Bristow: The odd, the bad and the ugly

This section covers those strips that fail to live up to the wonderful standard of the bulk of Frank Dickens' output as well as those strips that jar in the mind and stand out, but for the wrong reasons
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Sources are:
London Evening Standard ("ES") - 1962 - 1981 and 1997-2001
Glasgow Evening Times ("GET") 1974-1990 (limited to the issues available on Google News archive)
Sydney Morning Herald ("SMH") 1965-1994
Melbourne Age ("MA") 1967-1989 (limited to the issues available on Google News archive)

All of the strips listed below are examples of their kind - there are many others but there is little purpose in detailing all of them.

You might expect an internationally syndicated cartoon strip to be published the same way everywhere. Any features specific to the country of origin, that may be unfamiliar to readers elsewhere, would surely be accepted as part of the strip's character. And whilst this is mainly true with Bristow, there are some fascinating examples of local editing to make references more relevant or understandable. These changes are not made consistently and, based on the differences in handwriting, were done at the receiving end and not by Frank Dickens.

1. Customisation

Sydney Morning Herald numbering: Strips in the GET and the MA (with a few exceptions) carry the original numbers. The SMH erased the numbers (that were written onto the original artwork by Frank Dickens) and substituted a month and day signifier. A few strips in the 1990s bear both the original number and the date - maybe the person doing the erasing got bored.

2, Keeping dates relevant

Strip 6519, published in the ES on 21/10/83 has a direct reference to that date. The GET

Strip 6519 was published in the Evening Standard in October 1983. This scan is from Glasgow Evening Times October 1983

was a week behind at this time and it is clear that the date was altered to match. The SMH

Strip 6519 was published in the Evening Standard in October 1983. This scan is from Sydney Morning Herald, November 1983

, even further behind on 11/11/83, did the same thing. The difference in style in the altered date is clear.

In strip 6574 "St Mary's Mixed Infants" is mentioned in the ES (and SMH

Strip 6574 was published in the Evening Standard in January 1984. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald, February 1984

) but is changed to "Smiths" in the GET.

Strip 6574 was published in the Evening Standard in January 1984. This scan is from the Glasgow Evening Times January 1984

Why? St Mary's is a fictional school. What is the meaning of "Smiths Mixed Infants" to a Glaswegian reader?

Strip 5676 was published in the Evening Standard in June 1980. This extract is from the Sydney Morning Herald published June 1980

Strip 8353 was published in the Evening Standard in January 1991. This extract is from the Sydney Morning Herald published February 1991

Strip 7057 was published in the Evening Standard in December 1985. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald published in December 1986

Strip 3290 (number estimated - this number was never used in the ES) was published in the Sydney Morning Herald in November 1971. See 3282 for the version published in the Evening Standard

Strip 8691a was published in the Evening Standard in May 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald June 1992. Does not look like like Dickens drew it.

Strip 6549a was published in the Evening Standard in December 1983. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald January 1984.

Strip 6551 was published in the Evening Standard in December 1983. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald December 1983.

Strip 7563 was published in the Evening Standard in December 1987. This scan is from the Glasgow Evening Times December 1987.

Strip 7596 was published in the Evening Standard in January 1988. This scan is from the Glasgow Evening Times February 1988.

Strip 7942 was published in the Evening Standard in June 1989 This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald July 1989.

Strip 7486 was published in the Evening Standard in August 1987. This scan is from the Glasgow Evening Times September 1987.

Strip 7725 was published in the Evening Standard in July 1988. This scan is from the Glasgow Evening Times August 1988.

Strip 9061 was published in the Evening Standard in November 1993. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald December 1993.

Strip 8686a was published in the Evening Standard in May 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald June 1992.

Strip 8739 was published in the Evening Standard in July 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald August 1992.

Strip 8774 was published in the Evening Standard in September 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald October 1992.

Strip 6290 was published in the Evening Standard in November 1982. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald December 1982.

Strip 8609a was published in the Evening Standard in January 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald February 1992.

Strip 8611 was published in the Evening Standard in January 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald March 1992.

Strip 8619 was published in the Evening Standard in February 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald March 1992.

Strip 6061 was published in the Evening Standard on 30 December 1981. This scan is from a version drawn by someone else in the Glasgow Evening Times published the same day.

Strip 7753 was published in the Evening Standard in September 1988. This scan is from the Glasgow Evening Times September 1988.

7765a was published in the Evening Standard in September 1988. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald October 1988.

Strip 8691b was published in the Evening Standard in May 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald June 1992.

Strip 8717 was published in the Evening Standard in June 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald July 1992.

