Publication Dates: 1988
Color: Black and White
Dimensions: 226 mm x 280 mm
Paper Stock: Newsprint
Binding: Saddle-stitched
Publishing Format: Ongoing Series
Reprints material from other Fleetway Publications: Buster, Cheeky, COR!!, Jackpot, Krazy, Monster Fun, Whizzer and Chips, Whoopee, and Wow
Big Comic Fortnightly run from 1987-1994. Not sure how many issues at present. BUT THERE WAS AT LEAST 158 Issues for sure. Maybe more. Let you know when I have a definite answer how many issues. Big Comic Annuals were a total of 8 from 1987-1994 for sure.
Big Comic Fortnightly was launched in June 1988. It was another addition to The Best of… family. You may well consider another Best of whilst other’s were running slightly odd, but Big Comic Fortnightly had a fairly extensive run through to 1994.
Possibly the strength in Big Comic was the fact it also brought back some of the strips from “dead” Fleetway comics like Krazy and Jackpot. Big Comic also tried to find the first strip for many characters so that you could see how the stories began.
Like The Best of Buster et al, Big Comic did not have a letters page, however it did have a jokes page where you could win £2 and also a toy of some kind (whatever was in fashion at the time).
It’s worth mentioning that Big Comic was also joined by Funny Fortnightly (1st Issue released 25th March 1989) another reprint comic featuring many old Fleetway Favourites. Funny Fortnightly eventually went monthly (changing its name to Funny Monthly) before folding.
Between 1987 and 1994 Big Comic produced an Annual. Funny Fortnightly gave us an Annual in 1991 and 1992.
In 1995, Big Comic & The Best of Buster/Whoopee/Whizzer & Chips did a kind of mass merger to produce BVC.
Fleetway’s answer to Big Comic Fortnightly, The Best of Buster, Whoopee, Whizzer & Chips. All of those titles had folded, but they were rerived in this short lived spin off.
BVC launched in April 1995 and ended in November 1995 literally without warning. I remember my Dad having a meeting with Mr Gee our local newsagent about why they’d stopped saving BVC, and he said it had just finished.
It was another Best of comic, but the emphasis was now on Best of Fleetway as opposed to one comic in particular. Again most of the strips came from the late 70s and 80s, with very few strips from way way back.
BVC was the first of the Best Of… comics to feature a letters page. In the early editions the prize was a mystery. However by Issue number 7 in May 1995, they were giving away a Super Soaker 10, with a Super Soaker XP75 for the star letter each month.
The final addition to the Buster family was Buster Classics. Despite the loss of The Best of Buster and BVC, Fleetway persevered with a final comic. Buster Classics was a monthly comic launched in February 1996. Once again it featured strips from the late 70s and 80s.
It could well have been a great chance to go right back into the archives of the 1960s & early 70s, but the opportunity was never siezed. Sadly, by September 1996 it had disappeared and became part of comic history. I say sadly because it was actually quite good. The final annuals from Fleetway were back in 1994 and the likes of Young Arfur, Walt Teaser, Gums etc had only made brief appearances in BVC or Best of Buster. It was good to relive some of the golden oldies.
Each month there would be a guest star normally from Whizzer and Chips. These included the likes of Lolly Pop and Sammy Shrink to name just two.
The Buster Classics letters page looks familiar. It was exactly the same format as BVC, with a Super Soaker prize. In fact in issue 1, the letters printed were left over from BVC.
Buster Classics was the last of the spinoffs. After eight months and a small price increase, it left us and with it a good chunk of history went too. Those old Buster favourites were lost, many of them never to be seen again.
