A LOOK AT COR!! STRIPS: JACK POTT

Jack Pott was a long-running strip in IPC comics that originated in COR!! It was about a lad who couldn’t keep out of amusement arcades and funfairs and always hit the jackpot. He entered for all sorts of competitions to win cash prizes, played cards, dice, bingo – everything went. Jack’s Dad didn’t mind betting himself but couldn’t win, just as his son couldn’t lose. Occasionally Dad tried to put Jack’s mind off gambling by giving him different chores but Jack inevitably found ingenious ways of turning them into betting or gambling games.  Jack’s teacher Specky was another recurring character who often caught the boy red-handed and told him to go back to school.

First episode in COR!! dated 7th November, 1970  (No. 23)

From time to time amusement arcade managers remembered that their establishments weren’t meant for children and kicked Jack out. Denied access to his regular playground, Jack would invent ways to entertain himself by turning routine every-day activities or simple objects into gambling games

From COR!! issue dated 13th February, 1971 (No. 37)

Although the strip continued to the very end of COR!!, Jack Pott was one of the very few COR!! stars who didn’t make a single front cover appearance. Perhaps it was considered that gambling wasn’t quite an appropriate theme in a children’s paper and was better kept between the covers. Whatever the reason, it didn’t prevent Jack Pott from having a whole new comic JACKPOT named after (well, nearly after) him in the late 70s/early 80s where the lucky funster was given a second life in a new series that continued in BUSTER for many years after JACPOT folded.

The series in COR!! was illustrated by Joe McCaffrey. The first episode appeared in the issue dated 7th November, 1970  (No. 23) and lasted until 15th June, 1974 (No. 211 (the last issue)).

From COR!! issue dated 1st July, 1972 (No. 109)
Can you recognise all the other COR!! characters in the last panel?

A LOOK AT COR!! STRIPS: TELL-TALE TESS

Tell-Tale Tess. The sneaky little girl Tess always told on others. Her annoying habit sure didn’t make her the most popular girl in Cortown and she often suffered at the hands of townsfolk whom she told on (or threatened to tell on) for or without a reason. Her main motive was to boss others around but occasionally she got rewarded for her information, for example when it helped catch a crook. The illustrator was Joe McCaffrey. Tell-Tale Tess ran from 7th November, 1970 until 22nd July, 1972 (Nos. 23 – 112) and missed two dates in 1971: 24th April and 22nd May (Nos. 47 and 51).

From COR!! issue dated 13th February, 1971 (No. 37)

From COR!! issue dated 11th March, 1972 (No. 93)

A LOOK AT COR!! STRIPS: NOBBY'S HOBBIES

Nobby's Hobbies. Nobby was a boy who tried all kinds of hobbies but always messed things up and upset his Dad.  Here is the complete list of the hobbies that he had a go at: woodworking, conjuring (“Wizard” hobby), collecting stamps, photography, plumbing, pottery, voice throwing, knitting, calendar making, football (actually getting his football off the rooftop), puppets on a string, archaeology, dressing-up (disguising), winter sport of tobogganing, toy yacht building, making scrapbooks, making plastic models, making toy dogs, fishing, animal tracking, bird watching, keeping fit, making Easter eggs, making money by tape-recording bird sounds, camping, kite-flying, brass rubbing, jigsaws, mechanics, roller-skating, collecting wild flowers, acting, watching tadpoles turn into frogs, catapulting, playing badminton, paper tearing. Phew… 

The strip was drawn by the excellent Frank McDiarmid and ran from 7th November, 1970 until 17th July, 1971 (issue Nos. 23 – 59). It missed just one date during the period (1st May, 1971 (No. 48)). The episode in COR!! issue of 24th April, 1971 (No. 47) was illustrated by Les Barton.

From COR!! issue dated 12th December, 1970  (No. 28)

From COR!! issue dated 29th May, 1971 (No. 52)

A LOOK AT COR!! STRIPS: SWOPPER STAN

Swopper Stan was a strip about a kid who swopped everything for anything with all kinds of humorous consequences. It ran from 12th September, 1970 until 14th April, 1973 (Issues 15 – 150) and didn’t miss a single week during the period. The regular illustrator was Mike Lacey.

From COR!! issue dated 14th Novemner, 1970 (No. 24)

From COR!! issue dated 30th December, 1972 (No. 135 - Christmas edition).
Stan does some swopping with other COR!! characters - Micky Madd, Tricky Dicky,
Chalky and Jasper the Grasper

A LOOK AT COR!! STRIPS: TEACHER'S PET

Teacher’s Pet was a long-running series in COR!! about an annoying school-girl named Patsy and her never-ending attempts to get into her teacher’s (Miss’) good books. Patsy’s efforts usually backfired and infuriated the teacher, besides she often suffered at the hands of her classmates for being a sneak. Miss’ real name was Miss Fortune and according to the piece of information shared in the Postbag section by the Editor, she’d been trying to change it ever since Patsy joined her class. The strip enjoyed full-colour treatment and often occupied the prime slot on the back of the paper, especially in the early months. It didn’t miss a single week and made 3 front cover appearances in COR!! issues dated 15th December 1973, 9th February 1974 and 11th May, 1974 (Nos. 185, 193 and 206). The artist was Norman Mansbridge but there was also another illustrator who stepped in quite frequently. I don’t know the name but he also drew Boney in Knockout and Whizzer and Chips.

Episode drawn by Norman Mansbridge from COR!! issue dated 12th December, 1970 (No. 28)

Episode by another artist from COR!! issue dated 23rd February, 1974 (No. 195)

This post covers the last feature that appeared in the first issue of COR!! The total number of different strips over the relatively short lifetime of COR!! came to sixty, not counting reader participation features, “guest star” appearances, “cor-medy choice” features and a few series that only appeared in COR!! annuals and specials that I hope to cover in due course. Teacher’s Pet was No. 27 so less than half of the strips have been covered so far.

A LOOK AT COR!! STRIPS: MIKE'S MAGIC MOULD

Mike's Magic Mould was another extremely short-lived feature about a little lad Mike and his lump of magic modelling mould that could change its shape and size.  In part 2 of the article A Line in Chuckles in the Summer 1986 edition of GOLDEN FUN Terry Bave recalled that the idea was conceived by his wife Sheila but had never been taken beyond a simple sketch until Bob Paynter invited the Baves to create the necessary characters for COR!! They submitted the first scripts but having by then committed themselves to taking two other weekly strips in COR!! they reluctantly handed Mike’s Magic Mould over to another artist. I wonder who that artist was?

From COR!! issue dated 20th June, 1970 (No. 3)

Mike's Magic Mould started in the first issue of COR!! and mustered only 12 episodes. It bowed out on 26th September, 1970 (No. 17), having missed the following dates: 25th July 1970, 1st and 22nd August 1970, 5th and 19th September, 1970 (Nos. 8, 9, 12, 14, 16).

A LOOK AT COR!! STRIPS: STOWAWAY STEVE

Stowaway Steve was a very short-lived series about a boy who always stowed himself away in different places and objects. In all likelihood the editors didn’t think much of the series and stowed it away for good after just eleven episodes. The feature occupied 2/3 of one page (the remaining 1/3 was allocated to Kids’ Problem Column). The last episode appeared on 12th September, 1970 (No. 15). Stowaway Steve missed the following weeks: 8th, 15th and 29th August and 5th September, 1970 (Nos. 10, 11, 13 and 14). It was illustrated by several artists including Mike Lacey and Norman Mansbridge.

From COR!! issue dated 1st August, 1970 (No. 9)