Comic: Tom Smith’s Schooldays
The Tom Smith stories were described by the comic Buddy as “True-to-life story of one of Britain’s top public schools.” Since they were published between 1981 – 1983 and still had many of the traits of the school stories from the first half of the century, including masters in gowns carrying curve-handled canes and beatings carried in front of the whole school, this is doubtful.
Publisher DC
Thomson said Buddy was targeted at “boys who like action, adventure and
sport!” In a hugely competitive market the comic didn’t catch on and in 1983 it
merged into Victor.
As
published on 25 July 1981.
Picture credits: D C Thomson.
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Traditional
School Discipline
Traditionalschooldiscipline@gmail.com
Is it correct that Victor also eventually merged with something called "Spike"? I seem to remember Spike, or the Spike/Victor combo, having a strip called "The Spike Report" where a boy would end up either receiving, or evading, the slipper or the belt from his father. This was presumably in the part of the early 1980's where this type of thing was going out of fashion. Unlike Dennis the Menace and similar comics, the punishments weren't usually over clothing.
ReplyDeleteI can't find Victor or "Spike" on the British Comics Compilation website. Does anyone remember these?
The Spike Report was a comic that ran for a couple of years in the 1980s, there are copies online here
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Thank you so much; I had been looking for those for a long time but only now realised that's where they are. Most of my memories seem to be slightly incorrect - it's much more in the style of "Dennis the Menace" than I remembered (although still with a significantly different focus, and it's amazing to see the protagonist mention readers by their names and towns). Teenage "Spike" does get forcibly bathed by his parents, along with other embarrassing mishaps, but contrary to my recollections, he's always got something hiding any nudity, even if it's only a convenient splash of water. It still stands out though, as a comic strip where beltings and slipperings were portrayed as being "the same as what you kids out there get", instead of just something that happens in a fantasy world inhabited by talking dogs etc.
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