This Week In... 1971 - Whizzer and Chips!
It's time for another 'This Week In' post and this time we go back to 1971 to this issue of Whizzer and Chips! Inside we get a special note from the editor, who reveals the most popular characters in the comic.
At the top of that list is Harry's Haunted House, and this one I agree is very good, but not my favourite strip in the comic (my favourite is probably Champ - which makes me a Whizz-kid!). The Chip-ites were very proud to have the most popular character, but that would change in the 80's when Joker was almost always at the top, along with Sweeny Toddler!
But before we start on the strips, lets see the ad's! This one is for Cor! comic, which came out in 1971 (for a super detailed history of Cor!, visit Irmantas' blog here - http://kazoop.blogspot.com/)!
This next ad which appeared under Tiny's strip is for Smash! ice lollies, which cost 2p and came in either Orange or Strawberry! Mmmmm....
1971 saw the second Whizzer and Chips holiday special come out, 96 pages for just 15p! That sounds incredibly cheap, but I don't know what that is in today's money. I'll be taking a look at this special in an upcoming post.
The final advert is for TV21 (the comic, not the band), which was quite possibly the best selling comic of the time!
Now it's time for the strips, and I'm going to post the top 10 strips in the comic. Number 10 - Super Dad by Mike Brown!
At number nine - the back cover star of Whizzer - Belle Tent by Reg Parlett!
Wear 'Em Out Wilf appears at number eight - and this fantastic strip by Norman Mansbridge certainly shows it deserves that place!
Number seven is reserved for my favourite - Champ! This strip could either be by Colin Whittock or Leo Baxendale.
Loser certainly didn't lose this competition - coming in at number six!
Number five featured the only advernture strip, and the only serial in the countdown - Pursuit of the Puzzler! Artist unknown.
Number 4 appeares at the top of the post - Sid's Snake! So number three stars Jimmy in Jimmy Jackle and Master Hyde by Terry Bave!
The silver winner in second place is... tied - between Shiner and Odd Ball! One Whizz-kid and one Chip-ite!
And the winner is... Harry's Haunted House, illustrated by Reg Parlett!
That's it for this post - don't forget to come back next week for another 'This Week In' post!
6 comments:
http://www.toonhound.com/wearem.htm
Norman Mansbridge is the artist..
Nice seeing the adverts and top ten..
Thanks for the correction! I go by Denis Gifford's Catalouge of Comic Characters, which sometimes only gives the original artist or the main one.
Glad you enjoyed the post! :)
This will make you laugh.
its a ghost artist on Harry its not by Reg this time...:))
Another terrific blog post - many thanks. I don't remember Jimmy Jeckle and Master Hyde, but I didn't get Whizzer and Chips till about 75-76, so it must've finished by then. By the way, 15p in 1971 would be about £1.50 today.
A ghost artist! Damn! But now that you mention it it doesn't look like Reg's work. :)
Yes, you missed out on Jimmy Jeckle by a couple of years, as it ran in the comic from 1970 - 1973. A great strip though, by the wonderful Terry Bave!
Brilliant! Thanks for posting. I am trying to get scans of all the episodes of both "Pursuit of the Puzzler" and "Revenge of the Puzzler".
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