(Information thanks to Jack)
This page will be reorganized later this year
UPDATE 2024-04
Big Comic Fortnightly 078
UPDATE 2024-02
Big comic Fortnightly 024
Big Comic Fortnightly 028
Big Comic Fortnightly 030
Big Comic Fortnightly 032
Big Comic Fortnightly 041
Big Comic Fortnightly 042
Big Comic Fortnightly 043
Big Comic Fortnightly 044
Big Comic Fortnightly 047
Big Comic Fortnightly 048
Big Comic Fortnightly 049
Big Comic Fortnightly 061
big Comic Fortnightly 072
Big Comic Fortnightly 081
Big Comic Fortnightly 083
Big Comic Fortnightly 084
Big Comic Fortnightly 088
Big Comic Fortnightly 092
Big Comic Fortnightly 094
Big Comic Fortnightly 100
Big Comic Fortnightly 105
Big Comic Fortnightly 106
Big Comic Fortnightly 107
Big Comic Fortnightly 123
Big Comic Fortnightly 128
Big Comic Fortnightly 130
Big Comic Fortnightly 131
Big Comic Fortnightly 132
Big Comic Fortnightly 133
Big Comic Fortnightly 134
Big Comic Fortnightly 138
Big Comic Holiday Special 1990
Big Comic Holiday Special 1993
=========================================================
Fortnightly 1-4,8-10
Fortnightly 11,14,15,17,19,21,22
Big Comic Fortnightly 020
Big Comic Fortnightly 040
Fortnightly 25,27,29,31,33
Big Comic Fortnightly 026
Fortnightly 35,37,52,56
Big Comic Fortnightly 045
Big Comic Fortnightly 046
Fortnightly 57,58,63,70
Fortnightly 71,74,77,79
Fortnightly 80,82,85,86
Fortnightly 91,98,103,126
Big Comic Fortnightly 118
Fortnightly 127,136,145
Fortnightly 139-142
Fortnightly 143,154,155
Fortnightly 148,158,163
Big Comic Fortnightly 156,157
Big Comic Fortnightly 159
Annual 1987
Annual 1988
Annual 1989
Annual 1990
Annual 1991
Annual 1992
Annual 1993
Annual 1994
Holiday Special 1988
Big Comic Holiday Special 1989
Holiday Special 1991
Big Comic Holiday Special 1992
British Comics 
found a corrupt file at UPDATE 26-09-2016: ukbigcb02.rar (Annual 1991)
keep up the good work
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Thanks, i made a new upload and link, just forget the errors that can come up, it’s because Google Drive can’t cope with bigger files sometimes, just choose download.
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There seems to be two faulty links for Big Comic. Link for Fortnightly 14, 15 and link for Annual 1987, 1988, 1993
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Thanks for letting me know, i’ve made new links.
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This also had a sister publication, if i remember correctly, it was published on the weeks, that Big comic wasn’t.
It was called Funny Fortnightly, and as with Big Comic contained reprints from the same comics.
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Thanks for this information, i will look out for this title.
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It also became a monthly publication, and the name changed to Funny monthly, I think you have an issue of this uploaded.
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Yes indeed, under Various, a 1990 issue.
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Big Comic Fortnightly run from 1987-1994. Not sure how many issues at present. BUT THERE WAS AT LEAST 158 Issues for sure. Maybe more. Let you know when I have a definite answer how many issues. Big Comic Annuals were a total of 8 from 1987-1994 for sure.
LikeLike
Big Comic Fortnightly was launched in June 1988. It was another addition to The Best of… family. You may well consider another Best of whilst other’s were running slightly odd, but Big Comic Fortnightly had a fairly extensive run through to 1994.
Possibly the strength in Big Comic was the fact it also brought back some of the strips from “dead” Fleetway comics like Krazy and Jackpot. Big Comic also tried to find the first strip for many characters so that you could see how the stories began.
Like The Best of Buster et al, Big Comic did not have a letters page, however it did have a jokes page where you could win £2 and also a toy of some kind (whatever was in fashion at the time).
It’s worth mentioning that Big Comic was also joined by Funny Fortnightly (1st Issue released 25th March 1989) another reprint comic featuring many old Fleetway Favourites. Funny Fortnightly eventually went monthly (changing its name to Funny Monthly) before folding.
Between 1987 and 1994 Big Comic produced an Annual. Funny Fortnightly gave us an Annual in 1991 and 1992.
