The Christmas WHAM! (1965)

Here we go with my blog's traditional annual look back at Christmas comics of long ago. Regular readers will know that I do this every year and there'll be a different festive comic every day from now until Christmas. 

We're kicking off with the seasonal issue of Wham!, No.80, dated 25th December 1965 (which would have been in the shops on Monday 20th). The front and back covers feature The Tiddlers, the hilariously anarchic schoolkids created by Leo Baxendale. Leo wasn't drawing every strip by this time but we're in luck this week as he did this set.

Here's a handful of interior strips...

The Wacks drawn by Gordon Hogg...

Eagle-Eye, Junior Spy drawn by Leo Baxendale...

Frankie Stein drawn by Ken Reid...

Georgie's Germs drawn by Leo Baxendale...

Wham! had 20 pages for 7d, compared to its competitor Buster at the time which had 40 pages for 7d... but Wham! was cheekier, fresher, more raucous, and funnier in the opinion of many of us. 

Don't forget that Frankie Stein and all of Ken Reid's other strips for Wham!, Smash! and Pow! have been collected in two luxurious hardback books. You can order them from this link:
https://www.kazoop-comics-shop.com

Another Christmas comic tomorrow! Which year will the Blimey-Timey Machine take us to next? Join us and find out!

All WHAM! art Copyright © Rebellion Publishing Limited.

Christmas comics: WHAM! (1967)

Here we go with this year's selection of vintage Christmas issues, kicking off with Wham! No.185, dated 30th December 1967 (published by Odhams the week before the cover date, as all British comic were of course). 

The Tiddlers cover strip is drawn by Mike Lacey, proving to not only be an excellent imitator of Leo Baxendale's style (Leo had quit Odhams the previous year) but a funny cartoonist in his own right. The strip continued onto the back page...

All of the Odhams 'Power Comics' that week featured this full page Christmas message...

The Wacks, drawn by Gordon Hogg...

The reprints of The Fantastic Four had no festive theme of course but I thought you'd like to see a page anyway. Script by Stan Lee, art by Jack Kirby...

Eagle Eye Junior Spy took up the centre pages, with artwork by Stan McMurtry...

McMurtry also got a mention in that week's letters page, beneath the Danny Dare strip by Artie Jackson...

Finally from this selection, here's a Sammy Shrink strip by Terry Bave. Sammy would be revived years later to have a long run in Whizzer and Chips and other IPC comics...

This was the final Christmas issue for Wham!, as the comic would be cancelled a few weeks later and merged into Pow! A shame, but by this stage Wham! was past its best. That said, it was still a livelier, and funnier, comic than some of its rivals. 

Another selection of pages from a Christmas comic from the archives tomorrow!

WHAM! Fireworks issue, 1964

Wham! was such a great comic in its early days. It was diluted somewhat later in its run with a reduction of colour, a change to newsprint, the loss of Leo Baxendale and the addition of Marvel reprint, but in its first few years it was incredible. Perhaps not quite the 'Super-Beano' that Baxendale had intended it to be, but still the funniest comic on the stands at the time.

Here's a few pages from Wham! No.21, when the comic was in its prime. It's the first firework issue of the comic and what a fantastic cover by Leo Baxendale! Complete anarchy with fireworks flying around recklessly. There's no way you'd see something like this in a newsagents today. It'd cause a public outcry and claims of irresponsibility. But back in 1964, everyone took it for the bit of fun it was intended to be.

This issue had a packed 24 pages of strips, most with a fireworks theme. Here's The Wacks, drawn by Gordon Hogg...

There are seven pages by Leo Baxendale in this issue, including The Tiddlers. In these early strips, the teacher, 'Super Sir', was a pal of the pupils, often joining in with their unruly antics. Super Sir was sadly later replaced by a more traditional teacher type who was in opposition to the kids.

The full-colour centre pages show how Leo Baxendale used the photogravure printing to its best advantage with a build up to a big painted fireworks explosion. 

Oddly enough, the Frankie Stein episode that week had no fireworks reference. However with Ken Reid artwork this good I couldn't leave it out...

Baxendale rounds off the inside of the comic with a simple but effective Georgie's Germs strip with more fireworks fun. 

Wham! A fantastic issue of a fantastic comic. 

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

...and with this post I'm taking a break from blogging for a short while. I have deadlines and a few other things to deal with over the next few weeks but rest assured that Blimey! will feature new posts before too long. In the meantime I'll continue to update my art blog with any news of my own work. (You do know I have two blogs I presume?) http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.co.uk/

Happy Halloween and have a safe Bonfire Night next week!

