MONSTER FUN ANNUAL 1981, PART ONE

In comparison with the previous edition, the Annual lost 16 pages and cost 55 p more, i.e. £1.80.

Contents: Freaky Farm (a 2-pager on front endpapers in colour by Jim Watson), Hot Rod (3 reprints from WHIZZER AND CHIPS, artwork by Alf Saporito), Frankie Stein (a 3-pager in colour by Brian Walker), Tom Thumbscrew (a 3-pager), King Arthur and his Frights of the Round Table (4 reprints from WHOOPEE!, including one in colour; artwork by Robert Nixon), Spot the Space Changes puzzle (2 pages), The Castaways (reprint from Whizzer and Chips, artwork by Ron Turner, 23 pages), Gums (a 3-pager by John Geering and a 3-pager by Tom Williams), Fun Wars (10 pages by Doug Baker), Teddy Scare (2 pages), Martha’s Monster  Make-Up (a 2-pager by John Geering),  Terror TV (a 4-pager by Barrie Appleby), Brainy and His Monster Maker (a 2-pager by Tom Williams), Draculass (two 2-pagers by Terry Bave), X-Ray Specs (a 3-pager by John Geering and a 2-pager by Tom Williams), The Heat is On maze, Terry Dactyl Stone Age Detective (a 4-pager), Major Jump (a 3-pager), The Ghost Train (7 pages of reprints from WHOOPEE!, including two in colour on back end-papers; artwork by Brian Walker), Sir Twistalot maze (artwork by Cliff Brown), Jason and his Joggernaut (2 episodes), Monster Mind-Mixers (1 page signed by Ian Bennett), Mummy’s Boy (a 2-pager by Norman Mansbridge, possibly a reprint), Grimly Feendish (a 4-pager by Paul Ailey), Kid Kong (a 3-pager by Tom Williams), The Adventures of The Scarlet Pimply-Neddy (reprint of the BBB from MFC No. 50), Dough Nut and Rusty (a 3-pager by Jim Crocker), Creature Teacher (a 3-pager in colour by Tom Williams).

Frankie Stein consolidated his front cover position but I am unsure who the illustrator was. Inside, there is only one Frankie Stein story, drawn by Brian Walker and presented in colour. Prof Cube makes Fredastein - a girl monster, hoping she will annoy Frankie and drive him away. Of course, he miscalculates again – Fredastein proves to be as disaster-prone as Frankie; as a side-effect, Frankie comes to appreciate the company of girls:

Kid Kong also received only one strip this time. Trying to help Gran redecorate the house, Kid smashes a few holes in the walls and goes to get a brick-man to fix them. In a weird twist of circumstances, he catches two bank robbers and spends his reward on house repairs and – surprise surprise – ‘nanas. The artist is Tom Williams who did quite a lot of work for this edition, including an episode of Creature Teacher in which a photographer calls to take a class photo of 3X and ends up getting photographed himself:

… an episode of Brainy and His Monster Maker in which Brainy monsterizes a mushroom:

… an episode of X-Ray Specs:

… and an episode of Gums in which the shark is eager to be allowed into the annual water carnival and demonstrates his talents as a clown and a performing seal. This time no one tries to take away his false teeth for a change:

Like Tom Williams, John Geering also illustrated one episode of Gums in which the shark wants to scare some divers who are after giant clams but finds himself in trouble with others of his own species:

… and an episode of X-Ray Specs in which Ray annoys other kids by winning all the games at a X-mas party but becomes popular again in the end:

Besides these two strips, John Geering contributed a double-pager of Martha’s Monster Make-Up in which Martha visits a new hair salon in town:

Jim Watson drew one episode of Freaky Farm in which the Farmer receives two wiseguys who’ve come to rob him:

Terry Bave’s contribution was two episodes of Draculass. Here is one:

The episode of Terror TV is by Barrie Appleby:

Major Jump is by the same ‘artist’ who drew it in the previous edition:

Those who put this Annual together probably thought one poorly draw strip wasn’t enough so they brought in more ‘talent’ to draw the episode of Tom Thumbscrew:

…and the episode of Teddy Scare:

54 pages of this book are definitely reprints, including Hot Rod, King Arthur and his Frights of the Round Table and Ghost Train which had already appeared in previous editions of MF Annuals. There are two new and welcome additions to the reprints package. One is The Adventures of The Scarlet Pimply-Neddy – the Badtime Bedtime Story from MFC No. 50. Pages of the reprint are twice the size of the original pull-out booklet – a perfect way to appreciate quality artwork by Mike Brown. I prefer the black and white version of the reprint to the cluttered colour presentation in the original BBB:

The other reprint is 23 pages of The Castaways by the excellent Ron Turner. The strip is originally from WHIZZER AND CHIPS where it ran from the first issue of 1972. Here are two sample pages:

In part two of my look at MONSTER FUN ANNUAL 1981 I will cover all the new strips featured in this book, including Fun Wars and Jason and his Joggernaut, and mention one or two artists who are new to me.

