Shiver and Shake
merged into Whoopee! in October 1974
and Scream
Inn was one of the strips that found its way into the new paper with
the clumsy title of Whoopee! and Shiver
& Shake.
The first guest appearance in Scream
Inn can be found soon after the merger, in the issue cover-dated 26
October 1974 (No. 34), and it was quite an unusual one indeed. That week’s guest
looked a lot like I Spy from SPARKY comic published by DCT. I believe this is one of very
few examples in British comics when a character appeared in a rival
publication produced by the competitor. Brian Walker illustrated I Spy starting from SPARKY
issue No. 300 (17 October 1970), so the inclusion of a look-alike into the episode of Scream Inn in Whoopee! and Shiver
& Shake (published by IPC) must have been a cheeky experiment on
his part. Here is the episode, followed by the three-page set of I Spy from SPARKY, the
first one by Brian Walker.
While we are on the subject of SPARKY’s I Spy
and cheeky sneak-ins by Brian Walker, who is that bespectacled bloke in the top
right corner of this panel of Scream Inn from Shiver and Shake issue 51 (February 23rd, 1974)?
Interesting, Irmy, but it's not really the same character - just a similar one. Good to see 'though.
ReplyDeleteI agree it's not the same character (Slavic accent, different hat) but Brian Walker could have easily drawn him differently, had he wanted to, so I believe the resemblance is deliberate.
DeleteI always felt that Sparky's 'I Spy' was inspired by Mad's 'Spy Vs. Spy' - any thoughts?
DeleteI am not familiar with Spy vs Spy well enough to comment on this, I'm afraid...
DeleteOne for your future research, Irmy, eh? On the point of the Scream Inn spy's resemblance to I Spy being deliberate, it may well be that, as it's an archetypal spy look, Brian Walker just took the obvious (and easiest) route. Maybe the writer even described the spy that way in the script.
DeleteAround this time, there were quite a few hairy spies with their collars pulled up in IPC comics; Spy School was bulging with them! To broaden the topic, this obviously relates to the Cold War, with sneaky spies trying to obtain what secrets they could – in comics, these secrets were nothing special. I well remember Fruitski and Nutski’s inept pursuit of Kit Katz’ add-ons in Wow’s Spare-Part Kit!
DeleteLove the inn keeper hiding in I Spy..
ReplyDeleteJohn Geering did the same with Gums in Bananaman...
It's Boss hiding in Innkeeper's strip, not Innkeeper hiding in I Spy... ;)
DeleteI remember reading that I-spy vs fatman story as a kid. Have you posted the full story anywhere?
ReplyDeleteNo, I haven't. It is quite a long story, I believe.
Delete