A LOOK AT SHIVER AND SHAKE STRIPS: WEBSTER

Webster was a little black spider who would spin his extra-strong web in all the wrong places and take the consequences. His web was so strong that it made objects bounce right off it. In combination with the weird places that the spider chose for his web, the bouncing trick was the source of comedy in most weekly instalments. Although occasionally he got upset and wrought vengeance upon those who disturbed him, Webster was usually an agreeable and friendly creature, willing to use his super-strong web to help others out or punish crooks and bullies. 

The list of the places Webster considered peaceful enough for him to spin his web and have a rest included a set of church bells, a cannon, a chimney, a swimming pool trampoline, a tennis racket, and all kinds of other inappropriate objects and locations; besides, he had particular fondness for musical instruments. 

Illustrated by Terry Bave, the b/w feature was launched in SHIVER AND SHAKE No. 1 and continued until the last issue, missing three numbers towards the end of the run (Nos. 74, 76 and 78). It had a permanent slot on page 5 of the paper and was part of SHIVER section but was suddenly transferred to SHAKE starting from issue 44 (cover dated 5th January, 1974 - the first issue with the page count reduced from 36 to 32). Perhaps it was not ‘scary’ enough for SHIVER, or maybe space became scarce in the section after it lost 4 pages.

 

Webster survived merger with Whoopee! and appeared there occasionally until 1976.

A LOOK AT SHIVER AND SHAKE STRIPS: THE DUKE’S SPOOK

Shiver the spook waited on the old Duke and they got along well until the Duke decided he needed a new butler and hired Grimes, an experienced professional. The toffee-nosed newcomer and the resident spook instantly became rivals and foes, both eager to get into the Duke’s good books. Neither the spook nor the butler was a model servant: Shiver was a lazy glutton, while Grimes never missed an opportunity to make some money at the Duke’s expense. 

Grimes was mean towards Shiver and used different tricks to get rid of him but his schemes often backfired and landed Grimes in trouble with the Duke whose sympathies were usually with the spook. A few months into the run the antagonism between Shiver and Grimes acquired an extra dimension because Shiver became obsessed with pinching food (just like his old self in COR!!), while Grimes concentrated on making sure that the spook was kept well away from grub.

On a few rare occasions the two rivals put their differences aside and joined forces for a common cause: 

 

As it was already mentioned a few times in this series, Shiver had his roots in COR!! comic that was still around during most of SHIVER AND SHAKE’s lifetime. It is nice to see the artist plug the sister publication by putting it into the hands of the former COR!! character in this set from issue SHIVER AND SHAKE No. 31 (6th October, 1973):

The b/w feature was illustrated by Arthur Martin who was later replaced by another artist whose name I don’t know. The Duke’s Spook didn’t miss a single issue but failed to survive merger with WHOOPEE! in the autumn of 1974. The caption beneath the last episode in Shiver and Shake No. 79, however, announced that Shiver was to appear in WHOOPEE! AND SHIVER AND SHAKE. After the merger the character starred on the front cover of SHIVER AND SHAKE section of the new combined comic until it was dropped early in 1976.

YET MORE FRANKIE BY ROBERT NIXON

I will round up this Frankie Stein series by showing two more episodes by the excellent Bob Nixon and then move on to other SHIVER AND SHAKE strips. There is a lot of goodness to cover and Scream Inn is just a couple of posts away…

From Shiver and SHAKE No. 67 cover dated 15th June, 1974:

From Shiver and Shake No. 53 cover dated 9th Match, 1974:

MORE FRANKIE STEIN BY ROBERT NIXON

Robert Nixon did so many excellent Frankie Stein sets in SHIVER AND SHAKE that I found it difficult to decide which ones to include in my two previous posts dedicated to the friendly monster. As a consequence, there are several episodes which I scanned but didn’t use. Here are two to celebrate the madness of Frankie Stein and the beauty of Mr. Nixon’s art:

From SHIVER AND SHAKE No. 40 cover dated December 8th, 1973

From SHIVER AND SHAKE No. 51 cover dated February 23rd, 1974:

I have saved two more for later...