Time to return once again to the greatest comic ever created - Whizzer and Chips! Apart from Sid's Snake on the cover (illustrated by Mike Lacey) the first strip inside the comic is Super Store, illustrated by Gordon Hill. Unfortunately my scanner wouldn't scan a straight picture of the page (it guesses the angle of the image, but doesn't always work), so hopefully this photo is readable.
Adventure strips were still present in humour comics in the 70's, and sometimes incredibly popular! Whizz Wheels was a popular strip with readers, but I am unsure of the artist (possibly Bill Lacey?).
One of my favourite Whizzer and Chips characters was Lazy Bones, who appeared just before the Chips section in this particular issue!
And so we move into Chips! Amazingly, as well as drawing Whizzer's cover star, Mike Lacey also drew Chips' - Shiner! Shiner, as you probably know, was a very keen boxer, and this strip continues the theme.
Defiantly drawn by Bill Lacey (Mike Lacey's brother) is Thingumajig, the tale on an alien who has crashed on Earth and is living with two ordinary schoolboys! This episode comes from the middle of a series.
The "editor" gets involved with Sammy Shrink's strip this week, changing the title to... well - read it and see!
The centre pages were taken up by a pull-out Skateboard Game! It's a very simple game, the first person to reach the finish wins, and obstacles slow you down (or speed you up) along the way.
Chips was finished off with Fuss Pot illustrated by Norman Mansbridge. Although the strip did run for a very long time you may be surprised to learn that a lot of people didn't actually like her overly fussy ways.
Odd Ball, drawn by the strip's longest running artist Terry Bave, featured just inside the back cover, printed in Whizzer red.
The back page was taken up with one of the greatest characters in comics - Sid Burgon's Joker!
Returning back inside is an interesting advert for the first issue of Misty, which first went on sale a few days before this issue, on the 30th January. Misty was a horror comic for girls, and ran for two years before ending in 1980.
Egmont have set up a Misty website, which includes classic strips and a history of the comic, and can be found at:
http://www.mistycomic.co.uk
6 comments:
I wasn't buying Whizzer & Chips in 1978 (apart from the occasional special or free gift issue), but I well remember buying the very first issue (and subsequent ones) in 1969. You may not have noticed, but W&C lasted a week past its 21st birthday, which was ignored in the comic. I suppose they thought there was no point drawing attention to it as the comic was finishing the next issue.
Loved Whizzer and Chips, me and my sister used to fight over who would get a copy every week with our pocket money, 1978 was a good time for comics, so glad I found your site keep up the good work,I still have some including no2 issue and the very last one, and all the annuals from 1971 to 1994.
@Kid - I suppose they kept Whizzer and Chips going until just past it's 21st birthday just so they could say it had a 21 year run, and it would look good in the books!
@Anon - Glad you have fond memories of Whizzer and Chips! A comic strip about such a problem appeared in one issue, and the solution was to have one youngster to read Whizzer, and the other Chips!
Super Store was by Gordon Hill, who also drew the Krazy Gang, Doodle in the annuals, and the end of Chalky's days in Buster. Excellent artist!
I think someone on Comics UK said Whizz Wheels was by Mike Western - certainly every series I read from about 1978 until the penultimate series was by the same artist (the final series was a three-parter by Brian Walker and was in Chips!) The artwork is certainly different from the work on Thingumajig.
Thanks for the correction - Gordon Hill was a good artist! As for Whizz Wheels - Mike Western seems a much better suggestion than Bill lacey, but Thingumajig is definitely by Bill Lacey as he occasionally managed to sneak his signature in!
Do you have the 76 77 holiday specials please
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