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The Staff Entrance
The odd, the bad and the ugly
	This section covers those strips that fail to live up to the wonderful standard of the bulk of Frank Dickens' output as well as those strips that jar in the mind and stand out, but for the wrong reasons . Sources are: London Evening Standard ("ES") - 1962 - 1981 and 1997-2001 Glasgow Evening Times ("GET") 1974-1990 (limited to the issues available on Google News archive) Sydney Morning Herald ("SMH") 1965-1994 Melbourne Age ("MA") 1967-1989 (limited to the issues available on Google News archive) All of the strips listed below are examples of their kind - there are many others but there is little purpose in detailing all of them. (note: The version published in the ES is assumed to be the original.) The odd You might expect an internationally syndicated cartoon strip to be published the same way everywhere. Any features specific to the country of origin, that may be unfamiliar to readers elsewhere, would surely be accepted as part of the strip's character. And whilst this is mainly true with Bristow, there are some fascinating examples of local editing to make references more relevant or understandable. These changes are not made consistently and, based on the differences in handwriting, were done at the receiving end and not by Frank Dickens. 1. Customisation Sydney Morning Herald numbering: Strips in the GET and the MA (with a few exceptions) carry the original numbers. The SMH erased the numbers (that were written onto the original artwork by Frank Dickens) and substituted a month and day signifier. A few strips in the 1990s bear both the original number and the date - maybe the person doing the erasing got bored. 2, Keeping dates relevant Strip 6519, published in the ES on 21/10/83 has a direct reference to that date. The GET Strip 6519 was published in the Evening Standard in October 1983. This scan is from Glasgow Evening Times October 1983 was a week behind at this time and it is clear that the date was altered to match. The SMH Strip 6519 was published in the Evening Standard in October 1983. This scan is from Sydney Morning Herald, November 1983 , even further behind on 11/11/83, did the same thing. The difference in style in the altered date is clear. In strip 6561 (ES 20/12/83) there is a reference to the Christmas dinner and dance. The GET published on 29/12/83 and did not change the text but the SMH version, on 11/01/84, omits "Christmas". 3. Local references In strip 6574 "St Mary's Mixed Infants" is mentioned in the ES (and SMH Strip 6574 was published in the Evening Standard in January 1984. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald, February 1984 ) but is changed to "Smiths" in the GET. Strip 6574 was published in the Evening Standard in January 1984. This scan is from the Glasgow Evening Times January 1984 Why? St Mary's is a fictional school. What is the meaning of "Smiths Mixed Infants" to a Glaswegian reader? In 6586 a reference to a commercial product well known in the UK, Snowpake, is changed to "Correcting fluid" in the SMH. In 7179 a reference to the (real) London tube station Turnpike Road was changed to the (real) Glasgow station Byres Road in the GET version. In 7121 (March 1986) this goes further. The SMH (and presumably the ES) lists Crouch End, Holloway Road and Islington. The GET has Hyndland, Partick and Charing Cross. These are all real stations. In strip 3907 the word "Jankers" in the ES is also used in the MA but changed to "Pack drill" for the SMH. 4. Whoops, what a give-away Dickens has always gone to great pains to obscure the real locations of East Winchley and the site of the Chester-Perry Building, and until 1980 there were no direct references to either being in London (although of course this was assumed). Then he became a little careless:- 7121, as shown above, links Bristow's journey to real stations, and suggests that Bristow lives in North London, possibly in (the real) East Finchley In 5676 the shipping forecast actually mentions "East Finchley" instead of "East Winchley". The wording of the fishing areas was not changed by SMH Strip 5676 was published in the Evening Standard in June 1980. This extract is from the Sydney Morning Herald published June 1980 in 7743 (August 1988) Jones sings "Old Father Thames keeps rolling along". My source here is the MA which did not, thankfully, substitute Old Father Yarra. In 6416b (May 1983 Bank Holiday (and therefore not actually published in the ES), a runner is seen bearing a T-shirt inscribed "London Marathon". In a sequence 8353-55 Jones is taken ill and treated in the Royal London Hospital. Yes, a real hospital, not the East Winchley Cottage Hospital as one might expect. Strip 8353 was published in the Evening Standard in January 1991. This extract is from the Sydney Morning Herald published February 1991 5. Losing the Plot In 1490 (November 1965) Fudge gives Jones what Bristow describes as a "Wall to wall carpeting". The SMH, misunderstanding the whole point of the joke, substituted "reprimanding". Note to Antipodean readers "a carpeting" means a strict telling off, or reprimand if you will, and wall to wall carpets in the 1960s were the sign of a prosperous household who could afford full size carpets instead of rugs. In strip 7057 Strip 7057 was published in the Evening Standard in December 1985. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald published in December 1986 Bristow, wishing to buy his ticket for the Christmas Dinner and Dances says he must go to Accounts for a "sub". The SMH changed this to "substitute", thus removing the joke and making it unintelligible Note to Antipodean readers: sub in this context is short for subvention, a loan; it is not short for substitute 6. The strike of '71 A dispute at the ES in 1971 resulted in the loss of some issues. The strike sparked off a series of strips about a paper (the Morning Prattle) closing as a result. Either this was too sensitive for the editor or the unions refused to print them, so whilst the original story was published in other newspapers, a doctored version went into the ES. The story in the ES was about the Morning Prattle having to close but no reason was given - the uncensored version blamed closure on the strike. For example here is one of the ES originals Strip 3282 was published in the Evening Standard in October 1971 and its SMH equivalent Strip 3290 (number estimated - this number was never used in the ES) was published in the Sydney Morning Herald in November 1971. See 3282 for the version published in the Evening Standard . Dickens has alluded to the difficulties he had with the truculent, overpaid and heavily unionised production staff at the paper. If he upset them by a direct reference to a strike, he risked the strip being "blacked", i.e. not appearing in the paper. At this time management had little control over the shop floor. Bill Bryson has similar comments about his time in Fleet Street in his lovely book "Notes from a Small Island". 