# Fatty Finn > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fatty_Finn > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fatty_Finn.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_Finn > Source revision: 1313021881 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Australian comic strip series}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox comic strip | fgcolor = | bgcolor = | title = Fatty Finn | image = 400px | caption = comic strip c1920s | author = Syd Nicholls | current = | url = | status = | first = 16 September 1923 | last = July 1977 | altnames = Fat and his Friends | syndicate = | publisher = | genre = Humor | rating = | preceded by = | followed by = }} '''''Fatty Finn''''' was a popular long-run Australian [comic strip](/source/comic_strip) series, created in 1923 by [Syd Nicholls](/source/Syd_Nicholls). It ran in [syndication](/source/Syndication_agency) until the creator's death in 1977. ==History== In 1923 Syd Nicholls, a senior artist at Sydney's ''Evening News'', was asked by managing editor, Errol Knox, to produce a Sunday [comic strip](/source/comic_strip) to compete with a popular strip in the rival ''Sunday Times'', the hugely popular ''[Us Fellers](/source/Ginger_Meggs)'', produced by [Jimmy Bancks](/source/Jimmy_Bancks).{{Cite web|url=http://www.takver.com/history/nicholls.htm|title=Syd Nicholls - radical comic artist|publisher=takver.com|work=Radical Tradition|date=30 April 1999|accessdate=20 October 2011}} Knox reportedly requested a "domestic strip" stating that "The Sunday Times and Sunday Sun are both running a colour comic and we have to do something to compete".{{Cite web|url=http://www.gingermeggs.com/history.htm|title=Ginger Meggs - History|last=Foyle|first=Lindsay|publisher=GingerMeggs.com|accessdate=20 October 2011|archive-date=27 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927173130/http://www.gingermeggs.com/history.htm|url-status=dead}} The strip was initially called ''Fat and His Friends'' and was first published in the ''Sunday News'' on 16 September 1923.{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |id2=nicholls-sydney-wentworth-syd-11235|title=Nicholls, Sydney Wentworth (Syd) (1896–1977)|last=Foyle|first=Lindsay|year=2000|accessdate=20 October 2011}}{{Cite book|title=Panel By Panel: an Illustrated History of Australian Comics|author=John Ryan|publisher=Cassell|year=1979|pages=26–27|isbn=0-7269-7376-9}} Fat appeared as a [Billy Bunter](/source/Billy_Bunter)ish almost bald, nasty schoolboy, complete with [straw boater](/source/straw_boater). Fat was usually the butt of his friend's jokes, with those early strips exhibiting much of the cruelty practised by children and reflecting a school system which believed in [corporal punishment](/source/corporal_punishment). In August 1924 the title of the strip was changed to ''Fatty Finn'', heralding a change in the strip's direction and the role of the main character, who evolved from an English boy lookalike into a knockabout [schoolboy](/source/schoolboy) innocently living out his days in a never-never urban world. Over the next few years, Fatty gradually lost weight, gained a [Boy Scout](/source/Boy_Scout) style uniform, a dog ('Pal'), a goat ('Hector') and permanent supporting characters including Headlights Hogan, Lollylegs, Bruiser and Mr. Claffey the policeman. Fatty adopted a more heroic role and the comic moved closer to the standard 'kid' strip with a distinct Australian flavour. In the opinion of Paul Byrnes, the curator of the [National Film and Sound Archive](/source/National_Film_and_Sound_Archive), "Fatty Finn is highly influenced by [C. J. Dennis](/source/C._J._Dennis)’ classic story of a [sentimental tough guy](/source/The_Sentimental_Bloke) from a poor inner-city neighbourhood. Fatty is a half-pint version of the 'Bloke' with his own 'push' of tiny would-be toughs and molls, who already have a strong sense of how the world works."{{Cite web|url=http://aso.gov.au/titles/features/kid-stakes/notes/ |title=The Kid Stakes - Curator Notes|publisher=[National Film and Sound Archive](/source/National_Film_and_Sound_Archive)|work=Australian Screen|accessdate=20 October 2011}} John Ryan, in his Australian Comic [anthology](/source/anthology), ''Panel by Panel'', describes the strip as by the late 1920s having become the most visually pleasing strip in the country.{{Blockquote|Nicholls' fine draftmanship and experimentation with long sweeping panels and tall, column-like frames were complemented by vibrant colouring.|John Ryan}} ''Fatty Finn'' came to be recognised as one of the best-drawn comics in Australia and vied with ''[Ginger Meggs](/source/Ginger_Meggs)'' in popularity. ''Fatty Finn'', although better drawn than ''Ginger Meggs'', was less humorous, and ultimately less successful.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/nlanews/1996/jun96/story-5.pdf|title=From Fatty Finn to the Phantom|last=Nugent|first=Anne|publisher=[National Library of Australia](/source/National_Library_of_Australia)|date=June 1996|accessdate=20 October 2011}} Nicholls however became frustrated with the limitations of the strip and on 10 June 1928 he introduced an adventure theme by involving Fatty in fanciful tales of [pirate](/source/pirate)s, [cannibals](/source/Human_cannibalism) and [highwaymen](/source/highwaymen). The editor, Errol Knox, was not impressed and Nicholls reverted to the accepted style of comic. In June 1929 he introduced another adventure sequence but was again discouraged by Knox. In 1930 ''The Sunday News'' was amalgamated with ''The Sunday Guardian'' (which had become the home of Meggs) and the two comic characters were forced to co-exist in the one colour supplement. In 1931 Nicholls travelled to the United States returning in 1932, where having left enough to cover his absence, he continued producing ''Fatty Finn''. In May 1933 he was sacked by his then editor, [Eric Baume](/source/Eric_Baume), without explanation. The last episode of ''Fatty Finn'' to run in the ''Sunday Sun'' appeared on 18 June 1933. Nicholls subsequently teamed up with another artist, Stan Clements, to start the first ever locally produced weekly [comic book](/source/comic_book).