Shiver and Shake Annual 1986

Today I thought I’d share a few pages from the 1986 Shiver and Shake annual. Other than being the last S+S annual to hit the shelves, there’s nothing particularly significant about it. But I thought I’d share some pages because it is simply a fantastic and beautiful comic, really showcasing the talent of the day. Artists inside included Martin Baxendale, Tom Paterson, Terry Bave, Sid Burgon, Jack Edward Oliver — I could go on.

The full colour pages were also stunning, and among the best full colour I’ve ever seen in a Fleetway comic. Here are the front and rear endpapers, illustrated by Roy Mitchell who signed his pages as ‘Mitch’. 

For a comic from 1986, quite a few pages were printed in full colour. For their £2.50, readers were given 96 pages (counting the covers), 16 of which were in full colour. A good number more had either blue or red ink.

One of the more bizarre inside pages was this Jumbo Jesters page, featuring various photos of an elephant — elephants of course being the ‘Shake’ part of the comic. I have so many questions. Is it a real elephant? Where did they get a real elephant? How did they get a real elephant on a bus?

Another good page is this Desert Fox puzzle board game. Elsewhere in the book the Desert Fox strip is illustrated by Terry Bave, but this spread is instead by Jack Edward Oliver.

Trevor Metcalfe also had a few pages. Here’s a nice Ghoul Getters Ltd strip. Metcalfe was an expert at motion - just look at the slamming doors or the man spinning around at top speed! It makes me dizzy just looking…

As I said, there’s no shortage of great pages to share and I could easily go on, but I’ll wrap things up with this Lolly Pop strip by Sid Burgon. The Fleetway annuals from this time are relatively common and usually pretty cheap, so I would definitely recommend picking them up if you come across any.

The Last Ever Buster (2000)

 

I can't believe I've never made a post about surely one of the most significant issues of a British comic - the final issue of Buster. Buster was the last survivor of a Fleetway comic, and for me this final issue is a sad marker for the end of an era. 

For 32 pages for £1.10, it was probably the price that killed it to be honest. It was more than twice the price of The Beano (which cost 52p) at this point, and the quality simply wasn't as good.

Credit where credit is due, I do like this front cover. The main Buster strip is a reprint by Jimmy Hansen, but that bar on the left showing Buster's different styles through the years is by Jack Edward Oliver. Oliver was the sole artist held on at Buster after the comic went full reprint. Mostly, he was responsible for lettering and adding drawings to things that couldn't be done with reprints. I think it would be fair to say that he was largely influential for Buster's unique feel over those final years.

As mentioned, the contents was full of reprints but out of interest and the fact that they're still fun comic strips, I'll show some of it anyway. Perhaps of most interest would be this Specky Hector Comics Collector page, illustrated by Lew Stringer. This was obviously chosen for this last issue as it discusses the launch of Buster back in 1960.

Here's an oddly interesting page - a competition with a whole range of Meccano sets were up for grabs. I say this is odd because it seems strange to me that you would have a competition in the final issue, especially so when there's no other comic they were trying to drive readers to. Perhaps there was simply a pile of Meccano sitting around the office that they needed to get rid of.

Moving on to this Sweeny Toddler strip, illustrated by Tom Paterson. I wanted to share this page to highlight the colouring style that was so prevalent in Buster throughout the 1990s. This strange block colouring was far from the prettiest colouring ever done, but it did give the comic a unique feel and allowed them to brand it as full colour.

Here's an example of a perhaps more well-coloured spread. Bobby's Ghoul is illustrated by Anthony Hutchings, and Watford Gapp by Tom Paterson in a completely different style. I interviewed Tom for issue three of Atomic Comic a few years ago and asked him about this style, this is what he said:

"Bob Paynter, the managing editor at Fleetway, asked me to come up with a few ideas for some strange, slightly weird strips, one of which was Watford Gapp, and I just thought that it needed an alternative style to give it a different, darker look from my other strips which were running at the same time. I've worked in a number of styles over the years, but I enjoyed the Sweeny Toddler/ Calamity James style, which was of course inspired by the legendary comic genius Leo Baxendale - and the Watford Gapp one, which was influenced by the amazing Robert Crumb."

And finally, it is of course the back cover that everybody remembers from this issue. Illustrated by Jack Edward Oliver, it's a wonderfully unique piece that wraps up all the remaining characters in a comedic fashion. Sad as it may be, it was a fantastic way to wrap up the comic.

Comic Branded Clothing

While doing some research for my series on the free gifts given away with Whizzer and Chips (link to part 1 here) I came across the above image from Phil-Comics of a Whizzer and Chips hat, apparently a competition prize from 1974. Whizzer and Chips gave away all manner of clothes throughout its 21-year run, most notably t-shirts that depicted various designs throughout the years promoting either Whizz-Kids or Chip-ites, depending on which half of the comic the prize was from.

Promotions for the shirts from 1978. There were
many different shirt designs over the years.

