Whizz-ites vs Chip-kids - Part 7

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.

The uncompromisingly fastidious Fuss Pot evidently found favour with more than one generation of comic fans, since she enjoyed a career in weekly/fortnightly comics which spanned just over 28 years, commencing in the 12 June 1971 debut issue of IPC's Knockout, and concluding in Buster Fortnightly dated 29 September 1999.

Whizzer and Chips 25 January 1986
Art: Norman Mansbridge

Having arrived in Whizzer and Chips following Knockout's 1973 cancellation, Fuss Pot was dropped from the 'two comics in one' title at some point between 1973 and March 1985 (a period outside the scope of this series). The finicky female was reintroduced (for what may have been a trial outing, an emergency gap-filling exercise or an opportunity to plug the Best of Whizzer and Chips Monthly) in Whizzer and Chips dated 25 January 1986 (on page 23, within Chips), then returned in the edition dated 28 February 1987 (page 18, again in Chips territory). Our pointy-nosed pal thereafter featured in 108 of the 191 remaining Whizzer and Chips issues to be published, including an appearance in the comic's final edition dated 27 October 1990. However, for all her fussy fulminations, she wasn't too fussed about remaining true to the Chip-ite cause.

In the 13 August 1988 edition Fuss Pot was to be found on page 30, placing her inside Whizzer. This change of allegiance was not remarked on in the comic, and our choosy chum returned to the Chips fold the following week, remaining there until crossing over into Whizzer again in the 01 October 1988 issue. This was the beginning of what was to be a 3-week sojourn inside Whizzer. Again there was no acknowledgement of Fuss Pot's move across the border, and she returned to Chips as of the 22 October 1988 comic, remaining a Chip-ite until 28 April 1990, which was the final 32-page Whizzer and Chips and is the cut-off point for the investigations undertaken in this series of posts.

The picky subject of this post made a promotional visit to Cheeky Weekly dated 07 April 1979 as part of that year's Star Guest campaign. UPDATE 06 October 2024 - Fuss Pot also appeared in Cheeky Weekly dated 01 July 1978, where she was included in that issue's Whizzer and Chips Mini Comic.

Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 61

New readers start here... After Cheeky Weekly folded and was incorporated into Whoopee as of February 1980 six strips that had originated in the toothy funster's title survived the merge and continued to appear in the amalgamated comic. Whoopee itself foundered in March 1985 and was merged into Whizzer and Chips. Three of the surviving Cheeky Weekly strips successfully negotiated this second merge and went on to appear in the newly combined publication, rather inelegantly titled 'Whizzer and Chips now including Whoopee'. The survivors were Mustapha Million, Calculator Kid and (appearing only twice) Stage School. Cheeky continued to appear, but as a member of The Krazy Gang, who had moved into W&C when Krazy, the comic in which the Gang originated, expired in April 1978. However, the Krazy Gang's Whizzer and Chips run ended in the issue dated 08 February 1986. Calculator Kid survived a little longer, his run of reprints coming to an end in the 26 July 1986 edition and leaving Mustapha Million as the sole Cheeky Weekly survivor.

The previous post in this series focused on Whizzer and Chips dated 24 February 1990, which is the fifth issue in which I have been unable to identify raiders into both Whizzer and Chips - there have been 3 issues where the Chip-ite raider into Whizzer has evaded me, and 2 in which no interloper into Chips has been evident (to me) - see the table below for more details. Now it may be that my observational skills are lacking and it's just that I haven't looked hard enough (although I have scoured each of the issues in question a number of times), or it's possible that the person in the W&C office whose task it was to secrete two pasted-in images in each issue, one within Whizzer and the other somewhere among the funny folk of Chips, was less than assiduous in performing their clandestine task. Each issue at this period included captions on the Sid's Whizz-kids and Shiner's Chip-ites pages warning that the opposition had sent a raider into their section of the comic, but sadly the culprits were no longer exposed the following week as had been the practice until the 30 July 1988 comic.

In the issue following from that examined in my previous post, I have been able to identify raiders into Whizzer and Chips, and since Mustapha Million, who by this point was the only surviving character who had originated in Cheeky Weekly, was not involved in either of the raids, I can eliminate it from my investigations.