In 1995, Big Comic & The Best of Buster/Whoopee/Whizzer & Chips did a kind of mass merger to produce BVC.
Fleetway’s answer to Big Comic Fortnightly, The Best of Buster, Whoopee, Whizzer & Chips. All of those titles had folded, but they were rerived in this short lived spin off.
BVC launched in April 1995 and ended in November 1995 literally without warning. I remember my Dad having a meeting with Mr Gee our local newsagent about why they’d stopped saving BVC, and he said it had just finished.
It was another Best of comic, but the emphasis was now on Best of Fleetway as opposed to one comic in particular. Again most of the strips came from the late 70s and 80s, with very few strips from way way back.
BVC was the first of the Best Of… comics to feature a letters page. In the early editions the prize was a mystery. However by Issue number 7 in May 1995, they were giving away a Super Soaker 10, with a Super Soaker XP75 for the star letter each month.
The final addition to the Buster family was Buster Classics. Despite the loss of The Best of Buster and BVC, Fleetway persevered with a final comic. Buster Classics was a monthly comic launched in February 1996. Once again it featured strips from the late 70s and 80s.
It could well have been a great chance to go right back into the archives of the 1960s & early 70s, but the opportunity was never siezed. Sadly, by September 1996 it had disappeared and became part of comic history. I say sadly because it was actually quite good. The final annuals from Fleetway were back in 1994 and the likes of Young Arfur, Walt Teaser, Gums etc had only made brief appearances in BVC or Best of Buster. It was good to relive some of the golden oldies.
Each month there would be a guest star normally from Whizzer and Chips. These included the likes of Lolly Pop and Sammy Shrink to name just two.
The Buster Classics letters page looks familiar. It was exactly the same format as BVC, with a Super Soaker prize. In fact in issue 1, the letters printed were left over from BVC.
Buster Classics was the last of the spinoffs. After eight months and a small price increase, it left us and with it a good chunk of history went too. Those old Buster favourites were lost, many of them never to be seen again.
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Thanks, i saved the information on the page.
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Information on Fleetway’s Big Comic Fortnightly seems rather difficult to find, so I’ve decided to write a brief summary of the information I know. Big Comic Fortnightly began with the first issue dated 11th/24th June 1988, and was a complete reprint comic using strips from Buster, Whizzer and Chips and Whoopee. As the title suggest, it was on sale for two weeks and every issue boasted 52 pages for 35p – a bargain! The price rose steadily over time from 35p to 40p, and then again to 45p, by 1991 it cost 50p, in 1993 it cost 55p and then a year later it cost 70p!
Occasionally Big Comic came with a free gift such as a badge or a balloon (as advertised above), but these were a rare treat. The first issue didn’t come with a gift, unusual for a new Fleetway comic.
Most sources seem to say that Big Comic Fortnightly folded in 1994 but this isn’t true, it actually changed to Big Comic Monthly in 1995. I believe there is only one issue of Big Comic Monthly, numbered #170 (to continue on with Big Comic Fortnightly’s numbering), before it was replaced by BVC. Unfortunately my copy of Big Comic Monthly has had a sticker placed over the price, but I think it says £1.20. Big Comic Monthly did almost double its page count to 100 though, so the price wasn’t too ridiculous.
Big Comic Fortnightly was popular enough to have a series of annuals and summer specials produced. The first of these was the 1987 annual, released for Christmas 1986. The annuals ran from 1987 to 1994, I used to have a full set of these but they got lost when I moved to New Zealand and now all I have managed to replace is the final one. The summer specials ran from 1988 to 1994. The first four had front covers very similar to the fortnightly comic but the last three had lovely full-colour illustrations by Terry Bave.
In Summary Big Comic Fortnightly had 169 issue, then changed its name to Big Comic Monthly with issue 170, then changed its name again to BVC from issue 171 until its last issue.
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Thanks for the information.
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Thanks for this!
