From: MR KR COMAN <bakc@giraffe.ru.ac.za>
Subject: Re: Austers, Biggles & Brit War Comics
Organization: Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 17:36:16 GMT


From MR KR COMAN <bakc@giraffe.ru.ac.za>

In article <BxGrH2.6K9@law7.DaytonOH.NCR.COM> ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib) writes:
>From: ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib)
>Subject: Austers (and Biggles)
>Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 19:29:26 GMT
>From ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib)
>In article <Bx7CJt.ELH@law7.DaytonOH.NCR.COM> MR KR COMAN <bakc@giraffe.ru.ac.za> writes:
>
>>ground-attack squadrons.  (The a/c used were mainly Austers (delightful 
>>plane to fly) -- originally a licence-built 1930's American Ryan design.)   
>
>I recall reading somewhere that the Auster was a British built
>Taylorcraft, though I might be wrong.. Both the Piper Cub and 
>Taylorcraft were used by the US Army.

Sorry!  You're absolutely right.  The British Auster was a US Taylorcraft 
design.  Slip of the mind/keyboard -- last flew one 20+ yrs ago!  Thanks.

>I remember the Auster as being Biggles' favorite airplane (anyone read 
>Biggles anymore?

Also Percival Proctors, plus the odd Mosquito, Sunderland, Lancaster, etc.  
If you go back to the really early stuff that came out in the inter-war 
years, Bigglesworth and his stalwart comrades 'danced the skies' and did 
right in Sopwith Camels.   
Oh what memories!  I grew up with this valiant gentleman of the air.  A 
couple of months back I found a 2nd hand bookshop with a whole shelf of 1950'
s-era Biggles adventures -- bought a whole armful for my little guy.
Happy news is that I heard that many of the Biggles stories have recently 
been re-released -- presumably suitably "sanitised" to suit the 
sensibilities of 1990's moral guardians. 

>I'd heard he'd been banned in Australian school libraries 

I wonder why??  (Rhetorical question!)

>and you NEVER find british war fiction in the US.

What a missed experience!

> Similarly, are 
>those British war comics still being printed much these days?)

Are they ever!  "Battle Comics" are still very much around. Plus I notice
that many of the famous UK comic "annuals" continue to feature WW1 and WW2
comic strip-features.   When I was a kid this was great stuff and motivated
a life-long interest by prompting me to ask questions of relatives who were
there.  Back in circa 1960 you could still meet up with chaps who fought in 
WW1, and WW2 vets and storytellers were just about everyone over age 30.  

This sets me to wondering just what sense this folklore now makes to the 
average 10 year old living in Bradford whose parents weren't even alive 
within a decade of 1945....it's probably right up there with extra-
terrestrial science fiction: fun but unreal.  (Even the comic strip artists
themselves are probably post-war baby boomers!!)

BTW, on the basis of a *limited* periodic content analysis of said comics 
they do seem to have moved with the times -- the "traditional" phraseology 
of the heros when referring to (esp) Japanese oppos has been toned down; and 
now and again they feature a "good" German/Italian (i.e. a dude with 
moral principles).  There was even one I saw that featured some good Germans
who resented the presence of a thoroughgoing Nazi in their unit: the latter 
got his comeuppance ultimately and in the interim hosts of Russians were 
dispatched!

Gotta run, the latest war comics have just arrived!!!!!
Cheers,
Keith Coman

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Condemning a research report on the basis of :  Dept of Management
 invalid and unreliable methodology is the    :  Rhodes University
 cheapest shot in the book."                  :  Grahamstown, 6140
                                              :  Rep of South Africa
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