SPORTS THEME IN BRITISH COMICS TO CELEBRATE LONDON OLYMPICS 2012 (DAY 11)

The Sludgemouth Sloggers was a team of human freaks assembled by the town of Sludgemouth to enter the world-wide ‘What-A-Lark’ competition (the Whacky World Cup for Holiday Resorts) with a noble mission of winning a prize of 50 thousand quid in order to build a dam and save the tourism industry of their town. The team required some special skills to tackle the various stunts and weird sports used in the contest. The strip is not much of a help in illustrating modern Olympic sports but it is another nice example of a story centered around a tough athletic competition with cheering crowds and extensive media coverage. 

But the main reason why I chose to include The Sludgemouth Sloggers in my series of Olympic blogposts is this particular 6-page set. All weekly installments in JET and later the combined BUSTER AND JET were illustrated by Douglas Maxted, but the episode from the rarely-seen 1972 Birthday Book For Boys was by the ever-excellent Joe Colquhoun:

A LOOK AT COR!! STRIPS: THE GOODIES

The Goodies was a British television comedy series during the 1970s and early 1980s combining sketches and situation comedy. It was created and written by a trio of British comedians Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie; the three of them also starred in the TV series. Here are a couple of screenshots from the TV episode entitled Camelot, in which Bill Oddie is reading a copy of COR!! Thanks to Niblet for the images!

Here is a piece of information on the appearance of the Goodies in COR!! that I found on a fansite of the TV series: “licensed for just the one year, The Goodies were unique in the fact they were the only adapted characters featured with the comic's pages with copyright credit being given to Bill Oddie, Tim Brooke Taylor and Graeme Garden. According to Robert Ross' book "The Complete Goodies" the strips were all authorised and approved by The Goodies prior to publication and Tim still displays an original Cor!! strip in his study”.

I watched a couple of episodes of the TV series recently and frankly wasn’t impressed. I guess you had to live in the 7os Britain and be of a certain age to fully appreciate the humour. The comic version in COR!!, however, works really well for me – the stories are well-written and, most importantly, beautifully rendered by the always excellent Joe Colquhoun. In his interview for the Fantasy Express fanzine in the early 80s the artist said it would have been nice if he could find the opportunity to do more humour work, just to relieve the tension of drawing somber war comics.

The arrival of the Goodies was announced by the Editor in COR!! News Sheet in the issue dated 30th December, 1972 (issue No. 135): 

The strip occupied two pages for the whole of 1973 (issue dates 6th January, 1973 – 29th December, 1973 (Nos. 136 – 187)) which amounted to 52 episodes. There was also a 4-pager in the 1974 COR!! annual but nothing in the 1973 COR!! Holiday Special. The Goodies made four font page appearances in full colour in COR!! issues dated 6th January 1973, 28th April, 1973, 7th July, 1972 and 27th October, 1973 (Nos. 136, 152, 162 and 178):

Below is a reference list of the weekly episodes marked with COR!! issue numbers and dates.

1) In the opening episode in COR dated 6th January, 1973 (issue No. 136) Lord Lolly gives the Goodies a job – he tells them to go to Africa and bring him back a load of wild animals because his stately home is the only one in the district that doesn’t have a safari park. Instead of going to Africa the Goodies kidnap animals from the zoo but end up in a cage in Lord Lolly’s safari park.

2) The Goodies invent a thing which removes noise. 13th January, 1973 (issue No. 137)

3) The Goodies train for a boxing championship match. 20th January, 1973 (issue No. 138)

4) The Goodies start a Lost and Found office in their home. 27th January, 1993 (issue No. 139)

5) The Goodies wear kilts and take part in Highland Games. 3rd February, 1973 (issue No. 140)

6) The Goodies start a free winter sports centre (because many people can’t afford to go abroad for a skiing holiday) but fail spectacularly. 10th February, 1973 (issue No. 141)

7) The Goodies entertain the queues waiting to see the doctor. 17th February, 1973 (issue No. 142)

8) The Goodies are broke and ride into town to advertise. 24th February, 1973 (issue No. 143)

9) The Goodies sample Health Farm Holiday. 3rd March, 1973 (issue No. 144)

10) The Goodies clean up the town from litter. 10th March 10, 1973 (issue No. 145)

11) The Goodies save Britain from a power-mad scientist who has invented a shrinking ray and is holding the country to ransom. 17th March, 1973 (issue No. 146)

12) The Goodies play Three Musketeers in a new film production. 24th March, 1973 (issue No. 147)

13) The Goodies are assigned to deliver vital information to MI13 ½ secret headquarters. 31st March, 1973 (issue No. 148):

14) The Goodies try to bring back the sense of values in people but are fined for violating parking rules and then accidentally help the police to catch a notorious criminal. 7th April, 1973 (issue No. 149)

15) The Goodies invent a time machine and travel back in time; they even meet Jasper the Grasper and land up on the back of a dinosaur. 14th April, 1973 (issue No. 150)

16) The Goodies help in staging International Easter Sport. 21st April, 1973 (issue No. 151).

