Comics UK

This is the bottom half of a large page of original art by IPC 'puzzle king' Cliff Brown which I bought yesterday for two pounds (the top half features more puzzles introduced by Ivor's co-star Tony Broke). While the board it's mounted on says that it appeared in this form in the 1982 Buster Puzzle Summer Special it's clear that the artwork had originally been printed elsewhere, and that Ivor and Tony have since been added in by another artist (possibly Sid Burgon, or even Reg Parlett).

As a matter of interest I wonder if anyone can think where it could have appeared in the first place. Also, does anybody know what became of Cliff after the time he spent drawing strips like Timothy Tester and the Hypno-Twins for IPC (as well as scripting Scream Inn for Brian Walker)? Did he ever work at DC Thomson for example?

- Phil Rushton (Last of the Big Spenders! )

Could be from either Buster or Whizzer & Chips comics or annuals. The Pirate Puzzle text has clearly been redone, you can still see the original underneath. Ivor and his name you can easily see were pasted in, you're right there. Looks like Ivor on the ship was originally just another generic pirate.

http://uk.geocities.com/pjgcartoonists/Cliffbrown.html There's another example here, of a maze puzzle hosted by Timothy Tester. Warning, link goes dead next month.

I would guess that it's the original place it was used - but it was originally intended to be a different host character. The lettering of Ivor in the top left corner (around the standard shot from the Ivor and Tony title pane) is on the original board, not a patch.

The last work I remember by Cliff was a crackpot inventor called Perry for Whizzer and Chips in the early 1980s. I forget the exact details...

AndyB wrote:The lettering of Ivor in the top left corner (around the standard shot from the Ivor and Tony title pane) is on the original board, not a patch.

...Except that the artwork was stripped off the original board and pasted onto a new one on which Ivor's name was subsequently lettered along with the 'stat of his head & shoulders. Back in the 70s and 80s IPC re-used everything they could, and this generally meant that lots of wonderful art was horribly mutilated in the process. If only they'd waited a few more years until cheap photocopiers became widely available...!

- Phil Rushton

Yes, which also explains the visibly patched Pirate Puzzle writing - the old writing looks like it was on a flag but the pole was obscured when Ivor was added. It was clearly reprinted from somewhere, so the question remains unanswered.