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The Bumpkin Billionaires was a British humoristic comic strip which ran from 1974 until 2000. It was drawn by Mike Lacey throughout except for the last years in Whizzer and Chips by Jim Hanson. [1]
The main characters in the story were a family of four country yokels — "Ma" and "Pa" and their children Billy and Daisy — who had come into a great deal of money (possibly inspired by The Beverly Hillbillies ). As the saying goes, however, "money does not bring happiness" and this particular family saw their wealth as more of a curse than a blessing. They aspired to returning to the simple life of paupers and were desperate to get rid of their money. Thus they would come up with an endless number of "get-poor-quick schemes", much to the distress of their long-suffering bank manager. [1]
The stories usually ended with the Bumpkins' plans backfiring, leaving them either as well off as they were before or even more wealthy, much to the delight of the bank manager.
It originally debuted in the UK comic Whoopee! in issue 1, dated 9 March 1974. When Whoopee! merged with Whizzer and Chips in 1985, the strip went with it, becoming part of the Whizzer section. Likewise, when Whizzer and Chips merged with Buster in 1990, the strip continued there. [2] It remained in Buster until the comic's last issue at the beginning of 2000, though, as with all other strips by this time, it had by now become a reprint.
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Buster was a British comic which began publication in 1960, originally published by IPC Magazines Ltd under the company's comics division Fleetway, then by Egmont UK Ltd under the same imprint until its closure in 2000. Despite missing issues due to industrial action during its run, the comic published 1,902 issues in total. The comic carried a mixture of humour and adventure strips, featuring the title character Buster and a host of other characters.
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Monster Fun was originally a weekly British comic strip magazine for children aged seven to twelve. Published by IPC Media, it ran for 73 issues in 1975–1976, when it merged with Buster. Focused on humorous monster strips and stories, the magazine was known for "The Bad Time Bedtime Books" minicomic inserts, created by Leo Baxendale.
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Whoopee! was a British comic book magazine that ran from 9 March 1974 to 30 March 1985, when it merged with Whizzer and Chips. It was published by IPC Magazines Ltd and ran for 572 issues.
Shiver and Shake was a British comic magazine published every Monday by IPC Magazines Ltd. It ran from 10 March 1973 to 5 October 1974, when it merged with Whoopee! As often happens with British comics, many names of strips were a play on popular television programmes and films of the time. The theme of the strips were mainly horror ; similar to the later Monster Fun; indeed, Frankie Stein appeared in both comics.
Cheeky Weekly was a British comic book magazine published every Monday by IPC Magazines Ltd. It ran for 117 issues from 22 October 1977 to 2 February 1980, failing to be published for 3 weeks in December 1978 due to an industrial dispute. It merged with stable-mate Whoopee!, initially as a 16-page pull-out section. The title character originated in an earlier comic called Krazy as a character in the strip The Krazy Gang and also the star of the 'Ello, It's Cheeky feature, and proved popular enough to get his own comic, which managed to outlive Krazy itself. The first issue came with a free "Red Jet Rattler". Its characters and strips included:
Knockout was a weekly British comics periodical published by Fleetway Publications from 12 June 1971 to 23 June 1973. A humour comic, the title ran until 1973 before being merged with another Fleetway title, Whizzer and Chips.
Lazy Bones was originally a comic strip in the British comic Whizzer and Chips. It made its first appearance in 1978.
Starlord was a British weekly boys' science fiction comic published by IPC Magazines from 13 May to 7 October 1978, when it merged with 2000 AD after 22 issues. The comic was created by Kelvin Gosnell, and was originally intended as a fortnightly sister title for 2000 AD with higher production values and an older audience, but late changes in production saw it converted into a weekly.
Sweeny Toddler was a British comic strip by Leo Baxendale, which originally appeared in the British magazines Shiver and Shake, Whoopee!, Whizzer and Chips and finally Buster between 1973 and 2000. It was a gag-a-day about a little mischievous toddler. The name is a play on Sweeney Todd.
Store Wars was a comic strip that first appeared in the British comic Whizzer and Chips in 1981. It told the story of two shops on a high street: a large superstore owned by Mr. Superstore, and a small general store next door called Bloggs and Son. Despite Mr. Superstore's efforts to force Bloggs and Son to go out of business, each week, the little store triumphs. During its run it was drawn by Doug Jensen, Jim Watson and Jimmy Hansen.
Sid's Snake was a comic strip in the British comic Whizzer and Chips. It first appeared in issue 1, dated 18 October 1969, and was originally drawn by Mike Lacey; Jimmy Hansen later took over.
Sweet Tooth was a British comic strip, created by Trevor Metcalfe in January 1973 and first published in the magazine Whizzer and Chips. When the magazine merged with Buster in 1990 the series continued until the magazine was disestablished in 2000.
Tom Paterson is a Scottish comic artist who drew characters for Fleetway in 1973–1990, and D.C Thomson from 1986 to 2012. As of 2013, he currently draws strips for Viz.
Mustapha Million was a British gag-a-day comic strip, created by Reg Parlett. It appeared in Cheeky Weekly in its first issue on 22 October 1977. The magazine would later merge with Whoopee! and on its turn with Whizzer and Chips, while the comic ran in those magazines as well.
Memory Banks was the name given to a comic cartoon strip created by Mark Bennington, which appeared in Whizzer and Chips and then went on to appear in Buster.
Illustrated Chips was a British comic magazine published between 26 July 1890 and 12 September 1953. Its publisher was the Amalgamated Press, run by Alfred Harmsworth. Priced at a half-penny, Illustrated Chips was among a number of Harmsworth publications that challenged the dominance in popularity of the "penny dreadfuls" among British children.
Joker was a British comic strip. It first appeared in Knockout issue 1 on 12 June 1971. Knockout merged with Whizzer and Chips in 1973. Joker stayed in Whizzer and Chips as a Whizz-kid until the end, when he continued in Buster until the close of the comic on 4 January 2000. On the "last page" of Buster, Joker reveals that he was Jeremy Beadle all along. The strip was written by Malcolm Morrison, and illustrated by Sid Burgon.