{{Cite book|title=The Bibliography of Australian Literature, Volume 3|author1=John Arnold|author2=John Hay|publisher=University of Queensland Press|year=2007|page=536|isbn=978-0-7022-3598-6}} ''Fatty Finn's Weekly'' was launched on 20 May 1934 as a black and white eight [tabloid](/source/tabloid_(paper_size)) pages of comics and text, with a spot colour cover. Fatty Finn made an appearance and Nicholls also contributed a center spread continuity strip called "Forest of Fear". The rest of the comic featured Australian artists only, with other strips such as ''Basso the Bear'' and ''Pam and Pospsy Penguin'' by 'Hotpoint' and ''Ossie'' by George Little. While there was text below each frame, the panels contained word balloons. The ninth issue is a series of coupons - three of which made the sender a member of "Fatty Finn's Club" (complete with membership certificate and a badge). Nicholls then approached [Frank Packer](/source/Frank_Packer), who took over the publishing of the comic in November 1934. Under the new management the size of the comic increased to sixteen pages, a red tint added to the covers and centrespread, and the price increased from 1d to 2d. Packer also added a US strip, ''Brick Bradford'' but did not increase the volume of comic strips instead padding out the additional pages with text. Nicholls disagreed with the direction that the comic book was taking. The comic struggled before folding in early 1935. ''Fatty Finn'' was later published in the ''Sunday Guardian'' from 1934. When the ''Guardian'' folded the strip re-emerged in December 1951, after an absence of almost 20 years, when it appeared in the ''Sunday Herald''. In 1953 following the merger of the ''Sunday Herald'' and ''Sunday Sun and Guardian'', the strip continued in the new ''[Sun-Herald](/source/The_Sun-Herald)''. Nicholls never changed his style of drawing. For fifty years he went on drawing the strip in exactly the same 1920s style. The strip ran until Nicholls' death in 1977, with the last strip running in July 1977. ==Film adaptations== In 1927 a silent black and white film, ''[The Kid Stakes](/source/The_Kid_Stakes)'', written and directed by [Tal Ordell](/source/Tal_Ordell),{{Cite web|url=http://aso.gov.au/titles/features/kid-stakes/credits/|title=The Kid Stakes - Principal Credits|publisher=National Film & Sound Archive|work=Australian Screen|accessdate=20 October 2011}} was released featuring Fatty Finn and his goat, Hector. The film also contained a segment showing Nicolls at his drawing board, creating his famous characters. It was the first feature film to be based on an Australian comic strip. In 1980 the strip was adapted into a feature film, ''[Fatty Finn](/source/Fatty_Finn_(film))'', directed by [Maurice Murphy](/source/Maurice_Murphy_(director)) and starring [Ben Oxenbould](/source/Ben_Oxenbould) with [Rebecca Rigg](/source/Rebecca_Rigg).{{Cite web|url=http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=Number%3A6986;querytype=;rec=0;resCount=10|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707085813/http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=Number:6986;querytype=;rec=0;resCount=10|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 July 2012|title=Fatty Finn|publisher=National Film and Sound Archive|accessdate=20 October 2011}} The film grossed $1,064,000 at the box office in Australia{{Cite web|url=http://film.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/967/AA4_Aust_Box_office_report.pdf|title=Australian Films at the Australian Box Office|publisher=[Film Victoria](/source/Film_Victoria)|accessdate=20 October 2011|archive-date=9 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209075310/http://film.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/967/AA4_Aust_Box_office_report.pdf|url-status=dead}} and was nominated for seven [Australian Film Institute Awards](/source/AACTA_Awards) in 1981 winning in the categories of 'Best Achievement in Costume Design' and 'Best Original Music Score'.{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080725/awards|title=Fatty Finn - Awards|publisher=[IMDb](/source/IMDb)|accessdate=20 October 2011}} In the same year Sydney journalist and screenwriter [Bob Ellis](/source/Bob_Ellis) produced a book of the movie, ''The Adventures of Fatty Finn'' with illustrations taken from Nicholls' original drawings.{{Cite book|title=The Adventures of Fatty Finn|author=Bob Ellis|publisher=Unicorn Books|year=1980|isbn=0-207-14585-7}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * {{Cite book|title=Comics in Australia and New Zealand: The Collections, the Collectors, the Creators|author=Toby Burrows, Grant Stone|publisher=Haworth Press|year=1994|isbn=1-56024-664-2}} * {{Cite book|title=Panel By Panel: an Illustrated History of Australian Comics|author=John Ryan|publisher=Cassell|year=1979|isbn=0-7269-7376-9}} * {{Cite book|title=The World Encyclopedia of Comics Volume 6|author-link=Maurice Horn|author=Maurice Horn|publisher=Chelsea House Publishers|year=1983|isbn=978-0-87754-323-7}} * {{Cite book|title=Images of Australia: a history of Australian children's literature, 1941-1970|author=Henry Saxby|publisher=Scholastic Press|year=2002|isbn=1-86504-277-3}} Category:Australian comic strips Category:Australian comics titles Category:1923 comics debuts Category:1977 comics endings Category:Gag-a-day comics Category:Adventure comics Category:Male characters in comics Category:Child characters in comics Category:Fictional Australian people Category:Australian comics characters Category:Scouting in popular culture Category:Comics about children Category:Comics set in schools Category:Australian comics adapted into films --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fatty Finn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_Finn) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_Finn?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.