(→Characters: Toots can't be the youngest, as she's Sidney's twin.) |
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| − | [[File:Bellrings13feb1954.jpg|thumb|Detail from the first |
+ | [[File:Bellrings13feb1954.jpg|thumb|Detail from the first "When the Bell Rings" strip]] |
| − | ''' |
+ | [[File:Img460.jpg|thumb|link=Special:FilePath/Img460.jpg]] The strip now known as '''"The Bash Street Kids"''' (originally titled '''"When the Bell Rings"''') is a strip that runs in ''[[The Beano]]''. It was created by [[Leo Baxendale]]. |
| − | Pleased with his work on |
+ | Pleased with his work on "[[Little Plum]]" and "[[Minnie the Minx]]", ''Beano'' editor [[George Moonie]] asked Baxendale to create a third feature for the comic. Inspired by a picture that Baxendale had sent to the comic beforehand (and since forgotten about), Moonie suggested a strip entitled ''When the Bell Rings'' consisting of two or three small panels and a final, large panel with a crowd scene, depicting a horde of children leaving school. |
| + | The Bash St Kids concerns the misadventures of Class 2B of Bash St School and their cast of supporting characters - notably Teacher (who still wore a mortar board until 2013, decades after they disappeared from most establishments), Olive the dinner lady, the Janitor and Winston the school cat. The kids themselves are: Danny (sometimes called [[Danny|Deathshead Danny]] because of his distinctive skull & crossbones shirt), Smiffy, Spotty (whose name may actually be Jasper), the myopic 'Erbert, Wilfrid (he of the face obscuring jumper), the twins Sidney and Toots, Fatty, and [[Plug]], though in early strips a huge cast of mostly unnamed kids (the exceptions being Teddy, Jimmy and Ella, though Jimmy may actually have been Smiffy) appeared, with most of the more familiar current cast coming later. There are also a couple of irregular members of the class - Teacher's pet Cuthbert Cringeworthy and Wayne (the latter created as part of a reader's competition: Wayne was perpetually injuring himself). In a run of text stories in The Wizard, some of the characters were given full names: Danny is Daniel "Deathshead" Morgan, Smiffy is James Smith, Sidney is Sidney Pye, Toots is Kate Pye, Plug is Percival Proudfoot Plugsley and Fatty was renamed Freddy in 2021. Spotty didn't get a full name here as he was yet to make his debut. Teacher's real name is apparently Algernon, while his wife (who looks exactly like him, even down to the moustache) is only ever referred to as 'Mrs Teacher'. Plug got his [[Plug|own comic]] in 1977, which revealed his full name to be Percival Proudfoot Plugsley. |
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| ⚫ | The first |
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| + | |||
| ⚫ | The first "When the Bell Rings" strip appeared in ''The Beano'' issue 604, dated 13 February 1954, and had a winter scene. D.C. Thompson did not provide a script and so Baxendale wrote it himself. The strip was renamed ''The Bash Street Kids'' in 1956, and what prompted the name change were a number of changes: the brief story-structure and emphasis on crowd scenes were replaced with something more conventional, and the horde of anonymous children was whittled down into a smaller cast of specific characters (although two of these characters - Toots and a then-unnamed Danny - appeared in the very first strip). It has become a regular in the comic, featuring in every issue. |
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[[File:Bashstkids.JPG|thumb|left|A more recent interpretation of the kids]] |
[[File:Bashstkids.JPG|thumb|left|A more recent interpretation of the kids]] |
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Baxendale drew the strip until 1962, when [[David Sutherland]] replaced him, initially in a similar style, but simplifying it later in the decade. Sutherland has drawn the majority of the strips since then, except for a period from 1999 to 2000, when [[Nigel Parkinson]] took over. The strip has also had a number of ghost artists, including [[Gordon Bell]] in the early 1970s, [[John Sherwood]] later on in the 1970s, [[Keith Reynolds]] in the 1980s and [[Tom Paterson]] in the early 1990s. In recent years, [[Mike Pearse]] and [[Kev F. Sutherland]] have also occasionally drawn the strip. |
Baxendale drew the strip until 1962, when [[David Sutherland]] replaced him, initially in a similar style, but simplifying it later in the decade. Sutherland has drawn the majority of the strips since then, except for a period from 1999 to 2000, when [[Nigel Parkinson]] took over. The strip has also had a number of ghost artists, including [[Gordon Bell]] in the early 1970s, [[John Sherwood]] later on in the 1970s, [[Keith Reynolds]] in the 1980s and [[Tom Paterson]] in the early 1990s. In recent years, [[Mike Pearse]] and [[Kev F. Sutherland]] have also occasionally drawn the strip. |
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| + | |||
| + | The characters appeared in a short gag strip in the mid-eighties comic ''[[Hoot]]''.<ref>Kibble-White, Graham (2005). ''Ultimate Book of British Comics.'' London: Alison & Busby. p.131. ISBN 0-74908-211-9</ref> |
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==Characters== |
==Characters== |
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| + | The bash Street kids features around 12 children as of 2021, with two being added in that year. Otherwise, the titular kids were Toots, Danny, Plug, Fatty (Renamed Freddy in 2021), 'Erbert (originally called "Herbert"), Cuthbert, Wilfred, Sydney, Smiffy and Spotty. For a breif period in the 2000s, there was another kid with a sling who was called "Wayne". Other characters, such as Jimmy, Big Fella, Ella and Manfred, and other unnamed children who appeared in the '50s before the lineup became more set in stone. |
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| − | Like many long-running UK comic strips, ''The Bash Street Kids'' is anachronistically frozen in the era in which it began. It portrays Class 2B of Bash Street School, Beanotown, where the teacher and headmaster still wear mortar boards and gowns and pupils sit at wooden desks with inkwells. They are taught by a stereotypical teacher, who is known as "Teacher" (his wife is called "Mrs Teacher"). The ten regular pupils are: |
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| − | * '''Danny''' - The leader. Wears a skull and crossbones sweater and a floppy red school cap. He is quite crafty, and was appointed leader very early on in the strip, after he gave each kid a wine gum. |