The edition published a week later, dated 10 March 1990, is yet another perplexing one, as I have identified 2 raiders but they are both within Chips!

There's an infant infiltrator into Lazy Bones' story on page 19, as a glowering Sweeny Toddler observes the teacher spout his expository monologue in the first panel. This strip is reprinted from page 6 of Whizzer and Chips dated 06 April 1985, which was the first edition merged with Whoopee. Sweeny's ugly fizzog was in evidence in the same position on that occasion because the teeny terror was seen (or left evidence of his presence in the form of graffiti) several times in the the inaugural merge issue as he prowled the comic in order to establish on which page his story had been placed (in the process outing Mustapha Million as the raider into Whizzer). On the original printing of this Lazy Bones story, a message reading 'Where is my page?' appeared below Sweeny's face.

Lazy Bones had undergone a conversion to Chipitism as of the comic dated 06 January 1990, so while this tale concerning the lethargic lad originally appeared in Whizzer, its 1990 reprint was located in Chips.

JR and Mustapha Million are both to be found on Sid's Whizz-kids page, but as objects of ridicule, so these appearances do not constitute raids.

Lazy Bones art: Colin Whittock
Whizzer and Chips 10 March 1990

The second raid (which I'm viewing as this edition's 'official' whizz-kid intrusion upon Chips) is perpetrated on Mustapha Million. Can you identify the interloper? Scroll down to learn the identity of the trespasser...

Art: Frank McDiarmid

 

...it's Whizzer's prime prankster Joker, committing his sixth intrusion upon Mustapha.

Unfortunately, the Chip-ite raider into Whizzer (if such is actually present in this particular issue) has evaded my questing eyeballs.

Whizzer and Chips Cover Date	Raider	Raided
06 April 1985	Mustapha Million	Super Steve
04 May 1985	Bloggs (Store Wars)	Mustapha Million
11 May 1985	Joker	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
18 May 1985	Calculator Kid & Calc	Odd-Ball
01 June 1985	Animalad Mustapha Million	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Boy Boss
08 June 1985	Odd-Ball	Calculator Kid
06 July 1985	Toy Boy	Calculator Kid
13 July 1985	Pa Bumpkin	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
27 July 1985	Joker	Mustapha Million
24 August 1985	Cheeky	Sid's Snake
14 September 1985	Odd-Ball Calculator Kid	Calculator Kid Store Wars
05 October 1985	Mustapha Million	Animalad
19 October 1985	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
23 November 1985	Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler	Calculator Kid The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Mustapha Million
18 January 1986	Mustapha Million	Super Steve
25 January 1986	Odd-Ball Cheeky	Mustapha Million Odd-Ball
08 February 1986 The Krazy Gang ends this issue	Animalad	Mustapha Million
15 February 1986	Lazy Bones	Calculator Kid
15 March 1986	Odd-Ball	Calculator Kid
29 March 1986	Calculator Kid	Master P Brain
05 April 1986	Bumpkin Billionaires	Mustapha Million
12 April 1986	Animalad	Calculator Kid
31 May 1986	Lazy Bones	Calculator Kid
07 June 1986	Mustapha Million	Joker
28 June 1986	Sweet Tooth	Mustapha Million
26 July 1986 Calculator Kid ends this issue	No Cheeky-related raid this issue	No Cheeky-related raid this issue
16 August 1986	Mustapha Million	Joker
23 August 1986	Sweet Tooth	Mustapha Million
18 October 1986	Winnie the Royal Nag	Mustapha Million
06 December 1986	Toy Boy	Mustapha Million
13 December 1986	Mustapha Million	Odd-Ball
17 January 1987	Sid	Mustapha Million
14 February 1987	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
11 April 1987	Pa Bumpkin	Mustapha Million
25 April 1987	Mustapha Million	Odd-Ball
20 June 1987	Toy Boy	Mustapha Million
27 June 1987	Mustapha Million	Memory Banks
25 July 1987	Lazy Bones	Mustapha Million
22 August 1987	Winnie the Royal Nag	Mustapha Million
12 September 1987	Mustapha Million	Sweet Tooth
19 September 1987	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
24 October 1987	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
12 December 1987	Joker	Mustapha Million
13 February 1988	Bloggs (Store Wars)	Mustapha Million
20 February 1988	Mustapha Million	Joker
12 March 1988	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
23 April 1988	Joker	Mustapha Million
28 May 1988 Readers asked not to let their Whizz-kid or Chip-ite sympathies colour their favourite strip votes	No Cheeky-related raid this issue	No Cheeky-related raid this issue
11 June 1988	Slippy	Mustapha Million
16 July 1988	Toy Boy	Mustapha Million
30 July 1988 New raids halted
05 August 1989 (raid reprinted from 25 Aug 1984)	Cheeky	Store Wars
12 August 1989 Resumption of new raids (one per week)	No Cheeky-related raid this issue	No Cheeky-related raid this issue
02 September 1989	Joker	Mustapha Million
16 September 1989	Slippy	Mustapha Million
23 September 1989 Weekly reciprocal raids resume	No Cheeky-related raid this issue	No Cheeky-related raid this issue
28 October 1989	Mustapha Million Sweeny Toddler	Bobby's Ghoul Mustapha Million
11 November 1989 - Tarman is the Chip-ite raider into Whizzer, but I have been unable to identify any raider into Chips
18 November 1989	Mustapha Million	Sid's Whizz-kids page
02 December 1989	Joker	Mustapha Million
23 December 1989 - Junior Rotter is the Chip-ite raider into Whizzer, but I have been unable to identify any raider into Chips
30 December 1989 - Slippy is the Whizz-kid raider into Chips, but I have been unable to identify any raider into Whizzer
27 January 1990 - Slippy is the Whizz-kid raider into Chips, but I have been unable to identify any raider into Whizzer
24 February 1990 - Joker is the Whizz-kid raider into Chips, but I have been unable to identify any raider into Whizzer
10 March 1990 - Sweeny Toddler intrudes upon Lazy Bones in a reprinted 'raid' from Whizzer and Chips dated 06 April 1985. I have been unable to identify any raider into Whizzer.	Joker	Mustapha Million

