JANUS STARK returns!

Great news for fans of the popular Smash! strip Janus Stark. Rebellion are releasing a 48 page comic reprinting some of his classic adventures later this month! Available exclusively via mail order. Written by Tom Tully, with art on most episodes by Francisco Solano Lopez... although Tom Kerr drew some early episodes too, as seen in these samples below. 

Here's the PR direct from Rebellion with all the info...

Treasury of British Comics announces new special perfect-bound magazine featuring the first adventures of the rubber-boned Victorian escapologist!

“Behold, Janus Stark! Master of illusion, son of the unknown! No lock can fetter me … no rope or chain can bind my limbs!”

Prepare to be astounded and amazed as Rebellion Publishing brings a long-forgotten master of the uncanny, Janus Stark!

Art: Francisco Solano Lopez.

The Incredible Adventures of Janus Stark is a perfect-bound 48-page magazine showcasing one of the forgotten heroes of the heyday of British comics – a rubber-boned Victorian escapologist capable of incredible feats of agility and able to squeeze through the smallest gaps!

It will be available exclusively from the Treasury of British Comics webshop from 27th November, with online pre-orders from 4th November. Early preview copies will be available from the 2000 AD stand at the Thought Bubble convention in Harrogate this weekend (Tables 10-12, Comixology Originals Hall).

This is first in a series of specials from Rebellion bringing classic British heroes out of the archive and back onto the page. It follows the company’s acquisition of the vast IPC back catalogue in 2017, creating the world’s biggest archive of English-language comics and encompassing more than a century of comic book publishing.

Art: Tom Kerr.

The Incredible Adventures of Janus Stark collection begins with his very first adventure in the pages of Smash from 1969. Written by Tom Tully and drawn by Francisco Solano López, the series ran in syndication until 1971 and was one of the few to survive Smash’s merger into Valiant in 1971.

Janus Stark is an escapologist in Victorian London who appears to be a simple music hall act, but who privately uses his extraordinary abilities to battle crime and injustice. With an unusually flexible bone structure, Stark is able him to get out of an astonishing variety of tight situations at will, all the while either dressed in a three-piece suit or with his shirt off – a unique, unusual, and quintessentially British character.

Born in 1840 as the orphan Jonas Clarke, he was sent to an orphanage where he was mistreated, but escaped and lived in the streets. There he befriended a beggar, Blind Largo, who taught him pickpocketing but also trained Clarke to use his unique gift. As an adult, Clarke became Janus Stark, escapologist and private detective!

Art: Tom Kerr.

Oliver Pickles, editor at Rebellion Publishing, said: “Janus Stark is such an interesting character, but perhaps more beloved abroad that at home, after all his adventures continued with original stories in his own comic in France which culminated with his death in 1990, and none of those tales have been translated back into English. But this is a chance to restore his profile as a mainstay of classic British comic characters in the start of this series of affordable collections of his adventures.”

The Incredible Adventures of Janus Stark 48-page perfect-bound magazine is out on 27th November and available to pre-order now from www.treasuryofbritishcomics.com.

50 Year Flashback: WHIZZER AND CHIPS No.1

A few days ago was the 50th anniversary of Whizzer and Chips, but I completely forgot about it due to the 40th anniversary of Doctor Who Magazine being on the same day! Anyway, here's my belated post on the subject (which is in itself an updated rewrite of a blog post I did ten years ago)...

Five decades ago, on Saturday 11th October 1969, IPC Magazines launched the first of many humour titles that would propel them to the top of the British comics industry. Whizzer and Chips No.1 arrived boasting the unique selling point of it being "Two comics for only 6d", - 16 page Chips comic was inside 16 page Whizzer.

As with most comics of the period, Whizzer and Chips No.1 was promoted on television with short, snappy ten second advertisements and within other comics (such as Smash!) with four page pull-out ads.

In reality, Whizzer and Chips was only ever one comic of course, and, within the walls of IPC, was regarded as such by its editor Bob Paynter. At the time D.C. Thomson's Dandy and Beano each had 16 pages for 4d and IPC knew they couldn't compete on that level, so the illusion of two comics for 6d worked, as Whizzer and Chips seemed better value for money as "two" comics than it would have as one.

