Monday, June 25, 2012

This Week In... 1977 - Krazy! (Updated)

I'm starting another series of 'This Week In' posts, and we start off series two with this Krazy comic from 1977! It certainly has a wacky front cover, illustrated by Smiler artist Nick Baker. The cover was actually to advertise the pull out board game which could be completed after four weeks. It didn't just appear in Krazy though but in several IPC titles, including Buster, Whizzer and Chips and Whoopee.
I always find adverts in old comics intresting, as they ususally advertise something I've never heard of before. This one was an advert for some Cinderella cards which came free with Micky Mouse comic, which cost 9p, 2p more than Krazy. 
The next advert was actually an interative puzzle, with a prize worth £300! Can you spot all the mistakes? Sadly it's a bit late to enter, but you can still give it a shot! 

But now for the really important stuff - the strips! Of course all the strips are good, but my favourite in this issue is this one off Father's Day strip. Drawn by Nigel Edwards.


However, one of my favourite regular Krazy strips was Birdman and Chicken by Trevor Metcalfe. They remind me of the classic fat and thin idea that was regulary used in early comics, particulary strips starring tramps (Weary Willie and Tired Tim are a perfect example, and can be found on the cover of almost any Chips comic).

The Krazy Gang were of course the stars of the comic, and this story drawn by Ian Knox is about the gang getting back on Pongo Snodgrass, the town's smelliest kid, after he took their dad's presents!

However the most popular member of the gang was Cheeky, who had already got his own three page strip inside the front cover, and was soon to get his very own comic (you can read a blog dedicated to Cheeky comic here - http://cheekyweekly.blogspot.com).
UPDATE: As requested by Peter Gray, here's the final page of Cheeky, showing as the barmy going on's inside the Krazy office!

UPDATE No. 2:
I can't believe I forgot to leave the back cover disguise out! This issue it was a holiday brochure, perfect if it's coming up to a holiday and you need to somewhere to hide it quick!

And that sums up this post, tune in next week for another 'This Week In' blog!

11 comments:

Andy Boal said...

Nigel Edwards, who would later draw Pongo Snodgrass for Whizzer and Chips

Peter Gray said...

I agree the adverts are great fun to look at..and wonder..

George Shiers said...

Nigel Edwards! That's it! I first saw his art when I read a 'When they were young' strip - featuring Long John Silver. :D

The adverts were great - loads of cool stuff (and not-so-cool stuff) put in the back of comics all the time!

Peter Gray said...

Looking at the comic itself...you should also put up the last page of Cheeky story..with all the great things that happen in rhe office at Krazy..:)

George Shiers said...

Posted! Hope you enjoy it! :)

Peter Gray said...

Thanks George...I think we should start a discussion on Krazy comic at comicsuk forum..:)

George Shiers said...

Sounds like a plan! :D

George Shiers said...

For anybody who's intrested here's a link to the Krazy comic discussion:

http://comicsuk.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=148&t=4995

Peter Gray said...

You might as well scan the whole comic as it is all good and worth seeing...yours joking..Peter...But it is true what a great comic Krazy is..

George Shiers said...

It was hard choosing which pages to include in this post - every single one of them is fantastic! (Or should that be Krazy!)

Ian D J said...

Krazy Comic was a publication that was well ahead of it's time! It was like having our own kids version of Mad Comic.
Frank McDarmid and Ian Knox were my favourite artists and even to this day, my own cartoon drawing still reflects their style.