Whizz-ites vs Chip-kids - Part 6

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.

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.

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.

Whizzer and Chips 14 July 1990

A Look Back at a Look Forward

The Great News For All Readers blog is looking back at issues of Cheeky Weekly and Plug cover-dated today (19th August). I think I only bought the first issue of Plug, so David's summary of the contents of this issue is very informative. The edition of Cheeky Weekly under the GNFAR spotlight is the '60 years into the future' issue which is probably my favourite of all the toothy funster's comics, and David does it justice in his review.

Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 60

New readers start here... After Cheeky Weekly folded and was incorporated into Whoopee as of February 1980 six strips that had originated in the toothy funster's title survived the merge and continued to appear in the amalgamated comic. Whoopee itself foundered in March 1985 and was merged into Whizzer and Chips. Three of the surviving Cheeky Weekly strips successfully negotiated this second merge and went on to appear in the newly combined publication, rather inelegantly titled 'Whizzer and Chips now including Whoopee'. The survivors were Mustapha Million, Calculator Kid and (appearing only twice) Stage School. Cheeky continued to appear, but as a member of The Krazy Gang, who had moved into W&C when Krazy, the comic in which the Gang originated, expired in April 1978. However, the Krazy Gang's Whizzer and Chips run ended in the issue dated 08 February 1986. Calculator Kid survived a little longer, his run of reprints coming to an end in the 26 July 1986 edition and leaving Mustapha Million as the sole Cheeky Weekly survivor.

The previous post in this series documented my failure to identify a Chip-ite raider into Whizzer in the comic dated 27 January 1990. I've been able to spot a full complement of raiders (i.e. 2) in each of the following 3 editions and, since Mustapha Million was not involved in any of those raids, those particular issues need detain us no longer.