Being a rival to Dandy and Beano was obviously the intention, and IPC's clever "two-in-one" marketing technique ensured the success of the comic right from the outset. A comic cannot survive on a gimmick alone of course, and fortunately Whizzer and Chips also had a strong content. Many of the humour strips were created by relatively new cartoonist Terry Bave and his wife Sheila who provided the scripts. Bave had learned his craft freelancing for Odhams on strips such as Sammy Shrink and Baby Smasher. For the early issues of Whizzer and Chips he provided no less than seven pages! One of the most popular, Me and My Shadow, a simple but imaginative concept, can be seen here...

Other artists who had freelanced for Odhams also appeared in IPC's new venture. Mike Lacey kicked off with Odd-Ball (which would run for many years by various artists) and Sid's Snake, but the superb Graham Allen was wasted on the limited strip Give A Dog A Bone (a dog tries to hide his bone every week with not-quite-hilarious consequences). Earlier that year, IPC had dropped Mike Higgs' very popular strip The Cloak from Smash! but Bob Painter asked him to create a new strip for Whizzer and Chips. The result was Space School, which, due to editorial tastes, lacked the scope and satire that had made The Cloak so popular, but was still a funny strip in itself...

Adventure strips also appeared in the early issues of Whizzer and Chips, albeit fairly lighthearted ones compared to the sort of material that comics such as Valiant featured.

Kings of the Castle was a ho-hum strip about the working-class King family inheriting a castle, The Space Accident was a science fiction strip drawn by Ron Turner, The Spectacular Adventures of Willie Bunk was about a kid with magic glasses, but the standout strip for me was The Stealer, nicely illustrated by Tom Kerr...

The most distinctive humour pages in the comic were written and drawn by veteran comic artist and comic historian Denis Gifford who presented us with Koo-Koo Klub and a revival of his 1950s Knockout character Steadfast McStaunch. Every week Gifford devised puzzles that McStaunch would need the reader to solve, - a great interactive idea. Whist Gifford is remembered as the author of many books on comics (who also devised tv and radio shows) his inventive comic style has now mainly been forgotten which is a great shame. Here's the first 1969 Steadfast McStaunch, completely written, drawn, and lettered by Denis...

Another gimmick that Whizzer and Chips was renowned for was the "rivalry" between the two comics, where characters from one comic would "raid" the other, - and the readers would have to spot them in backgrounds. That didn't kick off until issue two, however Chips No.1 cover-starred Sid's Snake - the characters that from No.2 would be the cover stars and mascots of Whizzer. The famous cover star of Chips, accident-prone Shiner, didn't appear until the second issue.

Right from the outset Whizzer and Chips looked slicker, stronger, and better designed than its Odhams predecessors Wham!, Smash!, and Pow! had been. Personally, as a ten year old reading it back then, I found it entertaining but not as irreverent or, well, funny, as the Odhams weeklies had been. The hallmark of IPC's humour comics was "safe" comedy, and Bob Paynter would always encourage creators to be "careful", fearing backlash from parents and retailers.

That said, hundreds of thousands of kids obviously enjoyed Whizzer and Chips immensely, given its long run. Even though I never found Harry's Haunted House anywhere near as entertaining as The Nervs, I still stuck with the comic until my early teens, - mainly due to the solid storytelling and artwork. The popularity of Whizzer and Chips led to the launch of Cor!! in 1970, and many other similar titles such as Whoopee!, Shiver & Shake, Monster Fun, Jackpot, and others which enjoyed varying degrees of success. Even Fleetway's Buster was gradually revamped into an all-humour title to fit within the IPC humour group.

IPC attempted the "two-in-one" gimmick again in the early 1970s with football weekly Score 'n' Roar and humour comic Shiver and Shake. Neither were very successful, proving that innovation is better than imitation. (My theories on Score 'n' Roar's failure can be read here.)

Fifty years ago I remember a schoolmate of mine, Grant Hicks, running around the playground of our junior school with Whizzer and Chips No.1, ecstatic that he'd got "Two comics for the price of one". IPC's gimmick had paid off, and continued to do so for that title for many years.

Companion comics which fell by the wayside, such as Knockout and Whoopee! were merged into the seemingly invincible Whizzer and Chips. Eventually the two-in-one comic's luck ran out. Whizzer and Chips folded in 1990, by which time a drop in sales and budget cuts meant that it contained a lot of reprint and had reduced its total page count from 32 pages to 24, phasing out the Chips insert. Yes, in the end Whizzer and Chips merged into itself, before being swallowed up by the long-running Buster.

Images from Whizzer and Chips are Copyright ©Rebellion Publishing.

