First Issue: 18th January 1879
Last Issue: January 1967
Copyright: Religious Tract Society
The rationale behind the creation of “The Boy’s Own Paper” was similar to that of the Reverend Marcus Morris when he formulated the idea of ‘The Eagle’. The Religious Tract Society were looking to create a more wholesome comic with underlying Christian values in response to the popularity of the so called ‘Penny Dreadfuls’ of the time.
With Andrew Hutchinson, at the helm as the editor, “The Boy’s Own Paper” or BOP soon became popular due to its focus on science and essay competitions. BOP was also popular because of its , natural history articles, adventure stories and puzzles. Contributors included the likes of Jules Verne and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
“The Boys’ Own” survived for 88 years but with strong competition from British comics and television, it finally retired in 1967 after a long and colourful life.
“The Boy’s Own Paper” First Issue Dated 18th January 1879
Andrew Buckle gives us a run through of 37 brilliant books associated with British comics / UK comics such as books by Denis Gifford and Paul Hudson.