17) The Goodies travel to Sahara to look for Dr. Livingrock who disappeared 25 years ago. 28th April, 1973 (issue No. 152).

18) The Goodies fetch the engine so that the local train branch line can be opened. 5th May, 1973 (issue No. 153)

19) The Goodies travel to search for Aladdin and his magic lamp. 12th May, 173 (issue No. 154)

20) The Goodies go door-to-door selling brooms. 19th May, 1973 (issue No. 155)

21) The Goodies start a local newspaper The Goodies Gazette. 26th May, 1973 (issue No. 156)

22) An artist hires the Goodies to deliver his paintings to the gallery because a gang of rival artists are out to steal them so that they can have their work exhibited instead. 2nd June, 1973 (issue No. 157)

23) Farmer hires the Goodies as rainmakers. 9th June, 1973 (issue No. 158)

24) The Goodies go on holiday to the seaside and are hired to find the pier that’s disappeared. 16th June, 1973 (issue No. 159)

25) The Goodies are hired to get rid of a ghost that haunts a country house. 23rd June, 1973 (issue No. 160)

26) The Goodies set on a mission to revive traditional British summer holidays and get holiday makers to travel to the British seaside instead of going abroad. 30th June, 1973 (issue No. 161)

27) The Goodies are persuaded to be rodeo riders. 7th July, 1973 (issue No. 162)

28) The Goodies sell ironing boards for surfboards to British holiday makers on the coast of the English Channel. 14th July, 1973 (issue No. 163),

29) The Goodies try out their boring machine and meet a gang of crooks who call themselves Escapologists. 21st July, 1973 (issue No. 164)

30) The Goodies move an old equestrian statue to a new site. 28th July, 1973 (issue No. 165)

31) The Goodies track down an escaped abominable snowman. 4th August, 1973 (issue No. 166)

32) The Goodies set out on a mission to rescue Princess Nockness who is held captive in Sheikh Mustapha’s harem. 11th August, 1973 (issue No. 167)

33) The Goodies are on a mission to rescue a bloke marooned in the south seas. 18th August, 1973 (issue No. 168)

34) The Goodies dive looking for treasures. 25th August, 1973 (issue No. 169)

35) The Goodies assist Wuzzy Wiz the master magician in his magic act. 1st September, 1973 (issue No. 170)

36) Manager hires the Goodies to make Gentle George the wrestler angry enough to flatten his opponent in tonight’s match. 8th September, 1973 (issue No. 171)

37) The Goodies join the country’s first astronaut training programme. 15th September, 1973 (issue No. 172)

38) The Goodies help Colonel Swamplimper trace the source of the river Ooze. 22nd September, 1973 (issue No. 173)

39) The Goodies are commissioned to re-decorate a hut that the Army’s taken over. 29th September, 1973 (issue No. 174)

40) The Goodies set on a mission to trace down a phantom barber. 6th October, 1973 (issue No. 175)

41) The Goodies try to win a prize of 1,000 pounds for flying the Channel on a man-powered aeroplane. 13th October, 1973 (issue No. 176)

42) The Goodies take up the task of attracting more people to the town park by staging a show. 20th October, 173 (issue No. 177):

43) The Goodies test the time machine at the request of its inventor Prof. Crankhandle. 27th October, 1973 (issue No. 178)

44) A gangster uses his gun to persuade the Goodies to be Baddies and help him pull some jobs while his gang are in jail. 3rd November, 1973 (issue No. 179)

45) The Goodies take up the task of guarding a dog from a rival owner who is trying to stop him winning the big prize at the dog show. 10th November, 1973 (issue No. 180)

46) The Goodies examine some young trees that don’t look very well. 17th November, 1973 (issue No. 181)

47) The Goodies fulfill their duty to provide means to a company of hungry soldiers arriving back from manoeuvres. 24th November, 1973 (issue No. 182)

48) The Goodies fell under the spell of a vicious hypnotist Dr. Hypno who turns them into Baddies and tells them to cause havoc in Cortown, rob a jeweler and bring the loot back to him. 1st December, 1973 (issue No. 183)

49) The police ask the Goodies to capture the Baddies from the previous week’s episode. 8th December, 1973 (issue No. 184)

50) The Goodies go to the woods to deal with a loose dragoon. 15th December, 1973 (issue No. 185)

51) The Goodies help Cinderella get to the ball. 22nd December, 1973 (issue No. 186)

52) Santa’s reindeer have escaped so the Goodies deliver Christmas presents for him and are declared national heroes. Last episode in the issue dated 29th December, 1973 (issue No. 187).