The End of WHAM! (1968)

Launching in 1964, Wham! had been the flagship title of Odhams' 'Power Comics' but with issue No.187, dated 13th January 1968, it met its fate. Frankly, Wham! had been in decline for quite a while. Its high quality glossy Photogravure printing had long given way to cheap newsprint, more budget cuts had seen the inclusion of Marvel reprint in the form of The Fantastic Four, its main artist Leo Baxendale had left for the more lucrative options of the Fleetway comics, and even the mighty Frankie Stein by Ken Reid had disappeared from the comic long before the last issue. 

That said, Wham! was still livelier, cheekier, and more entertaining than some of its rivals. Let's take a look at a few pages from that final issue. Above is the cover by Mike Lacey, with The Tiddlers strip continuing on the back page. For cheapness, Odhams didn't use black ink on the covers of the newsprint issues of Wham!, utilising dark blue instead. (The same principle applied to companion comics Smash! and Pow!).

Art: Mike Lacey.

Wham! was fated to merge into Pow! the following week and it was announced with a full page ad...

The regular news page also made a big fuss of it...

Only a few strips from Wham! would make the transition to Pow! This issue saw the end of many long-running regulars; General Nitt and his Barmy Army, The Wacks, Glugg, Eagle-Eye, Footsie the Clown, Biff, The Humbugs, Danny Dare, and the Pest of the West. Here's a few examples of those final strips...

Art: Gordon Hogg

Art: Stan McMurtry

Art: Stan McMurtry

Art: Graham Allen

Final 'Barmy Army' strip.

Art: Artie Jackson

Artist unknown.

The strips that would survive were The Tiddlers (but only by merging with The Dolls of St.Dominics), Sammy Shrink, Georgie's Germs, and Marvel reprint The Fantastic Four. The final issue of Wham! and that week's issue of Pow! both ran the same episode of the F.F. (reprinting the start of Fantastic Four No.27) to encourage readers to buy the next issue ...

Art: Jack Kirby.

Wham! was definitely a better comic in its early days but its three and a half year run is still looked upon fondly by those of us who grew up reading comics in the sixties. Personally I think its merger with Pow! made for a stronger comic. In my next post I'll show a few pages from that first merge issue.

This wasn't exactly the final appearances of the characters as they'd return in new strips in the Wham! Annuals dated 1969 to 1971 but on a weekly frequency this was the end of Wham!

WHAM! Happy Easter!

Comics tend not to feature Easter themed strips much these days but here are a few appropriate pages from the Easter issue of Wham! from 50 years ago! Let's take a look at these fantastic strips from 1965. (Click on images to see them much larger.)

Above is the front cover strip Biff, drawn by Graham Allen. Below is General Nitt and his Barmy Army by Gordon Hogg...

Even the pop feature page that week had an Easter makeover. A reflection of the times when it was ok for a children's comic to refer to women as "swingin' chicks"...

Are you ready for some Ken Reid? Of course you are. Here's his Frankie Stein strip for that week...

Followed by Danny Dare drawn by Artie Jackson (with Dan Dare daydream panels by Bruce Cornwell I think)...

Finally from this selection, the back page strip Glugg by Gordon Hogg, wherein Glugg invents Hot Cross Buns centuries before Easter!   

Christmas Comics: WHAM! (1964)

It's the final festive flashback for this year as the Blimey-Timey Time Machine settles in 1964 for the duration of Christmas. This issue of Wham! was published exactly 50 years ago today, on Monday 21st December 1964. A smashing seasonal cover by Graham Allen (who put his initials in the last panel) with a sleigh-full of Wham stars on the masthead.

Let's have a look at a selection of some of its contents. Here are The Wacks, drawn by Gordon Hogg...

On the facing page was the regular pop feature, and who better to appear in this special Christmas issue than Britain's biggest popstars The Beatles? 

Kelpie the Boy Wizard didn't have a festive theme but I couldn't resist the chance to show two pages of classic John Burns artwork...

In these early strips The Tiddlers had a teacher who was on their side called Super Sir! After a while, the strip ditched Super Sir in favour of a traditional put-upon teacher warring with the kids, which was a shame. This episode looks like it might be the work of Terry Willers...

Only one strip by Leo Baxendale in this issue, but what a strip! Eagle-Eye, Junior Spy running across the centrespread in full colour. Some of the humour is of its time and might understandably give offence now, but the artwork is top quality funny stuff...

How's about a Christmas ghost story? Here's the short and spooky Vanishing House. And for lighter fare, It's a Crazy World drawn by Artie Jackson...

It wouldn't be Wham! without Frankie Stein and here's Frankie's first Christmas, drawn by the genius Ken Reid...

Finally, a lively Georgie's Germs strip which shows that Santa even visits germs! Several artists drew this strip over the years and this one is by the excellent Brian Lewis...

I hope you've enjoyed these visits to various Christmas comics of the past. Thanks for dropping by and may I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!