Whoopee!

A comparatively late addition to IPC's stable, Whoopee! would nevertheless become the last member of a long running triumvirate of humour comics which dominated much of the kids' humour market in the seventies and eighties, the others of course being Buster and Whizzer & Chips. The originally more adventure based Buster had been around since 1960 and Whizzer & Chips since 1969 but Whoopee!, the baby of the bunch, didn't show its dirt smudged face until 9th March 1974. Several of the early strips didn't make much of an impression on readers: photographer Snap Happy, Clobber, Ad Lad, Wolf Pack, Lunchin' Vulture and Striker the ship's cat amongst them. Others are derivative of better known strips from other titles, like The Upper Crusts and the Lazy Loafers, which is basically just The Toffs and the Toughs playing at the wrong speed. But Whoopee! did have many more strips which have remained firmly embedded in the memories of its readers. One of the longest running was Scared Stiff Sam, a lovable lunkhead who was scared of his own shadow (and who had a similarly nervous dog, the innappropriately named 'Fury'). Sam was one of the title's original lineup and was still appearing as late as 1980, though he was later squeezed out in favour of other strips. He's probably still hiding in a cupboard in IPC's offices.

Another strip from the early issues was Spy School, a kind of junior Man From Uncle setup, and there was also Hee Gee and his Nag, about a henpecked horse and his shrewish wife, but better remembered are the ultra materialistic Toy Boy and the Bumpkin Billionaires, a family of hicks loosely based on TV's the Beverley Hillbillies who were constantly trying-and failing-to rid themselves of their unwanted fortune and being thwarted by the efforts of their bank manager, who wanted them to keep it all. Like Scared Stiff Sam and Toy Boy, the Bumpkins were fixtures pretty much throughout the comic's run. Many others fell by the wayside though, as Whoopee! took in refugees from various failed titles through mergers.

Daisy Jones's Locket was another long running strip, the story of a girl who had a magical locket containing a genie, while Clever Dick and Dozy Mick were two mischevous schoolboys. Ernie Learner learned a new trade every week, and there was also an adventure serial, the beautifully executed 'The Lone Ranger' (then being repeated on TV). Rather like Scared Stiff Sam in some ways was Willy Worry ('yes, he will!'), and therte was also a page which guest starred characters from other comics each week, possibly an attempt at boosting circulation.

In 1975, Whoopee! merged with the short lived Shiver & Shake and gained some characters who would become invaluable to its continued success. One, which lasted until 1983 or thereabouts, was Lolly Pop, about a rich but miserly businessman forever being outsmarted by his deprived son, Archie. This became a reader's favourite.