When I Was a Lad: Billy's Boots, a Blast From the Past.

I was on Twitter X the other day, when I came across a post about the comics that were a big part of life for children back in the 1970s. The question was asked, how many did you buy? There was a picture of the comics available at the time. Not sure if it was all of them, but there were a lot. Most of them were for boys, some, like Sally, Bunty and Diana, for girls.

Here it is.

It's an impressive number. The ones that I remember buying were the Beano and Dandy. I also remember Look-in, Joe 90, Marvel and Spider-man. Most of the names here are familiar to me, and the chances are that I occasionally bought them. It has to be said, though, that I couldn't afford to buy all the ones that I probably wanted. 

I also remember buying Scorcher, mainly because it was a football comic. It ran from 1970 to 1974, my favourite character being Billy's Boots.

 

"The series concerned Billy Dane, a schoolboy and aspiring footballer, who was an extremely poor player until he discovered a pair of old style, ankle high, football boots while cleaning his grandmother's loft. The boots, which his grandfather had bought as a souvenir, had belonged, decades before, to a famous professional striker called Charles "Dead Shot" Keen. In a manner which was never explained in the story, the boots possess special abilities which turn Billy into a fantastic football player when he wore them."

 

Billy's Boots 

 

I identified with Billy because I too played in an old pair of football boots for some time. They were bought second-hand for me, probably because my dad couldn't afford to buy new ones. I don't think I was a bad player though, although it has to be said, the boots that I wore had no special powers, other than to give me blisters.

I eventually managed to get a new pair, but by then it was clear to me that I was never going to be a dead shot.