Toonhound - Cracker

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         'It's a cracker!'
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    Cracker was something a little bit different from DC Thomson, an attempt at
    something more eccentric, a little bit 'whacky'. The comic was hosted by a
    baby-faced terror called Sammy who introduced each strip and, together with
    his dog Flash, passed comments on the events and happenings in each issue.
    Young Sammy revelled in mischief and mayhem. He encouraged readers to send
    in pictures of Ghastly Geezers for his weekly gallery and brought us a Special
    Report each issue revealing the truth behind such seemingly innocuous past-times
    as hiking, or the truth about trees, or kissing.

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				CRACKER 18th Jan 1975 - 11th Sept 1976 87 issues / DC Thomson

	______________________________________________________________________ 'It's a cracker!' ______________________________________________________________________ Cracker was something a little bit different from DC Thomson, an attempt at something more eccentric, a little bit 'whacky'. The comic was hosted by a baby-faced terror called Sammy who introduced each strip and, together with his dog Flash, passed comments on the events and happenings in each issue. Young Sammy revelled in mischief and mayhem. He encouraged readers to send in pictures of Ghastly Geezers for his weekly gallery and brought us a Special Report each issue revealing the truth behind such seemingly innocuous past-times as hiking, or the truth about trees, or kissing.
			Cracker's strips included Young Foo - The Kung Fu Kid, Big-Head Branny - The Strong-Arm Janny, a gang of nutty kids called Curly's Commandos, a trio of cooky squirrels known as The Nutters, and a ghostly cook called Spooky Cookie. There was also a pull-out style centre section known as Skooldaze which featured The Snookums, The Skookums and The Spookums in a trio of school-based strips. The back page of every issue was devoted to a spoof Mad Ad, this was a full-page colour advert for such madcap creations as Dapper Flappers false ears, Puddle Bootsies and Splasho Brushless Paint - 'place tin in middle of room, open lid, light fuse...' - Splasho was obviously the brand used by Mr Bean, Rowan Atkinson's monosyllabic star who painted his room in a similar fashion some twenty years later.
	Cracker survived for just 87 issues before it succumbed to that deadly comics disease - the merger. The title was incorporated into DC Thomson's broadsheet title Beezer where it featured as special centre-section, just like the Skooldaze section had been within Cracker's own pages...
	1st issue strips: Young Foo Simple Spyman Big-Head Branny Spookie Cookie Scrapper Castaways On Planet Doom Billy The Kid Hector The Collector The Snookums The Headhunters Spookum Skool Joe Soap Curly's Commandos Sammy Says The Nutters Dunder Ed Iron Hand Mad Ad				Later additions: Little 'Orror Slojak Fiends Beans Wonder Wellies Cracker's free gifts: #1 - Squeeze' n' Squeak Fun Balloon #2 - The Cracker Bang Noise Maker #3 - Wheels And Squeals Facts-And-Fun Book #4 - The Funny-Face-Maker
	______________________________________________________________________ Cracking connections... What's intriguing about Cracker is the way that its strips borrowed freely from past DC Thomson successes as well as from its main publishing rival Fleetway IPC Magazines. Cracker, in turn, 'inspired' several themes and strips in later Fleetway publications. The comic was certainly caught up in the melee between the two publishers. Which came first? - Who knows, it's a chicken and egg situation, but here are some of the more interesting connections: • Cracker had its back-cover Mad Ads. One month after its demise Fleetway launched Krazy comic which became renowned for its own backcover gags and 'disguises'... • A later Cracker strip, Fiend's Beans starred a lad called Fred who liked to dine on magic beans from Transylvania which turned him into a monster. Four years later, Fleetway's Jackpot comic introduced Full O'Beans, in which a chap called Freddie would guzzle down tins of Ben's Beans and turn into a hulking superhero... • Big-Head Branny - The Strong-Arm Janny was the unmistakable influence for Fleetway's B. Ware - Caretaker, who starred in School Fun and Buster... • And School Fun of course, was Fleetway's school-themed comic from the eighties which looked very much like the Schooldaze section of Cracker. What's more, School Fun was a short-lived title quickly merged into Buster comic where it was presented - you guessed it! - as a pull-out centre section... • And let's go the whole hog here. In Cracker #25 we were introduced to young Jimmie Kellie and his Wonder Wellies. Eight years later, in Fleetway's Buster comic artist Dave Follows brought us Willy and his own Wonder Wellies for which he picked up a cartoonist of the year award. Not only that, but Cracker's strip was drawn by the the same artist who'd previously darn Grizzly Bear-Hug for Monster Fun comic. Struth! - Talk about swings and roundabouts... There are many more connections, of course. Young Foo was just like Fleetway's Karate Kid. Curly's Commandos were just like The Pirates in Whizzer & Chips. Little 'Orror was 'inspired' by Draculass in Monster Fun. Gosh, you could play this game all day! ______________________________________________________________________ On the web 26pigs http://www.26pigs.com/cracker/index.htm 26pigs features more of Cracker, including some fine reminiscences and cover scans to peruse... Comics UK http://www.comicsuk.co.uk Comics UK is a great comics resource. Cracker is handsomely indexed in the 'Family Tree' section...
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