Best of British: The manic and funny side of Bonfire night in UK comics

The 5th of November in the UK is Bonfire Night, well technically it’s called Guy Fawkes night, an annual fire festival that marks the anniversary of a failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. To celebrate this failed event an effigy of Guy Fawkes, a member of the men who were behind the Gunpowder Plot and their plan to kill King James I and his government, is burnt on a bonfire. For such a gory celebration Bonfire night was embraced by children who would make life-size effigies of Guy Fawkes, usually made out of straw and dressed in old clothes to burn on the bonfires. Before this kids would parade their “Guy” through the streets and ask passers-by for a “penny for the Guy” . Although this tradition is now a rare sight, it was very popular up to the 1960s as was the tradition of showing Bonfire night celebrations in UK comics. Below are some of my favourite UK comics of that time:

Wham! issue 21 - 7 November 1964 - Cover by Leo Baxendale ( image from EBay)

Buster and Giggle - 2 November 1968-Cover by Angel Nadal

Valiant- 6 November 1965 -

POW! issue 43 - 11 November 1967

The above strip "Dare a Day Davy" was the back page feature to POW! (this strip is from issue 43) by the legendary Ken Reid. Looking at today’s children’s comics it's hard to believe just how violent some of the comic strips of this time could be. Ken Reid was a master of dark humour and his characters would regularly be blown up, sent hurtling off buildings and attacked by wild animals. Reid knew what kids liked and that children knew that the events in his manic and genuinely funny strips were pure fantasy and were not to be repeated.

The above strip (also by Ken Reid) is from Valiant, dated 7 November 1970.