The golden age of British comics is brought to life in this glorious rustle through their back pages by the matey double act of Mark Hibbett and John Dredge. Reviewing specific issues of classic titles on a fortnightly basis, they go from old-school DC Thomson stalwarts such as The Dandy, The Beano and The Topper, to the more anarchic IPC new wave embodied by Whoopee! and Krazy. This riot of wild artwork and puntastic characters (such as Frankie Stein and Sweeny Toddler) was akin to moving from music hall to punk, with lashings of junior-school surrealism thrown in.

The 12 editions so far take us from Jackpot to Cheeky Weekly, as we discover the class-based roots of many strips: in Class Wars, a posh private school and a scruffy comprehensive are merged. Umberto Eco gets a mention, as does Trevor Metcalfe’s superhero homage The Amazing Three’s second life by way of Grant Morrison in 2000AD. The first David Bellamy impression heard in the wild for many a year is here, as are Proustian reminiscences of Emu puppets, all punctuated by Kenny Everett-style jingles and a chirpy bubblegum theme tune.

Hibbett and Dredge’s fanboy enthusiasm suggests they still play conkers while waiting for the newsagent to open. Though the comics themselves can now be seen on the podcast’s social-media pages, those scans may not have what the duo call the ‘whiff of Thatcher and punk venues’ of the paper versions. But it all makes for a bumper size summer special of a show.

Episodes of The Funny Comics Fan Club are available every second Sunday at Podbean.