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[MarkWarner]

Just a day or so to go before the big day and I have been wrestling with which reading group book to choose.

I had a suggestion from a much revered member of our group for a British text story. He was not the first, as last year this self same book was mentioned. So I thought we'd give it a go.

It is an old "Billy Bunter story" from The Magnet 1350 December 1933. Recently I have been listening to a few Bunter audio books and really enjoyed them. Great fun!

This might be a bit of a slog, so I cast around for another book as a second. I found Big Shot #52 which is rather intriguing. Cover dated January 1945 it mentions the New Year and the ongoing war.  Take your pick.

We'll allow 2 weeks for this. Which means I can hopefully catch up on the last couple of weeks of books!

The link to The Magnet 1350 - The Ghost of Wharton Lodge is https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=37395
and Big Shot #52 can be found here https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=23984.

Happy Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Reading. And remember, we'll return in two weeks

[crashryan]

I opted to read The Magnet. I haven't read a schoolboy story paper--or a schoolgirl paper for that matter, just comics. It was a chore; I needed three sessions to finish. Reading this is an education in how divergent American and English tastes are despite our common language and shared history. I can't make sense of it. What puts me off most is that the entire cast are complete jerks. Above them all stands Billy Bunter. I can't comprehend why this guy became a beloved cultural icon. Stupid, selfish, rude, crass...I find nothing appealing about him. Our heroes aren't much better. Their relationship seems based on mutual contempt, and they spend most of their time calling each other asses. Given these unpleasant characters I found the whole thing unfunny.

Maybe it's a cultural thing. One reason I've never warmed to British humor comics about kids is that the stars are usually obnoxious little SOB's out to make mischief, like modern-day Katzenjammer Kids. But then I never liked the Katzies either. So maybe the fault lies not in the stars, but in myself.

I can best summarize my sentiments by saying, "Urrrggh! Yurrrgggh! Gurrrgh!"

[paw broon]

What a treat.  A slice of classic Bunter at Christmas.  Actually, I've read this story quite a few times.  Every Christmas I treat myself to a Bunter Christmas story and also a Maigret novelette, a favourite of mine - Le No

[SuperScrounge]

The Ghost of Wharton Lodge - Uhhhh... yeah... not a fan of Bunter, although the writer clearly enjoyed writing the fat little weasel. The story dragged on for too long and I wondered why nobody had thought to do a search of the house. Yikes! As for the Famous Five... well, they ain't the Hardy Boys, not very pleasant and couldn't detect their way up a flight of stairs to check out an attic.

[K1ngcat]

Yeah, sorry, I couldn't even start on this one, mainly because I was a fat little kid who was educated (God help me) at an English Public School.  The whole fat shaming thing is beyond awful in this day and age, and public schools (which, if you're American, are actually private schools) are, or at least, in my time, were, factories of misery designed to foster the next generation of leaders and rulers, and to crush anyone with fancy ideas about poetry, music, or artistic expression. Happiest days of your life, my arse!

[lyons]

That was a good read. Add a new fan for this delightfully obnoxious Billy Bunter. He is lazy, deceitful, a glutton, and self-important, yet his cheerful optimism and transparent lies make him a humorous and somewhat sympathetic character. Thanks for marking out a good Christmas read, MarkWarner. Highly entertaining.

[SuperScrounge]

Joe Palooka - Okay, although the non-sequential nature made it hard to view it as a story.

Skyman - Okay, but the story seems more luck-based than the hero using his wits.

Sparky Watts - Eh, not as zany as some Sparky Watts stories I've read.

Charlie Chan - Okay, but a little short.

Happy New Year, Jim - Okay, but I've heard some of the jokes before.

Captain Yank - Seems rushed.

Dixie Dugan - Okay.

All In A Lifetime - Cute.

Vic Jordan - Okay.

Bo - Ehhh, okay, I guess...

The Face - Okay.

[The Australian Panther]

I started to read the Billy Bunter story but did not get far. I couldn

[Morgus]

Growing up in Canada, I was both unlucky and lucky at the same time with stuff like the Bunter story we read. See, we were one of 'the colonies'. British hardcover adventure books for younger readers were collected from old magazines and resold with gnarly cool covers. A lot were regularly dumped over here when they got remaindered. The books looked pretty impressive. You could count on getting two or three at Christmas. The cost to grand parents was pretty light. I was lucky in the fact I could ask one of the uncles to explain the jokes and background...anything to get attention from my uncles. I was unlucky in the fact that many fell flat or hadn't aged well over the decades, so you had to be prepared to do some wading. Ah well. It developed patience in me to look through stacks of stuff to get to the one gem in the bottom of the pile. So this one is hard to judge. It takes me back to my Christmases of age 9 or 10, but the stories don't do anything for me now, and figuring out WHY the authors thought something might be funny TO THEM really isn't worth my time.
BIG SHOT was impressive in a neat way; here were Sunday strips from Ham Fisher, real honest to God comic history before anybody knew there WOULD be a comic history. Have to wonder if Skyman might have been a bigger hit if he had a couple of lucky breaks, I think there was potential in his look. And the Charlie Chan art DID look nice.

[MarkWarner]

With a certain amount of trepidation I plumped for the Billy Bunter. Rather than music, I nowadays listen to audio books. Pretty much whenever I am doing chores and mundane stuff.

I have been devouring all the Bunter audio books I can lay my hands on and thoroughly enjoying them.When I was young Bunter was not in vogue, and nor was William. We had Jennings and his sidekick Derbyshire.

So, I was a tad worried that actually reading Bunter stories, might not be the same. As it was I REALLY enjoyed this. It was a slight slog, but I printed off teh second half and read it on a short train journey. I then finished it off in a pub whilst drinking a winter ale! Bliss!

If I had not been familiar with the characters then I think I'd have hardly lasted a page.

In answer to a couple of questions/comments. I think the appeal in Bunter is that he is so disreputable. You can't trust him an inch. He is 100% untrustworthy. But has an unshakable belief that he is superior to anyone else.

I do admit that the Bunter story lines are pretty similar. He does spend a lot of time hiding out in attics, only emerging at night on food raids. So why the Famous Five did not immediately know it was him is something I just had to let slide. The ending with the Greyfriars Annual product placement initially rather annoyed me ... but now I think it was rather cheeky and fun.

Verdict: A MASSIVE HIT. Although, it is rather strange (and slightly worrying) that I really enjoy Bunter et al as politically I stand to the left of Marx and Lenin.

[paw broon]

"Although, it is rather strange (and slightly worrying) that I really enjoy Bunter et al as politically I stand to the left of Marx and Lenin."
Hadn't thought of that and it's a really interesting point because not only am I quite far left of centre, I'm also a supporter of the SNP
Mark's description of Bunter is bang on, and that is his appeal.  Wish I'd said it like that.

[Captain Audio]

I'm a Centrist. That allows me to sit up here on the fence looking down on those on either side from what I laughingly call the moral high ground , I point and laugh at both sides.