I've been looking for images of such clothes for years to share on the blog as I find comic-related promotional items an interesting part of their history. But so rarely do they come up that I seriously doubt many, if any, survive. It's not hard to see why - you can tell from the above photo the production quality of the hat isn't exactly that of Prada. Nonetheless, if you have a photo of the shirts or any other comic related clothing please do get in touch. It could be a photo taken yesterday or in 1984 - a photo is a photo and I'm keen to see!

Whizzer and Chips wallet 1986

Whizzer and Chips bag 1987

Meanwhile, here's another cap, also from of Phil-Comics. This one is an Action cap, apparently a runner-up prize in the Action Superstars Competition from 1976.

Every Whizzer and Chips Free Gift (Part 1 of 3)

For those of you who were following my blog in the early days, you may remember me saying more than once that Whizzer and Chips is my favourite comic. This may come as a surprise to many, but the reason is simple: although my first comic was a copy of the Beano, my first "old" comic (i.e. not from the newsagents) was Whizzer and Chips, purchased probably from a junk shop or a car boot sale.

I should note that the contents of this post are not new, but in fact make up part of my Whizzer and Chips blog, a clunky old website that can be found here, if you are so inclined.

But to begin, the very first Whizzer and Chips free gift came with, surprise surprise, the very first issue, and was advertised on the cover as 'Twelve Super Stickers'. They included phrases such as "Keep Teacher off the Moon" and "England for the World Cup" - all very topical for the late 1960s.

Issue #2 came with a "super cartoon flick book", a double sided card for the viewer to turn into a flick book for two short cartoons of Sid's Snake. The first cartoon was called Sid the Charmer, and the second Slippy's Solo. I'm not sure they will win any storytelling awards, but the are fun enough.

The third issue coincided with bonfire night and thus came with a free "super full-colour Guy Fawkes mask". It was the third gift in a row to be described as "super" - I think someone at Fleetway needed a thesaurus.

The next free gift came along with issue dated 21st February 1970. The colourful Lunar Launcher and Splashdown Capsule capitalised on the hype of the moon landings and was accompanied by a fun front cover Sid's Snake story.

The following issue (28th February) came with a free disguise kit that I must say looks very familiar. Both of these gifts were promoted with front cover stories, but at risk of clogging up this blog post too much I'll let you hunt those down for yourself.

The next free gift came with the merger of Knockout on 30th June 1971. Alongside the introduction of a number of new characters, the comic came with two joke books - one for the Whizz Kids and one for the Chip-ites.

A rubber bat came with the 5th birthday issue. Spooky!

Next up - the Superjet Joke Camera came with issue dated 8th March 1975. To be honest I'm not sure how many people would be fooled by this but I love the optimism of the illustration on its paper bag, also used as the front cover image.

This post will get quite lengthy if I include all the gifts that came with Whizzer and Chips over its 21 years run, so I've decided to break it down into three posts. Part 2 tomorrow!

Part 2: http://whackycomics.blogspot.com/2023/07/every-whizzer-and-chips-free-gift-part.html

Part 3: http://whackycomics.blogspot.com/2023/07/every-whizzer-and-chips-free-gift-part_3.html

The Return of Monster Fun

After an absence of almost half a century, the much-loved British comic Monster Fun is making a comeback under its new owners Rebellion. Admittedly, the nostalgia for the title is probably stronger than the love for comic itself during its initial run, only 73 issues of the weekly edition were printed until it merged with the far more successful Buster comic on 6th November 1976. I certainly find it interesting that not a more popular title was chosen for the first Fleetway comic to make a comeback, but I am nonetheless very excited for it. 

No longer a weekly, the revived Monster Fun will begin publishing in April next year with promises of a new issue every two months. The comic will be 32 pages and will feature many of the original favourite characters such as Frankie Stein, Kid Kong and Sweeny Toddler - not all Monster Fun originals but certainly characters who became popular in the comic's original run.

To pass the time until April, the Monster Fun Halloween Spooktacular will be going on sale next month. 48 pages thick, it is crammed full of classic stories from well-known artists, including that spectacular front cover illustrated by none other than Tom Paterson. 

As I understand it, Monster Fun will be available in the stores but online subscribers will receive special free gifts. No word on what those gifts are just yet, but I wonder if they'll be reminiscent of plate wobbler, freaky spider ring or super shaking skeleton that each came with the first three issues of its 70s predecessor. I also wonder if this new version will feature the 'Badtime Bedtime Storybooks' - centre pages encouraged to be pulled out and compiled into mini-comics, much to the bane of collectors today who seek out complete copies. 

Do check out the website and subscribe to make sure you don't miss an issue. 

https://monsterfun.co.uk/

The Big New Year

I've blogged about The Big One before, quite a long time ago when this blog was just starting up, when I shared some pages from the last issue. A short-lived experimental comic published by Fleetway, The Big One lasted only 19 issues from 17th October 1964 - 20th February 1965 and, as the name suggests, is the biggest comic ever published in Britain (and maybe even the entire world). With the exception of the front cover of the last issue, the entire contents consisted of reprinted material from earlier Amalgamated Press comics. The front cover features Smiler illustrated by Eric Roberts. Smiler has originally appeared under the strip's original name 'Mike' in both Knockout from 1945 - 1957 and then in Sun from 1957 - 1959. 

