Christopher Wickham
@cwickham.bsky.social
Quite a fast reader. cwickham.blogspot.com
The original, rejected version of James drawn by Henry Davies, rejected for being too depressing.
Several other D. C. artists had a go and couldn't find the tone they'd been going for, and the character almost got scrapped when they let the recently-joined Tom Paterson have a go and he nailed it.
Several other D. C. artists had a go and couldn't find the tone they'd been going for, and the character almost got scrapped when they let the recently-joined Tom Paterson have a go and he nailed it.
February 17, 2026 at 4:37 PM
The original, rejected version of James drawn by Henry Davies, rejected for being too depressing.
Several other D. C. artists had a go and couldn't find the tone they'd been going for, and the character almost got scrapped when they let the recently-joined Tom Paterson have a go and he nailed it.
Several other D. C. artists had a go and couldn't find the tone they'd been going for, and the character almost got scrapped when they let the recently-joined Tom Paterson have a go and he nailed it.
The 2008 book "The Official History of the Beano" sums up reader feedback on James as such:
"Readers, however, were split into two camps - some loved the story and thought it the best thing in the comic - and others could not stand it at any price. There appeared to be no middle ground."
"Readers, however, were split into two camps - some loved the story and thought it the best thing in the comic - and others could not stand it at any price. There appeared to be no middle ground."
February 17, 2026 at 4:29 PM
The 2008 book "The Official History of the Beano" sums up reader feedback on James as such:
"Readers, however, were split into two camps - some loved the story and thought it the best thing in the comic - and others could not stand it at any price. There appeared to be no middle ground."
"Readers, however, were split into two camps - some loved the story and thought it the best thing in the comic - and others could not stand it at any price. There appeared to be no middle ground."
As per The Official History of the Beano, James was consistently the most divisive strip in the comic. People thought it was either the best thing in the comic or totally awful, no middle ground at all.
February 17, 2026 at 4:26 PM
As per The Official History of the Beano, James was consistently the most divisive strip in the comic. People thought it was either the best thing in the comic or totally awful, no middle ground at all.
No, but I do mean to look into that at some point...
February 16, 2026 at 4:52 PM
No, but I do mean to look into that at some point...
Genuinely a bit humbled by that. Cheers.
February 15, 2026 at 10:05 AM
Genuinely a bit humbled by that. Cheers.
Ideally, I would like to do a post like this for all of D. C., and Fleetway's, shorter-lived titles.
One or two of them are just... rather problematic.
One or two of them are just... rather problematic.
February 15, 2026 at 9:30 AM
Ideally, I would like to do a post like this for all of D. C., and Fleetway's, shorter-lived titles.
One or two of them are just... rather problematic.
One or two of them are just... rather problematic.
"Kiss my ass" stayed in?
February 13, 2026 at 8:16 PM
"Kiss my ass" stayed in?
If anyone could check the 7pm repeat of "P. S. I Hate You" tonight to see what they do with all the swears, that'd be a great help
February 13, 2026 at 4:15 PM
If anyone could check the 7pm repeat of "P. S. I Hate You" tonight to see what they do with all the swears, that'd be a great help