Whispers and Solar! Comic

[Simon R]

I remember getting a free Chomp bar with a copy of Fast Forward.

[Si Hunt]

Ah, but will it be canon? A sequel, a reboot or a reimagining...?

It's picking up where the last issue left off, but the strips will have a modern day twist...

Si.

[Si Hunt]

I'm quite fond of the cover of Issue 18. Pop Fan goes to see Technotronic!



It turns out inside that Wily has a cousin called Dicky. I SWEAR I NEVER KNEW! At least I don't think so!



This is appropriately a rather disturbing sex themed strip, so moving on to... Oh it's the bloody Dizzy strip. With an added in Skoda joke for good measure.



Cool Dude's rather odd new trend is "toothbrushes". I don't think they were ever cool were they?



Oddly, there's ANOTHER Pop Fan strip inside which recycles the same gag as on the front cover...



A rare example of Pop Fan being drawn without his trade mark red hair there. And now... Oh no! Surely not! This shit is back is it...



But look out for a free "Whispers model" next issue. That can't be as exciting as it sounds...

A rather lame art page:



I think "Hoby" might have been my sister again in another disguise. Plus there's a (rather faint) but nice picture of a hanging basket courtesy of my Nan, bless her.



Please make the Skoda jokes stop.

Si.

[Si Hunt]

There's a (suspiciously traced) new logo for Whispers this week, and one which would never be seen again. Perhaps I didn't have a Number One magazine to cut up that week? Elsewhere there's an amazing free gift - a Cut Out And Keep Cool Dude for your home! But don't despair if you can't work out what to do with it (and mistakenly stick it up your rectum), there are instructions inside!



Wily is up to his old tricks again. Where is he?? The answer to this none-too-fiendish puzzle would not be revealed until the next issue!



The new craze is eating - so Cool Dude's Mum (presumably, or rather glam sister) is putting him on a diet!



Elsewhere the wretched Dizzy strip goes on. There's a clue that even the artist is tiring of it. "More Dizzy Soon? Or Not?" questions the end of the strip. Nothing like showing how much you like your own comic strip is there!



This is new - the absence of the red crayon continues, and Pop Fan is orange! As Pop Fan goes to see top pop act of the day Damien. The silly Know Your Burks thing was added in later when Buster did a similar thing.



Another Herbert, another Skoda joke and another pointless letter. The back page is in need of a revamp!

[Rob McCow]

These are very representative of the comic strip industry at the time. The average issue of The Beano might have had full colour strips and more detailed backgrounds, but the jokes were about the same.

[Si Hunt]

Thanks Steve (I think!). Issue 20 was a massive Summer Special, with four extra (half) pages, cunningly used up with a couple of lifeless posters.



There's some evidence of the retrospective post-dating exercise where I went back a few years later and put dates on all the covers which were a couple of years after they'd actually been drawn, for some reason. I've ingeniously changed "1990" here to "1990? No!" to cover this up. So I think in "real terms" it must be the turn of the new decade.

Also spot the nod to obscure 1989 pop star Doug Lazy (who remembers him!). Meanwhile inside, Wily tackles a hole puncher (?):



And Cool Dude's latest trend is horror comics:



It's been remarked to me how surprisingly little Doctor Who infiltrated my comic. Well, here's an exception as Doctor Who teams up with Deidre Barlow for a new strip:



Remember in Issue 10 the Herberts to date were collected on a big poster? Well, here's the next one, gathering up the next ten, all me-drawn:



Wait, what's this? The bloody Krunch Kids are back!



Herbert of the Week looks like it was thought up in about ten seconds (and isn't on the poster either) and watch out for the "Action Bloke" strip, as that will, in the issues to come, have a rather strange effect on one of my most popular old strips.



I rather like this Pop Fan "triple Xtra":



Wait, TWO herberts in one issue? This one is far better!

[Nyder]

Now wouldn't THAT be TV Gold - the new Doctor with Deirdre Barlow as the new assistant! Well with Ken being "away" for a while, this is the ideal opportunity for her to go space/time hopping!

[Rob McCow]

Skoda jokes... jeez. There was a time when it was all about the damn Skoda jokes. Now look at them - moderately respectable if a bit tacky. We all should have realised, Lada was where the real humour was.

[Si Hunt]

I quite like the cover to Issue 21, the design is nice. But in what way is this a "new look"? It looks the same as the last issue!



Inside, there's a bit of drama going on. This new upstart "Action Bloke" has taken over Wily's page. Looks like the start of a bit of a brou-ha-ha. And that woman looks like an absolute slag.



A slightly weird Cool Dude this issue, the strip doesn't really have a punchline. It just stops.



But look at what's happening next issue... a free gift? The return of PWL Adventurer? ANOTHER NAME CHANGE?



This is a rather lame attempt at a new strip, D.I Why?



Pop Fans appears to be a bit hunchback (and have breasts) on the free gift card



Rounded off by another picture from my sister, a joke no doubt influenced by pop star Sonia and the tagline "Better than Neighbours!"

[Si Hunt]

Also eek first issue with no Herbert!

Si.

[Si Hunt]

Yes, it's Whispers and Solar!



I don't think I ever really liked the name Whispers very much. To explain, Solar! was actually a real comic I'd made a few years before and which had stalled on Issue 1. It was long lost even by this point, but provided a flimsy excuse for another name change - and this is the final one. But the supposed "joining strips" are absolute stinkers one and all. Flirt is a rip-off of School Belle from Buster, Arty is a rip-off of Chalky, Thicko is a rip-off of Tom Thug and Fatso is just offensive!

That said, the first Flirt strip isn't too bad and I quite like the way she's drawn.



Meanwhile, Wily and Action Bloke are still fighting it out over on Wily's page...



And similarly, Thicko or Thuggo or whatever he was called appears to be ursurping Cool Dude:



Fatso is not too bad either, although none of these new strips would exactly last long.



The previous Pop Fan Triple Extra was obviously enjoyable enough to warrant a second outing:



Arty is just rubbish though. Think up your own ideas, Young Si!



And "always buy Solar!"