On this day, 3 March 1973: Cor!!
Gus Gorilla: Alf Saporito (artist)
On this day, 3 March 1973 … at the beginning of the 1970s there were only two comics in IPC’s humour range, and at the end of the 1980s only the same two (Buster and Whizzer and Chips) remained. In between, 14 other comics were launched and eventually folded into the big two, and the first of these (at least the first to be launched, not the first to be merged) was Cor!!.
Cor!! was a great comic – a little-changing format (it kept the same size and masthead for its entire run between June 1970 and June 1974), printed on paper that compared well to its contemporaries, containing some very funny strips and characters, many of whom enjoyed a long life in subsequent titles. As well as those that joined Buster when Cor!! was matched to it (including, of those shown here, Tomboy, Ivor Lott and Tony Broke and Chalky, while Gus Gorilla took over the Buster joke page), various characters would rise again in other titles: The Slimms rolled over to Whizzer and Chips, Hire a Horror materialised in Shiver and Shake, Jack Pott was revived in Jackpot in 1980, and fiendish super-rodent Doctor Rat of Rat-trap made a remarkable comeback in Eagle in 1990!
5 Minute Wanda: Graham Allen (artist)
The Goodies: Joe Colquhoun (artist)
Well, What do You Know???: Reg Parlett (artist)
Jack Pott: Joe McCaffrey (artist)
Tomboy: Mike Atwell (artist)
Rat-trap: Giorgio Giorgetti (artist)
The Slimms: Terry Bave (artist)
Ivor Lott and Tony Broke: Robert Nixon (artist)
Andy’s Ants: Peter Davidson (artist)
Chalky: not sure about the artist here
Jasper the Grasper: Trevor Metcalfe (artist)
Hire a Horror: Robert Nixon (artist)
Teacher’s Pet: Norman Mansbridge (artist)
The Gasworks Gang: Frank McDiarmid (artist)
Whacky: Mike Lacey (artist)
Tricky Dicky: Cyril Price (artist)