In the 4-page episode in COR!! 1974 annual the Goodies save an airshow by providing their new wizard-fuel Goody Goo and earn themselves a reputation of good flying stunt men in the process.

Grom COR!! issue dated 3rd November, 1973 (No. 179)

 

If you like the Goodies, you might very well enjoy visiting the excellent Official Goodies Rule-OK! Fan Club Website. It has loads of information about the TV series and related stuff but this link takes you straight to the page where you will find scans of each weekly episode of the strip in COR!!, complete with detailed summaries, interesting notations, tidbits and things to look for in the various issues.

FOOTBALL THEME IN BRITISH HUMOUR COMICS TO CELEBRATE EURO 2012 (DAY 10)

In the interview for the FANTASY EXPRESS fanzine Joe Colquhoun regretted that “…Football Family Robinson was rather cut off in my prime. Even though it was football, it was football with tongue in cheek, and a lot of rather ribald humour, and offered some good characterisation of the entire family. It appealed to me, the zaniness of it really, and it had a good author, Tom Tully”.

FOOTBALL THEME IN BRITISH HUMOUR COMICS TO CELEBRATE EURO 2012 (DAY 9)

Joe Colquhoun (whose Kid Chameleon tale I covered in a series of 4 posts in the COR!! section of this blog) also drew an excellent football comedy strip Football Family Robinson in the short-lived JAG comic from the late 60s. In his interview for the Fantasy Express fanzine Joe Colquhoun said it was one of his favourites that he would have liked to have done more of. The beautifully painted colour sets graced the spacious front and back pages of the tabloid-sized paper. Here are the first three instalments and three more will follow tomorrow. 

A LOOK AT COR!! STRIPS: KID CHAMELEON, PART FOUR (FINAL)

Kid Chameleon and the Mystery of the Old Gondola (5 weeks from 1st January, 1972 until 29th January, 1972, issue Nos. 83 – 87)

Walking the streets of Venice, Kid Chameleon sees a sack thrown into the canal out of the window and it turns out there’s a human being inside. Kid rescues a skinny boy by the name of Pietro Spogetti and finds out that the fat man who has just tried to get rid of him was the boy's uncle Mario. Kid Chameleon teaches Mario a lesson by kicking him down the stairs. Kid thinks he has done a good deed, but the boy tells him he has only made things much worse: the uncle is very powerful because he owns many gondolas and makes much money. The boy only has one gondola left to him by his father and he works very hard to make a living. Mario has tried to buy the boy out because he wanted to have all gondolas but Pietro refused, so now Mario beats and bullies him every day. Now that Kid has beaten Mario, he has made things much worse for poor Pietro. At that very moment the two boys are confronted by Mario’s friends who threaten to beat them up. Kid Camouflages himself and defeats the thugs but amidst the commotion, Mario tows Pietro’s gondola away: 

From COR!! issue dated 15th January, 1972 (No. 85)

Kid dives into the canal and goes after Mario in order to force him tell the truth why he wants the old gondola so badly. Mario disappears in the traffic of the Grand Canal but Kid finds him again with the help of his lizard friends. Mario has brought the gondola to the edge of a lagoon on the outskirts of the city and started breaking it up with his axe. Having smashed the prow of Pietro’s gondola, Mario retrieves some precious paper but Kid grabs it from his hand. The paper has drawings of a gondola that can make man a fortune. Pietro can now develop his Dad’s gondola while Mario pays for his crimes in a prison cell. Kid’s quest continues.