7. Bristow in colour The GET, and perhaps other provincial papers, had been carrying colour versions for some time but the first one in the ES was this one in November 1999. Strip 10589 was published in the Evening Standard on 17 November 1999 This is an exact repeat of 2577 published in March 1969 - sadly there were a lot of repeats around this time, masquerading as originals. The Bad Over 14,000 cartoon strips there are bound to be a few duds. But there are some strips that are, in my opinion, so unfunny that I cannot understand how any cartoon editor could consider them for publication. In addition there are several recurring themes, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s, based on depicting Bristow as moronic, totally unable to cope with office life, and either in a coma or in a deep depression and on the edge of suicide. I don't find any of these themes particularly amusing. Furthermore the repetition of the basic "jokes" was so blatant that it was though Dickens was desperate to have someone tell him that Bristow was no longer to be published. Here are some of examples of each type Just unfunny 8691a Strip 8691a was published in the Evening Standard in May 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald June 1992. Does not look like like Dickens drew it. 6549a Strip 6549a was published in the Evening Standard in December 1983. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald January 1984. 6551 Strip 6551 was published in the Evening Standard in December 1983. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald December 1983. 7563 Strip 7563 was published in the Evening Standard in December 1987. This scan is from the Glasgow Evening Times December 1987. 7596 Strip 7596 was published in the Evening Standard in January 1988. This scan is from the Glasgow Evening Times February 1988. and my vote as the unfunniest of all 7942 Strip 7942 was published in the Evening Standard in June 1989 This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald July 1989. Bristow in coma/moronic 7486 Strip 7486 was published in the Evening Standard in August 1987. This scan is from the Glasgow Evening Times September 1987. 7725 Strip 7725 was published in the Evening Standard in July 1988. This scan is from the Glasgow Evening Times August 1988. 9061 Strip 9061 was published in the Evening Standard in November 1993. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald December 1993. Bristow refusing to work 8686a Strip 8686a was published in the Evening Standard in May 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald June 1992. 8739 Strip 8739 was published in the Evening Standard in July 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald August 1992. 8774 Strip 8774 was published in the Evening Standard in September 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald October 1992. Bristow depressed/ suicidal 6290 Strip 6290 was published in the Evening Standard in November 1982. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald December 1982. 8609a Strip 8609a was published in the Evening Standard in January 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald February 1992. 8611 Strip 8611 was published in the Evening Standard in January 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald March 1992. 8619 Strip 8619 was published in the Evening Standard in February 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald March 1992. In the early years Bristow was ambitious, determined to get ahead of his fellow clerks, known as the man in touch with all the office gossip, always with a witty comment or clever put-down. The change in character is not in keeping; fortunately the tone improved considerably in the late 1990s and thence on FrankDickens.com. The Ugly There are a few examples of syndicated strips that defy belief - clearly redrawn by people who couldn't draw, did not know anything about Bristow or indeed anything about cartoons. I surmise that something went wrong with the transmission of the pictures so somebody dictated the text over the phone and the night porter, or some inebriated subeditor drew a cartoon at the other end. 6061 Strip 6061 was published in the Evening Standard in December 1981. This is a scan from microfiche. was published in the Evening Standard on 30/12/81 and a mangled version Strip 6061 was published in the Evening Standard on 30 December 1981. This scan is from a version drawn by someone else in the Glasgow Evening Times published the same day. in GET on same day but with a different number (GET did sometimes change the numbers when they followed a different sequence. 7753 Strip 7753 was published in the Evening Standard in September 1988. This scan is from the Glasgow Evening Times September 1988. is not only drawn appallingly badly but the speech bubble in the first frame is pointing to the wrong speaker! And whoever drew this has never seen Fudge. This beauty 7765a was published in the Evening Standard in September 1988. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald October 1988. has a "signature" but it is not Dickens' own (unless he was not in full possession of all faculties when he drew it). 8691b Strip 8691b was published in the Evening Standard in May 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald June 1992. and 8717 Strip 8717 was published in the Evening Standard in June 1992. This scan is from the Sydney Morning Herald July 1992. have identical text. Both were published in SMH, the second within a month of the first, (and by implication in the ES as well) Did Dickens drawn them both? It doesn't look like it. Even the signatures vary. Top