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:

1981 SHIVER & SHAKE ANNUAL

1981 SHIVER AND SHAKE Annual came with a price tag of £ 1,50 and was 128 pages thick.

Contents: Sweeny Toddler (6 sets by Tom Paterson), Webster (3 episodes, probably by Artie Jackson), Lolly Pop (2 sets by Sid Burgon, one reprint and one new), Blunder Puss (by Jim Crocker), TheChumpions (3 reprints from COR!!, art by Peter Davidson), The Ghost’s Revenge (by Jim Crocker), Horrornation Street (a 3-pager by Tom Williams), The Forest Legion (a 6-pager),Ghouldilocks (by Tom Williams),  The Duke’s Spook (by Tom Williams), Shake (by Terry Bave), The Ghoul Guides (2 sets by an unknown artist), Grimly Feendish (a 4-pager by Paul Ailey, signed, and a reprint from SMASH!), Robby Hood (reprint from COR!!, art by Ron Turner), X-word (crossword), Wizard Prang and Demon Druid (2 episodes, possibly  new sets by Mike Brown), Sports School, Ghoul Getters Ltd (by Tom Williams), ‘Orrible Hole (by Les Barton), The Fixer, Shiver and Shake Spot the Difference (2 installments using front covers of old SHIVER AND SHAKE weeklies); Frankie Stein (two reprints from Shiver and Shake weeklies), Dodgem Game, Octopus Maze, Tough Nutt and Softy Centre (a 4-pager and a 2-pager by Norman Mansbridge, possibly reprints), Toby’s Timepiece (7 pages), Moana Lisa (2 sets, including one by Peter Davidson), The Hand (by Tom Williams), The Desert Fox (by Terry Bave), Moving House (7 pages by Steve Bell), Shiver (by Terry Bave).

Tom Williams contributed eleven pages of Horrornation Street, Ghouldilocks, The Duke’s Spook, Ghoul Getters Ltd. and The Hand. I think it is the first time that Tom Williams was asked to draw Ghoul Getters Ltd:

All 6 sets of Sweeny Toddler are by Tom Paterson. They are either reprints of the episodes from WHOOPEE!, or possibly new material drawn especially for this Annual. Here is one:

In the new episode of the Forest Legion Boss and Butch have a clever plan how to sneak into Lord Stately’s home and rob the Lord. The plan involves joining the Lord’s hunting party, bagging a fox and getting invited into the house. Needless to say, the legionnaires derail the plan once again.

The episode of Shake is interesting in the sense that it plays the theme of the old and long-forgotten rivalry between Shiver and Shake. I wonder how many readers of the Annual still remembered the times when the comic was a two-in-one package, like Whizzer and Chips… 

The Ghoul Guides is the only new strip included in this Annual. It tells the adventures of two scout guides who are in fact young witches. In the first tale they try to earn their medical badge and in the second – their needlework badge. Illustrator unknown.

Grimly Feendish thinks of another smart scheme how to rob people’s homes at Christmas: his Carol singers make such a horrid row that Grimly easily sells his soundproof ear-muffs to the annoyed citizens. Now he is free to break into their house as they sleep because they can’t hear anything. On his way out Grimly runs into Father Christmas, accidentally knocks him down and comes up with an idea to rob every house in town disguised as Santa. The tale becomes completely surreal towards the end when it turns out that a lot of the story was in fact Grimly’s dream… or was it not??? Artwork by Paul Ailey.

The second set of Grimly Feendish looks like a reprint. In it the crook takes up collecting stamps and has a go at the famous penny green…

In the episode of Toby’s Timepiece, Toby trips on his long Doctor Who scarf and finds himself centuries back in time where he gets to meet a greedy time-thief – a villainous scientist from the future who has built a time machine to travel back in time and steal treasures from medieval knights. The knights take Toby for the time-thief’s accomplice but the boy returns them their treasure. Furious, the scientist transports Toby with him to his own time in the future where Toby is taken into custody by the scientist’s robots. In a strange and unconvincing twist of the plot Toby persuades the robots that the Professor has to be arrested for possession of unauthorized valuables that are the spoils of his many raids into the past…

The last new strip I would like to cover is the second installment of Moving House by Steve Bell (the first appeared in the 1980 Shiver and Shake Annual). This time the Hardy family start all over again, as if the first episode had never happened – they are still unaware that the old grandfather clock in the attic is in fact a time machine and turning its hands means time-travel, house and all… The family are on their way to the circus, what they don’t realize is that the time machine has transported them to ancient Rome so they find themselves in Circus Maximus where they have a narrow escape from being run over in a horse chariot race. They escape from Circus Maximus to the relative safety of their house but the restless Grandpa turns the hands of the clock once again and the house lands in the Middle Ages where Grandpa is seized by a mean baron. Luckily for him, the same baron later challenges one of the Hardy boys to a joust, and is defeated. The Hardys return back home and reckon that the clock must be some sort of time machine. In the end, they get back to the 20th century just in time for the circus performance…

There are quite a few reprints in the Annual. I’ll mention two: Robby Hood is a reprint of the third story of Robby Hood and His One Man Band that ran in COR!! from 13th February until 27th March, 1971 (issue Nos. 37 – 43). You can read my account of the story HERE.

There are two reprints of Frankie Stein from old SHIVER AND SHAKE weeklies:  a 3-page ballet set from SHIVER AND SHAKE No. 51 cover dated February 23rd, 1974, art by Robert Nixon (one of the best sets by Mr. Nixon, IMHO), and a 2 ¾-pager from SHIVER AND SHAKE No. 54 cover-dated March 16th, 1974, art by Frank McDiarmid (an excellent energy-packed episode in which Prof. Cube invents a special high-pitched dog whistle that makes Frankie believe he is a dog). Here are sample pages from the two sets:

Overall, this is quite an unimpressive package to my eye.