[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/buster1982.jpg]]

''Buster'' was a long running [[BritishComics British]] AnthologyComic. A SpinOff of sorts of ''ComicStrip/AndyCapp'' (at the time it was launched Fleetway was owned by the Mirror Group, and Andy's strip appears in the ''Daily Mirror''), with Buster, the comic's eponymous main character supposedly being Andy's son, although the two characters rarely met in the comic and never in Andy Capp's NewspaperComic strip.

Buster ran for 40 years, starting in 1960. It [[ComicsMerger merged]] with a great many number of comics during it's run and was the last survivor of IPC's [[note]]IPC was Buster's publisher. The publisher was also often called Fleetway which is the name of IPC's comic publishing division (they published ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic''). Near the end of ''Buster'''s run, ''Buster'' had been sold to another publisher called Egmont.[[/note]] humour comics.

The comic's most popular strips included ''ComicBook/TheLeopardFromLimeStreet'', ''[[XRayVision X-Ray Specs]]'', ''[[VoluntaryShapeshifting Faceache]]'', ''[[SlobsVersusSnobs Ivor Lott and Tony Broke]]'', ''[[ComicBook/{{Rentaghost}} Rent-a-Ghost]]'', ''ComicBook/CliffHanger'', ''[[MommasBoy Mummy's Boy]]'', ''[[EnfantTerrible Sweeny Toddler]]'', ''[[DumbMuscle Tom Thug]]'', ''[[BunglingInventor Clever Dick]]'' and ''[[LovableAlphaBitch School Belle]]''.
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!!This comic (and its strips) provide examples of:
* AgeInappropriateDress: The boy in ''[[MommasBoy Mummy's Boy]]'' was dressed like a baby although he was obviously much older.
* AlphaBitch: School Belle ''began'' as this (she actually started in the short-lived comic ''School Fun'' before it was merged with ''Buster''.) Originally, she was entirely without redeeming qualities being spectacularly vain and underhanded and her strips always ended in humiliation. Somewhere along the way she was given a [[TookALevelInKindness more likable characterisation]] and a [[BetaBitch nastier rival]] ('Grotty Glenda'), ending up a LovableAlphaBitch.
* ArtInitiatesLife:
** Almost done in the ''Chalky'' strip: His drawings, although they don't come to life, do appear indistinguishable from reality to anyone who sees them.
** Played straight in the '' Handy Andy'' strip, provided that hand shadows count as art.
* ArtShift: During its early period, ''Buster'' included more realistic adventure strips alongside the cartoony strips, which eventually came to make up most of its content.
* AwesomeButImpractical: The one-shot strip ''Incredi-Bill'' had a man named Bill create a PowerArmor suit and become a {{Superhero}}, performing such daring feats as batting meteors away from the Earth with a frying pan. Unfortunately, he soon discovers that the cost of actually powering the suit is, in the strip's own words, [[{{Pun}} Unafforda-Bill]].
* BizarreAlienBiology: Odd Ball; a round, red floating ball with arms who could change shape. His race also had an illness which caused them to turn into cubes and could only be cured by drinking a huge amount of freshly boiled water (...or just waiting the illness out).
* TheBully: Tom Thug.
* CaptainErsatz:
** ''The Leopard from Lime Street'' was an obvious Ersatz version of ComicBook/{{Spiderman}}.
** Tom Thug is forced by his mother to go and see a film adaptation of a show called [[WesternAnimation/PostmanPat Milkman Matt (and his black and white rat)]].
* ChameleonCamouflage: It wasn't the only thing he did with his powers, but Ricky Rainbow often used his colour-changing ability to this effect.
* ComicsMerger: ''Buster'' merged with probably the largest number of comics during its run than any other comic; the final merger was with ''ComicBook/WhizzerAndChips'' in 1990. Many of the comics it merged with had already merged with other comics, especially ''Whizzer and Chips'', which had merged with four comics during its lifetime; one of those four (''Whoopee!'') had, in turn, also merged with another three comics.
* CreatorCameo: Jack Edward Oliver used to insert himself into ''Vid Kid'' strips, which was lampshaded with weekly challenges to find him. Terry Bave would also occasionally insert himself (and occasionally his wife) into his ''Odd Ball'' and ''Melvyn's Mirror'' strips.
* {{Eagleland}}: Of the mixed variant; Several of the strips had arcs or one-shot comics which involved the characters visiting America portrayed Americans as somewhat excitable but overall, quite pleasant (aside from the odd villain).
** Despite being a parody of ''Series/{{Dallas}}'', Junior Rotter mostly averted the trope.
* PrivateDetective: Crowjack was a crow and a private detective.
* DistaffCounterpart: ''Martha's Monster Makeup'' and ''Faceache'' both involved VoluntaryShapeshifting and both were drawn by the same artist Creator/KenReid.
** Ivor Lott and Tony Broke and Milly O'Naire and Penny Less -- the latter started life in ''Jackpot'' in 1979, but when that comic merged with ''Buster'' in 1982 the two strips were combined due to their similarities.
* DownerEnding: The last issue provided some rather mean-spirited endings to some of the comic's strips, including one character actually ''dying''.
