Cor!! 40th anniversary today

[Lew Stringer]

40 years ago today on Saturday 30th May 1970 IPC launched Cor!! No.1. I've posted a short tribute to it on my blog:

http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2010/05 ... r-no1.html

Where do the years go eh?

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

wow! Difficult to believe it was 40 years ago today Lew: but, yes, even the seasons of the year tie in with the memories of this time in 1970: it was early summer, definately, and it was an orange 'GULP!' I think sachet that was taped to the front page....I also definately remember the advert for the Anglo bubble-gum due in issue 2.

I clean forgot all about WHACKY, but the sight of this Mike Lacey creation brought back the old memories....


Incidentally, if the year 1930 was 40 years behind 1970, there was a world of difference affecting UK life between the 40 years inbetween: compare 30s cars with those of 1970, compared to today, there's a world of advancement between '30-70 and '70-today...........but in the 40 years since 1970, the only real difference seems to be the 'intrusion' of the 'net...has progress slowed down to a veritable snail's pace over the past 4 decades?

[Raven]

Incidentally, if the year 1930 was 40 years behind 1970, there was a world of difference affecting UK life between the 40 years compare 30s cars with those of 1970, ...........but in the 40 years since 1970, the only real difference seems to be the 'intrusion' of the 'net...has progress slowed down to a veritable snail's pace over the past 4 decades?

I think today's non-stop 24/7 media world of global markets and global corporate branding, monoculture, multiple choice, leisure lifestyles, mobile phones, DVDs, chain cafes and shops, and mega-corporations is a world away from 1970, ISPYSHHGUY! UK life has been changed tremendously on many levels.

Of course, probably the worse change of all is no more 1970-style IPC comics.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Raven: I see what you are saying, but the worlds between 1930-1970 seem totally alien: kids had short trousers on their way to school in 1930: the city kids of the war era witnessed bombing by foreign powers on their cities: today, we have DVD/telephone on tap/TV/ communications breakthrough, but all these inventions [DVD is but an extension of film, not a wholly new invention] existed in their infancy during the 30s: they were new, and unexplored territory at the time, [and thus probably more exciting first time around] : I reckon a time-traveler would see greater differences between 1930-70 than between 1970 and today......

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

.....the best way I can illustrate this theory is visually:


first up, here's a 'height-of-technology' 1930s motorcar:





---next, we jump forwards to 1970, and most readers on here who remember this era will surely remember when cars looked a lot like this:




---and now, bang up to the 2010s,with a very up-to-date looking motor:








----I have chosen the theme of cars, as this is probably the one element of technology we are all aware of through our lifetimes.......even people who don't use computers are aware of cars on the street.



I reckon the differences between motors between 1970-now is less perceptible than was evident between 1930-1970; I know that b/w photography makes a helluva difference in dating imagery, but to me, at least, there's not a great deal of difference in cars over the past 40 years, and there are many other examples of this ilk: yes, we have flatscreen TV today, but it's no better than what 1930s kids saw at the cinema.

[Raven]

but all these inventions [DVD is but an extension of film, not a wholly new invention]

Well, that kind of "data storage" is a wholly new invention, and though films existed, the fact that you could actually *own* them in your own home (and buy many of them for about £3!), or own TV programmes and watch them at your leisure, whenever you liked - or download them from a computer in your home for convenience ... these are radical, once almost unthinkable changes which put people in control of their own leisure time and choices.

The kids witnessed bombing in the 40s but today they can witness - though not directly experience - *anything* at any time on YouTube, whether life in foreign climes or on the sea bed or in a jungle. This would have seemed an almost God-like power in 1930. Email would have seemed pretty unbelievable too; from 1930-1970 everybody still sent letters!

I think there are probably greater differences between 1970 and today: the job market, for example, has changed radically over the last couple of decades. And in everyday life, the change from the varied culture of small local shops and businesses to the monoculture of the same small selection of shops and corporate logos on every street, in every town, is a radical change to our everyday activities like shopping.

Also, speaking of kids, the way they were treated in schools from 1930-1970 (corporal punishment, etc.) would have been pretty similar, but today's schools are a different world.

[Raven]

----I have chosen the theme of cars, as this is probably the one element of technology we are all aware of through our lifetimes.......even people who don't use computers are aware of cars on the street.

But try to convince the car drivers of the 1930s about satellite navigation systems!

Look at the differences even between the mobile phones of the 1980s and today. Try to persuade the good folk of the Thirties that their children and grandchildren will be carrying around iPads in one pocket and iPods (containing 20,000 songs) in their other pocket! Updating their Facebook profiles and checking where they're going on Google Maps as they wait for their bus - or maybe downloading a classic novel onto their Kindle. (Paperless books - could they comprehend that?)

If you transplanted the people of 1930 to 1970 I think they'd get along fine, but transplant them to 2010 and I think they'd be fairly bewildered by a lot of it.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Yes, I agree with you there, Raven, and also about what you say about storing data, whether it's on computer, or whatever, but all this is simply upgrading technology that has been around for decades, for example, today I listened to music on spotify: it's great not having to go out and buy records, but the net result is that I'm listening to music the same as I did in the 70s: it's simply the means of getting it over has been updated......the Clash records I heard today sounded just the same as they did in 1978, it's not as if I'm getting totally new experiences like holographic imagery of the Clash beamed over the computer......yet.