This raid-identification task can be a complicated business; Whizzer and Chips dated 24 February 1990 is yet another perplexing case. JR can be seen impinging upon Tomboy's page (presumably a reprinted strip since the feature dates back to 1970) in the penultimate panel, at the moment just before violence erupts between the respective mothers of the titular character and Basher Bates. This titanic tussle occurs on page 10, placing it within the Chips section of the comic, but Tomboy and JR are both Chip-ites!

Tomboy art: actor/cartoonist Michael Attwell aka Zoke

 

On page 14, occupied by Wonder Wimp, Joker can be seen, so that's a genuine Whizz-kid raid into Chips. But who within Whizzer suffers an unwelcome intrusion by a cheeky Chip-ite? Mustapha Million appears on the Sid's Whizz-kids page, but he's the butt of the gag delivered by Joker and supplied by reader Julie K Braddock of Hull, so that's clearly not a raid.

Sadly, I've been unable to find an interloper in the Whizzer section.

More raiding fun soon!

Whizzer and Chips Cover Date	Raider	Raided
06 April 1985	Mustapha Million	Super Steve
04 May 1985	Bloggs (Store Wars)	Mustapha Million
11 May 1985	Joker	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
18 May 1985	Calculator Kid & Calc	Odd-Ball
01 June 1985	Animalad Mustapha Million	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Boy Boss
08 June 1985	Odd-Ball	Calculator Kid
06 July 1985	Toy Boy	Calculator Kid
13 July 1985	Pa Bumpkin	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
27 July 1985	Joker	Mustapha Million
24 August 1985	Cheeky	Sid's Snake
14 September 1985	Odd-Ball Calculator Kid	Calculator Kid Store Wars
05 October 1985	Mustapha Million	Animalad
19 October 1985	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
23 November 1985	Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler	Calculator Kid The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Mustapha Million
18 January 1986	Mustapha Million	Super Steve
25 January 1986	Odd-Ball Cheeky	Mustapha Million Odd-Ball
08 February 1986 The Krazy Gang ends this issue	Animalad	Mustapha Million
15 February 1986	Lazy Bones	Calculator Kid
15 March 1986	Odd-Ball	Calculator Kid
29 March 1986	Calculator Kid	Master P Brain
05 April 1986	Bumpkin Billionaires	Mustapha Million
12 April 1986	Animalad	Calculator Kid
31 May 1986	Lazy Bones	Calculator Kid
07 June 1986	Mustapha Million	Joker
28 June 1986	Sweet Tooth	Mustapha Million
26 July 1986 Calculator Kid ends this issue	No Cheeky-related raid this issue	No Cheeky-related raid this issue
16 August 1986	Mustapha Million	Joker
23 August 1986	Sweet Tooth	Mustapha Million
18 October 1986	Winnie the Royal Nag	Mustapha Million
06 December 1986	Toy Boy	Mustapha Million
13 December 1986	Mustapha Million	Odd-Ball
17 January 1987	Sid	Mustapha Million
14 February 1987	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
11 April 1987	Pa Bumpkin	Mustapha Million
25 April 1987	Mustapha Million	Odd-Ball
20 June 1987	Toy Boy	Mustapha Million
27 June 1987	Mustapha Million	Memory Banks
25 July 1987	Lazy Bones	Mustapha Million
22 August 1987	Winnie the Royal Nag	Mustapha Million
12 September 1987	Mustapha Million	Sweet Tooth
19 September 1987	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
24 October 1987	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
12 December 1987	Joker	Mustapha Million
13 February 1988	Bloggs (Store Wars)	Mustapha Million
20 February 1988	Mustapha Million	Joker
12 March 1988	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
23 April 1988	Joker	Mustapha Million
28 May 1988 Readers asked not to let their Whizz-kid or Chip-ite sympathies colour their favourite strip votes	No Cheeky-related raid this issue	No Cheeky-related raid this issue
11 June 1988	Slippy	Mustapha Million
16 July 1988	Toy Boy	Mustapha Million
30 July 1988 New raids halted
05 August 1989 (raid reprinted from 25 Aug 1984)	Cheeky	Store Wars
12 August 1989 Resumption of new raids (one per week)	No Cheeky-related raid this issue	No Cheeky-related raid this issue
02 September 1989	Joker	Mustapha Million
16 September 1989	Slippy	Mustapha Million
23 September 1989 Weekly reciprocal raids resume	No Cheeky-related raid this issue	No Cheeky-related raid this issue
28 October 1989	Mustapha Million Sweeny Toddler	Bobby's Ghoul Mustapha Million
11 November 1989 - Tarman is the Chip-ite raider into Whizzer, but I have been unable to identify any raider into Chips
18 November 1989	Mustapha Million	Sid's Whizz-kids page
02 December 1989	Joker	Mustapha Million
23 December 1989 - Junior Rotter is the Chip-ite raider into Whizzer, but I have been unable to identify any raider into Chips
30 December 1989 - Slippy is the Whizz-kid raider into Chips, but I have been unable to identify any raider into Whizzer
27 January 1990 - Slippy is the Whizz-kid raider into Chips, but I have been unable to identify any raider into Whizzer
24 February 1990 - Joker is the Whizz-kid raider into Chips, but I have been unable to identify any raider into Whizzer