Besides Shiner only a handful of strips had a new year's theme. Two of those appeared on the back page in full colour. Handy Andy at the top is an ex-Knockout strip illustrated by Hugh McNeill, and at the bottom Georgie the Jolly Geegee is from the pages of Radio Fun, illustrated by John Jukes. The layout of this back cover reminds me very much of the back of early Buster comics. It's bright appealing colours would be gone by the last issue though, replaced with nothing more than black and red ink.

The Big One Birthday Club is the only editorial feature inside and it offered readers the chance to win big prizes. The letter claims that "week after week hundreds of parcels leave the Club store on their way to members of the Big One Club", but I wonder how much of an exaggeration this is seeing as the comic lasted less than five months. The section also says members will receive a special red and gold club badge. I wonder if any still exist.

The idea behind the comic was that it's size would make it more noticeable than anything else on the newsstands, driving up sales. Of course no newsagent in their right mind would stock it as it is, and they were all folded in half then half again, making them the same size if not slightly smaller than other comics at the time. To get an idea of just how big an unfolded copy is, here's a photo of this issue next to a random issue of Buster (the closest comic I had). Now imagine having that open and trying to read it anywhere with even a slight breeze - it's next to impossible! It's big size was ultimately its downfall, it merged into Buster on 27th February 1965.

Free with Shiver and Shake

Shiver and Shake is a much loved title among collectors. I've always found copies to be scarcer than similar comics of the time, probably due to lower sales back in the day, but a few years ago I was lucky enough to come across a near complete stack of them and they were mine without hesitation.

When the first issue came out on 10th March 1973 it was clear that this new comic, subtitled "two comics in one-double the fun", took inspiration from the hugely popular Whizzer and Chips. It claimed that "Shake was inside Shiver", the idea being that you could seperate the comic into two - two comics for the price of one. For me, Shiver and Shake didn't feel as free as Whizzer and Chips did, as its characters seemed forced to fit a formula, but I still enjoy the comic and I know a lot of people actually prefer it to its more successful counterpart. Each to their own I suppose, but perhaps readers of the '70's felt the same way as me, because the final issue, #79, came out only a year and a half later on Monday 5th October 1974. 

Back to the topic of this post, the free gifts. Only three proper gifts were given away with the comic, all of them right at the start to help launch the paper. The first issue was presented with a free practical joke. "Free practical joke inside... which one will you get?" read the strapline, followed by a picture of the four gifts a reader might get. These were a joke chocolate biscuit, a trick stick of liquorice, a fake pencil and a plastic spoon with a hole in it. These, above an advert for next week's gift, were shown on page 15.

Which brings us on nicely to the second free gift - a "super spooky screamer". An annoying gift for parents no doubt, as the idea was for kids to blow into the toy to produce a loud noise. This was by no means unique to Shiver and Shake as a few years later Krazy comic would repeat the idea in the form of the 'Top Pop Hummer', as demonstrated by Cheeky on the front cover. Similar toys were given away with other Fleetway comics around this time too. I've misplaced my copy, so I've borrowed this scan from Peter Gray's site.

The gift had to be assembled by the reader, and instructions were provided inside, above an advert for the free "glow fun stickers" that were to be presented in the following issue. 

There were, I think, four sets of stickers. At least, that is what the advertisement in issue two would have you believe, but I have never seen a single set either photographed or for sale. I did, however, manage to find this very poor quality image from what appears to be an expired eBay auction, but even this only shows one sticker. If anybody does have any, please do send photos my way!

Now, when I say only three "proper" gifts were given away, that is because I don't refer to a pull-out as a "proper gift". None-the-less, I shall cover them in this post for the sake of completeness. To celebrate Shiver and Shake's first birthday the 9th March 1974 issue came with part one of 'Frankie Stein's Mini Monster Comic Book'. The instructions were to remove the centre four pages from the comic and cut and fold them to produce an eight page booklet. This was just the first part, readers had to buy the following three issues in order to complete the booklet. 

Even in the comics dying months, no more gifts were given away to help the failing paper. Shiver and Shake would merge into Whoopee in October, where its name would remain for another year. The holiday specials and annuals would do better, the former lasting until 1980 and the latter through until 1986, well after the weekly was long forgotten.  

Of course, for those of you who want to read more on Shiver and Shake, Irmantas covered absolutely everything to do with the title a few years ago over on his excellent blog Kazoop. Here's the first post:

http://kazoop.blogspot.co.nz/2013/01/shiver-and-shake-2-comics-in-1-double.html

Who Was Malcolm Morrison?

Malcolm Morrison was a Scottish scriptwriter for Fleetway, working mostly, as far as I'm aware, on the humour comics. Amongst others he wrote Joker, Shiner and Junior Rotter - so he clearly had a way with words, as all were hugely popular characters with long runs.