Saturday comics: Third weekend of May 1976 — GREAT NEWS FOR ALL READERS!

May 21

May 21 Saturday comics: Third weekend of May 1976

Action, Battle, Buster, Jinty, Monster Fun, Saturday Comics, Tammy, Tiger, Valiant, Whizzer and Chips, Whoopee!

Saturday comics! Time to dismount your Space Hoppers and Raleigh Choppers and take a look at which comics you could buy for 6p or 7p on the third Saturday of May, 1976 … and what else was going on in a young person’s world.

1976 is generally remembered as a great time to have been a kid, and in particular for the incredible heatwave/drought between 23 June and 27 August. Even in May the temperatures were rising, and topped 25°C for four consecutive days. Whizzer and Chips had already hit the beach.

ABBA’s Fernando was the UK’s Number One, and the fourth-biggest single of 1976. There was something in the air that night, The stars were bright, and Ken Reid’s Eerie Earth was scaring the bejeezus out of kids on the back page of Whoopee!

A double-page Action Man advert graced the centre of this week’s Whoopee! Palitoy’s Action Man was one of the UK’s most popular toys at this time, his latest innovations including flock hair effect and gripping hands. He wasn’t as cool as Battle’s Major Eazy though.

The Slipper and the Rose, a musical Cinderella, was still showing in many UK cinemas, and there were plenty more fantasy adventures predominantly for girls in Jinty and Lindy. Fran of the Floods followed a girl’s journey across a Britain in the midst of environmental apocalypse.

Artists: Phil Gascoine (Fran of the Floods), unknown (For Peter’s Sake)

Saturday morning telly for young viewers on 15 May included Champion the Wonder Horse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMdVuiac27U (Tammy could manage only Chompy the Hungry Horse), Zorro and Little House on the Prairie.

In between these children’s shows was the adult literacy series On the Move, starring Bob Hoskins and Donald Gee. Because of its scheduling it felt as though it was one of our own programmes; the theme tune certainly brings back memories of the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as--03xsm3c

BBC1’s Saturday evening line-up included the Dad’s Army episode ‘Come In, Your Time Is Up’, in which the platoon encounter three Germans in a dinghy during a camping expedition. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, here comes Monster Fun’s Gums.

Our Kid sang You Might Just See Me Cry on teatime’s New Faces. The song would reach #2 in the charts, but Noel Edmonds wasn’t impressed with the act: ‘I kept looking for the strings!’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcsU9dr9Nbc Amazing haircuts though, en vogue with Buster’s cover stars Val and Kid.

Artist: Mike Lacey (Val’s Vanishing Cream), Reg Parlett (Buster’s Diary)

This was a rare cross-over story teaming up Val’s Vanishing Cream and Kid Gloves.

Today’s Grandstand featured marathon trials for British selection for the summer’s forthcoming Montreal Olympics. Valiant was gearing up for the summer of sport with the final part of a huge track and field board game, devised by Pat Mills, Angela Kincaid and editor John Wagner.

Artists: John Cooper (One-Eyed Jack, Eric Bradbury (Adam Eterno)

‘I had a background of devising games, notably Magnum Force! for Action,’ says Pat. ‘We thought it was fun, but no reader response whatsoever, apart from one kid who wrote in to say he didn’t understand the rules!’

Valiant would be merged into Battle later in the year. Action was the boys’ comic of the moment. Death Game 1999, Look Out for Lefty and Hook Jaw (inspired by 1975’s Jaws movie) were typical of its much-loved violent and gory content.

The West Indies arrived in the UK this month, ahead of a Viv Richards-inspired 3-0 series win over England. In Tiger, Billy Dane had swapped Dead-Shot Keen’s footy boots for his old cricket boots, but had little luck at the wicket.

Hot-Shot Hamish was hanging in the Highlands following Princes Park’s promotion to the Scottish First Division. He wasn’t needed by the national team, who beat England 2-1 at Hampden to win the British Home Championship. Kenny Dalglish hit the winner.