The Christmas KNOCKOUT (1972)

For our latest Christmas flashback we move to the year 1972 for a few pages from Knockout, IPC's 20 page weekly that tried to compete directly with D.C. Thomson's Dandy and Beano. It didn't quite succeed though, only lasting for just over 100 weeks. Still, it was a good, fun comic for its time. Here's some examples from the 1972 Christmas issue.

The cover strip by this time was Joker, who had proven to be very popular, and would continue to be a reader's favourite after Knockout merged into Whizzer and Chips the following year. (Characters that play pranks often seem to be a hit with readers, although personally I can't stand such sadistic brattish characters unless they get their comeuppance in the final panel.) Artwork here is was the brilliant Sid Burgon.

Another Sid Burgon strip inside the comic was The Haunted Wood...

The centrespread strip was The Super Seven, which had been Knockout's original cover strip for the earlier issues. Mike Lacey artwork here. Mike was one of the artists who'd been asked to base his style on that of Leo Baxendale for comics such as Wham! and Smash! but he proved to be so brilliant he became one of IPC's top artists and drew countless pages for the company for years.

Shrimp is a long-forgotten character and this may be his last appearance. I don't know who the artist was but it looks like the same style as the artist who drew Tomboy for Cor!! Note that Sammy Shrink was arriving the following week. Announced as a "new feature" but in fact a revival of a character last seen in Pow! in 1968, and drawn by the same artist, Terry Bave. 

Of course no IPC comic would be complete without a Terry Bave strip, and this issue of Knockout had My Bruvver!...

On the back page, Fuss Pot was being as annoying as ever, but I really liked this strip thanks to the distinctive art of Norman Mansbridge. I remember my editor on Buster telling me that even the baddies should have a happy ending at Christmas (so Tom Thug did, once a year) and here Fuss Pot indeed has a happy ending... albeit due to concussion! 

There'll be another selection of Christmas pages from an old comic again tomorrow. Which will it be? Find out on Tuesday morning!

This week in 1975: MONSTER FUN COMIC No.1

On 7th June 1975 (cover dated 14th June) IPC launched the newest of their humour weekly line; Monster Fun Comic. It was another comic based around a theme. In this case, funny monsters. The cover (above) was drawn by Robert Nixon.

Issue 1 came with a free Plate Wobbler. Here it is, from my collection...

Page 2 had Frankie Stein as honorary editor, introducing us to the comic. Frankie had been created in 1964 for Wham!, illustrated by Ken Reid, then revived by Robert Nixon in the 1970s for Shiver and Shake, and then found a home in Whoopee when it absorbed that comic.

The lead strip in Monster Fun Comic was Kid Kong, also drawn by Robert Nixon...

X-Ray Specs made his debut in Monster Fun Comic too, with art by Mike Lacey. This character became very popular and enjoyed a long run, surviving the merger of the comic into Buster and lasting until that comic's last issue in 1999. 

No British humour comic about monsters would be complete without a Ken Reid strip, and here he gave us Martha's Monster Make-Up.

It has to be said that most of the content was pretty standard IPC fare, with an emphasis on gentle fun rather than laugh-out-loud funny. One of the exceptions was the Badtime Bedtime Storybook; a 4 page pull-out section that folded into an 8 page mini-comic. Written and illustrated by Leo Baxendale it was the highlight of the comic. (Later issues were drawn by other artists after Leo quit comics.)

There was one token adventure strip in the comic; March of the Mighty Ones, drawn by the sometimes under-rated Mike White, an excellent artist...

On the back page of this 32 page comic was Cinders, about a dragon who has the hots for a knight. Funny stuff, drawn by Norman Mansbridge...

Here's the advert for issue 1, scanned from Vulcan dated 14th June 1975...

Monster Fun Comic only lasted for 72 weeks before merging into Buster. However it proved to be a popular addition to the senior comic and the Buster and Monster Fun Holiday Special ran for several years afterwards. 

The Christmas COR!! (1970)

This first festive edition of IPC's Cor!! was packed with Christmas strips from some of the top artists of the time. Under the nicely decorated logo, the Gus Gorilla strip was by Alf Saporito. Anthropomorphous animal strips were a bit passé by 1970 but Gus maintained his position throughout the four year run of the comic. 

On page 2 of this 32 page comic, with art by Mike Lacey, Whacky was a strip about a kid fated to meet corporal punishment every week. Thankfully, such practices in school died out a few decades ago. In fact it wasn't that common even in 1970. I'm glad to say I was never whacked at school, and very few of my fellow pupils were. 

The great Reg Parlett had a number of strips in Cor!! but I've just chosen Freddie Fang to show here today. Top cartooning from a master of his art.

That week's episode of the Kid Chameleon serial sensibly didn't divert into a Christmas theme for the sake of it. However, with full colour art by Joe Colquhoun it's too good to ignore...

The other adventure serial in Cor!! at the time was Robby Hood and his One Man Band. Artwork by Ron Turner. This one did employ a festive theme.

A strip by another favourite artist of mine; Graham Allen (who was the original artist of The Nervs for Smash!) drawing Spoilsport...

On the back page, another popular Cor!! character; Teacher's Pet, drawn by Norman Mansbridge...

There's a few more old Christmas comics to show before the 25th so come back soon! 

Christmas Comics: TIGER (1970)

By 1970 Tiger had solidly become an all-sports theme comic, with the Christmas issue featuring Johnny Cougar on the cover taking a break from wrestling. (For several years during this period the cover strip rotated between Johnny Cougar, Skid Solo, and Roy of the Rovers.) Artwork by Sandy James, with the story continuing inside...

Carr Street United was a relatively short-run strip with artwork by Sam Fair...

Tiger had the advantage of better printing than most of its companion comics at IPC, allowing artists to embellish strips in grey wash. John Vernon used the technique to nice effect on his Skid Solo pages...

The comic only carried one humour strip in the seventies, with Autograph Albert being the one during this period. Art by Norman Mansbridge...

Finally, a full page ad for that year's Tiger Annual and its related titles, including books for Hurricane and Jag, two comics that had merged into Tiger in, respectively, 1965 and 1969. The weeklies were gone but the annuals continued...

Bookmark this blog to see another festive flashback tomorrow!