Calamity James

Calamity James is a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano. It is about a boy, named Calamity James, (a pun on Calamity Jane) who has disastrous luck. He first appeared on November 1, 1986, in issue no. 2311. A copy of his first strip is viewable here. His strip replaced Biffo the Bear and Little Plum, which had both been reduced to a half page by this time. He has a pet called Alexander Lemming, (a pun on Alexander Fleming). There were several variations of the visual appearance of Calamity James before a final image was decided on. ^[1]. Calamity James has black hair, wears black trousers, and has a red jumper with the number 13 on it. He has big eyes, and lots of buckteeth, but in his early days, he had small eyes and only two buckteeth. In earlier strips he was also shown under a permanent black rain cloud. His shirt with the number 13 on it could well be the source of his bad luck.

A distinctive feature of the strip is its cluttered appearance, with much surreal and incidental background detail. Various themes recur; notably the "Little Squelchy Things" which appear in a wide variety of guises and tend to be visual gags, though they may take part in the story (for instance, James may trip over one), and a constant scatter of winning lottery tickets, notes with a large sum of money on them, diamonds, gold bars, and bags with 'Vast Dosh' written on them which James walks past yet somehow never manages to notice. Once, when he was complaining about his lack of money, Alex told him to look around (he was surrounded by one of each of the above), as if he had just noticed them, but then it turns out he was referring to busking. Another recurring feature is the appearance of bizarrely-named factories and other buildings, such as "Lumpy Custard Factory" and "Knicker Elastic Testing Sheds", that appear in the background throughout the strips.

The script behind the strip commonly satirise consumerist values, which may be held by the writer.^[2]

Tom Paterson has been the main artist for the strip, although Steve Bright has drawn it on occasions, and Bob Dewar ghosted the strip in the 1980s. John Geering and Henry Davies drew some preliminary sets for the character before he first appeared in the comic. He hasn't appeared as regularly as some other characters, as Paterson has also drawn other strips for the same comic including Minnie the Minx, The Numskulls and Dennis the Menace, though he only started drawing the latter after James was axed.

As the current Beano editor Alan Digby wasn't so keen on the strip, Calamity James gradually appeared less frequently, became reprints and was eventually dropped. However, ex-Beano editor Euan Kerr, who had played a significant role in the creation of the character, was now editing the monthly BeanoMax, which he continued to appear in, although Digby has since become editor of that publication. Recently, he has mainly appeared as reprints, both in the weekly Beano and BeanoMax. He made a surprise return to The Beano in issue no. 3507, again as a reprint.

Alexander Lemming

James' long-suffering lemming friend and pet, Alexander used to have just as much bad luck as James, although now he is rather normal and does not have any bad luck. One of Alexander's hobbies is plummeting from great heights, which often helps James overcome his fate. He also tends to anoint James with balm or ointment if he gets hurt. In one strip, James gave his shirt to Alexander Lemming, and he had a day of bad luck and James had a day of good luck. Soon, Alexander got fed up with the jumper and gave it back. This credits the belief that James' number 13 is a source of his bad luck. As loyal a friend as he seems to be, he rather seems to enjoy watching his friend suffer.^[3]

Squlchies

According to Professor Alexander's Guide to Squelchies, there are the following types of Squelchy:

• Common Little Squelchy Thingy
• Little Specky Squelchy Thingy
• Little Hairy Squelchy Thingy
• Little Baby Squelchy Thingy
• Little Pimply Squelchy Thingy
• Little Scottish Squelchy Thingy
• Little Very Squelchy Little Squelchy Thingy
• Little Viking Squelchy Thingy
• Very Rude Little Squelchy Thingy
• Rather Posh Little Squelchy Thingy
• Little Pig-nosed Squelchy Thingy
• Little Flying Squelchy Thingy
• Brainy Little Egghead Squelchy Thingy
• Little Froggy Squelchy Thingy
• Very Shy Little Squelchy Thingy
• Evil Little Vampire Squelchy Thingy
• Microscopic Little Squelchy Thing
• Gluttonous Little Squelchy Thingy
• A Dead Mysterious Little Squelchy Thingy
• Daft Little Bounching Squelchy Thingy
• Little Squelchy Thingy That Goes "neep neep!"
• Little Accident-prone Squelchy Thingy
• Little Squelchy Thingy With The "Windy Pops"
• Little Squelchy Thingy With a Very Silly Hat
• Little Squelchy Thingy With an Even Sillier Hat
• Little Squelchy Thingy With an Appalling Taste in neckwear
• Little Squelchy Thingy With a lisp
• Very Confused Little Squelchy Thingy
• Very Little Cheeky Squelchy Thingy

Interpretations of Calamity James

Some readers, such as George Gale see James' misfortunes as a cruel punishments for him being poor, ugly and stupid^[4], whilst others can relate to his misfortunes and see themselves in that position themselves. James can be seen as a symbol of inspiration, because even though everything in his life seems to end badly, he always tries to lead a normal life.

Timeline

1 November 1986 Calamity James debuts in the comic. Issue No. 2311

22 November 1986 James' pet, Alexander Lemming, debuts. Issue No. 2314

29 October 1988 "Little Squelchy Things" debut. Issue No. 2415

Around 1989 James is changed slightly in appearance, including bigger eyes, and more buckteeth.

1993 The strip is rendered in full colour

1997 the strip is digitally rendered in brighter, shinier colour

2004 Steve Bright draws several strips during the year. Of the James strips in 2004, 11 were drawn by Paterson and 8 were drawn by Bright.

2007 the strip is retired, as Tom Paterson starts drawing Dennis the Menace. His final appearance in the weekly comic came in Issue No. 3375.

31 October 2009 James's strip makes a surprise reappearance in the weekly Beano. Issue No. 3507.

David James

Because of his goalkeeping mishaps, England goalkeeper David James also gained himself the nickname Calamity James^[5].

External links

• Beanotown
• DeviantArt Fan-artist impression
• A child's drawing of Calamity James
• [1] Calamity James Teeth]
• Examples of Calamity James comic strips

References