Odd Ball is a long-running British comic strip in the British comic magazine Whizzer and Chips'[1] and survived its merger with Buster. It debuted in 1969[2] and ended when Buster sold its final issue on 4 January 2000. Latterly appearing in reprints, it was drawn throughout its run by Terry Bave. His subtitle was "Nobby Noodle owns Odd Ball, the amazing toy from space".
Odd Ball follows the adventures of the titular red rubber ball which accidentally found itself kicked from a distant planet onto earth. Its finder, Nobby, remained its owner. Odd Ball could see and speak, and was able to turn himself into any shape at will.[3] In later years, Nobby's dad lost his moustache and beard, and gained a full head of hair – his head was also redrawn at the time. Odd Ball also gained a Time Travel shape in the late 1980s, where previously he had been strictly restricted to rubber versions of day to day objects.
From 3 November 1990 until 4 January 2000, the series ran in Buster.[3] In the final episode, Odd Ball gets punctured on a thorn and dies.
Table tennis is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of two, players take alternating turns returning a light, hollow ball over the table's net onto the opposing half of the court using small rackets until they fail to do so, which results in a point for the opponent. Play is fast, requiring quick reaction and constant attention, and is characterized by an emphasis on spin relative to other ball sports, which can heavily affect the ball's trajectory.
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American actor, comedian and director. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression that earned him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".
Buster was a British comic which began publication in 1960, originally published by IPC Magazines Ltd under the company's comics division Fleetway, then by Egmont UK Ltd under the same imprint until its closure in 2000. Despite missing issues due to industrial action during its run, the comic published 1,902 issues in total. The comic carried a mixture of humour and adventure strips, featuring the title character Buster and a host of other characters.
Ken Reid (1919–1987) was a British comic artist and writer, best known as the co-creator of Roger the Dodger and Jonah for The Beano and Faceache for Jet.
Whizzer and Chips was a British comics magazine that ran from 18 October 1969 to 27 October 1990, when it merged with the comic Buster. As with most comics of the time, Whizzer and Chips was dated one week ahead of the day it actually appeared on newsstands in Great Britain. It had no relation to the earlier British comic Illustrated Chips.
Lazy Bones was originally a comic strip in the British comic Whizzer and Chips. It made its first appearance in 1978.
Norbert Peter Stiles was an English footballer and manager. He played for England for five years, winning 28 caps and scoring one goal. He played every minute of England's victorious 1966 FIFA World Cup campaign. In the semi-final of that tournament against Portugal, he was given the job of marking the prolific Eusébio. His tough performance resulted in Eusébio being practically nullified for the entire game. Stiles also played in the final, which England won 4–2 against West Germany. His post-match dance on the Wembley pitch, holding the World Cup trophy in one hand and his false teeth in the other, was widely broadcast.
Starlord was a British weekly boys' science fiction comic published by IPC Magazines from 13 May to 7 October 1978, when it merged with 2000 AD after 22 issues. The comic was created by Kelvin Gosnell, and was originally intended as a fortnightly sister title for 2000 AD with higher production values and an older audience, but late changes in production saw it converted into a weekly.
Faceache was a comic strip appearing in British comics in the 1970s and 1980s. He was created by Ken Reid.
X-Ray Specs was a British comic strip illustrated by Mike Lacey that appeared in the first issue of the British comic Monster Fun on 14 June 1975. It features a young boy who acquired a set of X-Ray spectacles with which he could see through everything.
Ramon Wilson, MBE was an English professional footballer who played at left back. He was a member of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup. He was born in Shirebrook, Derbyshire.
Jack Edward Oliver was a British cartoonist. He is more usually known as J. Edward Oliver.
TI Media was a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year. Most of its titles now belong to Future plc.
Smash! was a weekly British comic book, published initially by Odhams Press and subsequently by IPC Magazines, from 5 February 1966 to 3 April 1971. After 257 issues it merged into Valiant.
Rubber hose animation was the first animation style that became standardized in the American animation field. The defining feature is a curving motion that most animated objects possess, resembling the motion and physical properties of a rubber hose. While the style fell out of fashion during by the mid-1930s, it has seen a renewed interest in recent years,
Eric Bradbury was a British comic artist who primarily worked for Amalgamated Press/IPC from the late 1940s to the 1990s.
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles in the sitcoms Blackadder (1983–1989) and Mr. Bean (1990–1995), and in the film series Johnny English (2003–2018). Atkinson first came to prominence on the BBC sketch comedy show Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979–1982), receiving the 1981 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance.
Vic Neill was a British cartoonist who drew for D.C. Thomson and I.P.C.'s comics. His first notable comic work was on Sparky strip Peter Piper. In 1969, he replaced Dudley Dexter Watkins on Topper cover star Mickey the Monkey after Watkins' sudden death. Neill was a big admirer of Watkins' artwork. He made his debut in the Beano with The McTickles in 1971. In 1974, this was replaced by another Scottish-themed strip, Wee Ben Nevis.
Richie Wraggs is a fictional comic strip character in the British comic Jackpot. He appears with his black cat, Lucky.
Stan & Ollie is a 2018 biographical comedy-drama film directed by Jon S. Baird. The script, written by Jeff Pope, was inspired by Laurel and Hardy: The British Tours by A.J. Marriot which chronicled the later years of the comedy double act Laurel and Hardy; the film stars Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The film focuses on details of the comedy duo's personal relationship while relating how they embarked on a gruelling music hall tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland during 1953 and struggled to get another film made.
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