I've been told by the editor of Best of British magazine that their latest issue carries an article on Whizzer and Chips' 50th anniversary, so look out for it in your local shops! 

New Treasury books for 2019

Cover art by Phil Gascoine.

A browse through Amazon this evening caused me to notice a few new books that I'm sure will be of interest to Blimey! readers. Scheduled for their Treasury of British Comics line for next year are three more collections of classic strips. These will include...

Fran of the Floods, by Alan Davidson and Phil Gascoine, from the popular Jinty weekly. 
www.amazon.co.uk/Jinty-Fran-Floods-Gascoine-Phil/dp/1781086729/

Wildcat Book 1: Turbo Jones by Barrie Tomlinson and Ian Kennedy, reprinting the story from the short-lived Wildcat comic.
www.amazon.co.uk/Wildcat-Turbo-Jones-Barrie-Tomlinson/dp/1781086656/

Cover art by Ian Kennedy.

...and one I know lots of people have been hoping to see...

Billy's Boots, Book One written by Fred Baker and drawn by John Gillatt (although John didn't take over the strip until later, so that'll be corrected as these early episodes were by Mike Western, Tom Kerr, and others). The story reprinted from Scorcher from 1970. 
www.amazon.co.uk/Billys-Boots-1-Fred-Baker/dp/1781086710

Cover art by Tom Kerr and Mike Western.

These three books are currently scheduled for the early part of 2019 and I'm sure more will follow. No doubt Rebellion will reveal more info officially over the coming weeks! 

These are exciting times for fans of classic British comics and I hope you'll give the books your full support! 

The New Year LOOK-IN (1972)

There's time for one final post this year so here are a few pages from the issue of Look-In dated 1st January 1972 (published at the end of 1971). Look-In had proved to be the big hit of 1971 when it was launched. I always preferred rival comic Countdown (also launched that year) but Look-In had its own distinct style and I can understand why it was so popular. 

The cover is by Arnaldo Putzu, who contributed many painted covers for the comic over the years. You'll notice it's issue No.1. Look-In renumbered itself at the start of every year, presumably to entice new readers. It didn't seem to do it any harm.

Inside, Leslie Crowther tries to keep up his New Year's Resolution in Crowrther In Trouble, drawn by Tom Kerr...

This issue featured three pages of horoscopes for the TV stars of the day. One of whom has definitely fallen from grace in recent times. Here's one of the pages...

The Please Sir! strip now featured the less distinctive class of 'Four C', as the original cast of 'Five C' had left to spin off into their own TV series. Artwork by Graham Allen, who until a few years earlier had been drawing The Nervs for Smash!

Follyfoot had no connection to a New Year theme but I couldn't resist showing artwork by Mike Noble...

The aforementioned class of 'Five C' had left school to star in their own TV show The Fenn Street Gang, so Look-In featured a strip based on that too. Artwork by Tom Kerr...

Even On the Buses had its own strip. Artwork by Harry North...

Subtitled 'The Junior TV Times', Look-In always featured selected highlights of ITV schedules for the week, focusing on the times children would be watching TV. Most of these regional TV stations have merged into others now...

Here's the schedules the right way up so you don't have to tip your computer on its side. ;-) 

The back page of that issue featured a teaser for an Apollo badge offer that was coming in the following issue. Did any of you have these badges? 

All that remains to be said is to wish you all a Happy New Year again and thank you for following this blog. Whatever you're doing this evening, have an enjoyable time!

Buster doffs his cap!

Before I embark on this year's selection of classic Christmas comics I have a few more non-festive items to show you. First off, here's a few pages from Buster dated 25th April 1964, back when it was still a large tabloid size comic.

As the years passed, a myth surrounded the Buster character that he was never seen without his cap. That wasn't always the case, as this 1964 issue proves. Buster takes off his cap and he's blonde! Artwork by Angel Nadal.

Let's take a quick look at a few strips from inside the comic. Back then, Buster had an even split of humour and adventure strips providing a nice balance to the contents. The adventure strips were not light fare either, but rather spooky, atmospheric tales. One of them being Maxwell Hawke, drawn by Eric Bradbury...

Another adventure strip was advertised to be starting in the following issue; The Shrinker's Revenge. This ad is illustrated by Mike Western...

In the centre pages, TV star Charlie Drake gets the full colour treatment, drawn by Arthur Martin...