Kid Chameleon Enters for the European Cross-Country Race (6 weeks from 5th February, 1972 until 11th March, 1972, issue Nos. 88 – 93)

Kid reaches the Italian city of Pisa. He witnesses some posh English youngsters pester a poor artist. Kid intercedes for the poor old fellow and the bullies begin ridiculing him. The artist tells him they are English schoolboys entered for the European cross-country race and the big one is Clive Smythe, British Schools’ Champion, the favourite in the race. The bullies have more fun at Kid’s expense when they persuade him to hold the leaning tower of Pisa so it doesn’t fall. Kid becomes really furious for being made a fool. At first it looks as if the snobbish Clive is going to have the upper hand thanks to his judo skills, but Kid plays his own game and Clive ends up in a fountain. The bullies chase Kid but they are not fast enough. Frank Carter, the sports’ master in charge of the four British boys, is fascinated because Kid has just outrun his best athletes: 

From COR!! issue dated 12th February, 1972 (No. 89)

Carter offers to enter Kid for the European Cross-country race. Kid agrees because he sees it as a chance to beat Clive, but Clive’s plan is to put Kid out of the race. On the day of the race Clive spills some drawing pins on the track. Kid injures his bare feet and goes through a lot of pain and trouble before he finally wins the race with the help of his lizard friends.

Kid Chameleon Brings the Murderer to Justice (5 weeks from March 18th, 1972 until 15th April, 1972, issue Nos. 94 – 98)

Kid crosses the border from Italy into Switzerland. He slips down the slope and crashes into the bottom of a fat school-teacher who is out on a nature ramble with her pupils. The lady smacks him on the head with a newspaper for hitting her and calling her fat. Kid can’t believe his eyes because the newspaper has a photograph of the man he is after. Kid asks the teacher to read the report and learns that the man on the photo is an Englishman and well-known international thief called Matthew Blain. He is now trapped by the police on the upper slopes of a mountain known as the White Tower. Kid arrives at the foot of the mountain and discovers it is all sealed-off by the police. Using his talents, Kid slips past the cordon and reaches the upper slopes. After a lot of shooting and a mountain slide Kid attacks Blain and renders him powerless. The boy demands to know the truth about his parents’ death and Blain tells the story:

Final episode of Kid Chameleon in COR!! issue dated 15th April, 1972 (No. 98)

And that was the end of the tale about Kid Chameleon (a.k.a. Gavin Webb as we now know).

Kid Chameleon’s adventures weren’t limited to COR!! weeklies. Two short stories also appeared in the annuals – 1972 COR!! annual and an obscure BIRTHDAY BOOK FOR BOYS 1972.

The scene of the 6-pager in COR!! 1972 annual is set in East Africa. Kid Chameleon saves Jill Carter and her Dad’s money from the wicked crooks Trent and the Carnival Strongman Samson who are plotting to escape with the takings of the carnival. The episode was illustrated by a different artist but I can’t identify who. Here's a sample page:

The episode in the BIRTHDAY BOOK FOR BOYS 1972 was 8 pages long. Kid Chameleon is in a small East African town where he foils the plans of Baxter and his accomplice Basher who have disguised themselves as artists to rob the local bank. Illustrated by Ian Kennedy. Here are the last two pages of the short story:

A LOOK AT COR!! STRIPS: KID CHAMELEON, PART THREE

Kid Chameleon beats a Gang of Child Kidnappers (13 weeks from 3rd July, 1971 until 25th September, 1971, issue Nos. 57 – 69)

By now Kid Chameleon has reached the outskirts of a big industrial town in East Africa. He tries to seek shelter from a dust storm and ends up on board a cargo airplane. Kid resists the pilots’ efforts to seize the stowaway. In the course of the fight the boy tumbles on the instruments panel and smashes half of it to pieces. The plane crash-lands in Egypt and Kid loses his pursuers by climbing over a wall of a posh oriental residence. He meets Musti Fatah, owner of the house. Upon hearing that the intruder is wanted by authorities for running off after the plane crash, Musti Fatah realises that Kid’s presence endangers his own plans. To prevent his house from being searched, the wealthy merchant decides to hand Kid over to the authorities and throws him into his dungeon. There Kid finds himself in the company of an Arab boy who is held captive. The boy’s name is Ali Hassan, he is son of a wealthy Bedouin Sheik. Ali tells Kid that Musti Fatah plans to take him across the desert to Cairo and demand a high ransom. Fatah overhears them talking and realises that Kid now knows the truth and has to be disposed of as soon as they reach the desert. The thugs roll the boys up in carpets and load them onto camels. The lizard boy manages to escape and follows the caravan at safe distance in order to try and rescue Ali. He suffers an accident and is picked up by some Bedouin camel riders led by Sheikh Hassan, father of Ali. Kid tells him about the trouble that his son is in and the Bedouins ride towards the oasis of El Kabir to look for the snivelling snake-eyed merchant Fatah, unaware that he and his men had dug a deadly trap for any unwanted pursuers.  A fight breaks out. Fatah escapes carrying Ali away with him:

