WEEKLY OUTPUT – MIKE LACEY

A look at the comics cover-dated 30th March, 1974 tells us IPC kept Mike Lacey very busy at the time. He drew at least 10 pages in COR!!, Shiver & Shake, Whizzer and Chips and Whoopee! Scared-Stiff Sam in Whoopee! is hands-down my favourite :) I believe Mike later used the drawing of Sam wearing his protective clothing in the last panel of that week's page 1 for a pull-out poster that came with one of the later issues of Whoopee!

There are 4 more pages in Shiver & Shake, Whizzer and Chips and Whoopee! that I believe are also by Mike, although the style is somewhat different. If they are indeed by him, Mike Lacey’s stats for that week were a whopping 14 pages, but even if they aren’t, 10 pages is still a very impressive number!

The next and final post in this series will cover the work of that week’s champion Robert Nixon!

Images are © Rebellion Publishing IP Ltd

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A LOOK AT SHIVER & SHAKE STRIPS: HORRORNATION STREET

Horrornation Street was a spoof of Coronation Street TV series with a comedy horror-twist. It featured the adventures of four neighbours. Tootin Common was a 2000-years old Egyptian Mummy. He lived in a pyramid-shaped house that was full of sand and dust and had many pyramid-shaped objects inside. Mummy shared his house with a few mummified pets – a cat, a dog and a rabbit. His next-door neighbour was Hoodoo Yoodoo (sometimes spelled as Yudoo), a witch doctor. He lived in a pole hut, spoke with a heavy accent and carried a voodoo stick adorned with a shrunken skull that answered to the name of Charlie. Sir Headley Deadly was a phantom with a detachable head who resided in a haunted castle further down the road. Last but not least was Herr Raisin the Vampire Count, the occupant of Raisin Manor, the fourth residence on Horrornation Street. The Count was another foreigner who spoke with an East-European accent. He controlled a swarm of bats, carried a Be A Blood Donor badge and liked ketchup. Herr Raisin shared the manor with his son who was also a vampire.

Residents of Horrornation Street got along very well and spent a lot of time together doing everything what a normal group of friends and neighbours would do. Their adventures usually involved a good deal of crashing, falling, tripping and other suchlike slapstick action accompanied by various sound effects. Humorous situations involving Mummy often had to do with his bandages. The phantom was the biggest looser because he kept loosing his head. Herr Raisin’s specialty was coffins, bats, flying and turning into a monster bat, while Hoodoo Yoodoo was the most effective of the four because he was really good at casting spells from his book of “spells and fings”.

Horrornation Street occupied two pages and appeared in SHIVER AND SHAKE issues 1 – 78. The regular illustrator was Tom Williams. Brian Walker did one episode in issue No. 13 in which Horrornation Street gang went to a Fancy Dress Ball. Frank McDiarmid stepped in on one occasion in issue No. 62 in which the freaks joined a rugby team. Mike Lacey drew four episodes in issues 38, 42, 50 and 56.

Horrornation Street didn’t survive the merger with WHOOPEE! In all likelihood there was no room for two strips featuring a gang of monsters and Horrornation Street stood no chance against Scream Inn. Fans of Scream Inn might be interested to know that the Innkeeper's crew made two guest appearances in Horrornation Street in issues 3 and 43:

Moreover, in issue 9 a mystery coach tour took the Horrornation Street gang to Scream Inn. This particular episode clearly lacks an ending: it would have been interesting to see them have a go at the prize, don’t you think?