Calamity James is a comic strip in the UK comic ''

The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'', also known as ''Beano'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it became the world's longest-runn ...

''. It is about a boy, named Calamity James (a pun on

Calamity Jane Martha Jane Cannary (May 1, 1852 – August 1, 1903), better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, sharpshooter, and storyteller. In addition to many exploits she was known for being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok. Late ...

), who has disastrous luck. He first appeared on 1 November 1986, in issue no. 2311. A copy of his first strip is viewable here. His strip replaced

Biffo the Bear Biffo the Bear is a fictional character from the British comic magazine ''The Beano'' who stars in the comic strip of the same name, created in 1948 by Dudley D. Watkins. He was the mascot of The Beano for several decades. Background Biffo's c ...

and

Little Plum Little Plum (full name revealed to be Little Plum Stealing Varmint) is a British humoristic western comics series about a little Native American, originally created by Leo Baxendale and published in the magazine ''The Beano''. Concept The epon ...

, which had both been reduced to a half-page by this time. He has a pet called Alexander Lemming, (a pun on

Alexander Fleming Sir Alexander Fleming (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish physician and microbiologist, best known for discovering the world's first broadly effective antibiotic substance, which he named penicillin. His discovery in 1928 of w ...

Creation and Concept

There were several variations of the visual appearance of Calamity James before a final image was decided on. Calamity James has black hair, wears black trousers, and has a red jumper with the number 13 on it. He has big eyes, and many buck teeth, but he originally had small eyes and only two buck teeth. In earlier strips, he was also shown under a permanent black rain cloud. According to the 4 December 2014 issue of the Beano, he has a crush on

Minnie the Minx Minnie the Minx, whose real name is Hermione Makepeace is a comic strip character published in the British comic magazine ''The Beano''. Created and originally drawn by Leo Baxendale, she first appeared in issue 596, dated 19 December 1953, ma ...

and hopes to become her boyfriend one day. The strip features much surreal and incidental background detail, with various recurring themes: notably the "Little Squelchy Things" which appear in a wide variety of guises and tend to be visual gags, though they may take part in the story (for instance, James may trip over one), randomly placed smelly socks and a constant scatter of winning lottery tickets, notes with a large sum of money on them, diamonds, gold bars, and bags with 'Vast Dosh' written on them which James walks past yet somehow never manages to notice. Once, when he was complaining about his lack of money, Alex told him to look around (he was surrounded by one of each of the above), as if he had just noticed them, but then it turns out he was referring to busking. Another recurring feature is the appearance of bizarrely-named factories and other buildings, such as "Lumpy Custard Factory" and "Knicker Elastic Testing Sheds", that appear in the background throughout the strips (all accompanied by appropriate sounds).

Tom Paterson Tom Paterson is a Scottish comic artist who drew characters for Fleetway in 1973–1990, and D.C Thomson from 1986 to 2012. As of 2013, he currently draws strips for Viz. He lives in Leith, with three children, and is a Hearts supporter. Ta ...

has been the main artist for the strip, although Steve Bright has drawn it on occasions, and

Bob Dewar Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States * Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...

ghosted the strip in the 1980s.

John Geering John Keith Geering (9 March 1941 – 13 August 1999) was a British cartoonist with a distinctive, occasionally flamboyant style, most famous for his work for DC Thomson comics including '' Sparky'', '' The Topper'', '' Cracker'', '' Plug'', '' ...

and Henry Davies drew some preliminary sets for the character before he first appeared in the comic. He hasn't appeared as regularly as some other characters, as Paterson has also drawn other strips for the same comic including

The Numskulls ''The Numskulls'' is a comic strip in ''The Beano'', and previously in ''The Beezer'' and ''The Dandy'' – UK comics owned by D.C Thomson. The strip is about a team of tiny human-like technicians who live inside the heads of various people, ...

and Dennis the Menace.

Alexander Lemming

James' long-suffering

lemming A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also includ ...

friend and pet, who rarely has as much bad luck as his owner. One of Alexander's hobbies is plummeting from great heights, which often helps James overcome his fate. He also tends to anoint James with balm or ointment if he gets hurt. In one strip, James gave his shirt to Alexander Lemming, and he had a day of bad luck and James had a day of good luck. Soon, Alexander got fed up with the jumper and gave it back. This credits the belief that James' number 13 is a source of his bad luck. As loyal a friend as he seems to be, he rather seems to enjoy watching his friend suffer. His name is a play on "

", the famous biologist and discoverer of

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum using ...

Timeline

1 November 1986 Calamity James debuts in the comic. Issue No. 2311 22 November 1986 James' pet, Alexander Lemming, debuts. Issue No. 2314 29 October 1988 "Little Squelchy Things" debut. Issue No. 2415 c.1989 James' eyes were enlarged and he was given more buckteeth. 1993 The strip is rendered in full colour 1997 the strip is digitally rendered in brighter, shinier colour 2001 Tom Paterson takes over Minnie the Minx. By 2003 this, and Paterson's other work for D.C. Thomson, means that James begins to appear on an increasingly infrequent basis. 2004 Steve Bright draws several strips during the year. Of the James strips in 2004, 11 were drawn by Paterson and 8 were drawn by Bright. 2007 the strip is retired, as Tom Paterson starts drawing Dennis the Menace. His final appearance in the weekly comic came in Issue No. 3375. 31 October 2009 James's strip makes a surprise reappearance in the weekly Beano. Issue No. 3507. 7 November 2012 James' strip returns permanently. Issue No. 3660.

Reception and legacy

Due to the artwork and humour of the character, as well as his relatability, Calamity James has been regarded as a classic British Comic character. The scripts behind the strip commonly satirise consumerist values, which may be held by the writer. Some readers, such as George Gale see James' misfortunes as a cruel punishments for him being poor, ugly and stupid, whilst others relate to his misfortunes and can see themselves in such positions. James can be seen as a symbol of inspiration, because even though everything in his life seems to end badly, he always tries to lead a normal life. As the ''Beano'' editor Alan Digby was not keen on the strip, Calamity James gradually appeared less frequently, became reprints and was eventually dropped. However, ex-Beano editor

Euan Kerr ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'', also known as ''Beano'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it became the world's longest-run ...

, who had played a significant role in the creation of the character, was editing the monthly

BeanoMax ''EPIC Magazine'' (Previously known as ''Dennis the Menace and Gnasher's EPIC Magazine'' (2014–2016), ''100% Official Dennis the Menace and Gnasher Megazine'' (2013–2014) and ''BeanoMAX'' (2007–2013)) was a monthly British comic magazine ...

, which he continued to appear in, although Digby has since become editor of that publication. He has appeared as reprints, both in the weekly Beano and BeanoMax and returns in new strips in the

Beano Annual ''The Beano Annual'' is the current name of the book that has been published every year since 1939, to tie in with the children's comic ''The Beano''. there have been 84 editions. The annuals are traditionally published in July or August, in t ...

s. Because of his goalkeeping mishaps, English goalkeeper David James has been nicknamed after the character.

External links

Beanotown

References

{{Beano Beano strips 1986 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1986 Gag-a-day comics Children's comics Child characters in comics Male characters in comics British comics British comics characters Black comedy comics