Surely a leading contender for the title The Worst Feature Ever To Appear In Whizzer and Chips, COCOA (COmputer COmic Artist) was introduced to readers by means of a half-page 'trailer' in the issue dated 09 April 1988. COCOA was an early foray into comic creation using digital tools, and the advert described the upcoming feature as a 'rival' to all the artists contributing to that edition, none of whose published work of that era employed computer-assisted techniques. The primitive nature of the computers generally available at the time meant that Sid Burgon et al had little to fear from the electronic arriviste in the short term, although rapid increases in computing power and consequent software advances would soon lead to much more sophisticated digital creations.
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| Whizzer and Chips 09 April 1988 |
Below is a list of the artists contributing to that 09 April 1988 edition, as cited in the ad, and the features they provided...
| Artist | Feature |
| Anthony Hutchings | Bobby's Ghoul |
| Barry Glennard | Sweet-Tooth |
| Colin Whittock | Lazy Bones |
| Frank McDiarmid | Mustapha Million |
| Jack Oliver | Shiner's Chip-ites |
| Jack Oliver | Sid's Whizz-kids |
| Jimmy Hansen | Bumpkin Billionaires |
| Jimmy Hansen | Shiner |
| Jimmy Hansen | Store Wars |
| Mark Bennington | Memory Banks |
| Mike Lacey | Phil Fitt |
| Mike Lacey | Sid's Snake |
| Nigel Edwards | Bottom |
| Reg Parlett | Creepy Comix |
| Roy Mitchell | Paper Boy |
| Sid Burgon | Joker |
| Terry Bave | Odd-Ball |
| Terry Bave | Sammy Shrink |
| Terry Bave | Toy Boy |
| Tom Paterson | Sweeny Toddler |
| Tom Paterson | Watford Gapp |
| Trevor Metcalfe | Junior Rotter |
| Trevor Metcalfe | Town Tarzan |
The weekly COCOA feature was a continuation of the idea behind the punningly-titled Shiner's Micro Chip-ite Mini Mag, a cut-out series which ran for 4 weeks from the issue dated 19 March 1988, finishing a week before the first COCOA strip appeared.
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| Whizzer and Chips 19 March 1988 |
COCOA made its debut in the 16 April 1988 edition of Whizzer and Chips, placed on page 18, thus falling within Shiner's sphere of influence and thereby becoming a Chip-ite despite the previous week's announcement of the strip's imminent arrival having appeared in Whizzer on page 27.
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| Whizzer and Chips 16 April 1988 COCOA 'art': No idea Down in the Jungle: Ed McHenry |
However, in the 23 July 1988 comic, after 14 weeks within Chips, COCOA appeared on page 30, crossing the divide into Whizzer.
In the following issue dated 30 July 1988, the official raiders the previous week were revealed to be Slippy who intruded upon Phil Fitt, and JR who infiltrated Toy Boy, so despite crossing into enemy territory, COCOA's inclusion in Whizzer was not considered to be a raid.
As promised in the caption at the top of the page shown above, the following week the execrable digital concoction moved back into Chips where it remained until its final episode in the edition dated 03 September 1988. The Dr Do storyline which began above in Whizzer continued for 2 more tedious episodes in Chips but I won't inflict them on you. COCOA was replaced with a reprint run of Percy's Pets, the young animal enthusiast proving more loyal than his electronically-generated predecessor, as his recycled adventures remained confined to Chips.
Have to say COCOA doesn't fill me with positive memories; filling me with the need to empty my stomach is nearer the mark. It could be argued, at a push, that it was an updated version of W&C's Doodle from 1976, in that it's simply-drawn character with simple plots. But there all similarities must end, as aside from Doodle being closer plot wise to Whoopee's later Little Ed, it was drawn by the excellent Mr Hill. No excellence at all in evidence with COCOA; however much of the stuff I tipped down my neck at bedtime when staying over at my nan's while reading in bed . Can't even give it one of of ten for innovation as the plots were ... daft. Still its plug was pulled ere long.
ReplyDeleteYes, I would guess that the person who produced the COCOA 'strips' (if we can dignify them with such a description) had more fun creating them than was experienced by the readers on whom they were inflicted.
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