Whizz-ites vs Chip-kids - Part 5

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.

In this instalment I will be exposing a traitorous trio...

Three animal characters with similarly 'aw'-some names were among the many funnies to spring from the prolific nib of the gag cartoon artist Leslie 'Styx' Harding. The first of the trio to appear was the canine Paws (the name referencing the aquatic antagonist from Steven Spielberg's 1975 fishy phenomenon) who made his debut in Krazy's first issue dated 16 October 1976. On Krazy's 1978 demise, Paws was among the survivors who decamped to Whizzer and Chips. Sadly, since I haven't yet indexed my Whizzer and Chips collection from that period, I can't tell you when the original run of our pooch pal came to an end.

Whizzer and Chips 12 November 1988 - a mendacious Paws introduces what was actually a series of reprints

Paws returned to the pages of Whizzer and Chips in the edition dated 12 November 1988, introducing his story saying, 'My new series starts today!', although it was in fact a reprint from Krazy dated 26 March 1977. Paws' return was allocated a slot on page 27, a location within Whizzer to which he would adhere on a further 10 occasions. This Whizzer series ended in the issue dated 04 February 1989, with Paws relocated to page 30. There then followed a brief period without the humorous hound, but the doggy drollery resumed in the issue dated 06 May 1989, with Paws turning up on page 18, making him now a Chip-ite. Although Paws shifted allegiance from Whizzer to Chips, he remained faithful to page 18 for the remainder of his time in the comic, with his final appearance being in the Chips section of the 05 August 1989 edition.

A strip starring Paws' feline equivalent, Claws, first appeared in Whoopee! (I don't have the issue in question but I believe Claws made his debut in either October or November 1977), and the two characters, on at least one occasion each, crossed over into the other's feature. 

Somebody eventually realised there was scope for yet another animal with a name that rhymes with Jaws, Paws and Claws, so a teaser appeared in Whoopee! dated 13 October 1979...

Caws, a cantankerous crow, joined Claws a week later in an episode entitled Claws meets Caws. The irascible avian became a permanent addition to the strip, and subsequent stories were titled Claws v. Caws.

Whoopee! 20 October 1979

 

Sadly, the opportunity to introduce the obvious next '...aws' character to the existing trio, a hamster named 'Gnaws', was never taken.

Following Whoopee's absorption of Cheeky Weekly in 1980, Claws v. Caws continued to appear, although no longer weekly, as the cat versus bird antics were among the selection of features rotated under the Merry-Go-Round banner.

