Blunder Puss was part
of a small-scale revamp of SHIVER AND SHAKE that took place in issues 57 and 58
when three new strips were launched (Riddle-me
Ray in No. 57 (Apr. 6, 1974) and Blunder
Puss alongside with The Ghost’s
Revenge in No. 58 (Apr. 13, 1974)). The arrival of the Ghost’s Revenge and Blunder
Puss was trumpeted a week before the premiere with a full-page add in issue
57:
Blunder
Puss was the World’s most accident-prone cat. In the introductory episode we
find out that Blunder Puss has already lost eight of his cat’s lives so he only
has one left. The clumsy and clueless puss would be as good as doomed if it
wasn’t for the help from the eight souls of his expired lives who became his
guardian angels:
Blunder
Puss kept his guardian angels really busy saving him from the endless nasty
CATastrophes. Check out a few random episodes:
Blunder
Puss was illustrated by Jim Crocker. The strip was part of SHAKE section
and ran until the last issue of SHIVER AND SHAKE missing just one week (you
won’t find it in issue No. 73 with the cover date of 24th August, 1974). It
survived merger with WHOOPEE and continued to appear on the pages of its new
home until the end of February of 1976. (whoever wrote the script didn’t bother
with a proper ending of the series – the strip was put to rest quite abruptly
without an apparent reason for this and no, Puss didn’t lose his last life in
the final episode). Blunder Puss must have
been doing pretty well in the popularity charts of WHOOPEE! and often received
full colour privileges. The colour logo at the top of this post is from the Whoopee! era.
The premise is reminiscent of Ali’s Baba (or Ali & his Baba) which began in Sparky in 1970. Indeed, invisible helpers and guardian angels aren’t that unusual at all in fiction. But a daft cat being helped by the ghosts of his eight lost lives!?! That’s brilliantly original and an inventive take on an otherwise familiar theme.
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