HELPFUL HETTIE SITUATION

The other day I checked the stats of my blog and was surprised to find that the normal daily rate of 150 – 200 pageviews surged to more than 1,000 for a few days, all at the expense of an old little post on Helpful Hettie that I did in my COR!! series last year. Turns out the post got a brief mention in THIS thread on Gunnerkrigg Court forum. I am not familiar with Gunnerkrigg Court webcomic by Tom Siddell, nor have I ever heard about the project that members of the forum are pursuing, but it looks fun. Frankly, I’ve got no clue what the discussion in the thread is about – I suppose one has to be familiar with the comic to make sense of it.

The strong interest that members of Gunnerkrigg Court forum have shown in the blogpost rightfully described in the thread as “probably not related too much” got me thinking that contemporary British-made comics have quite a large following and aren’t doing as poorly as I thought (albeit the majority of traffic appears to be from the US). Gunnerkrigg Court certainly attracts much more attention than old UK comics, at least those published by IPC and covered on this blog so far…

With nearly 2,000 views, Helpful Hettie is now the most popular post on Kazoop!! and is likely to remain at the top forever because the second most popular post only has just over 500 views. Why the article about the last months of COR!! is the second most popular post here is a mystery to me – I think there are many other strips and posts that deserve more attention :)

SHIVER AND SHAKE HOLIDAY SPECIALS AND ANNUALS AFTER THE DEMISE OF THE WEEKLY

The first two SHIVER AND SHAKE Holiday Specials were published in 1973 and 1974 when the paper was up and running. Both have been covered in their dedicated posts HERE and HERE. The same goes for the first two Annuals cover dated 1974 and 1975 – you can take a look at them HERE and HERE.

As was the case with all IPC comics titles, SHIVER AND SHAKE didn’t end with the last edition of the weekly in 1974 but lived on for many years in the form of Holiday Specials and Annuals.

Holiday Specials continued until 1980, running up to 6 more editions published after the demise of the weekly.

Annuals lasted even longer with the last one released for the Christmas of 1985, so that’s eleven more books in addition to the two already covered.

Every Special and Annual will receive its own blog post over the coming weeks until all have been accounted for but there may be some delay because I am going on holiday :)

 

A LOOK AT SHIVER & SHAKE: STAR GUEST FEATURE AND ONE-OFFS

Star Guest feature can be found in a number of IPC children’s comics of the mid-70s. Strips from one magazine made guest appearances in sister publications for cross-promotion purposes. The feature was first introduced in SHIVER AND SHAKE No. 17 (June 30th, 1973). Strips from COR!! and Whizzer and Chips alternated more or less regularly every other week until the middle of 1974 when COR!! folded and the bi-weekly slot passed on to Whoopee! Below is the list of SHIVER AND SHAKE issues with star guest details. RED is for COR!!, BLUE is for Whizzer and Chips and GREEN is for Whoopee! BLACK means no star guest that week.

As far as I can tell, the vast majority (if not all) of star guest episodes were original sets rather than reprints so the list below might be useful for completists. The artwork was usually by the regular artists. A number of sets by Frank McDiarmid towards the end of the run are a nice exception and offer his take on some familiar characters such as Shiner, Odd-Ball and Looser. Frank also illustrated guest star sets in Whizzer and Chips and Whoopee! at that same time.  Check out some examples from SHIVER & SHAKE below and further down the post.

Issue No. 17 ● June 30th, 1973 ● Hire a Horror from COR!!

Issue No. 18 ● July 7th, 1973 ● Smart Alec from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 19 ● July 14th, 1973 ● Whacky from COR!!

Issue No. 20 ● July 21st, 1973 ● Harry's Haunted House from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 21 ● July 28th, 1973 ● Wonder Worm from COR!!

Issue No. 22 ● August 4th, 1973 ● Sammy Shrink from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 23 ● August 11st, 1973 ● Chalky from COR!!

Issue No. 24 ● August 18th, 1973 ● No Star Guest

Issue No. 25 ● August 25th, 1973 ● Teacher’s Pet from COR!!

Issue No. 26 ● September 1st, 1973 ● No Star Guest

Issue No. 27 ● September 8th, 1973 ● Jelly Baby from COR!!

Issue No. 28 ● September 15th, 1973 ● Boney from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 29 ● September 22/1973 ● The Slimms from COR!!

Issue No. 30 ● September 29th, 1973 ● Ghost Town from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 31 ● October 6th, 1973 ● Val’s Vanishing Cream from COR!!

Issue No. 32 ● October 13rd, 1973 ● No Star Guest

Issue No. 33 ● October 20th, 1973 ● Wonder Worm from COR!!

