Plug Comic was, frankly, an all‑round oddity. Emerging from his starring role in The Beano’s Bash Street Kids, Plug launched into his own title in September 1977—still blissfully unaware of his questionable looks, and now flaunting a fanatical passion for all things sport. But that wasn’t the only surprise awaiting readers. The comic appeared on glossy, higher‑quality paper and carried a price tag nearly double that of The Beano. True, 5p to 9p may not sound much today, but back in 1977 it was enough to put some people off. It never deterred me, though. Even though I share none of Plug’s enthusiasm for sporting pursuits, it was the only Thomson comic I kept on regular order. Friday meant Plugday, and despite the strangeness—and the often dubious artwork—it was without question a highlight of the week.
Plug comic's cover usually (but not always) depicted our hero taking part in some sporting activity, which continued in Plug's own strip on the back of the issue. Activities Plug took part in ranged from tiddley-winks to boxing. Here are some of my favourites among those regular sporting covers before we move on to some of the stranger offerings.
While Vic Neill produced most of the covers for Plug, occasionally the character would steer away from his sporting activities and another artist would take the reins. For issues 26 and 42 I'm guessing Vic Neill was taking a well deserved holiday and, for reason unbeknown to any of us readers, Plug was shot into space to take advantage of the then current craze for Star Wars.
And things get even stranger than that in later issues. Four covers (including the last ever issue) where Plug takes to the movies in a John Wayne western, Grease, King Kong and Dracula. A completely different art style which I wasn't fond of at the time, but my opinion has changed over the years. I'm not sure who is responsible for these or the "Star Wars" covers, but if you have any idea, let me know on the Contact page.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Plug had an extremely eclectic array of strips over it's 75 issues. Plug himself always featured in colour on the back cover, most often drawn by Vic Neill and also fetured in various strips inside, notably the "Nutcase Bookcase" - a guide to life improvement, Plug's "Grinners Book of Records" and Plug's Guide to Physical Health and Beauty.
Some fondly remembered strips from Plug Comic
  • The Plug Bugs - Smelly and uncouth aliens resembling Plug himself hunted down by the clean-living leader of Nebulus Nostrilus
  • Eebagoom - I can only describe this as Yorkshire's answer to Asterix The Gaul
  • Tony Jackpot - Under fourteens golf champion. Golfing tips given at the end of the strip, which I can honestly say I never took advantage of!
  • Ava Banana - Strong woman with questionable artwork
  • The Bandshees - Large, furry musical foursome
  • Violent Elizabeth - A later strip - I just liked the title! Based on the spoiled, lisping Violet Elizabeth from the Just William TV show
  • Antchester United - A football team of bugs. 
  • First Ada - First Aider! Extremely questionable bedside manner.
  • Gnoo Faces - Three crazy wildebeest do their best to break into show business
Plug Sports and Social Club was a page of letters and jokes sent in by readers. For 35p you could get yourself a lapel badge and a sew-on badge to indicate your membership, and if you were lucky enough to have a letter printed you could top this off with a very fetching Plug Sports and Social Club baseball cap and t-shirt.
I couldn't let the section on Plug's Sports and Social Club go without featuring this page from issue 42. Yes, that's my name at the bottom there, proud designer of the "Plugmobile". Unfortunately my prize t-shirt was a bit on the small side so I never really had chance to show it off in public.
Here we have a selection of posters printed in the pages of Plug. The "Supergoon Sportrait" was collected over three issues, numbers four to six.
And so it happened, issue 75 dated February 24th 1979. There was no mention of it on the front cover, no "Great news for all readers" as traditionally warned most readers of their worst nightmare, but there it was in black and white on the inside cover. My favourite comic of the time was to be swallowed up The Beezer. This wasn't going to be "Plug and Beezer", it was going to be "Beezer and Plug". There's a distinct difference. It signaled that the strips from Plug comic were going to appear for a few weeks inside Beezer and then eventually disappear and be forgotten. I did persevere with "Beezer and Plug" for a few issues and, to be fair, the Beezer turned out to be a much better comic than I'd remembered.... but it wasn't the same.