Whizzer and Chips

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.

The format of Whizzer and Chips was to have the comic divided into two separate parts, a novel idea at the time. One part was called Whizzer and the other was called Chips, with Chips existing as a separate pull-out section in the middle. The slogan was "Two comics in one, double the fun!". It had no relation to earlier British comic Illustrated Chips. In the offices at Fleetway, it was always regarded as one comic.

In common with most British comics of the time, both sections originally included some of their strips in semi-colour using black, white, and red (duotone), with others in plain black and white. To reinforce the distinction between the two sections, the duotone strips in Chips were later changed to black, white, and blue. Whizzer and Chips went full colour on the week of 4 May 1990.

The comic Knockout merged with Whizzer and Chips on 30 June 1973, followed by Krazy in 1978, Whoopee! in 1985 and finally Scouse Mouse in 1989.^[1]

Concepts

One ongoing concept was that the two comics were fierce rivals. A guest appearance by a character from one of the comic strips in the story of one in the other magazine would be described as a "raid", and the other comic would seek its revenge with a raid of its own the following week. The first raid did not appear until issue 2.

Readers were encouraged to become either a "Whizz-Kid" or a "Chip-ite", depending on which section they preferred. The leader of the Whizz-Kids was a boy called Sid and his snake Slippy, from the Sid's Snake comic strip. The leader of the Chip-ites was a boy called Shiner from the comic strip of the same name, who had aspirations to become a boxer. In the first issue of Whizzer and Chips, Sid's Snake was on the cover of Chips, as Shiner did not appear until issue 2.

Whizzer

Notable comic strips or characters in Whizzer throughout the comic's 21-year run included:

• Belle Tent
• Bobby's Ghoul
• Champ
• Doodle
• Happy Families
• Joker (from Knockout)
• Lazy Bones
• Me and My Shadow (from issue one, 18 Oct 1969 to 26 Dec 1970 then rested until its return on 1 Jan 1972
• Memory Banks
• Minnie's Mixer (from issue one, 18 Oct 1969 until 23 Jun 1973 - merger with Knockout)
• The Mummy's Curse (from issue one, 18 Oct 1969 until 26 Dec 1970)
• Mystery Museum
• Odd Ball
• Sid's Snake
• Slowcoach (from issue one to 23-Jun-73 - merger with Knockout)
• Store Wars
• Strange Hill (also appeared in The Dandy )
• Sweet Tooth
• Sweeny Toddler (from Whoopee!)
• The 12½p Buytonic Boy (from Krazy) Later Known as Super Steve.
• The Bumpkin Billionaires (from Whoopee!)
• Timothy Tester (from 1 Jan 1972)
• Tiny Tycoon
• Toy Boy (from Whoopee!)
• Whizz Wheels

Chips

Notable comic strips or characters in Chips throughout the comic's 21-year run included:

• Bewitched Belinda
• Beat Your Neighbour (from Knockout)
• Boney
• Bookworm (from Whoopee!)
• Bottom Of The Class
• Boy Boss (from Whoopee!)
• Buffalo Bill
• Calculator Kid (from Whoopee!)
• Cocoa
• Creepy Comix (from Whoopee!)
• The Double Deckers 22-May-71 to 13-May-72
• Footsie the Clown
• Fuss Pot (from Knockout)
• Ginger's Tum
• Guy Gorilla
• Hal's Holdall
• Harry's Haunted House
• Junior Rotter
• Loser
• Lucky Dick
• Ma, Pa and Baby Ba (from 20 May 72)
• Mustapha Million (from Whoopee!)
• The Name Game (from 20 May 72 - charting the fictitious origins of a different name each week)
• Phil Fitt
• Percy's Pets
• Police Dog and Cat Burglar
• Sammy Shrink (from Knockout)
• Shiner
• Super Dad
• Toffee Nose (29 Jul 72 to 23 Jun 73)
• Town Tarzan
• The Krazy Gang (from Krazy)
• The Slimms (from Cor!!)
• Watford Gapp
• Wear Em Out Wilf

Adventure Stories

Adventure stories in the title included the following:

• Alfie in Africa (2 Jan 1971 to 25 Dec 1971)
• Archie's Angels (29 Jul 72 to 23 Jun 73)
• The Castaways (from 1 Jan 1972)
• Danny Drew's Dialling Man (1974/75)
• The Perils of Paul White (1970)
• Pursuit of the Puzzler (2 January 1971 until 29 July 1972)
• Revenge of the Puzzler (5 August 1972 until 23 June 1973)
• The Space Accident
• The Spectacular Adventures of Willie Bunk (18 Oct 1969-26 Dec 70)
• Trip to Terror (from 30 June 73 - replaced the Puzzler series)
• Who is Sandy? (2 Jan 1971 to 25 Dec 1971)
• Wonder Car (1970 to 25 Dec 1971)

References