SHOOT! CELEBRATES 50 YEARS - IS IT REALLY THAT OLD?

Copyright LITTLE BROTHER BOOKS

Given my finely-honed, athletic physique (and I surely deserve a BLUE PETER badge for typing that with a semi-straight face), it may come as a surprise to some of you that I was never the sporty type.  Any activity that requires more effort than lifting an arm to stuff a choccie biccie in my gob and then washing it down with a nice cuppa char is anathema to me.  Not even remotely interested in football, never have been, but when I was a youth, I bought at least the first few issues of SHOOT!, SCORCHER, and SCORE simply because they were new comics.  (Must confess, though, that I did like the BILLY'S BOOTS comic strip in Scorcher.)

"So why bother us with that revelation?" you may be asking.  Well, I was in HOME BARGAINS several days ago and noticed that they had the Shoot! Annual for 2020, and that it was celebrating 50 years of the title, which first came out in 1969.  I thumbed through it and put it back on the shelf as it contained nothing that appealed to me, but later, on reflection, I decided to buy a copy if there were any left the next time I was in.  Well, I was in today, took another quick gander through it and nearly put it back on the shelf again, but then I noticed two pages which look back at the history of the comic, with a pic of the first issue's cover.  That decided me, so as it was only £2.99 (supposed to be £7.99) and was a celebration of a comic I read as a 10 year-old, I forked out the dosh for it and brought it home with me.

I've taken another tour through it and my opinion is still the same - it's a rubbish Annual for anyone who isn't into footie (and could well be for those who are), but it takes me back in my mind 50 years to when I was still a primary school pupil.  It mentions another book, 50 YEARS Of SHOOT!, which I see The WORKS is selling for the reduced price of £8, but I don't think I'll bother with that one.  It's a shame that neither of these publications have any comic strips in them, which in my humble estimation would've improved them no end, but nobody had the foresight to ask my advice when they were being prepared.  To be honest, I don't remember if the comic had any comic strips anyway - apart from one which I can recall not a jot about.

Anyway, if you're a footie fan, you may be of a different opinion in regard to these two books, so Home Bargains and The Works are your next port of call if you want to acquire them for less than the price they should be.  If you get them and find that you disagree with my assessment of them, feel free to return and register your dissent in the comments section. 

Posted in: Cartoons