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| − | |||
| − | * '''Erbert''' - The shortest bash street kid. A short-sighted boy who struggles to see, even with his thick spectacles. 'Erbert is probably the least mischievous student and, in one strip, he was sent to Posh Street school, because he was thought to be better suited there - but the other students saw him as one of the Bash Street gang and bullied him, and he was rescued and brought back to Bash Street. |
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| − | * '''Fatty''' - A fat boy who can never stop eating. Being called Fatty does not bother him, and it is only in the later strips that Fatty has been made fun of for his weight, to which he usually reacts by trying to prove the others wrong. |
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| ⚫ | |||
| − | * '''Plug''' - The tallest Bash Street kid, and so ugly that when he pulls a face, he becomes handsome. Despite this, he is the only one with a girlfriend. He later appeared in his own comic, ''[[Plug]]'' (1977-1979), starring himself and his two pets, Pug from "[[Pup Parade]]" and Chunkee the Monkey. This strip was later incorporated into ''[[The Beezer]]''. |
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| − | * '''Sidney''' - Toots' twin brother and the keeper of a dozen animals. He has spiky hair like a chimney sweep's brush. He and his sister are often fighting and Teacher refers to them as the "Terrible Twins". |
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| − | * '''Smiffy''' - A good natured but very stupid boy, he always gets things wrong and is very easily confused. Father Dougal in ''Father Ted'' could be a grown-up Smiffy. |
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| − | * '''Spotty''' - Originally called Jasper, a short character who resembles a Christmas pudding. Wears and extraordinarily long tie. |
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| − | * '''Toots''' - Sidney's twin sister, the only girl in the class. A tomboy, she is tough and rather bossy, but very much one of the gang. |
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| − | * '''Wilfrid''' - A thoughtful, introspective boy, whose thoughts are hidden behind the the green jumper that goes all the way up to his nose. Rarely speaks. |
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| + | Non-Child Characters included "Teacher", the kids' nervous wreck stereotype of a teacher, who wore a mortar board all the way up until he lost in in 2013, Long, long after such silliness stoped being common in actual UK schools. The long running head was retired in 2013 as well replaced by Mr. De Testa, a carry over from the Dennis the menace Strip, which ultimately came from the 2009 Television series Dennis and Gnasher. However, The head was eventually resurrected as a lazy PE teacher. Other characters also include winston, the janitors cat, and Olive. |
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| − | * '''Cuthbert Cringeworthy''' - The brightest child in the class, and a teachers' pet who tends to be bossy, rude, spoilt and ostracised by the others. First appeared in 1972, and looks rather like Teacher. In more recent strips, while still a swot, he is more one of the gang and his intelligence sometimes gets them out of trouble. |
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| ⚫ | |||
| + | <gallery captionalign="center" navigation="true"> |
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| + | Teacher1.jpg|''[[Teacher]]''|link=Teacher |
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| + | Deathshead Danny.jpg|''[[Deathshead Danny]]''|link=Deathshead Danny |
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| + | 'Erbert.jpg|''[[Erbert|'Erbert]]''|link=Erbert |
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| + | Fatty.jpg|''[[Fatty]]''|link=Fatty |
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| + | Plug.jpg|''[[Plug (Character)|Plug]]''|link=Plug (Character) |
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| + | Sidney.jpg|''[[Sidney]]''|link=Sidney |
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| + | Smiffy.jpg|''[[Smiffy]]''|link=Smiffy |
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| + | Spotty.jpg|''[[Spotty (Bash Street Kids)|Spotty]]''|link=Spotty (Bash Street Kids) |
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| + | Toots.jpg|''[[Toots (Bash Street Kids)|Toots]]''|link=Toots (Bash Street Kids) |
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| + | Wilfrid.jpg|''[[Wilfrid]]''|link=Wilfrid |
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| + | Cuthbert.jpg|''[[Cuthbert]]''|link=Cuthbert |
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| + | Headmaster.jpg|''[[Headmaster]]''|link=Headmaster |
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| + | Winston.jpg|''[[Winston]]''|link=Winston |
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| + | Olive.jpg|''[[Olive]]''|link=Olive |
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| + | janitor.jpg|''[[Janitor]]''|link=Janitor |
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| + | </gallery> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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*''A Very Funny Business'', 1978, p.9 |
*''A Very Funny Business'', 1978, p.9 |
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| + | <references/> |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bash Street Kids The}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bash Street Kids The}} |
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[[Category:Beano strips]] |
[[Category:Beano strips]] |
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[[Category:Comic strips]] |
[[Category:Comic strips]] |
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| + | [[Category:Characters]] |
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| + | [[Category:Humour strips]] |
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| + | [[Category:Beano Characters]] |
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Revision as of 20:54, 13 April 2022
Detail from the first "When the Bell Rings" strip
The strip now known as "The Bash Street Kids" (originally titled "When the Bell Rings") is a strip that runs in The Beano. It was created by Leo Baxendale.
