On this day, 9 February 1974: Shiver and Shake
Cover artwork: Mike Lacey?
On this day, 9 February 1974 … Shiver and Shake is one of those IPC comics (see also: Misty, Cheeky, Starlord, Scream!) that is remembered very fondly despite (or possibly because) it had a relatively short life, running from 10 March 1973 to 5 October 1974. Like those others mentioned, Shiver and Shake can also be seen to have been influential on those that would out last it. A few days ago I commented on how horror was such an important staple of IPC content, in the humour comics as much as the serial adventure titles, and Shiver and Shake is interesting in that it offered a clear split of horror and more traditional humour stories. While the title itself lasted only 19 months, a similar blend would continue for many years through Whoopee! (into which it merged), Monster Fun and Buster.
Shiver was the horror section, it’s characters including classics such as Frankie Stein, Scream Inn, Sweeny Toddler and The Hand (it took me a while to find the artist for this The Hand story and I’m grateful to the brilliant Kazoop!! blog for identifying Frank McDiarmid, but it did mean typing ‘The Hand Shiver and Shake’ into Google, of which I’m sure Jeremy Hunt would have been approved). The back cover carries Ken Reid’s Creepy Creations which, with its successor in Whoopee!, World-wide Weirdies, is one of the best features in comics ever. Shake is an ‘open up the staples and separate from the rest of the comic’ insert, like Chips in Whizzer, and has some fun stories including the regular centre-page Match of the Week, anthropomorphic characters Webster the spider, The Desert Fox and the eponymous Shake the elephant, but only one strip that would have a long life beyond the comic’s demise – the excellent Lolly Pop.
Frankie Stein: Robert Nixon (artist)
The Duke's Spook: Arthur Martin? (artist)
Scream Inn: Brian Walker (artist)
The Hand: Frank McDiarmid (artist)
Shake: Mike Lacey (artist)
Lolly Pop: Sid Burgon (artist)
Match of the Week: Radio XI versus T.V. Team: Mike Lacey (artist)
Moana Lisa: Peter Davidson (artist)
Tough Nutt and Softy Centre: Norman Mansbridge (artist)
Webster: Terry Bave (artist)
The Desert Fox: Terry Bave (artist)
Horrornation Street: Tom Williams (artist)
Ghouldilocks: Stan McMurty (artist)
Sweeny Toddler: Leo Baxendale (artist)
Creepy Creations: Ken Reid (artist)
