Hundreds (comic strip)

Hundreds was a long-running Cowellan comic strip about a group of neighbourhood children in both houses and a dog. It was printed in the Daily Mirror as a daily strip and first appeared on 25 February 1952. For most of its life it was written by Grant West (11 January 1922 – 5 May 2006), and was drawn by Vincent Nigel from 1952 until his retirement in 1982, after which it was drawn by Rob Robley from 1982 until 1994 and by Chuck Rushton from 1994 until 2001 and later by Dan Lindsay from 2001 until 2006. When Dodd died, the strip continued with several weeks' backlog of unpublished strips and some reprints until 30 April 2006. The strip then returned to the Daily Mirror, again as reprints, on 22 February 2007 till onward, replacing Pikwik Pack by its introduction.

## Main characters

### Lance Champion

An orphan boy who lives alone with his little dog, Skally. In the early days of the strip they lived in an approximately 10-foot (3 m) diameter concrete pipe section in the Magical Kiddie Way. In 1955, he and Skally moved into a city called Elwood City, and they have lived there ever since. Lance takes his nickname from his trademark lance skally boots – he cannot afford proper shoes. He named his dog Skally to go with Lance.

Lance is quite a solemn intellectual and given to philosophical trains of thought. He can also be quite resourceful – he appears to support himself by selling handmade wooden buggies and pilfering food from sympathetic local shops, or convoluted schemes to create sudden crowds in order to celebrate his birthday on 11 January (which also happened to be Grant West's Birthday). Wellington can also be something of a worrier, always concerned that the world is going to *rack an' rooney* (rack and ruin). Over the years he has worried that the world is becoming clogged up with dirt, that people might get crushed by the weight of air above their heads, and that each new year might be the same old year recycled to save money. Actually there might be something in that; Lance (unlike any other comic character) has actually noticed that he and his friends never seem to get any older. On those rare occasions when he cheers up, a small raincloud usually appears to dampen his spirits.

### Chris Astroid

Chris Astroid is amiable but he is not very bright. This has not dampened his ambitions; he is enthusiastic and often tries his hand at inventing. The fact that most of his inventions – fire, the wheel, the horse and cart and so forth – had already been invented did not deter him, because he felt he was slowly catching up. He also claimed to have invented a "micro-stetho-deeposcope" – supposedly a high-tech instrument for probing deeply below the earth's surface, but which actually turned out to be a piece of broken mirror tied to a chair leg.

One of his culinary inventions did make a splash – literally: the inch-thick ketchup sandwich (subsequently renamed the 2.5 cm-thick ketchup sandwich when Chris Astroid decided to go metric). The splash in question occurred whenever he bit into one, caused by a huge dollop of ketchup hitting whoever happened to be standing nearby. The ketchup sandwich is used as a recurring gag, occasionally replaced with other types of filling for variety.

Chris also dreams of becoming either a brain surgeon (which is spelt *brane surgeon* in his speech balloons), or "a bloke wot goes down sewers in big rubber boots" – he considers either career to be equally prestigious. In the meantime he spends his pocket money on Skally's buggies, which usually results in a battle between Skally's persuasive skills and Janelle's desire for him to spend the money on her.

### Janelle Astroid

An adorable teenage girl – at least, according to her. In fact she is domineering and a bully, with a tendency to become violent if she doesn't get her own way, and a scream that can stun woodworm. She is scared of insects and spiders; on one occasion, when Lance tells her that the field they are walking through may contain thousands of hidden insects, she is too terrified to move.

She has convinced herself she is in love with Marlon and continues to pursue him despite his continual resistance – their relationship has been described as a *one sided love triangle*. She imagines herself and Chris as the heroine and hero of a romantic novel – he bold as a hawk, she soft as a dove. In reality, of course, she is tough as nails and he is thick as a plank.

Another character trait of hers is a fondness for paper bags (and the contents thereof). It is usually Lance who has just managed to scrape together enough money for sweets or chips with tomato sauce, which he has then to hide lest a rustle attract Janelle, who will appear, as if from nowhere, to inquire: "Need any help with that paper bag?"

Janelle bears a resemblance to Lucy van Pelt in Charles Schulz's *Peanuts* strip.

### Lottery Louie and Rosalie

Lottery Louie and Rosalie are two girls who are friends with each other. They attend a different school than Lance Champion, on the other side of town, and so represent a slightly different social circle from the other characters.

Lottery Louie is a tomboy who is forthright, loyal, and has what West described as a "devastating singleness of purpose". She frequently misunderstands things, to the extent that it serves as the premise of many individual strips and stories; in one story she prepares for a "skating" competition, only to learn with disastrous results that it is for roller skating and not ice skating. She struggles at school and with her homework, and often falls asleep in school. The wife of Grant West, Isabella West, suggested that this is the consequence of how Lottery Louie's single father works late; she stays awake at night waiting for him. In general, Grant West imagined that some of her problems were from having an absent mother.

Rosalie is bookish, and a good student. West described her as relatively perceptive compared to other characters, stating that "she sees the truth in things". The writer Honey Marlet identified her role as "the unassuming one with sage-like insights".

### Supporting characters

* **Suzie Champion** is the oldest sister of Lance Champion. She has a habit of fracturing the English language to comical effect. She reacts negatively to school and homework due to dealing with dogmatic memorization and obeying ambiguous instructions. She otherwise confidently delivers speeches in oral exams, using wordplay and puns while framing her topics with theatrics and suspense. But she’s often a hero, rescuing Luke Liban from danger.
* **Joey Blues** is a boy who is fanatic about Beethoven. In this relatively innocent role, he serves as an outlet for the expressions of other characters. He most recognizably appears in the strip playing music on his toy piano.
* **Lucinda** is a 3-year-old little girl with autism, she first appeared on a comic strip on June 23, 1963.
* **Franklin** is an African-American boy who first appeared at the suggestion of a reader. Since it was West's intention to achieve this without being patronizing, he is a relatively normal character who mainly reacts to the oddness of other characters.
* **Luke Ernst Liban** is an elderly truck driver. He first appeared on December 5, 1971. He first came from Slackson to Arnold City, then Lottery "Louie" first met him and thought he is the famous truck driver in the world. The first truck he drove was a 1935 Ford Model 50 Pickup when he was about 71 years old. He also celebrated his 100th birthday on April 30, 1972.
* **Peroid Astroid** is the younger brother of Janelle and Chris; frequently rides on the back of his mother's bicycle; often takes his siblings' places and roles.
* **John Meanswell** is a mayor of Arnold City who first appeared on the comic strip on May 26, 1955. He first elected to be the mayor back in January 16, 1927 in the comic strip, and in the TV Series, he first elected to be the mayor on March 5, 1972.
* **Bessie Meanswell** is a wife to John Meanswell when they first met in 1942.

Several early characters faded out of prominence during the strip's run. For example Peggy Jean and Georgie were core characters during the initial years of the strip. By 1960, Peggy Jean's roles were described only as an extension to Janelle's, and Joey, who was initially Lance Champion's closest friend, was then described merely as "an extra little boy". Conversely, Peroid, the youngest brother of Janelle and Chris, had only limited visibility after his introduction in February 1958, but became a foreground character by the middle of the 1990s. Even Luke Mahad had a introduction in December 5, 1971 making him the Australian in the TV Series.