The problem with trying to collect British comics is often the difference in the definition of “comics.” Still, there is one British hero that I’ve found worth the collecting trouble, and they call him… BANANAMAN! Your Major Spoilers Retro Review of Nutty #1 awaits!

NUTTY #1

Writer: Steve Bright
Penciler: John Geering/Evi di Bono/Mike Atwell/Gordon Bell
Inker: john Geering/Evi di Bono/Mike Atwell/Gordon Bell
Colorist: Uncredited
Letterer: Uncredited
Editor: Uncredited
Publisher: DC Thomson & Co. Ltd.
Cover Price: 10p  
Current Near-Mint Pricing: $40.00
Release Date: February 16, 1980

Previously in Nutty: Publisher DC Thomson & Co. dates back not only to a time before the American comic book industry but almost to a time before the comic book itself, having first published in 1905. (The first publication that really counts as a “comic book” was a collection of Yellow Kid strips from 1897, which led to almost thirty years of comic strips being reprinted in book form.) Primarily a newspaper publisher, DC Thomson began publishing The Dandy Comic, a newsprint pamphlet, in 1937, with The Beano the following year. By 1980, DC Thomson was among the top publishers in Britain and considered to be the center of UK comic publishing.

Into that Thatcher-era world came the first issue of Nutty!
The contents of this issue are mostly humor strips, and it’s quite interesting to me to see that the cover went not to young Eric and his priceless banana peel gloves but to Wacky, a comic boy inventor whose adventures are, like most of the issue, printed in two colors. Roughly two-thirds of the front cover is dedicated to introducing us to Wacky, whom the editors apparently thought would sell some magazines. (As for the other third, let’s put a pin in that for now.) Bananaman’s first appearance actually comes on the issue’s BACK cover, with an origin that makes perfect sense.

See, the moon looks like a big banana, and Eric Wimp comes from the moon, and thus, QED, he’s a Bananaman. I mean, it’s no sillier than dressing up as a bat? As an American, my personal introduction to the big B came on Nickelodeon, where Bananaman shorts were shown to fill out the run time of Dangermouse. If you remember that series, you’ll remember a slightly older Eric, whose last name was given as “Twinge” rather than “Wimp.” He was also given hair in the cartoon, though I’m not sure if that was to avoid having a character who looked like a skinhead, or just to give Master Twinge tufts of hair that resembled his cowls horns. Perhaps the biggest change was the cartoon altering Bananaman’s red gloves to yellow, a coloring change that I heartily agree with. Not only does it unify his color palette, but it also makes the gloves look more like banana peels. Nutty #1’s 24 pages were filled with a number of strips, including The School Belles, Daisy, Rose, Violet, and Marigold.

Students of St. Onion’s School for Girls, these young ladies are probably familiar to any reader of comic strips and are (I think) a broad parody of another DC Thomson strips, The Belles of St. Lemons. As for that pin I asked you to stick, the inside front cover features a welcome from a cartoon version of the unnamed editor, asking if the kids enjoyed their Fruity Space Dust*!

Rather than a euphemism for some sort of illegal substance, the Space Dust in question was a packet of candy included with the issue as an enticement for new readers, reminding us that in 1980, a #1 issue was considered to be LESS desirable for comics fans. The editorial even hyped gifts to come with issues 2 and 3, making sure to hook the kids with toys, balloons, and sugar.

In the grand scheme of things, Nutty wasn’t one of DCT’s more successful comics, ending its run in 1985. In British tradition, though, Nutty wasn’t officially canceled. Instead, it was merged with The Dandy, where Bananaman and a few other survivors began appearing regularly (and B-Man struck up a rivalry with Dandy regular Desperate Dan). When The Dandy was merged with The Beano in 2012, Bananaman once again made the transition, meaning that Nutty #1 is the debut of a hero whose star power has outlasted two different comics, a couple of networks, and DC Thomson himself, making himself an absurd little space in British hearts and earning 3 out of 5 stars overall. Not bad for a kid with the muscles of twenty big men and the brains of twenty big mussels.

*Rumors that Mikey of Life Cereal fame died mixing Space Dust with cola are unsubstantiated and should be considered apocryphal.

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NUTTY #1

60%

60%

British Books Are Bizarre

The dynamic debut is only a single page, but it stands out from the rest of Nutty #1, which is likely why Bananaman outlasted not only that book, but the book he was moved to after Nutty's demise.

• Writing

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• Art

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• Coloring

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