’lithers of Glesga, hear my plea!
As you may or may not know, one of GM’s earliest published comics was his weekly “Captain Clyde” strip of which he wrote and drew about 150 episodes from November 1st 1979 to November 5th 1982. It was published in three papers at first - Govan Press, Renfrew Press and Clydebank Press - but the latter two dropped the strip at the beginning of its third year. The publishing house later went into bankruptcy so I suppose their archive no longer exists, and it is far from certain that GM himself is still in possession of the original art. A recent casual enquiry by a colleague of mine at the Mitchell Library seemingly suggests that they haven’t archived these crucial volumes of the Govan Press! This I take as serious indication that the Captain might be in danger of falling into oblivion. I for one would love to see this strip reprinted but that may never happen if there is no longer a complete run of the Govan Press issues. Thus I wanted to ask if any of you has any idea what could be done here (e.g., is there a library or any other local institution in Govan which might still have these volumes?) or might even be inclined to lend a helping hand (I’d even be willing to finance the research!)? Let me know, Glaswegians, and don’t forget your dying Captain. |