Another supernatural strip on pages 10 and 11, nicely illustrated by Tom Kerr; Thunder Boult, "an amazing illusionist turned secret agent". No relation to the British superhero Thunderbolt who came to Buster a short time later. 

The Christmas JAG (1968)

Jag was Fleetway's attempt to mimic Odhams' Eagle with a big 12 inch x 15 inch format and a mixture of strips and features. The cover strip, Football Family Robinson, shown here was illustrated by the great Joe Colquhoun (eleven years before he'd embark on drawing Charley's War for Battle). The surprising thing about this episode is how they got away with showing the weapons of football hooligans on the front cover. 

The strip continued onto the back page, which it shared with the team of the week photo...

Inside, the editor's Christmas message is full of optimism for the future of the comic. Quite sad really, as with IPC taking over the company shortly after, Jag was to swiftly merge into Tiger at the end of March the following year.

Jag only featured one humour strip page; Ghouldilocks, drawn by Stan McMurtry. Unfortunately Stan, better known as Mac, is known more for his controversial cartoons for the Daily Mail these days. (See here.)

Apart from the cover strip, the adventure serials in this Christmas issue of Jag didn't reference the festivities but it's worth showing a few pages anyway as they're so good. First up, The Indestructible Man, drawn (and signed) by Jesus Blasco, who was also the artist on The Steel Claw in Valiant of course...

The centre pages had full colour, and the high quality web offset printing allowed Geoff Campion to do some nice colour work on Custer...

On the inside back page of this 16 page comic was Boy Bandit, superbly illustrated by Tom Kerr...

Sadly this was the only Christmas issue of Jag. Despite having some of the best artists in the industry working on the comic it only lasted for 48 weekly issues. Personally I thought it was one of the best comics Fleetway ever did, and copies are worth tracking down, although they can be expensive. You can find out more about the comic in this old post of mine from eight years ago here:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2007/09/remembering-jag.html

What year will this blog visit next for Christmas? Find out soon! 

SHIVER AND SHAKE No.1 (1973)

With the success of Whizzer and Chips as a faux 'two in one' comic, IPC tried it again with football adventure comic Score 'n' Roar in 1970 (see here) and once more in 1973 with Shiver and Shake. Neither proved to be anywhere near as popular as Whizzer and Chips but they did contain some worthwhile content. Here's a selection of a few pages from Shiver and Shake No.1, dated 10th March 1973...

The concept of Shiver and Shake was that 20 page Shiver contained funny horror/monster strips and 16 page Shake carried, well, humour strips without a horror theme. The cover (above) was by Mike Lacey, featuring the hosts of each comic, Shiver the ghost and Shake the elephant. 

The first notable thing about Shiver is that it kicked off with a revamp of Frankie Stein, a character last seen in Wham! in 1967 and a few Wham! Annuals that followed. However this version was a more subdued Frankie than Ken Reid's edgy original, and the comedy was much lighter in tone, as was the norm at IPC. Nevertheless, Robert Nixon did a very nice job on the artwork. 

Scream Inn, with distinctive, atmospheric art by Brian Walker, was a superb strip, and was later adapted into a board game! Walker used hatching, cross-hatching and Letratone to great effect here...

Shiver featured one adventure strip, and the prolific Tom Kerr was the ideal choice as illustrator. Who'd Kill Cockney Robin was a mystery serial, with a clue in every episode for the reader to deduce who was trying to kill the title character. 

The character who'd become one of the biggest hits with readers was Sweeny Toddler, who made his debut towards the back of the comic. Created by the wonderful Leo Baxendale...

The back page presented us with something marvelous. The start of a series of monster pin-ups by Ken Reid! Creepy Creations No.1 was The One-Eyed Wonk of Wigan, with readers invited to submit their own ideas for Ken to draw in future editions. 

The 16 page middle section featured Shake No.1, with the cover strip by Mike Lacey. 

Inside Shake, veteran artist Reg Parlett gave us the arrival of Lolly Pop, a character who would outlast the comic and survive in other comics.

On the back page of Shake was Moana Lisa with art by Peter Davidson. 

The first issue of Shiver and Shake took the unusual step of giving readers a choice of four different free gifts. The ploy to get people to buy more than one 
copy convinced me for one, and I went for the trick rubber pencil and the plastic 'chocolate' biscuit. I've mislaid the rubber pencil, but here's a photo of the trick biscuit and the free gift wrappers...

Shiver and Shake lasted for 79 issues before merging into Whoopee! in 1974, but it's still fondly remembered today by collectors.