Slap-up feeds and class war: lessons learnt from British humour comics

This paper examines two of the key trends which occurred in British children's humour comics during the 1970s and 1980s - hunger and poverty as motivating narrative drives for child heroes, and the constant presence of class conflict. It uses examples uncovered as part of the research process for 'The Funny Comics Fan Club', a fortnightly podcast which looks at a specific single issue of a British kids' comic in each episode. It attempts to answer why, despite taking place long after the end of rationing, the search for food and the prospect of a 'slap-up feed' as the ideal reward for success remained so dominant, and explore the many ways that class conflict is displayed. Furthermore, it showcases some of the ways in which these comics sought to engage with readers, both in texts and paratexts, and argues that this is a rich resource of cultural activity that deserves more academmic attention.

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