Date	Title	Page	Feature
09-Feb-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	30	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 1 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
09-Feb-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	31	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 1 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
16-Feb-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	30	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 1 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
16-Feb-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	31	Ivor Swap 'Merry-Go-Round' 1 of 14 - Art John K. Geering
23-Feb-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	30	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 1 of 15 - Art Trevor Metcalfe
23-Feb-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	31	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 1 of 15 - Art Trevor Metcalfe
01-Mar-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	30	Dads As Lads 'Merry-Go-Round' 1 of 11 - Art Bill Titcombe
01-Mar-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	31	Claws V Caws 'Merry-Go-Round' 1 of 15 - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
08-Mar-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	22	Ivor Swap 'Merry-Go-Round' 2 of 14 - Art John K. Geering
15-Mar-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	30	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 2 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
05-Apr-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 2 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
05-Apr-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 2 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
12-Apr-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Dads As Lads 'Merry-Go-Round' 2 of 11 - Art Bill Titcombe
12-Apr-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Claws V Caws 'Merry-Go-Round' 2 of 15 - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
19-Apr-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 2 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
19-Apr-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 2 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
26-Apr-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Ivor Swap 'Merry-Go-Round' 3 of 14 - Art John K. Geering
26-Apr-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 3 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
03-May-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 3 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
03-May-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 3 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
10-May-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Dads As Lads 'Merry-Go-Round' 3 of 11 - Art Bill Titcombe
10-May-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Claws V Caws 'Merry-Go-Round' 3 of 15 - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
14-Jun-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	31	Ivor Swap 'Merry-Go-Round' 4 of 14 - Art John K. Geering
28-Jun-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 3 of 15 - Art Mike Lacey
28-Jun-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 3 of 15 - Art Mike Lacey
05-Jul-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 4 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
12-Jul-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 4 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
12-Jul-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 4 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
19-Jul-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Dads As Lads 'Merry-Go-Round' 4 of 11 - Art Bill Titcombe
19-Jul-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Claws V Caws 'Merry-Go-Round' 4 of 15 - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
26-Jul-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 4 of 15 - Art Mike Lacey
26-Jul-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 4 of 15 - Art Mike Lacey
02-Aug-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 5 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
02-Aug-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Ivor Swap 'Merry-Go-Round' 5 of 14 - Art John K. Geering
09-Aug-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 5 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
09-Aug-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 5 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
16-Aug-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Dads As Lads 'Merry-Go-Round' 5 of 11 - Art Bill Titcombe
16-Aug-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Claws V Caws 'Merry-Go-Round' 5 of 15 - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
23-Aug-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 6 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
30-Aug-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 5 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
30-Aug-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 5 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
06-Sep-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	26	Ivor Swap 'Merry-Go-Round' 6 of 14 - Art John K. Geering
13-Sep-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 6 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
13-Sep-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 6 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
20-Sep-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 6 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
20-Sep-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 6 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
27-Sep-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	25	Dads As Lads 'Merry-Go-Round' 6 of 11 - Art Tom Williams
04-Oct-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 7 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
04-Oct-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 7 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
18-Oct-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	27	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 7 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
25-Oct-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Claws V Caws 'Merry-Go-Round' 6 of 15 - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
15-Nov-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	13	Claws V Caws 'Merry-Go-Round' 7 of 15 - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
15-Nov-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	31	Ivor Swap 'Merry-Go-Round BONUS' - Art John K. Geering
22-Nov-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	26	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 7 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
22-Nov-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	27	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 7 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
29-Nov-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	26	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 8 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
29-Nov-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	27	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 8 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
06-Dec-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	26	Dads As Lads 'Merry-Go-Round' 7 of 11 - Art Bill Titcombe
