COR!! COMIC ANNUAL 1983

COR!! Comic Annual 1983, £1.95, 128 pages

Contents: Football Madd (by a new artist), Ivor Lott and Tony Broke (two 4-pagers signed by Crocker + 3 reprints), The Gasworks Gang (4 reprints from old COR!! weeklies), Artful Artie (2 episodes), Wilfred the World’s Worst Wizard (2 episodes, one signed by Alan Rogers), Tease Break (5 instalments), Jack Pott (2 episodes, one signed by Crocker), Whacky (4 reprints), Helpful Hettie (By Tom Williams), Willy Worry (3 reprints),  Jasper the Grasper (a new 4-pager by Trevor Metcalfe), Teacher’s Pet (3 episodes), Cheery Chuckles jokes (4 episodes), Gus Gorilla (2 episodes), Young MacDonald and his Farm (by Ron Turner), Benny Bendo (2 episodes), Hire A Horror (4 reprints from old COR!! weeklies), Puzzles page, Moose, Chalky (2 episodes), Donovan’s Dad (signed by Terry Bave), Nightmare (by Les Barton), Percy Grower and his Fantastic Fertiliser, The Slimms (signed by Terry Bave), Biffer (possibly by Mike Brown), Spotter (By Tom Williams), Briny Brain teasers, Jelly Baby (2 episodes), Gus’s Gags (2 episodes), Swopper Stan (new episode by Mike Lacey), Fiends and Neighbours (by Les Barton), Val’s Vanishing Cream.

In this annual Football Madd was illustrated by an artist whom I don’t remember seeing anywhere else. I have to admit I am not very well familiar with new British artists from the 80s:

There were four one-offs.

Artful Artie was a version of Smartie Artie – a strip that appeared in COR!! 1982 and 1984 annuals. Both Arties were illustrated by the same artist. It was basically the same strip with a variation of the name. Smartie Artie appeared in two books and technically is not a one-off so it will be covered separately (although frankly there’s little to cover – I don’t think much of the stories or the artwork). Here is a sample page of Artful Artie:

Percy Grower and his Fantastic Fertiliser was an one-off by the artist who illustrated Benny Bendo – a regular in COR!! Specials and Annuals. Does anyone know the artist’s name please?

The third one-off was Moose:

And last but not least, there was a set of Biffer, possibly illustrated by Mike Brown:

As can be seen from the summary of the contents, Crocker contributed and signed quite a large number of sets in this Annual. I can’t decide if he also drew the episode of Val’s Vanishing Cream, here is the opening page:

Les Barton was back with more creepy humour of Fiends and Neighbours, this time Mr Jones witnesses Mr. Really-Ghastly involved in some serious BDSM action with his weird guests. Here’s a taste:

1982 COR!! HOLIDAY SPECIAL

1982 COR!! Holiday Special, 50 p., 64 pages

Contents: Chalky (2 new episodes and 1 reprint), Hire A Horror (3 reprints from old COR!! weeklies, including 1 in full colour), Ivor Lott and Tony Broke, Tomboy (4 reprints, including 2 in full colour), Whacky (2 reprints), Young MacDonald and His Farm (2 episodes by  Ron Turner), Andy’s Ants (2 reprints), Donovan’s Dad (3 reprints including one in full colour), Nightmare (2 reprints from old COR!! weeklies), Benny Bendo (3 episodes), Jack Pott (one reprint from an old COR!! weekly), Tricky Dicky (2 reprints), Football Madd (a new episode by Les Barton  + 2 more episodes by other artists), Jasper the Grasper (1 reprint from an old COR!! weekly and a new 3-page episode by Trevor Metcalfe), The Gasworks Gang (new episode by McDiarmid), Gus Gags (2 episodes), If You Go Down to the Woods Today (join the dots colour centrespread by Ron Turner), Tease Break, Fiends and Neighbours (3-pager by Nigel Edwards).

