Web Page No 2672

The Express

27^th March 2020

1st Picture.  Early Junior Express

 2nd Picture. Later Junior Express

3rd Picture. Lone Ranger

4th Picture. TV Comic

A Most Superior Comic

There was an assumption in the 1950s that as children grew out of comics (by the age of 11 or 12) they would graduate to story papers and eventually newspapers. To this end, a number of daily publications launched their own junior versions, combining news items aimed at young teenagers (but not necessarily current affairs) and comic strip stories. The intention being, of course, that the newspapers would build a loyalty among the young readers who would then stick with them as they progressed to adulthood.

A children's newspaper was nothing new. Subtitled "The Story of the World Today for the Men and Women of Tomorrow," The Children's Newspaper was one of the twentieth century's most successful magazines for children, starting in the aftermath of the First World War and running for 46 years. It was an offshoot of The Children's Encyclopaedia. The debut issue, dated 22 March 1919, was priced at 1½d and was deliberately designed to look like an adult newspaper, enlivened by the addition of a photograph on the cover. Issues covered included a report on the British coal industry to how the railway system had been damaged by the war. It reflected the editor's twin faiths of Christian ethics and the British Empire he believed that children could be guided to better, more creative lives through education. At its peak The Children's Newspaper sold 500,000 copies a week. But by the 1950s sales began to drop and although the paper was still very popular amongst 8 to 10-year-olds interest waned rapidly with older readers. It was at this point that Junior Mirror, Junior Express and Junior Sketch appeared-each published by Britain's popular national newspapers. While the Mirror and the Sketch quickly fell by the wayside, Junior Express had more success by virtue of the fact that it kept reinventing itself in different formats.

The first issue of Junior Express was on 4th September 1954, and cost 2d. Launching in its first issue was a British science fiction comic strip created by former R.A.F. aircraft enginer Sydney Jordan, called Jeffe Hawke - Space Rider, whose adventures were also continued in the Daily Express newspaper (from February 1955)- with the obvious intention of attracting loyalty readership from younger readers.

Over time, the news content of Junior Express was reduced as it proved less popular and was then dropped almost entirely when the Mirror and Sketch versions ceased publication - in favour of the comic strips, and as of issue 39 the title changed to Junior Express Weekly, and then simply Express Super Colour Weekly, which was clearly designed as a rival to the hugely popular Eagle comic.

In April 1956, the News of the World, launched Rocket (allegedly edited by Douglas Bader), however, by 1956 Rocket merged with Express which was now called Express Super Colour Weekly and Rocket. Before the end of the year Rocket had disappeared from the title on the front page but was still credited in the printer notes at the bottom of the back page (right up until the final issue).

Express now became known as Express Weekly. Notable strips included Wulf the Briton, Rex Keene Texas Ranger and Jet Morgan, a character from the BBC radio series Journey into Space. Gun Law with Matt Dillon U.S. Marshall later replaced Rex Keene and issue 205 saw the introduction of another popular TV Western, The Lone Ranger and Tonto. 

The comic changed its name again to TV Express Weekly with a new strip of the popular ITV series No Hiding Place added. In July 1960, the publication began the first of a number of biographical comic strips; Green for Go! The Amazing Life Story of Hughie Green, told the story of the gameshow host and particularly his escapades as a pilot during World War Two. A few weeks later Biggles appeared as the featured comic strip and three American animated series; Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear and Mr Jinks with Pixie and Dixie also appeared, ideally to appeal to younger readers.

In January 1961 there was another change to the comic's title, TV Express Weekly with the sub-heading Companion to TV Comic and TV Land but by the summer of 1961 this sub-heading was dropped and the publication became simply TV Express (THE Weekly Magazine for Boys) and become less broadsheet and more tabloid to cut printing costs. By this time Biggles had been relegated to a single inside page and the cover feature was the wartime stories of Colonel Pinto. Danger Man joined the growing line-up of TV related articles, although this was purely a text story and not a comic strip. Another comic strip, Life's A Laugh With Alfie and Bill, appeared - based on the escapades Alfie Bass and Bill Fraser - from the series Bootsie and Snudge.

Issue 376 dated 13th January 1962, saw the finale for TV Express - comic strips stories featuring Col. Pinto, Revs Ransome, Biggles, No Hiding Place and Wulf The Briton were all bought to conclusion, and Danger Man's adventures were also bought to an end. Readers were informed that they could continue reading Bootsie and Snudge in TV Comic from the following week, and they would be joined by 'a host of other TV favourites including..." Popeye, The  Range  Rider and Supercar. And with that one of Britain's superior TV related comic publications of the 1950s and early 60s came to an end.

    Stay in touch

Peter

grseditor@gmail.com

You Write:

News and Views:

On this day 27^th  March 1960-1965

On 27/03/1960 the number one single was Running Bear - Johnny Preston and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 27/03/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was The Dickie Henderson Show (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 27/03/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was French Algerian War ends

On 27/03/1964 the number one single was Little Children - Billy J Kramer and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was 10 found guilty of Great Train Robbery.

On 27/03/1965 the number one single was The Last Time - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music.

A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.