06-Dec-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	27	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 8 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
13-Dec-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	26	Ivor Swap 'Merry-Go-Round' 7 of 14 - Art John K. Geering
13-Dec-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	27	Claws V Caws 'Merry-Go-Round' 8 of 15 - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
20-Dec-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	26	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 8 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
20-Dec-1980	Whoopee! and Cheeky	27	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 8 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
03-Jan-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 9 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
03-Jan-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 9 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
10-Jan-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	25	Dads As Lads 'Merry-Go-Round' 8 of 11 - Art Bill Titcombe
17-Jan-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	25	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 9 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
24-Jan-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 9 of 15 - Art Tom Williams
24-Jan-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 9 of 15 - Art Tom Williams
31-Jan-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	13	Ivor Swap 'Merry-Go-Round' 8 of 14 - Art John K. Geering
07-Feb-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	13	Claws V Caws 'Merry-Go-Round' 9 of 15 - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
21-Feb-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 10 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
21-Feb-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 10 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
14-Mar-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	19	Ivor Swap 'Merry-Go-Round' 9 of 14 - Art John K. Geering
21-Mar-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	30	Dads As Lads 'Merry-Go-Round' 9 of 11 - Art Bill Titcombe
04-Apr-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	13	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 10 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
04-Apr-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Claws V Caws 'Merry-Go-Round' 10 of 15 - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
11-Apr-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 10 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
11-Apr-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 10 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
18-Apr-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 11 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
18-Apr-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 11 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
02-May-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	31	Dads As Lads 'Merry-Go-Round' 10 of 11 - Art Bill Titcombe
16-May-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	22	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 11 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
16-May-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	23	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 11 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
23-May-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Ivor Swap 'Merry-Go-Round' 10 of 14 - Art John K. Geering
30-May-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	14	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 12 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
30-May-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	15	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 12 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
06-Jun-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	24	Claws V Caws 'Merry-Go-Round' 11 of 15 - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
13-Jun-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 12 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
13-Jun-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 12 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
20-Jun-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Dads As Lads 'Merry-Go-Round' 11 of 11 - Art Bill Titcombe
27-Jun-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 11 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
04-Jul-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	25	Claws V Caws 'Merry-Go-Round' 12 of 15 - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
11-Jul-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	25	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 13 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
18-Jul-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 12 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
25-Jul-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	28	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 13 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
25-Jul-1981	Whoopee! and Cheeky	29	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 13 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
01-Aug-1981	Whoopee!	28	Ivor Swap 'Merry-Go-Round' 11 of 14 - Art John K. Geering
01-Aug-1981	Whoopee!	29	Claws V Caws 'Merry-Go-Round' 13 of 15 - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
08-Aug-1981	Whoopee!	28	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 13 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
15-Aug-1981	Whoopee!	28	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 14 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
29-Aug-1981	Whoopee!	28	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 14 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
05-Sep-1981	Whoopee!	28	Ivor Swap 'Merry-Go-Round' 12 of 14 - Art John K. Geering
05-Sep-1981	Whoopee!	29	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 15 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
12-Sep-1981	Whoopee!	30	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 15 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
26-Sep-1981	Whoopee!	18	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 14 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
26-Sep-1981	Whoopee!	19	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 14 of 15 - Art Barry Glennard
24-Oct-1981	Whoopee!	15	Ivor Swap 'Merry-Go-Round' 13 of 14 - Art John K. Geering
31-Oct-1981	Whoopee!	24	Claws V Caws 'Merry-Go-Round' 14 of 15 - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
31-Oct-1981	Whoopee!	25	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 16 of 17 - Art Terry Bave
14-Nov-1981	Whoopee!	30	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 16 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
28-Nov-1981	Whoopee!	18	Ivor Swap 'Merry-Go-Round' 14 of 14 - Art John K. Geering
05-Dec-1981	Whoopee!	30	Claws V Caws 'Merry-Go-Round' 15 of 15 - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
12-Dec-1981	Whoopee!	14	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 15 of 15
12-Dec-1981	Whoopee!	15	Sheerluck and Son 'Merry-Go-Round' 15 of 15
19-Dec-1981	Whoopee!	30	Supermum 'Merry-Go-Round' 17 of 17 - Art Dicky Howett
16-Jan-1982	Whoopee!	30	Blabbermouth 'Merry-Go-Round' 17 of 17 - Art Terry Bave

