On this day, 20 June 1987: Nipper
Cover artwork: Tom Paterson
On this day, 20 June 1987 … Nipper wasn’t quite so nippy by the tine of this, its eleventh issue, as its unique small format had proved unsuitable for the market, and I suspect its fortnightly release schedule wasn’t helpful for building up reader loyalty. There’s a fair bit of reprint material in this issue –Hit Kid, Handy Andy and Duck Turpin from Krazy and Disaster Des from Cheeky (Duck and Des were both coloured for Nipper, so that was a bonus) – but also some excellent original material from classic artists including Tom Paterson (Felix the Pussycat), Frank McDiarmid (Will and Bill and Nursery Crimes), Jimmy Hanson (Ricky Rainbow), Terry Bave (Double Trouble and Mighty Mouth) and Sid Burgon (Roy’s Toys). Bob Harvey’s lovely work on Kelpie’s Kingdom is especially nice and wouldn’t look out of place in today’s The Phoenix in my opinion, and there’s also dynamic cartooning from some of the ‘new wave’ of artists making it at IPC around this time, including Steve Bright on Brad Break, Roy Mitchell on Wonder Boy, Anthony Hutchings on My ‘Dad’ Mum and Mark Bennington on The Savers.
Nipper: Gordon Bell (artist)
Big Game Hunter: Trevor Metcalfe (artist)
Brad Break: Steve Bright (artist)
Will and Bill: Frank McDiarmid (artist)
Ricky Rainbow: Jimmy Hansen (artist)
Disaster Des: Mike Lacey (artist)
Double Trouble: Terry Bave (artist)
Hit Kid poster: Sid Burgon (artist)
Nursery Crimes: Frank McDiarmid (artist)
Kelpie’s Kingdom: Bob Harvey (artist)
Mighty Mouth: Terry Bave (artist)
Handy Andy: Sid Burgon (artist)
Felix the Pussycat: Tom Paterson (artist)
Wonder Boy: Roy Mitchell (artist)
My ‘Dad’ Mum: Anthony Hutchings (artist)
The Savers: Mark Bennington (artist)
Roy’s Toys: Sid Burgon (artist)
