[Daley Mayle]

Oh, and while I'm at it my wife had a golliwog when she was a child as did my daughter. When a kiddywink I collected marmalade labels and collected golliwog badges. Never once did any of us associate golliwogs with black people until we were told we should be outraged at them - probably 30 years ago. Comics contained cartoons that depicted Arabs as stereotypes, I'm thinking Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Dandy? I can't remember), but I never associated them with people from Arabia or any foreigner.

I recall black kids being called golliwogs only to well along with little black Sambo, as read to us by primary school teachers. This was in a country where the BBC saw fit to introduce Minstrels onto prime time TV around about the time that Martin Luther King had a dream.

But I suppose this is all hindsight. I came across some old Warlord and Battle comics in which the British were single handedly winning WW2 way into the 70s. Lets just say the Japanese did not come out too well. To be fair around about the late 70s British comic artist were moving quite rapidly to challenge militarist and imperialist attitudes that permeated post-war children's comics. Although the anti-Fascist satire of Judge Dredd may have escaped me until my teens.

Ah, Captain Hurricane and his Raging Furies. When in a strop he could bend the barrel of a Hun's tank with one hand.

I didn't believe that either. I still call Germans either Krauts or the Boche but only in a post-modern ironic way.

[Big Rob]

In the US black people are associated with fried chicken, Kool-aid drink, watermelon and cornbread.

Stereotypes are enforced over here although golliwogs have disappeared.

[youngian]

Pat Mills is probably more responsible that anyone for changing the tone of British comics. He created a more thoughtful comic strip for Battle; Charleys War about a naive working class 16 yr old finding himself in the horror of WW1 trenches. He went on to start Action which caused such a hoo har with the tabloids and Mary Whitehouse that IPC closed it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_%28comics%29" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mills and his colleagues then reinvented it in the future with 2000AD. Mills's co-creator for Judge Dredd was Carlos Ezquerra a Spanish refugee who based a lot of the Mega City's Fascist regalia on the pomp of the Franco regime.

Their most interesting work was a spin off comic Crisis which had a unashamed radical polemic that any left wing parent would be pleased to see their kids reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_%28Fleetway%29" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Andy McDandy]

Charley's War is indeed excellent. Mills was heavily influenced by stories airbrushed from the 'official' history of WW1, such as the Etaples mutiny and Percy Toplis. In one storyline he highlighted the role of the French Foreign Legion and Senegalese troops at Verdun, and in the series finale covered the Russan civil war, where British troops were sent straight after the armistice to fight for the White Russians. It didn't end well.

The last episode ends with an unemployed Charley in 1933 musing that at least his son will be spared the horrors of war, just as Hitler is proclaimed chancellor of Germany. It was bold stuff, still is.

[Waterstones]

And who else was in charge in 1933? oh that's right's Ramsay Macdonald

[Andy McDandy]

Heading a coalition government and fuck off troll.

[Waterstones]

And seen as a turncoat for a very long time by the Labour Party whose a cunt now eh?

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Like Andy said.

[The Weeping Angel]

And seen as a turncoat for a very long time by the Labour Party whose a cunt now eh?

you are

[davidjay]

Somebody please explain to me. What in the name of fuck and all the gods of carnality has the identity of the British prime minister in 1933 got to do with Hitler becoming Chancellor?

[Lord Brett]

With the best will in the world, Ramsey Macdonald was hardly seen as representative of left wing and progressive opinion in 1933, never mind in 2013.

[davidjay]

With the best will in the world, Ramsey Macdonald was hardly seen as representative of left wing and progressive opinion in 1933, never mind in 2013.

And even if he was, how was he supposed to prevent Hitler getting to power - invade Germany on the off-chance? After all, he wasn't seen as particuarly dangerous then. I understand that some newspaper owners even quite liked him.

[Big Rob]

And who else was in charge in 1933? oh that's right's Ramsay Macdonald

And seen as a turncoat for a very long time by the Labour Party whose a cunt now eh?

That's just flat out trolling. No attempt to add to the discourse of the thread.