This is another post in the series that sees me ruthlessly unmasking the traitorous characters who posed as both Whizz-kids and Chip-ites during their appearances in Whizzer and Chips. My investigation covers Whizzer and Chips' weekly editions dated 06 April 1985 to 28 April 1990. For the reasons why, see the first post in this series.
When embarking on this task it had been my intention to document, in alphabetical order, the boundary-crossing features that whizzed over into Chips or else chipped into Whizzer. However, the traitorous nature of the subject of this particular exposé is relevant to the next post in my series examining Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids, so please forgive me for bypassing a few of the guilty (who will, you can be assured, not elude disclosure of their identities) to on this occasion reveal the traitorous tyke to be...
Lazy Bones
The somnolent schoolboy was of course present in Whizzer and Chips prior to the the first combined issue of Whizzer and Chips and Whoopee, dated 06 April 1985, but that pre-merge period is outwith the scope of this series of posts. Benny was located within Whizzer in that first merged edition, and although his location within the comic varied over the months (the closest he got to the front of the title was page 2 [28 December 1985], and he briefly visited the back cover [17 May 1986]), he remained within the confines of Whizzer until the issue dated 17 January 1987 when he was to be found on page 24, which is the 'back cover' of Chips. Benny returned to the same page a week later, after which the comatose character resumed his place within Whizzer. In the comic dated 31 January 1987, Benny taunted Shiner by appearing on the Chip-ites' letters page and claiming a 2-week raid. This brief relocation across the divide into Chips cannot therefore be considered a transfer of allegiance. That would come later.
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| Whizzer and Chips 31 January 1987 |
As mentioned above, Benny returned to the Whizzer fold, doubtless lauded by his Whizz-kid compatriots for the audacious and protracted nature of the incursion into enemy territory, as of the 31 January 1987 edition, and thereafter remained a Whizz-kid, turning up in various locations within the domain ruled over by the herpetologically-inclined Sid until the issue dated 06 May 1989, following which his strip was absent from the comic for some months. However, when Benny resumed occupancy in Whizzer and Chips dated 06 January 1990, the first issue of the year that would see Whizzer and Chips' final edition, he was allocated to page 19, placing him within Chips.
A week after returning as a Chip-ite, Benny appeared on the Sid's Whizz-kids page of the issue dated 13 January 1990, among the characters depicted by reader Robert Suddaby. The subjects of the young artist's drawing were, according to the accompanying caption, characters he would like to see make a return to the comic, so Robert must have been thrilled by the recent resumption of Benny's strip (assuming the Harpenden-based illustrator was not offended by Benny's relocation to the rival section). Robert's campaign was in fact doubly effective as the same 06 January 1990 comic which saw Benny's return also featured the commencement of a brief, 8-issue reprint run of Roy Mitchell's Freddy 3D, who was among the characters diligently rendered by our young artist chum. The Lambiek Comiclopedia entry for Roy tells us that Freddy and his extraordinary eyewear debuted during 1983, and I'm guessing the strip was fairly short-lived in its original run. At the time this letters page was printed Store Wars was enjoying a run that had begun in the 04 November 1989 edition following a 12-week absence so maybe Robert's submission was made during the period that the retail ructions were being rested.
Master Suddaby's plea for the return of Super Steve was unsuccessful, as
the Super Steve v NME Nasties feature wasn't resurrected following its
concluding episode (under a banner reading 'The final challenge - will
Steve succeed?' - Spoiler Alert - he did, and the NME baddies, realising they could not triumph over the young adventurer formerly known as the 12½ p Buytonic Boy, ceased their long-running battle against the ESS) in Whizzer and Chips dated 08 February 1986.
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| Whizzer and Chips 13 January 1990 |
Sid, Shiner and indeed Benny himself remained silent regarding the weary youngster's January 1990 defection. However, on the Shiner's Chip-ites and Sid's Whizz-kids pages there were a number of tacit acknowledgements of our lethargic chum's transfer of allegiance...
- Freddy 3D and Lazy Bones appeared together on the Shiner's Chip-ites page in a joke submitted by reader Steven Peters of Rye in the comic dated 03 March 1990 - Freddy set up the gag and Benny delivered the punch line.
- Benny was back on Shiner's page a week later, warning Chip-ites to be vigilant for that week's raider.
- In the 24 March 1990 edition young master Bones was the butt of a gag on the Sid's Whizz-kids page.
- Marcus Massey of Liverpool was no doubt excited to see his drawing of a recumbent Benny on Shiner's page of the comic dated 31 March 1990.
- Our weary chum again warned of the Whizz-kid raider on Shiner's page in the 07 April 1990 edition.
It would seem, though, that not everyone in the editorial office had been briefed about Benny's defection...
- Benny's left, heavy-lidded eye and stubbly scalp continued to be seen through the left hand side of the window of Sid's club hut, which featured intermittently at the top of the Sid's Whizz-kids reader participation page until the club venue made its final appearance in the 14 April 1990 edition.
- A selection of Whizz-kids were seen throughout the Chip-ite Chumps booklet that occupied 8 pages of Whizzer and Chips dated 14 April 1990. These characters, drawn by Terry Bave and all depicted helpless with laughter at the Chip-ite-baiting witticisms which constituted the cut-out section, included Benny Bones.
Following his 06 January 1990 return, Benny remained a Chip-ite up to and including his final appearance, a two-page adventure in the issue dated 28 April 1990 (pages 20 and 21). Long-time reader Stuart Loughrill of Steeple Bumpstead had a letter published in the comic dated 14 July 1990, tackling Sid about the reason for Benny's disloyalty, but the Whizz-kid supremo evaded the question.
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| Whizzer and Chips 14 July 1990 |
