Wham number 45 24/4/65

[Power fan]

Does anyone have a copy of Wham 45 (24 April 1965)? I’m curious as to what strips made up its 20 pages. I remember they did in that issue apologise for the penny price increase (although that had taken effect the previous week), but no mention of the reduced pagination and colour. The previous week, both Pest of the West and Footsie the Clown had disappeared due to the pages reduction (as well as Men of Destiny and the Bouncers – both never to return), but according to Steve Holland’s excellent Power Pack index to the Power comics they were only absent for a week – but if this is correct then I just can’t work out what went instead. Once Ken Reid’s excellent but short-lived 2 pager, Jasper the Grasper, vanished a few weeks later, I can see that there was room again for Pest and Footsie – but if someone can give me a full 20 page breakdown I would be very grateful! (I seem to remember there being a half page colour ad inside, this very much a rarity once Wham had gone up to 7d!)

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

your sheer capacity for MEMORY is pretty impressive, PF! I loved these ODD ODHAMS comics too due to their absurdist artwork and outlandish images: sadly, I only have a couple of examples due to them being faily expensive on the collector's market: here's hoping someone can help you, though.

[NP]

That's one of the few WHAMs I don't have, sorry. I do have a vague memory of the half page ad, but then I did look at every WHAM! at Colindale in the 90s so that's probably where I remember it from.

[klakadak-ploobadoof]

Hi, here is the 20-page breakdown for Wham! issue 45, dated 24 April, 1965:
Cover: Biff
page 2: General Nitt and his Barmy Army
page 3: General Nitt and his Barmy Army
page 4: The Whacks
page 5: Honeycombs competition rules
page 6: The Tiddlers
page 7: The Tiddlers
page 8: Frankie Stein
page 9: Danny Dare
Page 10: Eagle Eye
page 11: Eagle Eye
page 12: Billy Binns
page 13: The Humbugs
page 14: Jasper the Grasper
page 15: Jasper the Grasper
page 16: ads page, including half page color ad
page 17: Johnny Straight
page 18: Georgie's Germs
page 19: Georgie's Germs
page 20: Glugg
Hope this helps.

[Power fan]

Many thanks - so it does seem that Steve Holland's book got it slightly wrong, and that Pest and Footsie returned in no. 148, once Jasper's short run finished in 147 (unless the lack of an ad allowed one of them to come back in 146 or 147! - can anyone confirm? I know it's trivial but i like trivia!!)

[klakadak-ploobadoof]

Many thanks - so it does seem that Steve Holland's book got it slightly wrong, and that Pest and Footsie returned in no. 148, once Jasper's short run finished in 147 (unless the lack of an ad allowed one of them to come back in 146 or 147! - can anyone confirm?

Pest of the West reappeared in issue 46; that issue also had the same half-page color ad. Pest page was also in issues 47 and 48. Footsie did not appear in issues 46 and 47; it reappeared in issue 48.

[Power fan]

many thanks klakadak-ploobadoof for your prompt responses! So to put this one to bed, what from issue 45 disappeared in issues 46 & 47 to make way for Pest? (& did it return in 48 once Jasper had gone?) And sorry for the confusion earlier by my inexplicably adding 100 to the issue numbers!!

[klakadak-ploobadoof]

Hi, PF, here is the 20-page breakdown for issues 46-48:
Issue 46, 1 May, 1965:
Cover: Biff
page 2: General Nitt and his Barmy Army
page 3: General Nitt and his Barmy Army
page 4: The Whacks
page 5: The Righteous Bros profile
page 6: The Tiddlers
page 7: The Tiddlers
page 8: Frankie Stein
page 9: Pest of the West
Page 10: Eagle Eye
page 11: Eagle Eye
page 12: Danny Dare
page 13: The Humbugs
page 14: Jasper the Grasper
page 15: Jasper the Grasper
page 16: ads page, including half page color ad
page 17: Johnny Straight
page 18: Georgie's Germs
page 19: Georgie's Germs
page 20: Glugg

Issue 47, 8 May, 1965:
Cover: Biff
page 2: General Nitt and his Barmy Army
page 3: General Nitt and his Barmy Army
page 4: The Whacks
page 5: Dave Berry and the Cruisers profile
page 6: The Tiddlers
page 7: The Tiddlers
page 8: Frankie Stein
page 9: Pest of the West
Page 10: Eagle Eye
page 11: Eagle Eye
page 12: Danny Dare
page 13: The Humbugs
page 14: Jasper the Grasper
page 15: Jasper the Grasper
page 16: full-page black and white ad (Super TWA Airliner in Sugar Puffs)
page 17: Johnny Straight
page 18: Georgie's Germs
page 19: Georgie's Germs
page 20: Glugg

Issue 48, 15 May, 1965
Cover: Biff
page 2: General Nitt and his Barmy Army
page 3: General Nitt and his Barmy Army
page 4: The Whacks
page 5: The Yardbirds profile
page 6: The Tiddlers
page 7: The Tiddlers
page 8: Frankie Stein
page 9: Pest of the West
Page 10: Eagle Eye
page 11: Eagle Eye
page 12: Danny Dare
page 13: The Humbugs
page 14: Billy Binns
page 15: Footsie
page 16: Puzzles and jokes submitted by readers/Anti-smoking add page
page 17: Johnny Straight
page 18: Georgie's Germs
page 19: Georgie's Germs
page 20: Glugg

Issue 49 had Footsie as well as Pest.

[Power fan]

You have excelled yourself - so it was Billy Binns who took a fortnight's break, returning with Footsie to replace Jasper. Binns also of course appeared in Boys' World until late 64, on its demise moving to Eagle - although by the same artist, I believe they were different stories. Does anyone know how this strange situation came about? (Do you have every copy of Wham! I wonder? Such a shame how it declined so quickly from a fantastic start.)

[klakadak-ploobadoof]

I am 7 issues short from having a complete run of 187, so if you have other trivia questions, please, feel free to ask because I enjoy doing this. In the process of building my collection, I have doubled up on a number of issues, so I am open for offers, should anyone be willing to buy. I also have a near complete run on Pow doubles (minus last seven issues) and a lot of Odhams Smash! doubles starting from issue 77 until the very end of the run in 1969.

[Power fan]

thanks - I do have one more trivia question about Wham - I hope that it's not affected by one of the few issues that you are missing. In the Tiddlers, when Super Sir was replaced by the bald teacher with glasses, was there any explanation for Super Sir's disappearance, and was the new man properly introduced?

[klakadak-ploobadoof]

This one may take a little longer. To make things faster, do you remember approximate dates ( or issue Nos) when this happened?

[Power fan]

Sadly I have less than two dozen copies acquired from ebay - but to narrow it down a little, Super Sir was still in number 57 (15 July 1965) and the new teacher was in place in issue 96 (16 April 1966).

[klakadak-ploobadoof]

It was easier than I thought - the last appearance of Super Sir was in issue 60 when Tiddlers were on inside pages. Super Sir said no goodbyes - I attach a scan of the last panel. Issue 60 also had an advertisement of the next week's edition announcing Tiddlers as front page story. No mention of Super Sir's departure or the arrival of a new Teach in the ad. I attach a scan for you to see. In issue 61, the new teacher was not introduced in any way, except that Headmaster refers to him as a gardening expert. The Tiddlers aren't surprised to see a new guy in class. I also checked the annuals. Super Sir reappeared in the 1966 annual; this was his last appearance as far as I can tell, because the 1967 annual has the bald teacher in the strip.

[Power fan]

Very speedy and thorough! I think this enabled the stories to be more simply kids v teacher rather than as before, kids + sir v headmaster.