1982 SHIVER & SHAKE ANNUAL

1982 SHIVER AND SHAKE Annual cost 1.95 pounds and was 128 pages thick.

Contents: The Ghost’s Revenge (2 sets, one probably by Trevor Metcalfe and one definitely by Jim Crocker), Webster (4 sets: two by Terry Bave, one by an unknown artist and one possibly by Frank McDiarmid), The Duke’s Spook (2 sets, one by Frank McDiarmid and one by Terry Bave), Ghouldilocks (three episodes: two by Stan McMurtry and one by Tom Williams),  Lolly Pop (5 episodes: 4 by Sid Burgon (including at least one reprint) and one by Frank McDiarmid), Chupmions (3 reprints from COR!!, art by Peter Davidson), Tough Nutt and Softy Centre (3 sets by Norman Mansbridge), Shiver (by Terry Bave), Spot the Difference (3 installments with old Shiver and Shake weekly covers by Mike Lacey), Ghoul Getters Ltd. (by Trevor Metcalfe), Sports School (probably by Trevor Metcalfe), The Desert Fox (2 sets, one by Terry Bave and one by an unknown artist), Sweeny Toddler (three episodes: 1 by Tom Paterson and 2 by Paul Ailey), Moana Lisa (three episodes: 2 by Peter Davidson and 1 by Tom Williams), Frankie Stein (3 episodes: a new 5-page set by Bob Nixon, a new 2-pager by Frank McDiarmid and a reprint an episode by Bob Nixon from an early issue of WHOOPEE!), Grimly Feendish (2 sets: a reprint and one new episode by Paul Ailey), The Hand (by Terry Bave), Toby’s Timepiece (6 pages), Witch Wit (gags), Shake (2 sets, one by Mike Lacey and one by Terry Bave), Wizard Prang and Demon Druid (new by an unknown artist), Elephant Jokes by Shake (gags by Jim Crocker), The Fixer, It’s A Shivery Puzzle for You! (1 page of puzzles by Cliff Brown) Ghost Jokes by Shiver (2 pages of gags), William the Conk (8 pages, reprint from Monster Fun Comic No. 28, art by Leo Baxendale), The Great Emerald Eye of the Great Yellow God Maze! (maze by Cliff Brown), Horrornation Street (by Tom Williams), A Ghastly Ghoulish Picture Crossword! (by Cliff Brown).

It is good to see Terry Bave illustrate Webster after a longish break. All in all, Terry Bave drew 12 pages for this Annual, including some strips that he hadn’t illustrated before (at least not in the Annuals), such as the Duke’s Spook and the Hand:

Frank McDiarmid also drew two strips that were usually given to other artists to illustrate. He contributed one set of the Duke’s Spook:

...and one set of Lolly Pop:

He is also responsible for one Frankie Stein tale in which Prof. Cube sends Frankie on a ‘package’ holiday packed in a box and loaded onto a submarine; sure enough, Frankie causes a lot of trouble Jonah-style:

The theme of sea adventures also permeates another new Frankie Stein story in this Annual, this one by Bob Nixon whose style has changed a great deal since the days of Shiver and Shake weeklies.

In Wizard Prang and Demon Druid Wizard Prang goes carol singing but Demon Druid isn’t impressed with the racket and changes Wizard Prang into a song-bird and then back into his own self, causing him to fall and hurt himself.  Wizard Prang gets his revenge by turning Demon Druid into Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. They suffer an accident on their way back to town and Wizard Prang’s magic wand snaps off, so a bit of the spell that he cast on his fellow wizard doesn’t change back, leaving Demon Druid red-nosed for now… Can anyone identify the artist for me please?

There is quite a lot of Lolly Pop in this Annual. In the first set that is definitely a reprint Archie asks Pop for a new sledge because the old tin tray that he uses has seen better days... In the second episode Archie wants to enter for a piano smashing contest with one of Dad’s old pianos. Then Archie gets a piece of a jig-saw puzzle as a Christmas present so he decides to help himself to a little toy at Pop’s factory.  In the fourth episode Pop makes Archie trim the hedge at Lolly Pop Zoo without providing him with proper tools, and finally in the fifth installment Archie asks Pop for a new cricket set, only to hear another NO. Each time Pop’s miserly treatment of his lad turns against him, costing Pop fortunes in the end. Here is one complete episode from the Annual:

In Toby’s Timepiece Toby comes to the town store to exchange his faulty water pistol. Spoilt brat Horace ridicules Toby and shows off his ‘supah dupah’ space suit that his Mater has just bought him. Toby snaps back with a witty comment and upsets Horace’s Mother who assaults him with an umbrella… As Toby races down the stairs, he accidentally activates his magic timepiece and finds himself centuries ahead of his time. In the world of the distant future the society is divided into the haves and the have-nots, or sub-standards, who are kept in a hole awaiting deportation to another planet. Toby is thrown with them and wastes no time in freeing the lot but he is captured by guards who decide to deport him without any delay. They make him put on a space suit and hurtle him into a rocket ship but Toby activates his timepiece and returns to the town store where Horace turns green with envy at the sight of the smashing space suit that Toby is wearing…

