The closing in my occasional sequence of Comical Oddities brings us to the most queer one ever. It’s arduous to imagine that the company that gave us the most attention-grabbing silly of the 1960s in TV Century 21 also gave us the most queer in Candy in 1967. Esteem TV21, Candy change into a co-manufacturing between Metropolis Magazines and Gerry Anderson’s Century 21 Publishing company. The notion that change into that as Anderson’s puppet sequence had proved to be so extremely standard then presumably a silly e book that comprises existence-size model formative years would also work. Er… presumably no longer.
Gerry Anderson’s puppet sequence labored this skill that of they operated internal their enjoy universe, and admittedly it change into the hello-tech craft, dramatic storylines, and explosions that extremely overjoyed all ages, and the puppets had personalities too, thanks to expert modellers and scriptwriters. With Candy, all that change into eliminated, inserting the “puppets” (or on this case existence-size dolls) within the steady world, in twee tales for the very younger.
If that wasn’t creepy ample, Candy (and her brother Andy) were looked after by Mr and Mrs Bearanda… two grownup-sized panda dummies.
The outcomes ended up wanting very irregular, unintentionally traumatic, and extra love a silly e book created by David Lynch than Gerry Anderson. At the side of to the weirdness, the silly change into printed landscape in negate of portrait sized.
The Candy and Andy photo-strip completely took up about a pages within the 20 web page silly (fortuitously). Varied strips were illustrated, and featured standard TV characters of the day much like Tingha and Tucker. art by Eric Kincaid…
…and Topo Gigo…
…and characters from formative years’s literature much like Winnie the Pooh…
…and Bengo, by Tim…
There change into even a Thunderbirds silly strip! Nonetheless… unlike any Thunderbirds strip we were familiar with. Geared in the direction of nursery age formative years, and with it nearly implying that the crafts were alive in negate of being piloted. art by Gerry Embleton…
On the wait on web page change into Snap, Crackle, and Pop, a strip in step with the characters from the containers of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies. This change into the utterly strip within the silly that me when I change into a small of 1, and I take into accout being obsessed with the premise of those small characters secretly working at some point of the breakfast table. The art on this is presumably by Eric Kincaid too, constant with the ever-legit Century 21 expert Shaqui Le Vesconte.
There were about a Candy and Andy Annuals. This one is from 1968 for the 12 months 1969. In a technique the lights and print quality on the annuals made Candy and Andy look extra irascible than ever, love plastic variations of Kids of the Damned…
Presumably the premise of existence-size dolls in photo-strips will ought to have sounded honest at some stage nevertheless I’m staggered it obtained previous the suggestion section. There is something very grimy and grotesque about Candy and Andy’s world, from the greasy wanting dolls to the grubby wanting home they reside in.
I tell the publishers will ought to have realised their mistake as later considerations with Candy saw it dispense with the dolls and photo-strips and replace them with paintings and friendlier-wanting characters. The layout grew to change into extra no longer new too, eliminating the landscape form. Some readers will ought to have liked it even though this skill that of it ran for 154 factors in total sooner than merging into Jack and Jill in 1969.
This day, early copies of Candy salvage high costs on eBay, so this queer silly oddity has some pastime available!
Update: Thanks to Shaqui Le Vesconte for identifying one of the artists.
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