FINAL EPISODE OF JOE COLQUHOUN’S CAP’N CODSMOUTH

Joe Colquhoun’s Cap’n Codsmouth (originally from JAG weekly comic) made three appearances in JAG Annuals, and the final was in the last edition published for the Xmas of 1972. The complete 5-page story is posted below. One day I will get hold of a copy of JAG Football Special 1968 and check if the episode included there was also illustrated by Mr. Colquhoun. 

Brilliant artist, isn’t he?

MORE NAUTICAL FUN BY JOE COLQUHOUN

Two posts ago I mentioned that Joe Colquhoun’s Cap’n Codsmouth appeared in three JAG Annuals. Below is the second episode from the 1972 edition published for the Christmas of 1973.  Captain and his men go into business of selling “build-it-yourself” model kits of the “Scuttlebutt”!

NAUTICAL HILARITY FROM THE HAND OF JOE COLQUHOUN

Joe Colquhoun is best known as illustrator of Charlie’s War and Roy of the Rovers. The artist has received quite a bit of attention on Kazoop!, in particular in the series of articles covering Kid Chameleon – an adventure story presented in full colour in COR!! comic. You can refresh your memory of this beautiful strip by clicking here.

Joe Colquhoun is also one of my favourite British humour artists in comics. His weekly episodes of The Goodies that appeared in COR!! weeklies throughout 1973 are a treat to the eye; I covered the strip in a dedicated post in my COR!! series a few years ago, you can revisit the article by clicking here. A few more humorous one-offs can be found by typing the name of Joe Colquhoun in the search box of this blog.

Today’s post is dedicated to Cap’n Codsmouth – yet another comedy strip from the hand of the master. It belongs to the category of nautical humour featuring an inept skipper and his clueless crew. Few people remember the feature, probably because it only enjoyed a brief 5-month run in the short-lived JAG comic in 1968/1969, and only the first of the two serialised stories was illustrated by Mr. Colquhoun (The Calcutta Voyage, May 4th – July 20th, 1968). Here is the opening episode of the story from the first issue of the tabloid-size comic:

Mr. Colquhoun’s Cap’n Codsmouth made a comeback in the early seventies and featured in JAG Annuals 1971 – 1973 (probably also in JAG Football Special 1968 but I don’t have a copy to check). Curiously, the Annuals contain an impressive amount of Joe Colquhoun’s art – both original strips and reprints, so I strongly recommend them for JC’s fans. Below is the complete story from JAG Annual 1971. I plan to show the other two in my later posts. Enjoy! 

All Images 2015 © Egmont UK Ltd.  All rights reserved. Used with permission.

1976 SHIVER & SHAKE HOLIDAY SPECIAL

1976 SHIVER AND SHAKE Holiday Special cost 25 p. and was 64 pages thick. Here’s what was inside. Again, red marks the strips that weren’t familiar to readers of Sh&Sh weeklies, earlier annuals or holiday specials.

Freddie Fang the Werewolf Cub (5 reprints from COR!! including two in full colour); Shiver (2 episodes by Terry Bave, including one in full colour); Ghouldilocks, The Hand; Scatty Bat (4 reprints from WHIZZER AND CHIPS); Frankie Stein by Frank McDiarmid; The Ghost’s Revenge; Shake by Terry Bave (3 episodes, including two in full colour); Moana Lisa by Alf Saporito; Mirth Shakers (5 pages of gags illustrated by Mike Lacey); Wizard Prang and Demon Druid (4 reprints from SMASH!/POW!); The Desert Fox by Terry Bave; International Street by Joe Colquhoun; Sports School by Jim Watson; Webster by Terry Bave; Brain Raiders puzzles centrespread; Tough Nutt and Softy Centre by Norman Mansbridge; Fixer by Les Barton; Grimly Feendish (reprint from SMASH!); Blunder Puss by Jim Crocker (signed); Horrornation Street by Tom Williams; Which Witch is Which? by Ken Reid; Ghoul Getters Ltd. by Les Barton; Ring the Changes puzzle by Tom Williams featuring Horrornation Street; The Duke’s Spook.

Terry Bave was the biggest contributor with 9 pages of Shake, Shiver, The Desert Fox and Webster artwork. Here is a large colour panel from one of his Shake sets:

The second largest input was by Mike Lacey who drew the cover and 5 pages of Mirth Shakers gags.

A number of sets were drawn by substitute artists, such as Frank McDiarmid on Frankie Stein:

… Alf Saporito on Moana Lisa:

… and Les Barton on Fixer and Ghoul Getters Ltd.

By this time regular readers of Shiver and Shake annuals and holiday specials were well familiar with Scatty Bat and Wizard Prang and Demon Druid that were in fact reprints from older comics. In this edition the roster of reprints was supplemented with another feature - Freddie Fang the Werewolf Cub, originally from COR!! I covered the strip last year in my COR!! series, you can read the review HERE. The 5 episodes included in the 1976 Shiver and Shake holiday special were by the brilliant Reg Parlett. The original sets were in black and white but two of the reprints were coloured in. Check out an original and its coloured version side by side. This happens to be the first episode of Freddie Fang from the first issue of COR!!

As can be seen from the list of the strips above, the special had no Scream Inn that was always the feature to look for in Shiver & Shake publications but the two surprise one-offs included in the edition are more than enough to make up for the omission.

The first one is International Street from the hand of Joe Colquhoun. It may very well be a reprint but if it is, I don’t know where from and would be delighted if someone told me the source and whether it was part of a series:

And if you thought International Street was the highlight of the 1976 SHIVER AND SHAKE holiday special, think again because the magazine also included Which Witch is Which? – a two-pager by no less than Mr. Ken Reid. We’ll probably never know if this was a test episode for a series that was never followed up, or perhaps something that Mr. Reid drew for his own enjoyment and the editor though it was too good not to be printed. Either way, it is an excellent set showing the master at his very best…