From COR!! issue dated 11th September, 1971 (No. 67)

The Sheikh is prepared to yield to the black-hearted merchant’s demands for a ransom of two million piasters for Ali’s safe return but Kid Chameleon thinks of a clever plan and finally foils the kidnapper’s evil plot assisted by his reptilian friends. The Sheikh reunites with his son and Bedouins capture the merchant who will now meet the justice that he deserves. Kid continues his long and wearying quest for the man who shot his parents.

Kid Chameleon helps American Oilmen Deal with Arab Terrorist Rebels (7 weeks from 2nd October, 1971 until 13th November, 1971, issue Nos. 70 - 76)

Kid is now in Egypt, walking along an oil pipeline that runs along the river Nile. Suddenly he is seized by some jeep-riding angry American “lily-skins”. The Americans tell him that for months now a bunch of rebels has been sabotaging their rigs and pipelines and they believe that Kid is one of them. Kid realises he is being blamed wrongly. The lizard boy uses his talents and makes a rough escape. As the oilmen drive off, their jeep gets bombed. Kid rushes to the scene and sees two men with guns who are going to finish the Americans off. Kid intervenes and the would-be assassins run for their lives. An ambulance comes from the oil rig. The two oilmen accuse Kid of blowing their jeep and Kid can’t escape this time. They take him to their camp and lock him up in the paint store. A mysterious figure with a stocking mask unlocks his door and starts shooting at him with a catapult. A messy fight breaks out and Kid soon finds out that his attacker is a red-haired girl by the name of Mary-Lou McGraw who has come to get even with him for what he did to her Dad. Kid escapes from the store and takes the girl with him so that she can’t raise alarm until he is far away. Suddenly he sees the same two men who tried to kill the girl’s father breaking into the camp. Kid is going to capture them by climbing onto a derrick and dropping on them with force but it turns out that the derrick is the Arabs’ target and they blow it up:

From COR!! issue dated 30th October, 1971 (No. 74)

Kid’s fall is broken by water in the fractured tank. The girl sees the villainous Arabs as well and she now believes Kid's innocence. But her Dad and the other drillers who are trapped in a bunkhouse must be saved. Kid calls his lizard friends for help; they dig a tunnel under the flames and Kid wiggles into the bunkhouse where the situation is becoming desperate. The men crawl to safety through the tunnel. Mary-Lou tells them about Kid and they realise he had nothing to do with the rebels. Kid is determined to bring the terrorists to justice. He picks up the villains’ trail and soon catches up with them. The Arabs are driving to Alexandria to get some sleep. Camouflaged, Kid uses a signpost to pin the two rebels down.

Kid Chameleon’s First Encounter with the Man Who Murdered his Parents (6 weeks from 20th November, 1971 until 25th December, 1971, issue Nos. 77 – 82)

Kid is now in Alexandria, Egypt. He sees two men fighting and Kid scares the attacker off. The robbed man tells Kid that no one knows the thief’s identity but every time he strikes he leaves a strange sign as his trademark of crime. The sign is exactly like the badge of Kid’s parents’ killer. The scent leads Kid to the port where a big passenger liner is about to depart and he knows that the wicked man is on board. Kid sneaks into the liner. He realises it won’t be so easy to spot the villain in the crowd of passengers. He decides to try the dining saloon and thinks chandelier is the best vantage point. Kid burns himself on hot light bulbs, crashes down and causes a mess: 

From COR!! issue dated 4th December, 1971 (No. 79)

Waiters grab Kid and take him to the captain who never did like stowaways very much. Captain orders to lock Kid up until they dock in Italy. Upon arrival Italian authorities are ready to take him ashore. Suddenly Kid sees the skull and dagger emblem on the bag of one of the disembarking passengers and realises that at long last he is staring into the face of the man who had shot his parents. Kid escapes from his guards and then the dock area. Camouflaged, he runs through the streets of the city where Christmas activities are taking place but the man disappears in the crowd and the quest has to begin all over again.

The next and final post dedicated to Kid Chameleon will cover the last three stories of the saga: Kid Chameleon and the Mystery of the Old Gondola; Kid Chameleon Enters for the European Cross-Country Race and Kid Chameleon Brings the Murderer to Justice, plus two stories from the annuals.