The 15th and final Claws v. Caws episode in Whoopee! was presented, still as a Merry-Go-Round participant, in the 05 December 1981 edition. Merry-Go-Round appeared on a further 3 occasions, concluding with an episode of Terry Bave's stentorian Blabbermouth in Whoopee! dated 16 January 1982.

After a period languishing in the limbo to which retired features are banished, Claws, in a tale presumably reprinted from the time before the animal adversaries met (since it was titled Claws and his flying foe was absent), was selected to appear in Whizzer and Chips dated 22 October 1988, located on page 11, within Chips. Following this surprise outing for our whiskered pal, feline fun was absent until the 25 February 1989 edition of W&C, which saw an episode of Claws v Caws occupying page 22, again falling inside Chips. A few more months passed with no sign of either Claws or Caws, until the 02 September 1989 comic which contained a Claws v Caws escapade on page 30. Readers enjoyed Claws v Caws again in the editions dated 09, 16 and 30 September 1989, on pages 30, 30 and 31 respectively. Therefore the Claws v Caws episodes which appeared in September 1989, the final W&C run for the duo, were all placed within Whizzer (the strip was absent from the 23 September edition due to the presence of part 1 of the cut-out Whizzer and Chips Bumper Quiz Book).

To hopefully clarify the chronology of the Whizzer and Chips reprint runs of the comical critters, the table below shows the Claws, Paws and Claws v Caws episodes to feature in Whizzer and Chips from October 1988 onwards, and indicates in which section of the comic each was located. We can see that, after Claws' initial appearance, Paws enjoyed a run (or walkies) until the 04 February 1989 edition, after which a Claws v Caws episode turned up in the comic dated 25 February 1989. Following a period with no sign of Paws, Claws or Caws, the mirthful mutt returned in Whizzer and Chips dated 06 May 1989, and finally bowed out of the comic with an appearance dated 05 August 1989. Claws v Caws returned for 4 weeks in September 1989 which concluded their run of reprints. 

Date	Title	Page	Section	Feature
22-Oct-1988	Whizzer and Chips	11	Chips	Claws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
12-Nov-1988	Whizzer and Chips	27	Whizzer	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
19-Nov-1988	Whizzer and Chips	27	Whizzer	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
26-Nov-1988	Whizzer and Chips	27	Whizzer	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
03-Dec-1988	Whizzer and Chips	27	Whizzer	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
10-Dec-1988	Whizzer and Chips	27	Whizzer	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
17-Dec-1988	Whizzer and Chips	27	Whizzer	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
24-Dec-1988	Whizzer and Chips	27	Whizzer	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
31-Dec-1988	Whizzer and Chips	27	Whizzer	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
07-Jan-1989	Whizzer and Chips	27	Whizzer	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
14-Jan-1989	Whizzer and Chips	27	Whizzer	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
21-Jan-1989	Whizzer and Chips	27	Whizzer	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
04-Feb-1989	Whizzer and Chips	30	Whizzer	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
25-Feb-1989	Whizzer and Chips	22	Chips	Claws v Caws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
06-May-1989	Whizzer and Chips with Scouse Mouse	18	Chips	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
13-May-1989	Whizzer and Chips	18	Chips	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
20-May-1989	Whizzer and Chips	18	Chips	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
27-May-1989	Whizzer and Chips	18	Chips	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
03-Jun-1989	Whizzer and Chips	18	Chips	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
10-Jun-1989	Whizzer and Chips	18	Chips	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
24-Jun-1989	Whizzer and Chips	18	Chips	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
01-Jul-1989	Whizzer and Chips	18	Chips	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
08-Jul-1989	Whizzer and Chips	18	Chips	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
15-Jul-1989	Whizzer and Chips	18	Chips	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
22-Jul-1989	Whizzer and Chips	18	Chips	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
29-Jul-1989	Whizzer and Chips	18	Chips	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
05-Aug-1989	Whizzer and Chips	18	Chips	Paws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
02-Sep-1989	Whizzer and Chips	30	Whizzer	Claws v Caws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
09-Sep-1989	Whizzer and Chips	30	Whizzer	Claws v Caws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
16-Sep-1989	Whizzer and Chips	30	Whizzer	Claws v Caws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)
30-Sep-1989	Whizzer and Chips	31	Whizzer	Claws v Caws - Art Leslie Harding (Styx)

Not relevant to Whizzer and Chips but of interest (hopefully) to students of Cheeky Weekly...

During IPC's 1978 Mini Comics promotion, Paws appeared in a Whizzer and Chips mini comic that was included in Cheeky Weekly dated 01 July 1978, and Claws featured in a Whoopee! Mini Comic that was presented in Cheeky Weekly dated 15 July. On both occasions Artie Jackson stood in for Styx. However, when Paws dropped in to Cheeky Weekly dated 23 June 1979 as a Star Guest, Leslie Harding did the artwork honours.