Like the previous editions, the magazine had 64 pages
but cost 40 p. They systematically kept increasing the price by 5 p. every
year. Speaking of contents, to me it is definitely an improvement since the
previous edition. They kept the share of reprints down and commissioned loads
of new material – I estimate there were only 12 pages of reprints (Monkey
Nuts by Graham Allen (from I don’t know where), Tell-Tale Tess by Joe
McCaffrey (from COR!!) and Ghoul Guides by I don’t know who
(from the IPC revamp of KNOCKOUT), 4 one-page episodes of each). Here are some examples:
26 pages of Frankie Stein – Time Traveller were
by the excellent Brian Walker. Attentive readers will recall it is the second
time that a story with this headline appears in a Frankie Stein publication –
the first one, drawn by Rober Nixon, can be found in the first Frankie Stein Annual (1976). That time Frankie Stein visited the Wild West and then the age of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In this WHOOPEE!
FRANKIE STEIN HOLIDAY SPECIAL 1979 Frankie Stein – Time Traveller was split into 4 parts spread across the paper (one
8-page and three 6-page sequences).
The story begins when Frankie disrupts Dad’s peaceful
breakfast. The frustrated parent and inventor goes through his regular routine
of failed attempts to do away with his offspring until Dr. Who TV programme gives him an idea to build a time machine and
send ‘the big lunk’ away for good. Contrary to his plan, Dad accidentally
becomes a companion in Frankie’s time travels:
Like in the earlier time travel story,
their first stop is in the Wild West:
… then the sixteen-hundreds – the golden age of
pirates:
… and finally prehistoric times:
Professor Cube goes through a lot of danger and
suffering, but it all comes to nothing in the end, as always:
Disaster
movies are out, so Monster Movie Makers decide to do one with good old-fashioned
monsters. Assistant Director has some ideas but first their
Rodney-the-Rhino-on-loan escapes into town disguised to look like a
Triceratops, then the systems of two electronic giant monsters go haywire. With
all the damage caused during shooting, it looks like this is the first major
financial disaster for Carlo Monte and his crew… Artwork by Mr. Hill.
Computer
Cop is on special duty, guarding the Ministry of
Secret Plans. A gang of crafty villains is on a mission of stealing some plans...
... but
they underestimate Computer Cop who foils two of their sophisticated attempts
in this 6-page episode. Drawn and signed by Alan Rogers:
Two
2-pagers of Gook TV Spook by Artie Jackson were presented in full
colour. I believe they were drawn
especially for this Holiday Special. Here is one of the episodes in full:
There
was a one-pager of The Ghost Train by Frank McDiarmid. The original run of the strip
by Brian Walker in Whoopee! had expired
back in 1974, so it looks like the set was drawn especially for this Holiday
Special but there is also a possibility that Mr. McDiarmid had drawn it for the
Star
Guest feature and it was printed in an IPC sister publications back in
the mid-seventies (most probably WHIZZER AND CHIPS – I checked COR!! and SHIVER
AND SHAKE but didn’t find it).
On
the gags front, Jim Crocker drew and signed two pages of Freaky Funnies while Jack
Clayton contributed 3 pages of Monster Mirth drawn in his instantly
recognisable style:
For
dessert, here is the pull-out poster from the centre pages of this WHOOPEE! FRANKIE STEIN HOLIDAY
SPECIAL 1979. It is the only contribution by Robert Nixon in this magazine – you
have probably noticed that the cover is by Mike Lacey.
For
the sake of accuracy, I will also mention Bob Nixon’s drawing of Frankie used
in the Frankie Twins puzzle in this Holiday Special. Mr. Nixon had
drawn it for the front page of the Mini Monster Comic pull-out book in the
first combined issue of WHOOPEE! AND SHIVER & SHAKE (October 12th, 1974).
