This is "Look Back," a brand-new feature that I plan to do for at least all of 2019 and possibly beyond that (and possibly forget about in a week, who knows?). The concept is that every weekend (I'll probably be skipping the four fifth weeks in the year, but maybe not) of a month, I will spotlight a single issue of a comic book that came out in the past and talk about that issue in terms of a larger scale (like the series overall, etc.). Each week will be a look at a comic book from a different year that came out the same month X amount of years ago. The first weekend of the month looks at a book that came out this month ten years ago. The second weekend looks at a book that came out this month 25 years ago. The third weekend looks at a book that came out this month 50 years ago. The fourth weekend looks at a book that came out this month 75 years ago.

This week, we look at The Beano #222 from January 1944.

There is an apocryphal quote from Winston Churchill where he responded to a request to cut funding for the arts during World War II to help with the war effort that he wouldn't do that, as if they did that, “Then what are we fighting for?” That's not true, but it is fair to say that Churchill WAS a supporter of the arts. In 1938, he noted, “The arts are essential to any complete national life. The State owes it to itself to sustain and encourage them….Ill fares the race which fails to salute the arts with the reverence and delight which are their due.”

Of course, saying that in 1938 and saying that in 1944 is a whole other thing. However, it is fair to say that the arts really ARE quite important during times of war, as they give the people something to distract themselves from the horrors of the war. There is a very good reason why superhero comics BOOMED during the war, as people wanted an escape.

Similarly, in England, the weekly humor magazine, The Beano, was a perfect example of giving the kids of England something to distract themselves from the war.

Interestingly, though, The Beano was reduced to a bi-weekly during the war due to paper rations. Still, the comics remained influential during the era. From a collection of stories about the war, one man recalled:

When we went to school you were not allowed to wear long trousers until you reached the age of 14, short trousers were the normal thing to wear, and when your backside became thread bare you would have the hole covered up with what we called ‘our jimmy and his magic patch’, named from one of the comics (Dandy or The Beano, not sure which). Nothing like kids of today, who have patches sewn on thinking its ‘cool’ - as they call themselves. If your patch came adrift slightly, the other lads would delight in pulling it off so your bare backside could be seen, laughing at your predicament. No underpants then, you had to sit in school until a repair could be done on them.

The character he is referring to is James and his Magic Patch.

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Written and drawn by Dudley D. Watkins, James and his Magic Patch debuted in The Beano #222. The concept of the strip was that Jimmy saved an old woman's cat from a dog. She turned out to have an affinity for magic. During his rescue, Jimmy tore his trousers. The woman used a piece of a magic carpet to fix his pants. Now, whenever Jimmy touched his magic patch, he would transport anywhere he wanted and, most importantly, any TIME he wanted!

Naturally, Jimmy used it for lots of time travel adventures.

Here's a two-parter from the end of January 1944 into February that involves Jimmy traveling back to meet Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves!

If the images aren't clear enough, you can click here for a larger version of Page 1, here for a larger version of Page 2, here for a larger version of Page 3 and here for a larger version of Page 4.

The strip continued throughout the end of the 1940s and then Paddy Brennan revived it during the 1950s. I don't believe anyone's done anything with it for the past 50 years or so, though.

Okay, that's it for January! If you have any suggestions for February (or any other later months) 2009, 1994, 1969 and 1944 comic books for me to spotlight, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com! Here is the guide, though, for the cover dates of books so that you can make suggestions for books that actually came out in the correct month. For the 75 and 50 year old comics, the cover date is three months ahead of the actual release date (so May for a book that came out in February) while the 25 and 10 year old comics have a cover date that is two months ahead of the actual release date (so April for a book that came out in February). Obviously, it is easier to tell when a book from 10 years ago was released, since there was internet coverage of books back then.