Also, my computer speakers don't sound as good as music through a proper system. Imagery on computer is almost free of charge, but it's nowhere near the experience that 30s kids were seeing on the big screen....the biggest advancement has definately been in the field of communications, however young people of the late 60s look lke a lot of young folk from today; were there really young people in 1968 walking around in late 30s fashions? 'Coz I can't remember them......

[Lew Stringer]

I agree with Raven. Rab, perhaps you think 1930 was more alien because it was an era before your time, whereas 1970 and 2010 are both within your experience? I'm sure that to a ten your old today 1970 would seem incredibly old fashioned.

[Raven]

... however young people of the late 60s look lke a lot of young folk from today; were there really young people in 1968 walking around in late 30s fashions? 'Coz I can't remember them......

But were many young people of 1968 really going round in hoodies, or hip-hip/rapper-influenced gear, or skater-type massively baggy waist-round-the-knees trousers, or wearing Goth/Emo/mosher-type clothes?

Also, my computer speakers don't sound as good as music through a proper system. Imagery on computer is almost free of charge, but it's nowhere near the experience that 30s kids were seeing on the big screen....

And how do you think 30s kids would react to seeing a film with today's 3D technology - say Avatar - on a present day IMAX screen... ?

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Another good point there, Raven; I saw Avatar, and my old man---had he still been around---would have been blown away by modern special effects.

Today's society is more of a mish-mash, with fashions like hip-hop mixed in with guys in their 20s wearing Jimi Hendrix t-shirts bearing 1970 imagery. Nobody in 1930 wore T-shirts of 1880s Jack the Ripper [to be subversive] or whatever, in fact, the T-shirt hadn't been invented in the 30s......but people are still wearing t-shirts 40 years after the 60s, and this is just one reason why I think that real change has seemingly ground to a halt....


The world of the 30s was more limited , and I'm certainly not saying it was a better time [there were different---probably worse problems back then]: but I still reckon the changes that occured during the more liberated 60s are still prevalent today------and more recognizable in comparison to 40 years ago----- and are still hanging on, in a way that is clearly recognizable in comparison to UK life circa 1930-70.


You have made a lot of good points, though, Raven, and I'm not knocking your views.


In 1970, there were no 'hangovers' [ like Jimi Hendrix or the Beatles, like we see a lot today] from the 30s on view to the same extent: sure, we saw imagery of 20s Charlie Chaplin, but I saw a geezer wearing a Manfred Mann t-shirt the other day! Is there really such a lack of new ideas out there?

[Peter Gray]

Whoopee lasted longer than Cor! as you say Lew the characters were not developed enough..very one aspect..

Ivor Lott and Tony Broke had a bit more going on so it lasted..

In Whoopee..Sweeny Toddler from (Shiver and Shake then Whoopee)..Bumpkin Billionaires ..Toy Boy..Lolly Pop..Scared-Stiff Sam all had many layers to it..not just one concept...these character lasted a long time..

Maybe Whoopee did better than Cor!! because it had a great merger in Shiver and Shake?

Cor!! was meant to be the long running comic not Whoopee..

[Raven]

Today's society is more of a mish-mash, with fashions like hip-hop mixed in with guys in their 20s wearing Jimi Hendrix t-shirts bearing 1970 imagery. Nobody in 1930 wore T-shirts of 1880s Jack the Ripper [to be subversive] or whatever, in fact, the T-shirt hadn't been invented in the 30s......but people are still wearing t-shirts 40 years after the 60s, and this is just one reason why I think that real change has seemingly ground to a halt....

For me, this is something that rather supports my view more! For the people of 1930, it would have been hard to know what was going on fifty years ago, except through books if you had access.

The fact that all the decades' output of music is now so easily accessible, all part of the cultural soup and all cool and credible to dip into and mix and match (whereas in, say the 70s, fans often tended to be very tribal and insular in their tastes) is really a very modern thing, as is the whole approach of post-modernism and the fact you can wear old dated pop culture T-shirts in a kind of 'ironic' way, too.

All of these to me actually signify the great changes of the last few decades.

[Raven]

In Whoopee..Sweeny Toddler from (Shiver and Shake then Whoopee)..Bumpkin Billionaires ..Toy Boy..Lolly Pop..Scared-Stiff Sam all had many layers to it..not just one concept...these character lasted a long time..

Ultimately, Whoopee did have the better roster of characters - it was a really inspired mix. I remember getting the first issue when it came out and thinking this. It was quite striking how fresh, modern and fun Whoopee seemed.

But 1970 was still very early days for Bob Paynter's new fun comics; maybe they were still getting their act together a little with Cor!! (Actually, I mostly love their titles of 1970/71, really.)

Whoopee's merger with Shiver and Shake did produce one of the best fun comic line-ups ever.

But Cor!! had lots of good stuff - Ivor Lott and Tony Broke, Freddie Fang and Hire a Horror being as strong as anything in the other titles. One disappointing thing about the title was how quickly "ghost" artists seemed to take over some of the best strips as it went on.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

You will have to excuse me, Raven and Lew....I've been catching up on a lot of JUDGE DREDD reprints over the weekend, and maybe that's why I've been a bit less than impressed by 2010 technology.

sorry to hijack your thread, Lew: Peter was on the right lines......