MONSTER FUN ANNUAL 1978 – PART ONE

This was the first one to come out after the weekly had folded. The book had a lovely cover by Robert Nixon, the page-count was 144 and the price was £1.15.

Contents: Freaky Farm (a 4-pager in full colour and a 3-pager in b/w with spot green, both by Jim Watson), Hot Rod (5 reprints from WHIZZER AND CHIPS, including one in colour, artwork by Alf Saporito),  Dough Nut and Rusty’s Twin Teaser (1 page in colour), Meanie McGenie (1 page by Tom Williams), Monster Mirth (2 pages of jokes), Mummy’s Boy (two 2-pagers, one by Norman Mansbridge and one by Paul White), Tom Thumbscrew (a 2-pager by Norman Mansbridge), Draculass (two 2-pagers and a 3-pager by Terry Bave), Brainy and His Monster Maker (two 2-pagers), Major Jump Horror Hunter (three 2-pagers most probably by Barrie Appleby),  Dough Nut and Rusty (a 3-pager by Trevor Metcalfe and a 3 pager by someone else, possibly Artie Jackson imitating Trevor Metcalfe), Kid Kong’s Double Decker (spot-the difference puzzle), Ticklish Allsorts (two 2-pagers by Les Barton), Teddy Scare (a 2-pager, most likely  by Jim Watson), The Robot Maker (2 reprints from COR!!, including one in full colour, artwork by Frank McDiarmid), Stoneage Brit Ancient Nit (4 reprints from COR!!, including one in colour), The Little Monsters (1 page by Sid Burgon), X-Ray Specs (a 3-pager and a 4-pager by Tom Williams and a 3-pager in colour by someone else), Gums (a 4-pager by Robert Nixon), Cave Raves (2 page of jokes), Kid Kong (a 3-pager by Robert Nixon and a 3-pager by someone else, possibly Artie Jackson imitating Robert Nixon), Terry and the ‘Dactyl (adventure story, 8 pages by the artist whose name will be revealed in the second part of the article, signed), Puppet Puzzle (Creature Teacher spot-the-difference puzzle), The Menace of Formula X (adventure thriller, 20 pages in two parts of 10 pages each, reprinted from COR!! weeklies), Terror TV (a 3-pager by Ian Knox), Badtime Bedtime Annual Story Starchy and Butch (8 pages by Mike Brown), Soccer Shocker (Major Jump spot-the-difference puzzle), Badtime Bedtime Story – The Story of Traffic Island (8 pages), Dough Nut’s Dilema (spot-the-difference puzzle).

This is a lovely book with lots of excellent art by IPC’s top artists. In fact, it has so much good stuff that I will make it a two-part article to cover most of it…

Tom Williams contributed the episode of Meanie McGenie in which the grumpy genie is summoned by a butterfly enthusiast:

Mr. Williams also drew two (out of three) episodes of X-Ray Specs. I like the one in which Ray busts his specs and is visited by the inventor – the mysterious optician I.Squint who presented Ray with his first pair of the magic glasses in MFC No. 1.

It’s a shame the Annual does not include a new episode of Tom Williams’ most successful MFC strip Creature Teacher. The teach and Class3X only feature in Puppet Puzzle – a spot-the-difference type of puzzle.

Robert Nixon contributed the bright cover, the episode of Gums in which Bluey uses a dummy of a gorgeous she-shark to get the false fangs off the “fiercest fish in the sea” but the crafty shark recovers them in the end...

… and an episode of Kid Kong in which the mighty brute has cold which then develops into cough; both the sneezing and the coughing translate into destruction for the villagers:

Interestingly, the second episode of Kid Kong was illustrated by another artist who I think was Artie Jackson trying to ghost Mr. Nixon:

The same artist ghosted Trevor Metcalfe on one of the two sets of Dough Nut and Rusty:

Terry Bave drew both episodes of Draculass. The one with the giraffe is a classic example of the technique which Mr. Bave described in his interview for the Summer 1986 edition of GOLDEN FUN. The point was not to show the actual moment of the vampire bite:

In the first episode of Freaky Farm road builders made another failed attempt to construct a road across the spooky farm. The last panel suggests they may have finally realized this wasn’t such a good idea and abandoned it for good:

In the second episode the trespasser is Major Mindup, the famous short-sighted ghost hunter who has volunteered to look around Freaky Farm for a TV show and check whether it really is haunted. I like the ending of this one:

