WHOOPEE! PULL-OUTS IN 1979 – PART TWO

As I said in my previous post where I covered the first seven months of 1979, WHOPPEE! was particularly generous with its pull-outs in that year. Let us resume the overview starting from the months of August and September, when the comic surprised its readers with a further six posters in the issues of 11th, 18th and 25th August and then 8th, 15th and 29th of September: 

The approach of the Bonfire Night of 1979 was marked with Gunpowder Plot cut-out game in the four issues of 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th October. 

The first three had the board and some cards:

...while the fourth had more cards and the rules how to play the game:

The next issue cover dated 3rd November, 1979 came with Guy Fawkes’ cut-out mask, drawn by Brian Walker, who had already contributed two of those in the Firework issues of 1977 and 1978, with quite a few more still to come in the eighties:

The 1979 poster spree concluded in the issues of 10th November, 24th November and 1st December, bringing the total of WHOOPEE! character posters offered in the course of the year to a whopping eleven:

The next three issues (8th, 15th and 22nd December) ran a series of twenty Xmas labels. 

I showed them in two of my posts at the end of last year, so here are just a few examples to refresh your memory:

Finally, the 1979 Xmas issue of WHOOPEE! came with the Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey pull-out game on the centrespread:

Characters are © Rebellion Publishing Ltd 

And while you’re here, I would like to remind you that my promotion for the POWER PACK OF KEN REID is still on. Get your copies of the books and BONUS FREE PRINTS on eBay or from my online shop HERE!

A LOOK AT MONSTER FUN STRIPS: THE LITTLE MONSTERS

British comics had a long-time tradition of busy single-frame strips about naughty kids. From Casey Court in Chips in the 40s to Hoot Squad in HOOT in the 80s, with many memorable offerings in-between (such as the early Banana Bunch sets in the BEEZER, Terrors of Tornado Street in BUSTER, Lion Lot in LION, Moonsters in SPARKY, etc.), they gave readers lots of pleasure in studying all the gags and details.   

MFC provided the entertainment by way of The Little Monsters – a strip about the antics of a crowd of little green creatures.  It was added to the package from issue No. 16 and landed straight on the cover. Here are some examples:

The Little Monsters appeared on the front cover of nearly every issue until No. 35 when the front page was permanently reserved for Gums. More often than not, the headline of the strip came with a by-line, such as The Little Monsters visit the Motor Show (…in Outer Space, …go Mountaineering; …in Oil Strike, etc. etc.).

When the strip was moved inside to make room for Gums, it became a half-pager and looked like this:

Another transformation took effect starting from issue No. 46 when The Little Monsters  were given a full page and became more like a ‘normal’ strip with several introductory frames and the final large panel with all the action which Sid Burgon did so well.  

Sid Burgon was the main artist but a number of episodes were drawn by someone else. The style that Sid Burgon used to draw his little green monsters was easy to imitate so it is sometimes difficult to tell which sets were by the other artist. Mr. Burgon liked to sign his work, so if in doubt, look for the signature, and if it’s not there then it is most definitely drawn by someone else (both half-pagers shown above appear to be ghosted). The rule isn’t universal because the set below is definitely by Mr. Burgon but his signature is absent:

The Little Monsters first appeared in MFC issue No. 16 and lasted until No. 70. Here is the list of issue Nos. without the Little Monsters: 37, 39, 41, 56 and 66.  The monstrous midgets received their own pull-out poster in issue No. 63 (21st August, 1976).