Issue No. 34 ● October 27th, 1973 ● Odd Ball from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 35 ● November 3rd, 1973 ● No Star Guest

Issue No. 36 ● November 10th, 1973 ● No Star Guest

Issue No. 37 ● November 17th, 1973 ● Football Madd from COR!!

Issue No. 38 ● November 24th, 1973 ● Fuss Pot from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 39 ● December 1st, 1973 ● The Slimms from COR!!

Issue No. 40 ● December 8th, 1973 ● Hot Dog and Cool Cat from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 41 ● December 15th, 1973 ● Night Mare from COR!!

Issue No. 42 ● December 22nd, 1973 ● Loser from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 43 ● December 29th, 1973 ● No Star Guest

Issue No. 44 ● January 5th, 1974 ● No Star Guest

Issue No. 45 ● January 12th, 1974 ● Sid's Snake from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 46 ● January 19th, 1974 ● Ivor Lott and Tony Broke from COR!!, 2 pages

Issue No. 47 ● January 26th, 1974 ● No Star Guest

Issue No. 48 ● February 2nd, 1974 ● Jack Pott from COR!!

Issue No. 49 ● February 9th, 1974 ● Wear 'em Out Wilf from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 50 ● February 16th, 1974 ● Willy Worry from COR!!

Issue No. 51 ● February 23rd, 1974 ● No Star Guest

Issue No. 52 ● March 2nd, 1974 ● Timothy Tester from Wh&Ch finds himself in Scream Inn

Issue No. 53 ● March 9th, 1974 ● Teacher’s Pet from COR!!

Issue No. 54 ● March 16th, 1974 ● Pete's Pockets from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 55 ● March 23rd, 1974 ● Wonder Worm from COR!!

Issue No. 56 ● March 30th, 1974 ● Odd-Ball from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 57 ● April 6th, 1974 ● Fiends and Neighbours from COR!!

Issue No. 58 ● April 13rd, 1974 ● Champ from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 59 ● April 20th, 1974 ● The Slimms from COR!!

Issue No. 60 ● April 27th, 1974 ● Belle Tent from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 61 ● May 4th, 1974 ● Chalky from COR!!

Issue No. 62 ● May 11st, 1974 ● Beat Your Neighbour from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 63 ● May 18th, 1974 ● Tomboy from COR!!

Issue No. 64 ● May 25th, 1974 ● Pete's Pockets from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 65 ● June 1st, 1974 ● Football Madd from COR!!

Issue No. 66 ● June 8th, 1974 ● Harry's Haunted House from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 67 ● June 15th, 1974 ● Hire A Horror from COR!!

Issue No. 68 ● June 22nd, 1974 ● Joker from Wh&Ch by McDiarmid

Issue No. 69 ● June 29th, 1974 ● Evil Eye from Whoopee! by McDiarmid

Issue No. 70 ● August 3rd, 1974 ● The Slimms from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 71 ● August 10th, 1974 ● Ad Lad from Whoopee!

Issue No. 72 ● August 17th, 1974 ● Fuss Pot from Wh&Ch

Issue No. 73 ● August 24th, 1974 ● Shiner from Wh&Ch by Frank McDiarmid

Issue No. 74 ● August 31st, 1974 ● Spy School from Whoopee! by Frank McDiarmid 

Issue No. 75 ● September 7th, 1974 ● Loser from Wh&Ch by Frank McDiarmid

Issue No. 76 ● September 14th, 1974 ● Little Miss Muffit from Whoopee! by Frank McDiarmid

Issue No. 77 ● September 21st, 1974 ● Odd-Ball from Wh&Ch by Frank McDiarmid

Issue No. 78 ● September 28th, 1974 ● No Star Guest

Issue No. 79 ● October 5th, 1974 ● Wear 'em Out Wilf from Wh&Ch by Frank McDiarmid

In order for this account of SHIVER AND SHAKE strips and features to be complete, I will also mention two one-offs.

Screen Screams collage was included in issue 68 (June 22nd, 1974). A few of these can also be found in SHIVER AND SHAKE Holiday Special 1974 and possibly some later Specials and Annuals too, but this remains to be checked in due course:

Doctor Heckle was included in issue 48 (February 2nd, 1974) and shared the page with another strange feature ‘Ed – That’s me, folks! that I mentioned in my earlier post on Eagle Eye HERE. Doctor Heckle can be found in SHIVER AND SHAKE Annual 1975. Let’s wait and see if he also appeared in any later Sh&Sh publications:

And this is where I will close my box of Shiver and Shake weeklies and put it away because the review of the paper is now complete! I hope the posts brought back some nice memories from your happy days and I am strongly convinced that a few of the strips (such as FrankieStein, Scream Inn, Sweeny Toddler, Grimly Feendish, Wizards Anonymous and others) have a lasting value beyond nostalgia.  

Now let’s take a look at the goodness inside SHIVER AND SHAKE Holiday Specials and Annuals…