Both Freaky Farm stories were by Jim Watson who also drew the episode of Teddy Scare (at least I think it was him):

The Annual offers a triple helping of Major Jump Horror Hunter. First Major Jump and Cosmo meet the sneaky Monster Arctic Snow Tortoise who steals their hover-sleigh and leaves them stranded in the Arctic:

... then the inhabitants of Major Jump’s menagerie arrange a surprise birthday party for their master:

... and finally we see Major Jump and Cosmo in the jungle where they meet a lone explorer who turns into Moon Monster at night. Another lone explorer saves them but they soon find out that their defender turns into Sun Monster when the sun comes up… 

I think Barrie Appleby was the artist on all three Major Jump sets.

I will save Terror TV by Ian Knox and both Badtime Bedtime Stories for part two in which I will also reveal the name of the artist behind Terry and the ‘Dactyl who illustrated quite a few adventure serials in IPC comics, including Rat Trap in COR!!

All Images 2014 © Egmont UK Ltd.  All rights reserved. Used with permission.

MONSTER FUN COMIC ANNUAL 1977

The publication of MFC weeklies began in the second half of June 1975 and IPC didn’t have time to produce a book for 1976 so Monster Fun Comic Annual 1977 was the title’s first. It came out early in the Autumn of 1976 – the first advertisement can be found in MFC No. 66 (Sept 11th, 1976). At that time the weekly was already counting its last days and was absorbed by Buster a few weeks later. The book was 144 pages thick and cost a pound.

Here is an account of the contents: Little Monsters (in colour on the front endpapers and one page in b/w inside, by Sid Burgon), Brainy and His Monster Maker (three 2-pagers, including one in colour), Dough Nut and Rusty (three episodes by Trevor Metcalfe: 2 three-pagers including one in colour, and a four-pager), Monster Fun Puzzle Page (2 pages), X-Ray Specs (2 two-pagers and 2 three-pagers including one in colour by Mike Lacey), The Robot Maker (5 reprints from COR!! weeklies, artwork by Frank McDiarmid), Frankie Stein Ticklish All-Sport (2 pages of gags by Jim Crocker), Art’s Gallery (2 episodes – a three-pager and a two-pager), Draculass (2 two pagers by Terry Bave), Stoneage Brit Ancient Nit (4 reprints from COR!! weekly comics, artwork by Tony Goffe), The Ice Monster’s Coming! (adventure thriller on 6 pages), Tom Thumbscrew – The Torturer’s Apprentice (2 two-pagers by Norman Mansbridge, including one in colour), Freaky Farm (a 4-pager), Sam’s Spook (4 reprints from SMASH! comic, artwork by Leo Baxendale), Mummy’s Boy (3 two-pagers by Norman Mansbridge, including one in colour on back endpapers), Movie Monsters feature (2 two-pagers), Teddy Scare (a two-pager), Martha’s Monster Make-Up (a two-pager), Gums (a three-pager by Tery Bave), Kid Kong (an eight-pager by Robert Nixon), Terry and the ‘Dactyl (an 8-pages adventure thriller), Creature Teacher (a six-pager by Tom Williams), Monster Mystery (spot the difference puzzle on two pages), Major Jump - Horror Hunter (a two-pager by Ian Knox), Monster Mirth (2 pages of gags by Jim Crocker), Crafty Cat (a two-pager), Film Funny feature (1 page), Ye Badtime Bedtime Worsery Rhymes (6 pages by Terry Bave), Survive All (a two-pager), The Day of the Apples Starring the Earthies (a four-pager by Mike Green).

Advertisement in MFC No. 66 (Sept 11th, 1976)

It is appropriate to start the review from the beginning and here are the hilarious front endpapers with The Little Monsters by Sid Burgon:

Unlike in the first Summer Special, all reprints (Robot Maker, Sam’s Spook and Stoneage Brit) were re-arranged to fill two pages. Also, differently from the Summer Special, the Annual had as many as two adventure thrillers. The first was the six-page story The Ice Monster’s Coming! An ice patrol boat is clearing the shipping lanes by blasting away icebergs with a gun. One shot does more than shatter an iceberg – it also releases a prehistoric monster that was trapped inside. Instead of showing gratitude to his liberators, the creature vents its frustration on the ship and its unfortunate crew. The boat sinks and it looks like it’s the end for the crew but they get rescued by another ice patrol ship. Here are the last two pages of the story:

