My comics were delivered weekly
from Wilde’s the newsagent on Market Street
Monday for the Victor, Thursday
for the Hotspur, the titles owned
by Thomson based in Scotland, a family
business who did not permit trade unions
or knowingly employ (Roman) Catholics
My favourite character was Alf Tupper
a runner, with humble origins
and a cheery demeanour despite
his poverty, although I also liked
a sniper who shot Germans before
returning to his unit, usually whistling
He seemed totally unaffected
by the business of killing. Other heroes
included a pilot who flew a Mosquito
with a navigator
and a Corporal, I think called Miller
who fought the Germans from the trenches
in the World War, previously
If I had remained in childhood
I would have discovered (how)
the stories would repeat themselves. At
Christmas, there were hard-backed annuals
where the stories were more self-contained,
less episodic (although the characters were
familiar)
White and British. No women, ever
Is it any wonder I became an existentialist
.
Steven Taylor
.