On this day, 23 June 1973: Knockout
Joker: Sid Burgon (artist)
On this day, 23 June 1973 … Two years and two weeks after entering the ring, the gutsy Knockout took its final blow and – with an actual ‘Great news for all readers’ – announced that it was being ‘incorporated’ into Whizzer and Chips. It was a mark of how good this comic was that the majority of its stories would survive to grace the pages of the new, merged title; we’ll see those that did make the move next week, but the only ones that didn’t were The Haunted Wood, Cooky, Barry and Boing, The Full House and Moose.
There’s a certain dignity to the way this merger is handled. There’s a fun The Super Seven story in which the gang visit first ‘Whizz Town’ and then ‘Chip Town’ to save the day for Sid’s Snake and Shiner respectively. Often the splash ad for the merging comics features a picture of fun-stars from both titles rushing towards each other as if school was out for summer, but here the two delegations greet each other with a handshake and an invitation from Shiner: ‘Come and join us, it’ll be great fun!’. Actually, that doesn’t really sound too convincing. Perhaps the Whizz-kids and Chip-ites feared the Knockout hordes coming over and stealing their jobs. But guess what? Knockout enhanced Whizzer and Chips and it all worked out fine. Better In than Out.
Beat Your Neighbour: artist unknown
Pete’s Pockets: Mike Lacey (artist)
Hot Dog and Cool Cat: Mike Atwell? (artist)
The Haunted Wood: Sid Burgon (artist)
The Toffs and the Toughs: Reg Parlett (artist)
Sammy Shrink: Terry Bave (artist)
The Super Seven: Mike Lacey (artist)
Cooky: Trevor Metcalfe (artist)
Boney: Paul White (artist)
Barry and Boing: Mike White? (artist)
Son of Sir: artist unknown
The Full House: Jim Crocker (artist)
Moose: Alf Saporito (artist)
Fuss Pot: Norman Mansbridge (artist)