I have a suggestion: I really think it would make the site better if, at the bottom of these pages, you put a few links (with thumbnails) to other similar comics from the same publisher. For example, each of these Fleetway comics could have links to:
• Whizzer & Chips
• Knockout
• Buster
• Shiver & Shake
• Big Comic Book
I think this would be useful, as many of us have probably forgotten about some of these sister comics. A small list of links would jog our memories and help us to know where to look next.
Or, have an index page of all the comics, and group them by publisher and type, so all the DC comics (Beano, Dandy, Beezer etc.) are all side by side. All the girls’ comics together, etc.
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Oh, and I’ve just remembered Whoopee, another sister publication of Whizzer & Chips, Knockout, etc.
See, without a list all we have to go on is our memory! All these related publications should be in lists! 🙂
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Thanks for your suggestions and your other comments.
I will keep them in mind. Maybe in the future i have some more time to make these implementations, right now i have alot of other things on hand. Or better, make this suggestion on the frontpage, maybe someone allready has these lists and would like to share these.
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Funny Fortnightly Holiday Special 1990 is now ready in dropbox for you.
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• Action
• Battle
• Big Comic Book
• Big Comic Fortnightly
• Buster
• Cheeky Weekly
• Cor!!
• Eagle
• Funny Fortnightly
• Giggle
• Hurricane
• Jag
• Jet
• Knockout
• Lion
• Monster Fun
• Nipper
• Oink!
• Misty
• Shiver & Shake
• Tiger
• 2000AD
• Whizzer & Chips
• Whoopee
• Wow!
All this Titles are now being prepared with complete Date and Numbering Guides to help all know what is what, including Annuals and Specials too. When they are all ready I will let you know.
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• Action
• Battle
• Big Comic Book
• Big Comic Fortnightly
• Buster
• Cheeky Weekly
• Cor!!
• Eagle
• Funny Fortnightly
• Giggle
• Hurricane
• Jag
• Jet
• Knockout
• Krazy
• Lion
• Misty
• Monster Fun
• Nipper
• Oink!
• Shiver & Shake
• Tiger
• 2000AD
• Whizzer & Chips
• Whoopee
• Wow!
All this Titles are now being prepared with complete Date and Numbering Guides to help all know what is what, including Annuals and Specials too. When they are all ready I will let you know.
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I’ve got a huge pile of Big Value Comics in storage somewhere, if you’d be interested in them. I imagine there’s a lot of overlap from other comics, but might be worth having!
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Thanks, perhaps someone else. Best place the message also on the main page.
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Big Comic Fortnightly had 169 issues, then its name changed to Big comic monthly from issue 170 dated February 1995, then it changed name to BVC from issue 171 dated April 1995, finally ending at issue 178 dated November 1995.
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I have the missing annuals on here, and the holiday specials all four of them just finding time to scan them
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Thanks, i have the Holiday Special 1991 allready, i am working on placing all the last updates from this year on the pages, this special will be on this page soon.
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Cool exellent im trying to track down cliff brown puzzle pages from whoopee late 70s and whizzer and chips very hard
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Trying to scan whizzer and chips 6 aug 1977 you are missing this hard work credit to you for all the work you do i love the comics like you
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Thanks, that one is missing indeed. Nice to see that so many people still scanning issues, i know how hard and timeconsuming it can be.
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No problem the cliff brown double page puzzle is very nice
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And i got shool fun holiday special 1987
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It was in a cillection but i said ill give you 20 for that i got it sweet
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Theres more also 80 comics from whoopee 78 and 79
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Trying to find whizzer and chips holiday special 76 and 77 i got 78 on the way from ebay
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I sent you a link can you tell me if it worked please
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Look forward to seeing it on youre blog
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Did you get my email and link boutje777
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Yes, thanks, i found it on the compilationsblog.
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Good no problem
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Hello boutje777 ive been busy collecting more whoopee 1977 with whats coming in the mail to should complete with your digital downloads also 1977
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Fantastic job boutje 777 thank you so much great updates
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You are welcome.
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Thanks ozzycris i am looking forward for those.
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