsheet) British comic book magazine that ran from 20 January 1973<ref name="GarryInterview">Template:Cite web</ref> to 4 January 1975, when it merged with The Topper.<ref name="TopperTales">Template:Cite book</ref> Edited by Roy Patterson<ref name="GarryInterview"/> Buzz ran for 103 Issues.
Other staff that worked on the comic included Euan Kerr,<ref name="UnoffficialBeanoHistory">Template:Cite book</ref> who went on to edit The Beano for 20 years, and Garry Fraser, future editor of Classics from the Comics and the Fun Size Dandy.<ref name="GarryInterview"/> Notable artists included Ken H. Harrison<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Gordon Bell.<ref name=clark>Alan Clark, Dictionary of British Comic Artists, Writers and Editors, The British Library, 1998, pp. 14-15</ref><ref name=gifford>Denis Gifford, Encyclopedia of Comic Characters, Longman, 1987, pp. 26, 38, 70, 77, 79, 97, 102, 172, 184, 188, 206</ref>
History
First published in January 1973 Buzz was an A3 size comic similar in style to The Beezer and The Topper. At the time of its publication, the publisher DC Thomson, were publishing five other weekly humour comics<ref name="GarryInterview"/> the aforementioned Beezer and Topper as well as The Beano and The Dandy. Buzz lasted roughly two years ending in January 1975<ref name="GarryInterview"/> when it merged with the Topper. Six of Buzz's comic strips continued in The Topper: Fred the Flop, Big Fat Flo, Nobby, Jimmy Jinx and what he thinks, Sammy's Scribbles and Sleepy Ed.<ref name="TopperTales"/> Of these Fred the Flop and Jimmy Jinx were the longest running continuing in the Topper until 1986 and 1989 respectively.<ref name="TopperTales"/>
After the merger the Topper continued as Topper and Buzz from 11 January 1975 until November of that year when Buzz was removed from the title.<ref name="TopperTales"/> As well as moving to the Topper one of Buzz's comic strips, Skookum Skool, moved to the new comic Cracker which started the same month that Buzz ended.<ref name="GarryInterview"/> Cracker has been described "more or less the same content-wise" as Buzz although with a couple of differences.<ref name="GarryInterview"/>
Comic strips from Buzz were reprinted in Classics from the Comics, which ran from 1996 to 2010, with the Buzz name appearing on the front cover for most issues.
List of Buzz comic strips
These are in alphabetical order and all numbers refer to issues of Buzz.
| Strip Title | Artist | First Appearance | Last Appearance | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Bad Moggy | Peter Moonie | 1 | 29 | Not in 17,18,19. From 20 onward strip title changed to Moggy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Big Fat Flo | Phil Millar | 1 | 103 | Not in 35 & 39.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Continued in The Topper after the merger. |
| Billy the Kidder | Jimmy Glen / | 1 | 19<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
| The Buzzies and the Fuzzies | Gordon Bell | 5 | 103 | Two groups of feuding creatures resembling Weebles; one group very hairy like Captain Caveman, the others with short buzzcuts. Not in 34,38,75,83,86,88,89,90.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Calamity Kate | George Martin | 1 | 103 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | A girl who inadvertently broke things |
| Cookie | Tom Lavery | 1 | 68 | Not in 3,18, nor 32 to 67. |
| Fred the Flop | Tom Lavery | 1 | 103 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | About an incompetent thief. Continued in The Topper after the merger. |
| Freeze | Terry Patrick | 66 | 90 | An adventure story <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Good Knight | Bill Ritchie | 17 | 102 | Not in 30, 31, 34, 36 to 38, 40 to 53, 68, 77, 81, nor 83 to 101.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Gus the Galoot | J Edward Oliver | 1 | 16 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
| Harum Scareum | Gordon Bell | 1 | 56 | About a rabbit Harum and a farmer's dog Scarum in conflict over the farm's carrots. Not in 30. |
| Hop, Skip and Jock | Malcolm Judge | 1 | 103<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | About three boys whose strip consisted of large 'action' panels containing with numerous gags. Was the comic's only cover strip. |
| Jimmy Jinx And What He Thinks | Ken Harrison | 1 | 103 | About a boy with the metaphorical 'good angel' on one side of his head and a 'bad angel' on the other. Not in 16.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Continued in The Topper after the merger. |
| Monty Moneybags | Jimmy Glen | 1 | 52 | Not in 24, 25, nor 42 to 49.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Nero and Zero | Tom Bannister | 1 | 40<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | About two incompetent Roman guards to Julius Caesar. |
| Nobby | Bob McGrath | 1 | 103<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | About a generic resourceful/mischievous boy. Continued in The Topper after the merger. |
| Olly's Occy | Phil Milar | 1 | 29 | About a boy and his octopus called Occy. Not in 19,20,21,22,23,26,27.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Postman Knox | Various Artists | 4 | 101 | Not in 5.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Feature where reader's sent in jokes. |
| The Rooky Racers | Alan Rogers | 62 | 103<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | A strip with a similar premise to the cartoon Wacky Races. |
| Sammy's Scribbles | Gordon Bell | 18 | 103 | Continued in The Topper after the merger. |
| Skookum Skool | Ken Harrison | 1 | 103 | A similar strip to The Bash Street Kids. Continued in Cracker. |
| Sleepy Ed The nap-happy chappie | John Aldrich | 41 | 103 | Continued in The Topper after the merger. |
| Spookum Skool | Ken Harrison | 60 | 103 | A spinoff of Skookum Skool but with ghosts. Also continued in Cracker. |
| Tich and Snitch | David Gudgeon | 1 | 27 | Anthropomorphic antics of a female elephant (‘Snitch’) and a male mouse (‘Tich’). |
| Top Tec | George Martin | 57 | 103 | |
| The Twitz of the Ritz | Bill Ritchie | 1 | 61 | |
| Uncle Dan the medicine man | Bill Holroyd/Albert Holroyd | 91 | 103 | Reprints from The Beezer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Another Adventure story. |
| The Whiteys and the Stripeys | Tom Lavery | 30 | 65 | Another 'feuding rivals' strip, this time with two marooned sets of pirates on adjacent islands |
| Wig and Wam | Arthur Martin | 1 | 59 | Two warring American Indians. Wam (the creepy older bad guy) and a young girl Wig. An unrelated strip of the same name (also about two American Indians) appeared in the first issue of The Dandy. |
| Willie the Wizard He's learning to spell | Ken Hunter | 1 | 17 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | A strip about a wizard in training. |
Reception
Buzz was described by comics historian Graham Kibble-White as unoriginal, pointing to similarities between it and other DC Thomson comics as well as Hanna-Barbera cartoons.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>