SWEENY TODDLER AS GUEST STAR IN WHIZZER AND CHIPS IN 1973 and 1974

Stephen Archer who is a regular reader of this blog sent me a list of characters from other IPC comic that appeared in the ‘Guest Star’ feature in WHIZZER AND CHIPS in 1972 - 1974. 

As it turns out, Sweeny Toddler, then still a SHIVER & SHAKE star, popped in as many as four times - once in 1973 and three times in 1974! 

I have three of those issues, and I am happy to share the pages here. I’d be curious to see the episode which appeared in WHIZZER AND CHIPS cover-dated the 1st of June, 1974 – the only issue of the four that I don’t have.

For some reason I doubt if the episodes will be included in the forthcoming Sweeny Toddler album by Rebellion... 

I believe the first two were drawn by Tom Paterson, imitating Leo Baxendale’s and Stan McMurtry’s styles, while the one at the bottom is by the ever-excellent Frank McDiarmid. 

Apologies for the image quality – my comics are in bound volumes and are impossible to scan so I photographed them with my phone…

Enjoy!

GUEST APPEARANCES AT SCREAM INN – TOY BOY

Whoopee’s own favorite Toy Boy visited Scream Inn in Whoopee! issue cover-dated August 28th, 1976. As always, two pages of Scream Inn by the ever-excellent Brian Walker are followed by the episode of Toy Boy from that same issue. The artist is of course Terry Bave.

Now there’s only one installment of this series left in the pipeline. Can you guess who the star-guest might be? :) 

Blogger is still treating me poorly because the list of my favourite blogs that used to show on the right-hand side of this page is still missing and I have no idea how to restore it. I tried doing it manually but it still didn’t work. I find it quite annoying as I can’t conveniently visit my friends’ sites whenever I check in here. Any ideas how to fix this??

GUEST APPEARANCES AT SCREAM INN – ‘ORRIBLE HOLE!!

‘Orrible Hole, illustrated by Reg Parlett, started in WHOOPEE! (or rather WHOOPEE! & SHIVER AND SHAKE) No. 43 (January 18, 1975), appeared regularly throughout 1975 and 1976 and the first half of 1977, then became less frequent. It continued to pop up during 1978 and 1979 as part of the Ghostly Go Round Feature, and ended in WHOOPEE! No. 300, cover-dated January 12, 1980.

This little weird character knocked on the door of Scream Inn in Whoopee! & SHIVER AND SHAKE No. 58 (May 3, 1975). Check out the two-pager, followed by the ‘Orrible Hole strip proper from the same issue of the excellent and hilarious WHOOPEE! comic. Aren't they marvelous?!! I really must get round to doing a detailed overview of WHOOPEE! when I have more free time on my hands… 

GUEST APPEARANCES AT SCREAM INN - TIMOTHY TESTER

Time for the second guest appearance at Scream Inn that can be found in SHIVER AND SHAKE No. 52 cover-dated March 2nd, 1974.

This is quite an unusual example: firstly, it was in fact Scream Inn that appeared in another strip; secondly, the strip itself was a guest from Shiver and Shake’s sister comic: Timothy Tester ran for quite a while (1972 – 1979) in WHIZZER AND CHIPS. The illustrator and presumably the writer of Timothy Tester was Cliff Brown who lived not far from Scream Inn artist Brian Walker. In his interview for GOLDEN FUN fanzine (Winter 1979) Brian Walker said that Cliff would come over to Brian’s studio for a day each week and they’d go over the script of Scream Inn together. It looks like that week they spent more time together because the two pages below are clearly the result of a joint effort!

GUEST APPEARANCES AT SCREAM INN - WIZARDS ANONYMOUS

The very first time when characters from another strip showed up at Scream Inn was in Shiver and Shake issue No. 37 (17th November, 1973). That week the guests were Treacle and Brimstone from the excellent albeit short-lived Wizards Anonymous feature from the “Shake” section of the paper. I covered the strip in detail HERE, and even showed both pages of the episode, but I want this to be a complete series so I will show them again. 

The first guest appearance was quite disastrous for Innkeeper and Co. because the potty sorcerers outsmarted the hosts and walked home with one million pounds. This, however, wasn’t the end for Innkeeper who made his own guest appearance in the pages of Wizards Anonymous in the very same issue, outfoxed Treacle and Brimstone and got his dough back. Here’s the complete story from Shiver and Shake issue No. 37 (17th November, 1973), drawn by Brian Walker, written (I suppose) by the usual writer, Brian Walker’s neighbour and mate Cliff Brown. Excellent stuff!