Excited
youngsters lifting the 1986 Christmas issue of Whizzer and Chips
from the newsagents' shelf would, while enjoying the cover depicting
a seasonal truce between rivals Sid (Whizz-kid leader) and Shiner
(chief Chip-ite), have wondered what '2 fab fun packages' lay in
store as they commenced their Yuletide reading. This cover teaser
heralded an unusual festive edition of the long-running two-in-one
comic, wherein the Whizzer and Chips sections each contained a
running storyline that continued across the individual strips in the constituent parts.
The
Whizzer plotline began on page 2 where Mr Superstore from the Store Wars strip was, as usual, finding it hard to compete with
neighbouring retailer, Bloggs...
 |
| Art: Jim Watson |
Sneaky
Superstore's first prospective customer was Sweeny Toddler...
 |
| Art: Tom Paterson |
The
action continued overleaf, as sugar-craving Sweet-Tooth seemed about
to visit Superstore in search of his Yuletide glucose fix...
 |
| Art: Trevor Metcalfe |
On
Winnie, The Royal Nag's page, the titular equine heroine was required
to pull Charles and Di's carriage as they visited Superstore, intent
on a regal Christmas shopping spree.
 |
| Art: Ian Knox |
Toy
Boy was Mr. Superstore's next target, and things were looking good
for the shifty shopkeeper...
 |
| Art: Terry Bave |
Likeable
loafer Lazy Bones seemed to have generated a sale, but ended up being
given a ride home courtesy of Bloggs' assistant Ted and his delivery
bike. This strip was also the subject of a seasonal sneaky raid by a
Chip-ite invader – can you spot the infiltrator?
 |
| Art: Bob Hill |
Next
up was Whizz-Kid leader Sid and his serpentine sidekick Slippy.
 |
| Art: Mike Lacey |
Mr
Superstore then turned his attention to Joker.
 |
| Art: Sid Burgon |
Surely the Bumpkins, always keen to dispose of their unwanted millions, were only too willing to bestow their fortune on Mr Superstore?
 |
| Art: Jimmy Hansen |
A
great Odd-Ball page followed...love how the Odd-Balls from the
surround merge into the first panel of row 3.
 |
| Art: Terry Bave |
Whizzer's forgetful Bernie 'Memory' Banks was the next to encounter greedy Mr Superstore.
 | |
| Art: Mark Bennington who was signing himself Mark Benno at this time |
Sadly, Mr Superstore didn't undergo a Scrooge-like redemption as the story came to a conclusion (the strip had to continue as normal in the new year, after all) but at least things ended on a traditional Christmas slap-up feed. Were the years of festive face-filling finales in British comics inspired by the Cratchits dining on Turkey at the end of A Christmas Carol? Discuss. But not here.
 |
| Art: Jim Watson |
Part 2 of this examination of Whizzer and Chips' Christmas 1986 edition will be a little more on-topic as I report on, among other things, Mustapha Million's role in the Chips section of this issue.
What a great idea and still a great comic...its fun seeing the artist draw Mr Superstore in there own style!
ReplyDeleteYes, it's nice when comic creators do something a little special like this.
DeleteWho said the 1980s were rubbish? I read this edition in the British Library a few months ago, and almost 29 years after it was published I was greatly impressed by it. Yes I did read it originally but forgot about it completely. The best part was that, by necessity, there were no reprints so it was a rarity on that score alone. A wonderfully successful experiment
ReplyDeleteI'm re-reading all the post-Whoopee-merge era issues of Whizzer and Chips for the first time since I bought them (weekly on publication) and I've been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the contents, at least up to the end of 1987 which is where I've reached at the moment.
DeleteWhen Tom stopped drawing Sweeny is when I feel it lost something plus the reprints badly coloured..this is right near the end of Whizzer and chips..I think its not quite the same when the covers are drawn by Jimmy Hanson when the Whizz-kids and the Chip-ettes are one big poster...of course well done by Jim..But inside the comic its not the same..
DeleteI always prefer a comic to have a strip on the cover, even if it's just at the bottom of the front page (or a strip down the side of the cover as Krazy did sometimes). As Cheeky Weekly approached the end of its run it stopped featuring strips on the cover, using instead a large front-page gag cartoon. Maybe the page rates for a large single panel were less than for a strip, so dropping the cover strip saved IPC a bit of cash.
Delete