Review by Frank Plowright
1968 was the year the Daily Mirror belatedly awakened to the idea that there might be a regular market for collections of a strip popular in their newspaper since 1959. Playtime With the Perishers was their second collection that year, following Back Again to Pester Britain.
There was some catching up to do, and these strips span 1963 and 1964. Considering there has been no proper archival cataloguing of one of Britain’s greatest comedy newspaper strips there should be gratitude for these selections, but the random compilation continues to frustrate. Why weren’t the strips presented in chronological order? This collection introduces new character Fiscal Yere, yet rather than lead with his début, he’s first seen early in the collection being confounded by Wellington. Fiscal is the son of a rich family, and carries the trappings and opinions associated with the better off. Unlike previous new introduction Plain Jane, briefly seen here, he’d survive as an occasional visitor to The Perishers whenever Maurice Dodd came up with a few jokes about wealth, although gaps between appearances can be measured in years, not months.
He’s secondary to the major innovation from early 1964 seen on the sample art. Five years into the run Dennis Collins introduced what would become a signature artistic feature: the panoramic strip. Instead of being portrayed as a static conversation, the joke occurs as the children wander through an ongoing location. Collins first used the idea a few weeks earlier than the sample art, which provides a more expansive example and the hanging wheel winch in the first panel is a now endearingly archaic touch. He’ll use the background in other individual panels. The strip above shows further progress in 1964 as Wellington begins to be shown for the first time in a t-shirt during summer. There were surely days ahead when Collins cursed himself for the complicated design, although a nice touch is the t-shirt’s zodiac pattern reflecting Wellington’s October 25th birthday. Another sample strip features the rarity of a realistic drawing from Collins.
Dodd’s clever wordplay, comedy timing and imaginative mind results in strips still funny today. These can range from the obvious, yet brilliantly timed disasters stemming from Marlon not understanding a particular word, to the absurdity of Wellington attempting to replace the oil taken from the Earth and the surreal bottled jokes. Boot continues to confound the intellect and expectation, while Maisie’s twin passions of money and popularity strike as especially contemporary. Having had Baby Grumpling talk for the first time in the previous collection, Dodd here introduces the idea of his being the smartest of the bunch. It’s noticeable that with this selection Dodd is doing more than reflecting the passing seasons, as there are several references to specific dates.
As before, strips this old feature dated references such as the pubs being closed on Sundays. On the other hand, a comment about crowded trains is as relevant today as it was then, now reading as a trenchant comment on pitiful political will over the past sixty years. Of note to the committed fan, though, is the naming of the holiday spot the Perishers visit every year. Once and once only, it’s called Sludgemouth. With the current state of English river pollution it’s more apt than ever.
Playtime With the Perishers is two masters at work hitting top form. Some strips were later reprinted in the first Perishers Omnibus, as were a few from the following collection Flat Out With the Perishers.
