Sid's Snake

Sid's Snake (sometimes titled Sid and His Snake) was a long running humour strip originally running in IPC's Whizzer and Chips from the comic's first issue (dated 18th October 1969) to its last (27th October 1990), after which it transferred to the pages of Buster until that title's cancellation in January 2000 (though by this time, like the rest of Buster's content, it had become a reprint). Originally drawn by Mike Lacey and later by Jimmy Hansen, it revolved around the simple but amusing adventures of Sid and his pet snake Slippy, a genial but disturbingly huge beast who could fashion himself into a variety of shapes as required. Sid was also the nominal leader of the "Whizz-Kids" faction in Whizzer and Chips and was the host of the Whizzer letters page. He actually appeared on the front cover of the Chips insert in the first issue of the comic (a position later occupied by Shiner) but appeared on the front cover of the comic itself from issue #2 through to the mid 1980s. Curiously, neither Sid nor his parents were ever prosecuted for continually letting a huge, potentially dangerous snake loose on the streets.