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

WHOOPEE! FRANKIE STEIN HOLIDAY SPECIAL 1981

The penultimate edition of Frankie Stein Holiday Special came out in the Summer of 1981, it had 64 pages and cost 45 p.

There were 26 pages of Frankie Stein in it, mostly new material. It was the second year in a row that John Geering drew the main story for the magazine. Frankie Stein in ‘No Holds Barred’ consisted of 3 parts and occupied 18 pages. Crackpot inventor Professor Cube has an idea that putting his lab-manufactured son behind bars might be a great way to get rid of him so he writes a letter to the local Zoo telling them about a new and very rare animal Frankius Stupidius. A team of Zoo keepers set off after Frankie who senses foul play and runs as if his life depended on it. The mindless pursuit causes lots of damage in destroyed buildings and smashed vehicles. Owners have little doubt as to who should pick the bills and the poor inventor ends up as a Zoo exhibit:

After enough people have paid to look at Prof. Cube to pay for all the damage, he is released from the Zoo and realizes that Zoo was the wrong kind of bars that he wanted Frankie put behind, and that prison was the answer. He tries a series of ploys to get Frankie in trouble with the law but ends up on the wrong side of the bars himself, again.

Upon his release, Professor Cube has an idea that if he can’t put Frankie behind bars in Britain, he should try somewhere else. He tells Frankie he has found him a job as a secret agent and that his first mission as Double-O-Nothing is to throw a stink bomb at the chief of a secret rocket base at Bugrolia. Frankie does well, is decorated by the real British Secret Service and gets more assignments in exotic countries which he carries out brilliantly, albeit always by accident rather than design. Oh, and his plotting Dad gets himself locked up once again.

The Holiday Special also contains a two-page set of Frankie Stein by Robert Nixon which is a reprint from WHOOPEE!  Besides, Frankie’s name can be found on two reprint pages of Ticklish Allsorts by Les Barton from MONSTER FUN COMIC.

Frankie Stein's portrait by Nigel Edwards

Nigel Edwards contributed one page of Frankie Postcards and two pages of Freakie Frankie Jokes! The editor of this Holiday Special kept Nigel Edwards busy: in addition to the three Frankie Stein pages, he also drew two pages of Creepy Cartoons and Monster Hits! gags, as well as Escape – a puzzles game on the centrespread, all in full colour (this is the first Frankie Stein Holiday Special without a poster of Frankie Stein). I really like his style, here are some examples:

Mr. Hill illustrated two episodes of Monster Movie Makers. In the first one Carlo Monte realises that their titles are too way out and they need to do something more down to Earth. The idea of a film ‘It Came from the Cabbage Patch’ about a mutant caterpillar comes to his mind. It has to be the biggest, best and most expensive monster movie ever made so they hire all Britain’s top names to play the giant caterpillar:

Things don’t go quite as planned but the film turns out a massive success and they win more Oscars than they can carry:

In the second story Carlo Monte and his crew are about to film their new blockbuster ‘The Abominable Snowman Strikes’ but it is the middle of summer and they need snow for the setting. They try salt, shaving foam and finally soap flakes. The result is not a horror movie but a Monster Comedy…

Let’s see what Computer Cop had on his hands in this Holiday Special. Well, he is in the bank vaults getting ready to transport the World’s biggest diamond to the museum. The crafty crooks come well-prepared once again but stand no chance against the super robo-cop. Too bad his chief is a clumsy old geezer:

There is also a rushed episode of Gook the TV Spook by Artie Jackson, and that’s it as far as new material goes. The rest of the pages are reprints: there are 3 pages of Reg Parlett’s Freddie Fang from COR!! and the whole run of Grizzly Bearhug… Giant by Andy Christine from MONSTER FUN COMIC. Both have been covered in their dedicated posts on KAZOOP!, you can revisit the posts HERE and HERE.

Front cover artwork for this FS Holiday Special was offered by Compal in their Autumn 2010 auctions. Here is how it was described: Frankie Stein Special original front cover colour artwork (1981) drawn and signed by Robert Nixon with Whoopee Frankie Stein page 1 original artwork (1981) also drawn and signed by Robert Nixon Special: Poster colour on board. 13 x 9 ins; Page 1: Indian ink on cartridge paper. 18 x 14 ins. They got the date of the front cover art right this time, but the b/w page was actually first used for the front cover of SHIVER AND SHAKE dated 21st September, 1974). The winner paid £181.

Images 2014 © Egmont UK Ltd.  All rights reserved. Used with permission.