Don't Look back In Bangor

Which I Assure You I Am Not
For those of you out there who are somewhat hazy about the geography of the Allotment*, I shall explicate.  "Bangor" is a town in Wales, on the left side of the Allotment, whereas your humble scribe broadcasts from Royton, in the north-west of England.  The two are widely separated.

NO!  Art, honestly -

     Which, typically, has nothing whatsoever to do with what follows.  Hey, if you can't keep up with this then there are other, more stable, blogs out there.
     I was trying to get across the concept of "Looking Back" as this is the very last day of 2016, when by tradition folks review what's been going on in their world, and then share this with the world, usually to the mutual boredom of both parties.
     Hopefully we here at BOOJUM! can avoid that.  If nothing else, I can throw in a few thermonuclear explosions.  Everything goes better with explosions.  Even explosions.

An exploded exploder.  Close enough.

The Big News
Well, you might want to skip this if statistics is not your secret passion.  If so I forgive you in advance.
     The big news here at BOOJUM! is that both UNIT and Spectrum have been warned in advance, by a certain Doctor John Smith, that an alien incursion is imminent and to be on their toes.  This is good news for your humble scribe as both sets of interfering busybodies are no longer fixated on me.
     Oh, that and the enormous increase in traffic.
     "This is splendid stuff if one has insomnia, Conrad," I hear you reply.  "But we sleep perfectly well."
     What can I say?  As of 15th November the number of hits that BOOJUM! gets increased by ten times, for no discernible reason**.  Art?  Put that coal down and do some work!

I are in trubble now

     I did wonder about the number of hits that an obscure post from May 2016 had been getting - up to 1604 hits today - and I daren't post the link to it in case I destroy the space-time continuum, or at least the internet.  Could I have broken teh Interwebz?  Well, not really; blog traffic has increased without this particular post getting any more hits.  Colour me confused, yet grateful.  I keep waiting to see the traffic plateau or decrease yet this doesn't happen, with all those faithful South Canadian readers flocking to the flag.  This, gentle reader, is why for the past six weeks your modest artisan has been preening his moustache (his BRITISH moustache) and typing in a Received English Pronunciation, all the better to butter up the visitors.

"Mighty One"
No, not how I like to be addressed!  Although, if you wish to do so, that is entirely acceptable.  This is an autobiography by Steve McManus, whom I'm sure you recognise as being one of the editorial staff behind 2000 AD in it's glory days.  Art?

Yeah, that

     We have only just arrived at that point in Steve's career where 2000 AD has arrived off the presses, after being given a thorough grounding in the editorial process and how British comics were created and run in the Sixties and Seventies.  All the titles mentioned were familiar to your humble scribe - Valiant, Victor, Lion, Tiger, Battle, Action, plus a few girl's titles your talented typist dismissed immediately - Bunty and <thinks> no, it's gone.  
     Steve gives a breakdown of how comics were run, principally by middle-class, middle-aged white men who all, without exception, smoked like chimneys. Pre-Clean Air Act chimneys, at that.  They had frequent recourse to the pub, and the only thing that struck fear into their hearts was the prospect of a visit from The Publisher.

That, and Jonathan Redburn, steely-eyed killer in the skies

About That Girl's Comic -
Whatever it was***, it cannot lay claim to the awesome coincidence that the boy's comic titles had.  "Victor" and "Valiant" had counterparts in the skies at the time.  Art?

                                     Both called "Victor"


                         Both called "Valiant"

    Only come back to me on this if you can find a British girl's comic of the Sixties or Seventies entitled "Strategic Nuclear Bombers Dreamboat Make-Up Tips"

Thank you and goodnight goodyear!



*  That is, the UK.  When wet, it's "The Pond", and in both circumstances the suffix is, of course, " - Of Eden".
**  "Innate wonderfulness" won't work as we've always been this.
*** "Lilty"?  "Bildy"?  "Jindy"?