ARTIST SELF-PORTRAITS (PART 2)

Scream Inn was a popular strip that originated in 1973 in Shiver and Shake and continued in Whoopee! after the two titles merged in 1974. Readers were invited to send their ideas suggesting who might be tough enough to spend a night in the haunted bedroom of Scream Inn and win a million pounds. The strip was illustrated by Brian Walker and one of the reader ideas was that the artist should have a go at the challenge.  Hence Brian Walker’s self-portrait in Shiver and Shake of 25th August, 1973:

Actually, he appeared throughout the two-pager:

Slightly off-topic again, but some weeks earlier Scream Inn script writer (Cliff Brown) had checked-in at Scream Inn. This was in Shiver and Shake dated 7th July, 1973 (No. 18):

Last but not least for today, here is a self-portrait of Tom Paterson from Whizzer and Chips (thanks for the heads-up, George!). Tom drew himself twice in that issue and one of the drawings was on the front cover!

ARTIST SELF-PORTRAITS

My most recent post about the last COR!! Аnnual included a panel from The Gasworks Gang with Frank McDiarmid’s  self-portrait.  This prompted me to remember a number of examples of artists drawing themselves in British comics so I thought it would be fun to start this mini-series and create a gallery of such portraits. If you know of any examples, please, do let me know.

Frank McDiarmid appeared in at least one more episode of the Gasworks Gang in Cor!! dated 30th March, 1974 (No. 200):

Mike Higgs drew himself in the opening panel of his famous THE CLOAK series when it premiered in the first combined issue of Pow! and Smash! (No. 137 dated September 14th, 1968):

Ken Reid’s brilliantly detailed self-portrait appeared in the episode of Dare-A-Day Davy in Pow! and Wham! No. 75 (June 22nd, 1968):

Slightly off-topic, but the episode also contained a portrait of Dare-A-Day Davy’s scriptwriter:

If I am not mistaken, Mr.Reid also included himself in the last panel of Faceache in Buster and Jet dated 30th December, 1972 (at least I think it’s him. I wonder who is the other guy sitting in the foreground in the left-hand side corner of the panel?):

I have more artist self-portraits lined up for the next couple of posts but would appreciate receiving more leads to make it more fun :)

COR!! COMIC ANNUAL 1986

COR!! Comic Annual 1986, £2.50, 112 pages. The fifteenth and the last COR!! Annual was the first and the only COR!! publication with a barcode on the back cover.

Contents: Chalky (2 episodes), Nightmare (4 reprints from old COR!! weeklies), Teacher’s Pet (3 reprints), Young MacDonald and His Farm (2 episodes), Ivor Lott and Tony Broke (4 episodes by Sid Burgon, one signed + Ivor  & Tony’s Lucky ABC DEF Dip! Board game), Puzzles 1 (5 pages), Hire A Horror (2 episodes both signed by Trevor Metcalfe), Jack Pott (2 episodes both signed by Crocker), The Gasworks Gang (2 new episodes by Frank McDiarmid, both signed), Krazy Korner (jokes, riddles, cartoons - 3 instalments, signed by Melvin), Gus (2 episodes), Jasper the Grasper (signed by Francis Boyle), Wilfred the World’s Worst Wizard (2 episodes), Football Madd (3 reprints),  Fiends and Neighbours (by Nigel Edwards), Jungle Bells Jungle Bells gags, Puzzle Section 2 (4 pages), Donovan’s Dad, Lucky Charmer, Jelly Baby.

The last COR!! annual was again rich in non-comic content: a total of 15 pages (including 3 pages of Krazy Korner signed by Melvin) were allocated to puzzles, games, jokes, riddles, cartoons, etc.

All 4 episodes of Ivor Lott and Tony Broke were illustrated by Sid Burgon who had never done an episode of the strip in a COR!! publication before.

Trevor Mercalfe tried his hand drawing both episodes of Hire a Horror:

Frank McDiarmid contributed two new stories of the Gasworks Gang. Here are a couple of panels from one. Is it the artist himself having a cuppa in the foreground?

Jasper the Grasper travelled to the USA to visit his cousin Titus T.Tightfist and became a celebrity in New York City for being the first man to row the Atlantic, and in record speed too. Assuming the miser stayed in America for good, this episode (illustrated and signed by a new artist - Francis Boyle) can be regarded as a proper ending of Jasper the Grasper saga.

The last eposide of Fiends and Neighbours was illustrated by Nigel Edwards:

So that’s all of fifteen COR!! comic annuals accounted for! You can go through the whole COR!! annuals sequence by clicking here or by choosing the COR!! Annuals label in the column on the right.

P.S. It appears Fleetway had plans to publish one more annual for the X-mas of 1986 (COR!! Comic Annual 1987) but the book was scrapped at the last moment. You can read more about it HERE.