Cliff Brown contributed three horror-themed pages of puzzles, crosswords and mazes that I think are really nice. Here are two:

Speaking of puzzles, all three Spot the Difference puzzles in this Annual are in fact old cover illustrations of Shiver and Shake weeklies. Check out a pair side by side:

Badtime Bedtime Books were the highlight of Monster Fun Comic in the seventies and Leo Baxendale’s swan song in comics industry. William the Conk included in this 1982 SHIVER AND SHAKE Annual is a reprint of the BB Book No. 25 from MONSTER FUN COMIC No. 28 cover dated 20th December, 1975 where it appeared in full colour. Below are the opening pages of the reprint from the Annual and the original from MFC:

1977 SHIVER & SHAKE HOLIDAY SPECIAL

The 1977 Sh&Sh Holiday Special cost 30 p. It sported a busy cover by Mike Lacey and was 64 pages thick. Here’s what was inside: Shiver by Terry Bave, Horrornation Street by Tom Williams, The Hand by Les Barton, Mirth Shakers gags (two 2-pagers, some gags signed by Crocker), The Ghost’s Revenge, Grimly Feendish (2 sets, a two-pager signed by Paul Ailey and one reprint from Smash!), Desert Fox (by someone else rather than Terry Bave), The Shake Squad (2 sets,  reprints of The Lion Lot by Leo Baxendale from Lion comic), Freddie Fang the Werewolf Cub (reprints from COR!! comic, two in full colour and two in b/w, all by Reg Parlet), Wizard Prang and Demon Druid (2 reprints from Smash!/Pow! by Mike Brown); Memory Game puzzle by Terry Bave featuring different Shiver and Shake characters, The Duke’s Spook, Sports School by Jim Watson, Scatty Bat (2 reprints from Whizzer and Chips), Lolly Pop by Sid Burgon, Beach Baffler spot-the-difference puzzle by Tom Williams featuring Horrornation Street characters and more, Webster by Terry Bave; Sweeny Toddler centresperead in full colour by Tom Paterson, Spot the Difference puzzle, Toby’s Timepiece (adventure tale, 5 pages), Moana Lisa, Ghouldilocks,  Frankie Stein in “Air Crafty” (4-pager), Fixer, Mirth-Shaking Inventions, Tough Nutt and Softy Centre (a three-pager by Norman Mansbridge), Shake by Terry Bave.

There was a number of small surprises in the magazine. Paul Ailey illustrated and signed one episode of Grimly Feendish and did quite a good job drawing it, IMHO:

 

As many as three strips – Moana Lisa, Ghouldilocks and Fixer (six pages all together) were drawn by a new artist whose style I haven’t seen in Shiver and Shake before. Was it Barrie Appleby?

Moana Lisa

Ghouldilocks

Fixer

The 4-page set of Frankie Stein (in which Professor Cube tried to sneak off for his holiday while Frankie played with model planes) is by an artist whose name I don’t know:

This Holiday Special includes the second story of Toby’s Timepiece – the adventure tale about a boy who owned an amazing watch which held the secret of time travel. The crazy story of how he came to possess the timepiece had appeared half-a-year ago in 1977 Shiver and Shake annual and I covered it in detail in my previous post HERE. In this one Toby’s class go on a treasure hunt arranged by their teacher but Toby suddenly finds himself in the past and runs into some serious pirates and a real treasure. The trouble with the timepiece is that Toby appears to have no clue how it works – this time its magical powers are activated by an accidental jolt against a rock. One gets an impression that once the magical powers are at work, they can transport Toby anywhere they want in time and space, the clueless boy has no control over them whatsoever. On the other hand, he can easily return to the place and time where he left from. Anything can happen in the bizarrely illogical world of poorly-written children’s mystery adventure comics…

Both instalments of The Shake Squad were reprints from Lion where the single-panel full-pagers were drawn by Leo Baxendale. I haven’t seen originals in Lion but I doubt if they were in colour. They do look very nice in this Holiday Special. I showed one last year in my London Olympics series HERE, and here is the other one:

 

I will finish this post about 1977 Shiver and Shake Holiday Special with the Memory Game puzzle. Terry Bave drew this large panel with lots of different Shiver and Shake characters. See how many you can recognise:

As an off-topic post scriptum, I will mention that the recently closed Compal auctions offered one Shiver and Shake-related item - the original of the cover illustration for the issue dated 14th September, 1974 (No. 76).  Indian ink on cartridge paper. 17 x 16 ins. ONCE AGAIN, it was incorrectly described as something that Bob Nixon drew for WHOOPEE! in the early 80s.  The buyer paid £72 and I happen to be the unhappy underbidder… Here is the artwork and its printed version: