The Wonder

The third incarnation of The Wonder #1582, 1947

The Wonder was the name of several weeklies published by Alfred Harmsworth and the Amalgamated Press, some running simultaneously after a bewildering array of relaunching and renaming. Also published at various times as The Funny Wonder, The Wonder and Jester, The Jester and Wonder, The Jester, The Jolly Jester, The Penny Wonder and The Halfpenny Wonder. I think I've more or less disentangled the publishing history.

First series

The first series of The Wonder was published by Alfred Harmsworth, pre-AP, beginning on 30 July 1892. It was renamed The Funny Wonder on 27 January 1893, and ran until 25 May 1901. Strips included:

• "Chubblock Homes (Jack Butler Yeats, 1894-97)
• "Convict 9999" (Jack Butler Yeats, 1899)
• "Ephraim Broadbeamer" (Jack Butler Yeats, 1898)
• "Hiram B. Boss" (Jack Butler Yeats, 1897)
• "Mrs Spiker's Boarding House" (Jack Butler Yeats, 1896)

Second series

A second incarnation of The Wonder was launched as a story paper on 16 November 1901. It was relaunched as a comic, The Wonder and Jester, on 10 May 1902. It then became The Jester and Wonder on 24 May 1902, The Jester on 27 January 1912, The Jolly Jester on 25 December 1920, and finally back to The Wonder on 23 February 1924. It ran until 18 February 1940, after which it was merged into The Funny Wonder, which is what the third incarnation of The Wonder was called at that time. Editors who worked on it included Stanley Gooch and Sid Bicknell. Strips included:

• "Ali Opp" (1940, John L. Jukes)
• "Basil and Bert" (1923-40, Don Newhouse and Roy Wilson)
• "Bob the Pet Navvy" (1903-06, George E. Studdy)
• "The Bunsey Boys" (1901-06)
• "Cholly and Gawge" (1902-03, Fitzpatrick)
• "Constable Cuddlecook" (1909-40, G. M. Payne)
• "George the Jolly Gee-Gee" (1940, Roy Wilson)
• "Gus Grit" (1932-35, Frank Minnitt)
• "Henry Hawkins" (Julius Stafford Baker
• "Jessie Joy" (1923-32, Bertie Brown)
• "Juliet the Office Girl" (Vincent S. Daniel)
• "Larry the Larky Legionnaire" (1932-39, Reg Parlett)
• "Len Little and Harry Long" (1923, Freddie Crompton)
• "Lizzie and her Comical Courtiers" (1928-40, Reg Parlett)
• "Moonlight Moggie" (1909-25, Bertie Brown)
• "Our Screen Screams" (1935-37, Reg Parlett)
• "Popgun Pete" (1939-40, John Jukes)
• "Reggie Rambler" (Freddie Adkins)
• "Rip and Van Winkle" (1922-26, Wally Robertson)
• "Sandy and Dusty" (1928-32, George Wakefield)
• "Seezum and Squeezum" (1924-31, Bertie Brown
• "Uncle Squibs and his Naughty Nibs" (1928-32, Bill Radford)

Third series

In the meantime, another title, The Penny Wonder, was launched on 10 January 1912. It was renamed The Wonder on 4 January 1913, The Halfpenny Wonder on 21 March 1914, and then The Funny Wonder on 19 December 1914. In incorporated the second incarnation of The Wonder on 18 May 1940, and was renamed The Wonder again on 30 May 1942. It ran until 12 September 1953, after which it was merged into Radio Fun. Strips included:

• "Ben and Bert the Kid Cops" (John L. Jukes)
• "Billy Muggins" (1944-46, Roy Wilson)
• "Charlie Chaplin" (Bertie Brown)
• "Chubblock Homes" (Jack Butler Yeats)
• "Dodger and Diddle" (1949-53, Roy Wilson)
• "George the Jolly Gee-Gee" (1944-48, Roy Wilson)
• "Happy Bob Harriday" (1953, George Heath)
• "Hook, Line and Sinker" (1949-53, Roy Wilson)
• "Little Elf" (George Parlett)
• "Marmaduke and his Ma" (Freddie Crompton)
• "Mississippi Max" (Freddie Adkins)
• "Nap and his Bonny Bodyguard" (Reg Parlett)
• "Our Kinema Couple" (Bertie Brown)
• "Pitch and Toss" (Joe Hardman)
• "Private Muggins" (Roy Wilson)
• "Professor Noodle's Natty Noodles" (Don Newhouse)
• "Ronnie Roy" (Harry Parlett)
• "Roy Rogers" (1944-52, C. Montford)
• "Sally in Our Alley" (Bertie Brown)
• "Sonny Day" (1944-49, Reg Parlett)
• "Willie and Wally" (Bertie Brown)

References

• Denis Gifford, Encyclopedia of Comic Characters, Longman, 1987
• Complete AP/Fleetway Comic Index
• Magazine Date 440, Galactic Central
• Funny Wonder on Wikipedia

External links

• Issues of The Funny Wonder and The Jester scanned at Comicbookplus