The other thriller feature was an 8-pager called Terry and the ‘Dactyl. The narrative panel of the first frame creates an impression that this is not the first episode of the story:

Terry senses foul play and escapes into the jungle where he has to hide from hostile natives. Climbing some rocks, he finds a baby pterodactyl and starts looking after it. Terry’s wanderings take him and his new “pet” to an ancient ruined city of gold somewhere in the mountains where he stays for ten months raising and training the reptile until it grows into a giant flying creature. A plane crash near the ruined city and the death of the pilot make Terry return back to civilization and settle scores with the corrupt local police chief Gomez who would stop at nothing to find the lost city of gold. This is quite a violent story with as many as five deaths:  first Gomez’ sidekicks take care of Terry’s companion – the old prospector, then the airplane pilot dies of poison, then both of Gomez’ cronies meet their fate at the hands of their evil master and finally the rogue policeman himself falls from sky high into the river never to be seen again…

Both stories are drawn by the same artist whose name I don’t know but he was the illustrator of the long-running and successful Rat Trap feature in COR!! comic. I think I’ve seen his (her?) artwork in girls’ comics. Does anyone know the name?

Readers were treated to two new comedy strips. Crafty Cat was drawn by either Martin Baxendale or Tom Paterson. I would put my money on Martin Baxendale but I wonder if he wasn’t too young to contribute at that time:

Survive All pretended to be a weekly strip (or perhaps TV show). I am not sure about the name of the artist but I am finding the style similar to that of the illustrator who drew the Forest Legion in SHIVER AND SHAKE annuals and signed one episode Mazza. Here is the strip in full:  

This was a nice book with lots of quality artwork by top IPC talent so let’s take a quick look at some of the highlights. 

In Freaky Farm the farmer and his horrors do what they do best – scarring intruders off the farm. In this case it is a team of road builders. I am not sure if this set was drawn by the regular Freaky Farm artist Jim Watson – it looks like Elphin who drew a couple of early episodes in the weeklies was responsible for it:

In Martha’s Monster Make-Up Martha gets into trouble for wickedly using her cream on some people who did her no harm. The artist tried imitating Ken Reid and he is also the one who occasionally stepped in for Ken on Faceache in BUSTER comic. I don’t know his name, unfortunately:

In Gums the shark finds being toothless very embarrassing and goes to the swordfish for help. The sword-fish makes him a set of teeth from the wooden hull of a sunken ship but the shark still boobs in the end:

In Kid Kong the loveable giant gorilla decides to earn some money and make it up to Gran for having such a big appetite. A gang of crooks take advantage of the innocent mind and Kid helps them rob the high street bank. Kid and Gran find themselves behind bars where Kid realises that the crooks made a monkey out of him. Furious, he breaks out of prison and stops the robbers from escaping the country. His cash reward is quickly converted into ‘nanas.

Kid and Gran fantasizing about how they will spend the cash 
that Kid brought home after the bank robbery

In Major Jump – the first one signed by Ian Knox that I can remember seeing, the horror hunter and his assistant answer an S.O.S. signal and find themselves in an awkward situation when they realise it was them who the tiny people got so terrified with:

Ye Badtime Bedtime Worsery Rhymes by Terry Bave implies a connection with Badtime Bedtime Books which appeared in MFC weeklies, but it doesn’t fit the definition of a classic BBB because it isn’t a strip and is only 6 pages long (as opposed to 8 which was the standard). Here are the first two pages:

In Creature Teacher Class X are invited to put that year’s Christmas play and are thrilled about the opportunity, less so about Creature Teacher being the producer. A series of failed plots to get rid of him later, comes the day of their Cinderella performance, and Class X have saved all their mischief-making for the night:

Needless to say that Creature Teacher intervenes and saves the day:

It is the second time after the MFC Summer Special 1975 that we meet those strange creatures called the Earthies. The full title of the story is The Day of the Apples, featuring the Earthies and the illustrator is Mike Green – thanks, Lew and Raven, for identifying the artist in your comments to my previous post. Here is the story in full:

It is that special time of the year, so I will round up this post with this festive episode of The Little Monsters by Sid Burgon. More MFC-unrelated X-mas goodness to come soon!

All Images 2014 © Egmont UK Ltd.  All rights reserved. Used with permission.