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 1976: KRAZY No.1

Cover art by Mike Lacey.

It was a hectic week 40 years ago for the UK comics industry. The launch of Captain Britain No.1, the end of Valiant, the suspension of Action... and the release of Krazy No.1. To young kids of 1976 it must have felt like their comics world was being turned inside out.

Being an older kid at the time (17), I only bought the first issue of Krazy, but it looks like it was an entertaining enough comic that I'm sure delighted a lot of children. Apparently it only ran for 79 weeks before merging into Whizzer and Chips so it didn't quite grab enough readers for some reason. At least it outlasted the 22 weeks that some of its companion comics of the time endured.

As its title implies, Krazy was intended to be a wilder, offbeat comic than its sister titles. Its contents were a bit more informal and included some one-off pages as well as regular strips. It was hosted by 'The Krazy Gang', who derived their name from The Crazy Gang of old British music halls (but otherwise had no connection to the act). The Krazy Gang, which included Cheeky (who would later have his own comic) not only starred in their own strip but also served to introduce the other strips. The idea being that all the characters were residents of 'Krazy Town' (using the concept of a shared universe like The Beano). 

Art: Ian Knox.

Art: Ian Knox.

Krazy had some traditional elements too. For example, strips such as Handy Andy and Fit Fred and Sick Sid could just as easily fit into any other IPC humour comic. 

Art: Sid Burgon.

Art: Reg Parlett.

One strip that the editors of Krazy clearly expected to be popular was 12 1/2p Buytonic Boy, superbly drawn by Robert Nixon, given the luxury of two full colour pages...

The Buytonic Boy's name was a nod to the 'Bionic' craze of the time from the success of The Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman TV series. Those two characters were even parodied in a Krazy one-off strip. (Drawn by Bill Titcombe I think.)

The centrespread of this first issue of Krazy featured a great bird's eye view of Krazy Town...

Overall, Krazy was perhaps more reserved and traditional than its title had suggested, but it still has people who remember it with fondness today. One fantastic gimmick it had was the Krazy Comic Disguise on the back page. Flip over the first issue and it resembled a school exercise book of the period, complete with inky fingerprints and in stains. I wonder if it actually did fool and teachers? 

Below: The advert for Krazy No.1 that appeared in Battle Picture Weekly the previous week. Although Monday 11th October was the official on-sale date it did actually reach the shops on Saturday 9th October. 

Sid Burgon retires

Cartoonist and comic artist Sid Burgon (who also used the pseudonym 'Swab') has decided to retire at the age of 75, reports The Berwick Advertiser today.

Born in October 1936, Sidney William Burgon learned the basics of sketching from his mother and although he became a mechanic he still enjoyed drawing. Sid's co-workers encouraged him to take drawing up professionally, which he did in 1963. One of the many publications he freelanced for was The Weekly News for which he provided cartoons under the alias SWAB (based on his initials).

By 1970 Sid began freelancing for IPC, which would lead to a long career drawing strips such as Joker (Knockout), Hit Kid (Krazy), Lolly Pop (Whoopee!) and many more.


Joker debuted in the first issue of IPC's revived Knockout in 1971 and proved so popular that the character moved to the cover in later issues and survived various mergers with other comics. In 1982 Sid received the Children's Cartoonist of the Year Glen Grant Award for the strip.

From 1989 Sid began freelancing for DC Thomson on strips such as Adrian the Barbarian (Beezer), Keyhole Kate (Dandy) and Biffo the Bear (Beano). He retired from comics a few years ago but continued to draw for his local church magazine.

Sadly, with his eyesight deteriorating, Sid has decided it's time to put down his pens, but he leaves behind a marvelous amount of artwork that has entertained millions over the course of his career. Sid's clear and distinct artwork was always of the highest quality and he naturally knew how to convey a story that was easily understood, lively, and amusing. Highly regarded by editors, readers, and his fellow professionals, Sid Burgon will always be remembered as one of the best cartoonists in British comics of the past 40 years.

My personal best wishes to Sid for a long and healthy retirement and thanks for the many happy memories that his work brought to readers.

Below: The very first Joker strip from Knockout No.1 (12th June 1971)...


(My thanks to Stephen Archer for bringing this news to my attention.)