[CR]Baz cartoons

(Example: History:Norris Lockley)

Date: Wed, 30 May 2007 22:18:49 -0400
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "John Betmanis" <johnb@oxford.net>
Subject: [CR]Baz cartoons

About a year ago I enquired on the list about the Baz comic strip by Johnny Helms I remember from Cycling magazine in the UK. I was looking for the cartoons on the web or available in book form. While some were familiar with the character, I got no leads, other than to check with the current magazine, Cycling Weekly. I did send an email to an address I found on their website, but got no response. Well, I did another search for "Johnny Helms" a week ago and found a book of Baz cartoons, just recently published, on the Cycling Weekly books website, which I promptly ordered and have started reading today. For those of you who don't know, these are comic strips and cartoons about the exploits and misadventures of Baz, a typical British club cyclist of the vintage era. Helms was a clubman and time trialist himself, so his depictions are very accurate. Helms drew the cartoons from 1946 until 2006, according to the book (but since I don't get Cycling Weekly, I couldn't tell you if they still appear today). I left the UK in 1956 and it appears Helms created another character by the name of Honk to appeal to the next generation. Anyway, those of you who enjoyed the 1955 UK cycling club Youtube clip would find this book really funny.

Here's a link to where I purchased the book: http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=640

John Betmanis
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada