Publisher IPC Magazines Ltd Format Ongoing series Publication date June 1970 – June 1974 | Schedule Weekly Genre Humor/comedy Number of issues 210 | |
Cor!!, a British comic book Was launched in June 1970 by IPC (International Publishing Corporation), their sixth new comic in just over a year. Cor!! was edited by Bob Paynter.
The comic had 32 pages and included a full colour centre spread. It consisted of traditional British characters, albeit with a slight tweak. The unruly schoolkids of The Gaswork Gang echoing The Bash Street Kids of The Beano, Tomboy was firmly in the Minnie the Minx vein, whilst Tricky Dicky seemed like a version of Roger the Dodger, albeit with longer hair and shorter trousers.
The first Cor!! Featured Gus Gorilla on the front cover, drawn by Mike Lacey. The strip was in the shape of a glass, to promote the free fruit drink that came with it. The comic's most popular strip was Ivor Lott and Tony Broke, a classic tale of two boys – one rich, one poor, with the latter usually the victor of the many battles they had. The strip continued long after the comic closed, finally ending in the last edition of Buster in January 2000.
Another popular strip, Whacky, debuted in the first edition, albeit initially in a half page format, sharing its space with readers letters. The strip later added the tag-line “He’s always getting whacked” to emphasise the story of a schoolboy who is regularly caned by his sadistic teacher – the equally appropriately named Mr Thwackery.
The first line-up changes occurred in the 1970 "Bonfire" issue when five new features debuted. 1972 saw three newcomers in the New Year issue, amongst them the Victorian miser Jasper the Grasper and Frankie Stein – Teenage Werewolf. One notable later strip featured the BBC comedians The Goodies. Drawn by Joe Colquhoun, the double page feature lasted the whole of 1973.
Four years and 210 issues later the comic was eventually merged with Buster in June 1974, and was symptomatic of the diminishing market for British comics. During that year, both the long-running Lion and Scorcher also disappeared. The Cor!! name was kept alive by summer specials and annuals, finally ending in 1986.