The Special was unusual in that it featured two stories on the front cover: a dramatic panel offering a taste of the Young MacDonald and His Farm adventure strip appeared alongside with the regular cover stars Ivor Lott and Tony Broke. There were two 4-pagers of Young MacDonald inside, both illustrated by the ever-excellent Ron Turner. As I said before, the feature was a recurrent one in COR!! annuals and holiday specials and will receive its own dedicated post later on, so I won’t discuss the instalments here but they stood out prominently in this COR!! Special. Ron Turner also contributed the centrespread with a join-the-dots puzzle. The young owner did the puzzle in my copy many years ago, but that’s what it was there for, so I hope you won’t mind :)

There was only one episode of Ivor Lott and Tony Broke. It was illustrated by an artist whose name I don’t know but I am sure he drew a lot for IPC comics in the 80s. I hope someone will identify him for me. Here are two panels:

Frank McDiarmid drew a nice three-pager of The Gasworks Gang with a holiday theme. Here is a taste (the first panel and the last):

Trevor Metcalfe was back on Jasper the Grasper once again. It is interesting to note that a reprint of an episode from an old COR!! weekly was also included. Metcalfe’s style had changed almost beyond recognition over the decade, Jasper the Grasper became a cuddly character, nothing like the version in the early COR!! episodes. Here is a fragment of the reprint, followed by half a page of Metcalfe’s new version: 

Les Barton took a break this time and his contribution was limitd to just one new episode of Football Madd. It was good to see another artist illustrate Fiends and Neighbours for a change and the artist was Nigel Edwards whose beautiful three-pager is another highlight in this 1982 edition of COR!! Holiday Special. Here it is in its entirety:

In combination with some nice reprints from old COR!! weeklies this edition made quite an appealing package and I would probably rate it as my favourite COR!! Holiday Special.

COR!! COMIC ANNUAL 1982

COR!! Comic Annual 1982 £1.95, 128 pages.

Contents: Teacher’s Pet (3 episodes, one new by Mike Lacey), Ivor Lott and Tony Broke (4 episodes – one new by Robert Nixon), The Gasworks Gang (3 reprints from old COR!! weeklies and  1 new episode signed by Frank McDiarmid), The Slimms (2 episodes by Terry Bave, one signed), Chalky, Football Madd (3 episodes), Gus Gorilla (4 episodes), Teasers, Jelly Baby (2 episodes), Hire A Horror (5 reprints from old COR!! weeklies), Val’s Vanishing Cream (by Mike Lacey), Donovan’s Dad (signed by Terry Bave), Wilfred the World’s Worst Wizard, Helpful Hettie (by Tom Williams), Cowboy Quiz, Young MacDonald and his Farm, Snakes Alive jokes, Smartie Artie (2 episodes), Tomboy (2 episodes), Jack Pott (2 episodes), Andy’s Ants, Cats and Dogs jokes, Jasper the Grasper (two brand new episodes – one by Frank McDiarmid and one by Trevor Metcalfe), Puzzle Fun Time, You Can’t Make Monkeys Out of Us! Jokes, Fiends and Neighbours (two episodes – one by Les Barton and one by another artist who also drew a couple of episodes in old COR!! weeklies), Whacky (4 reprints from old COR!! weeklies), Spotter (by Tom Williams), Benny Bendo, Caw!! Jokes, A Quick and Easy Puzzle Page!, General Knowledge Quiz, Try Again Len, Riddles, Swopper Stan, Nightmare (a new episode by Les Barton).

It is good to see original artists drawing new sets of their old characters in a COR!! publication again: Robert Nixon contributed a nice 4-pager of Ivor Lott and Tony Broke, Mike Lacey illustrated a new episode of Val’s Vanishing Cream and Frank McDiarmid drew a new set of The Gasworks Gang after quite some time. Here is Ivor Lott and Tony Broke by Bob Nixon:

Two features were drawn by illustrators other than their usual ones: there is an episode of Teacher’s Pet by Mike Lacey (the only one so far, as far as I can tell) and a 3-pager of Jasper the Grasper by Frank McDiarmid (also the only one that I’ve come across).

A panel from the set of Jasper the Grasper by Frank McDiarmid

Les Barton’s Fiends and Neighbours didn’t have a new masthead this time but there were one or two large dramatic panels showing Jonses’ sufferings, here is a nice one:

Try Again Len was the only one-off in the Annual. It looks rather uninspired to me...