Pleased with his work on "Little Plum" and "Minnie the Minx", Beano editor George Moonie asked Baxendale to create a third feature for the comic. Inspired by a picture that Baxendale had sent to the comic beforehand (and since forgotten about), Moonie suggested a strip entitled When the Bell Rings consisting of two or three small panels and a final, large panel with a crowd scene, depicting a horde of children leaving school.
The Bash St Kids concerns the misadventures of Class 2B of Bash St School and their cast of supporting characters - notably Teacher (who still wore a mortar board until 2013, decades after they disappeared from most establishments), Olive the dinner lady, the Janitor and Winston the school cat. The kids themselves are: Danny (sometimes called Deathshead Danny because of his distinctive skull & crossbones shirt), Smiffy, Spotty (whose name may actually be Jasper), the myopic 'Erbert, Wilfrid (he of the face obscuring jumper), the twins Sidney and Toots, Fatty, and Plug, though in early strips a huge cast of mostly unnamed kids (the exceptions being Teddy, Jimmy and Ella, though Jimmy may actually have been Smiffy) appeared, with most of the more familiar current cast coming later. There are also a couple of irregular members of the class - Teacher's pet Cuthbert Cringeworthy and Wayne (the latter created as part of a reader's competition: Wayne was perpetually injuring himself). In a run of text stories in The Wizard, some of the characters were given full names: Danny is Daniel "Deathshead" Morgan, Smiffy is James Smith, Sidney is Sidney Pye, Toots is Kate Pye, Plug is Percival Proudfoot Plugsley and Fatty was renamed Freddy in 2021. Spotty didn't get a full name here as he was yet to make his debut. Teacher's real name is apparently Algernon, while his wife (who looks exactly like him, even down to the moustache) is only ever referred to as 'Mrs Teacher'. Plug got his own comic in 1977, which revealed his full name to be Percival Proudfoot Plugsley.
The first "When the Bell Rings" strip appeared in The Beano issue 604, dated 13 February 1954, and had a winter scene. D.C. Thompson did not provide a script and so Baxendale wrote it himself. The strip was renamed The Bash Street Kids in 1956, and what prompted the name change were a number of changes: the brief story-structure and emphasis on crowd scenes were replaced with something more conventional, and the horde of anonymous children was whittled down into a smaller cast of specific characters (although two of these characters - Toots and a then-unnamed Danny - appeared in the very first strip). It has become a regular in the comic, featuring in every issue.
A more recent interpretation of the kids
Baxendale drew the strip until 1962, when David Sutherland replaced him, initially in a similar style, but simplifying it later in the decade. Sutherland has drawn the majority of the strips since then, except for a period from 1999 to 2000, when Nigel Parkinson took over. The strip has also had a number of ghost artists, including Gordon Bell in the early 1970s, John Sherwood later on in the 1970s, Keith Reynolds in the 1980s and Tom Paterson in the early 1990s. In recent years, Mike Pearse and Kev F. Sutherland have also occasionally drawn the strip.
The characters appeared in a short gag strip in the mid-eighties comic Hoot.[1]
Characters
The bash Street kids features around 12 children as of 2021, with two being added in that year. Otherwise, the titular kids were Toots, Danny, Plug, Fatty (Renamed Freddy in 2021), 'Erbert (originally called "Herbert"), Cuthbert, Wilfred, Sydney, Smiffy and Spotty. For a breif period in the 2000s, there was another kid with a sling who was called "Wayne". Other characters, such as Jimmy, Big Fella, Ella and Manfred, and other unnamed children who appeared in the '50s before the lineup became more set in stone.
Non-Child Characters included "Teacher", the kids' nervous wreck stereotype of a teacher, who wore a mortar board all the way up until he lost in in 2013, Long, long after such silliness stoped being common in actual UK schools. The long running head was retired in 2013 as well replaced by Mr. De Testa, a carry over from the Dennis the menace Strip, which ultimately came from the 2009 Television series Dennis and Gnasher. However, The head was eventually resurrected as a lazy PE teacher. Other characters also include winston, the janitors cat, and Olive.
References
- A Very Funny Business, 1978, p.9
- ↑ Kibble-White, Graham (2005). Ultimate Book of British Comics. London: Alison & Busby. p.131. ISBN 0-74908-211-9