HOW MANY ISSUES MAKE THE FULL RUN OF BUSTER COMIC?

Those of you who follow Comics UK Forum may have noticed a recent discussion about the number of issues constituting the full run of BUSTER. You can read the discussion HERE. There you will find a link to download a useful spreadsheet with cover dates and issue numbers, compiled by Forum member hankshanklin.

The important thing about the discussion was that it helped to arrive at the final number of 1,902 individual issues. There was a small debate as to how double-dated issues should be treated, and consensus was that they should be counted as one rather than two.

As a result, I updated my old posts about BUSTER No. 1,000 HERE and HERE because it turned out I had it wrong by one issue through accidentally omitting one number in my spreadsheet... Now it’s official that BUSTER No. 1,000 had the cover-date of 12th January, 1980. It was the last issue before a 4-week break due to industrial action. Here is the cover:

All Images 2016 © Egmont UK Ltd.  All rights reserved. Used with permission.

NAME-THE-INNKEEPER COMPETITION

Here’s an interesting piece of trivia about Scream Inn feature covered in my recent series of X-mas episodes that I thought I might share with you today. Although most if not all Scream Inn spooks had names, this wasn’t the case with Innkeeper, their fiendish boss. It turns out the Editor once had an idea to name him too and asked readers for suggestions. Having had a quick look through my WHOOPEE! collection, I failed to identify the issue where the Editor announced the competition, but results were printed in the number  cover-dated 6th December, 1975. I can’t recall coming across him being referred to as anything else than Innkeeper in the strip though. Another case of “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”, perhaps? :)

  

 

All Images 2016 © Egmont UK Ltd.  All rights reserved. Used with permission.

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS AT SCREAM INN - PART FOUR

Scream Inn ended in WHOOPEE! issue cover-dated 1st October 1977 when the Innkeeper won the million. A week later he decided to use the prize money to set up Spooktacular 7, inspired by The Magnificent Seven film. The feature continued until 22nd July, 1978, and here is the only X-mas episode of Spooktacular 7 that also turned out to be the last one for Innkeeper & Co.

All Images 2015 © Egmont UK Ltd.  All rights reserved. Used with permission.

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS AT SCREAM INN - PART THREE

1976 was a good year for Scream Inn – WHOOPEE! didn’t miss a single week and the two-page feature was in every issue of the comic. The readers kept the Innkeeper and his team busy by suggesting all sorts of candidates who they thought might try their luck at spending a night in the Haunted Bedroom and winning the coveted prize of one million pounds. Some of the notable guests included Innkeeper’s twin, Dr. Livingstone, Old King Neptune, WWI Air Ace Der Red Baron, Al Capone, Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland and Doctor Doolittle, to mention but a few.

Here’s how the resident ghouls of Scream Inn celebrated the X-mas of 1976:

There was also a 4-pager in the Shiver and Shake 1977 Annual published for the X-mas of 1976. The last panel of the set is perhaps the most nicely drawn slap-up feed scene in UK comics ever.

The fourth and last part of this Christmas series will be up soon.

All Images 2015 © Egmont UK Ltd.  All rights reserved. Used with permission.