This week saw the passing of TV legend Sir Bruce Forsyth, his death and lengthy TV career marked with many tributes in newspapers, on TV news and online. It’s been noted that despite his undoubted small screen success he apparently regreted never making it big in the United States or film. But the man who millions remember for his success on shows such as Sunday Night at the Palladium (his “break-out” show in the 1950s), The Generation Game, Play Your Cards Right and Strictly Come Dancing was certainly no stranger to the world of comics.
Bruce Forsyth’s life story, retold in the 1975 Valiant Annual
Bruce with fellow stars, as featured in the end papers of the 1982 Beano annual. © DC Thomson
Minnie the Minx prepares to take on Bruce Forsyth in a celebrity-packed 2006 issue of The Beano. © DC Thomson
Bruce Forsyth and Harry Hill whoop it up on the cover of The Dandy in November 2011
Bruce Forsyth in Doctor Who Adventures
While he would later guest star, for example, in The Beano (in the 75th Anniversary issue (and, back in 2006, alongside Minnie the Minx when she paid a visit to Strictly Come Dancing), and even an issue of Doctor Who Adventures, Bruce’s biggest comics appearance was as the front page star of Film Fun, drawn by Roy Wilson. Bruce himself was portrayed very much as a straight man in these marvellous strips, while the world about him descended into chaos.
He wasn’t the only TV star to feature in the long-running Film Fun, launched in 1920 – Ken Dodd, Morecambe & Wise, Harry Seacombe and many others featured, before it was merged with Buster in 1962.
A young-looking Bruce also appeared in a short potted biography “Adele Leigh – Growing Up” in DC Thomson’s Judy in 1964, drawn by David Slinn.
A panel from the potted biography “Adele Leigh – Growing Up” featuring a young Bruce Forsyth and the singer, from DC Thomson’s Judy in 1964, art by David Slinn. © DC Thomson
Sir Bruce made many other comic appearances and I’m sure readers will have their own favourites. Like many others he was lampooned in VIZ, for example, but perhaps his strangest cameo was alongside Judge Dredd and Marvel UK’s Captain Britain, in the one-off Comic Relief charity comic published in 1991.
Sir Bruce gave us many laughs… but perhaps none more so than when he out-chinned Desperate Dan, Dredd and Dan Dare.
Our thanks to “The Mighty Atom” – comic legend in many more ways than one!
• There’s a great thread about Film Fun here on the ComicsUK forum and the title’s Wikipedia entry is here
• Comic Relief – Full Creator Credits List (Comic Vine)
• Bruce and Captain Britain – the Captain Britain Blog
(Thanks to “Jimmy”, Mark John, Paul Lang, David Slinn and Lew Stringer – and others – for various Bruce Forsyth comic tips)
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Obituaries
In Memoriam: Masters of the Universe and The Phantom artist, Jose María Ortiz Tafalla 
In Memoriam: Comic Artist and illustrator Andrew Chiu 
In Memoriam: Cartoonist and Comic Archivist John Adcock 
In Memoriam: Comic artist and colourist John Michael Burns
Wow! Wouldn’t a collection of those Film Fun strips be .. well .. fun!
oh, yes. Someone would need to approach TimeUK for the rights.