* DumbMuscle: ''Tom Thug'' was a brainless bully who tended to brutalise other students, but generally got stymied by his own stupidity.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: ''X-Ray Specs'' was about a boy and his X-Ray Specs, which gave him XRayVision.
* FalseTeethTomfoolery: Gums was a ThreateningShark with a pair of False Teeth which he always managed to lose.
* ForgetfulJones: This was the gimmick in the ''Memory Banks'' strip. In the last issue, the strip's main character forgot to breathe and died.
* {{Gamebooks}}: ''ComicBook/CliffHanger'' contained elements of this with readers being able to choose endings for the strip. [[note]]Generally it had three endings, only one of which had a favourable outcome; the outcome of each would typically be printed on the next page and the next issue would pick up from there.[[/note]].
* GrandFinale: Somewhat unusually, the last issue featured [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120327143754/britishcomics/images/5/50/Buster_98.jpg a strip]] showing the fates of some of the comic's characters (such as Sweet-Tooth's tooth going bad from all the sweets he'd eaten and the above-mentioned Bernie Banks's death) and the revelation of what Buster's hair is like under his cap - [[spoiler:it's exactly like [[ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK Dennis the Menace's]] spiky hair]].
* HenshinHero: Alf Witt of ''Master Mind'' was able to turn into the titular superhero by running into a phone box and saying the [[ByThePowerOfGreySkull magic word]] "Pass!".
* {{Invisibility}}: This is what Val's Vanishing Cream did in the eponymous strip.
** Disappearing Trix also had this power. Normally her clothes vanished with her whenever she blinked, but on at least one occasion, she blinked to get something out of her eye, and accidentally became an InvisibleStreaker.
* LazyBum: This was Lazy Bones' gimmick. He eventually got insomnia in the last issue.
* LimitedWardrobe: Lampshaded in one ''Tom Thug'' strip, which notes that he even wears his boots in bed.
* LivingToys: ''Roy's Toys'' routinely came to life when Roy left the room, so as to thwart his latest plan to send one of them to a jumble sale.
* NeverBareheaded: Buster himself. Fans did ask what was under the cap and, much like Fleetway's at the time stablemate ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'', they teased it out a lot. The finale did reveal that Buster had the same haircut as [[spoiler:ComicStrip/{{Dennis the Menace|UK}}]].
* NewspaperComic: In addition to having his own comic, Buster also had a long-running strip in the Scottish newspaper, ''Sunday Mail'' (also part of the Mirror Group).
* SelfDeprecation: In the final issue, it was revealed that Ivor Lott's father lost all his money by investing in ''Buster''.
* SelfParody: "Judge Dudd" was a parody of Fleetway stablemate ''Comicbook/JudgeDredd''.
* ShoutOut: ''Master Mind'' was about a young boy who was given the power to turn into a superhero by a wizard - in addition, the transformation was caused by lightning, and the magic word was actually an acronym of other words. While there ''are'' differences (for one thing, Alf Witt lacks an OlderAlterEgo), it's very similar to ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}''.
* SlobsVersusSnobs: Apart from ''Ivor Lott and Tony Broke'' (which featured a rich boy and a poor boy) and their female counterparts ''Millie O'Naire and Penny Less'' (rich girl, poor girl), there was also ''Store Wars'', which featured Bloggs and Son's corner shop and Mr. Superstore's ... superstore (and the latter's doomed efforts to get the community to love his shop as much as the former's).
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Faceache could scrunge into any shape. Odd Ball was also capable of changing shape (although he always retained his bright red colour).
* WalkingArmory: Parodied in ''Judge Dudd''. Dudd grabs a hilarious number of {{BFG}}s and armour from the armoury with the intention of using them to improve his capability on the street. [[ScaryImpracticalArmor It turns out to be too heavy for him to even move.]] So heavy, in fact, that the street collapses underneath him and lands him in the middle of a gang's hideout.
* WealthsInAName: Pun example, with Ivor Lott and Milly O'Naire ("I've a lot" and "millionaire") who are wealthy. Conversely, Tony Broke (a pun on "stony broke") and Penny Less ("penniless") are poor.
* WickedToymaker: The Toymaker from the "Toys of Doom" strip. The Toymaker is a scientist who transformes toys into remote-controlled weapons of destruction. Ostracized by the rest of the scientific community, who think his ideas are inhuman, he vows revenge on humanity, and creates an army of killer toys in a remote Scottish castle. But his plans are stumbled on by Joe and Sandy Douglas, and in spite of initial skepticism, they manage to alert the suthorities to the plot. Thus begin several years of them battling against the Toymaker's evil plans.
* WildChild: Fishboy, [[RaisedByWolves raised by]] ''fish'' and able to breathe underwater. He usually wears seaweed swimming trunks. Despite the absurdity of the concept, this was a 'serious' strip.
* XRayVision: X-Ray Specs.
* YouNoTakeCandle: Fishboy.
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