I’ve been watching BBC Four’s Comics Britannia season and enjoying it very much.
I just caught the end of a show narrated by Ewan McGregor about The Broons, you’re unlikely to have heard of them (or Oor Wullie for that matter) if you’re not somehow connected to Scotland. But they’re both magic. They’re comic strips that have existed for over 60 years and somehow have managed to exist in an odd timeless bubble…
But there was one thing from last night’s program about the Beano and Dandy that really struck home with me. They were talking about the escapism of reading those comics as kids. And for me it brought back fond memories of camping out in a tent the back garden with a huge box of Beanos and being able to read them over and over again, and being totally engrossed.
But I never laughed.
Someone on the show pointed this out. And I’d never really considered it, although comics were really funny, entertaining and enjoyable, I don’t think they ever made me laugh either.