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)?
