Cor!!, a British comic book, was launched in June 1970 by IPC (International Publishing Corporation), their sixth new comic in just over a year. Cor!! was edited by Bob Paynter.
The comic had 32 pages and included full-colour front and back pages and centre spread. It depicted traditional British characters, albeit with a slight tweak. The unruly schoolkids of The Gaswork Gang echoed The Bash Street Kids of The Beano, Tomboy was firmly in the Minnie the Minx vein, whilst Tricky Dicky seemed like a version of Roger the Dodger, albeit with longer hair and shorter trousers.
The first Cor!! featured Gus Gorilla on the front cover, drawn by Mike Lacey. The strip was in the shape of a glass, to promote the free fruit drink that came with this issue. The comic's most popular strip was Ivor Lott and Tony Broke, a classic tale of two boys – one rich, one poor, with the latter usually the victor of the many battles they had. The strip continued long after the comic closed, finally ending in the last edition of Buster in January 2000.
Another popular strip, Whacky, debuted in the first edition, initially in a half-page format, sharing space with readers' letters. The strip later added the tagline "He’s always getting whacked" to emphasize the story of a schoolboy who is regularly caned by his sadistic teacher – the equally appropriately named Mr. Thwackery.
The first line-up changes occurred in the 1970 "Bonfire" issue when five new features debuted. 1972 saw three newcomers in the New Year issue, including Victorian miser Jasper the Grasper and Frankie Stein – Teenage Werewolf. One notable later strip featured the BBC comedians The Goodies. Drawn by Joe Colquhoun, the double-page feature lasted the whole of 1973.
Four years and 210 issues later the comic was eventually merged with Buster in June 1974, symptomatic of the diminishing market for British comics - though several further titles were launched by IPC and other publishers during the next few years. The long-running Lion and Scorcher also disappeared in 1974. The Cor!! name was kept alive by summer specials and annuals, finally ending in 1986.
The Topper was a UK comic published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd that ran from 7 February 1953 to 15 September 1990, when it merged with The Beezer.
A British comic is a periodical published in the United Kingdom that contains comic strips. It is generally referred to as a comic or a comic magazine, and historically as a comic paper.
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.
Ken Reid (1919–1987) was a British comic artist and writer, best known as the co-creator of Roger the Dodger and Jonah for The Beano and Faceache for Jet.
Fuss Pot was a British humoristic comic strip which ran from 1971 until 2000.
Whizzer and Chips was a British comics magazine that ran from 18 October 1969 to 27 October 1990, when it merged with the comic Buster. As with most comics of the time, Whizzer and Chips was dated one week ahead of the day it actually appeared on newsstands in Great Britain. It had no relation to the earlier British comic Illustrated Chips.
Jackpot was a British comic book magazine that ran from the issues cover dated 5 May 1979 to issue 141, 30 January 1982, when it merged with Buster.
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.
Film Fun was a British celebrity comics comic book that ran from 17 January 1920 to 15 September 1962, when it merged with Buster, a total of 2,225 issues. There were also annuals in the forties and fifties. As the title suggests, the comic mainly featured comic strip versions of people from films from the 1920s to the 1960s.
Wow! is a British comic book magazine running for 56 issues from 5 June 1982 to 25 June 1983, when it merged with Whoopee!.
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.
Action was a controversial weekly British children's anthology comic that was published by IPC Magazines, starting on 14 February 1976, until November 1977.
Valiant was a British boys' adventure comics anthology which ran from 1962 to 1976. It was published by IPC Magazines and was one of that company's major adventure titles throughout the 1960s and early 1970s.
Ivor Lott and Tony Broke was a British strip which originally appeared in the comic book Cor!! on 6 June 1970, before moving to Buster when the two comics merged in June 1974. The comic strip lasted until the final issue of Buster on 3 January 2000. The comic was originally drawn by Reg Parlett and later continued by artists such as Jim Crocker and Sid Burgon.
Smash! was a weekly British comic book, published initially by Odhams Press and subsequently by IPC Magazines, from 5 February 1966 to 3 April 1971. After 257 issues it merged into Valiant.
John Stokes is a British comics artist who has largely worked for IPC and Marvel UK and is best known for his work on Fishboy.
Whacky was a British comic strip published in the British comic book magazine Cor!! and ran in the comic from its first issue on 6 June 1970 until 29 September 1973 - some 9 months before it was merged with Buster. It started as a half page strip but proved popular and was given a full page several weeks later. It was created and drawn by Mike Lacey.
Milly O'Naire and Penny Less was a British comic strip created by Sid Burgon for the first issue of Jackpot on 5 May 1979.
Chalky was a British comic book character from Cor!!, and from 22 June 1974 when the publications were merged, Buster, both published by IPC. Chalky was created and first drawn by Terry Bave in the 24 July 1971 issue of Cor!. He was more regularly drawn by Dick Millington and Gordon Hill.
Princess Tina was a weekly British girls' comic published from autumn 1967 to summer 1973 by the International Publishing Company, initially under the Fleetway Publications banner. Two comics, Princess and Tina, were merged to form Princess Tina; another title, Penelope, was merged into Princess Tina in 1969; the publication itself came to an end when it was merged into Pink.
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