Comics UK

The decision to publish this has always puzzled me.

The Best of Krazy was a one-off 'extra special' that was published in June 1978, apparently as a try-out for a larger format version of the title. Krazy's final weekly issue before merging with Whizzer and Chips had appeared on 15 April that year, so the decision to issue a 'best of' (aka reprint) collection when the originals would have been fairly fresh in the memory of most erstwhile Krazy followers is hard to understand. Maybe if they'd published it a year after Krazy's demise there would have been an audience of Krazy nostalgics, but surely not mere weeks after the comic ended.

What makes it even more odd is the fact that the 1978 Krazy Holiday Special had been published a month earlier.

The only thing I can think is that IPC hoped to tap into the summer special market, where harassed parents are likely to choose a few specials at random to keep the kids quiet over the long school hols, thereby exposing Krazy content to those who hadn't experienced the weekly version. But the fact that a Krazy Holiday Special was already on sale would make some parents think 'I bought that last month' when they saw Best of Krazy.

Needless to say, Krazy was never revived, although annuals and summer specials continued for a few years.

http://cheekyweekly.blogspot.com/2011/05/ads-krazy.html

It seems like they were trying to copy Mad magazine with their "More Trash From Mad" specials that reprinted the best of previous issues. Krazy can also mean Mad. I never really collected Krazy but am I right in assuming it had a Mad style content? (I have the first issue but haven't looked at it since I bought it when it came out).

Here are a couple of Best (Worst) of Mads:

This comic is probably the closest that UK comics got to the USA 'MAD': large-style, elaborate full-page graphics, self-reference, etc: sadly, by the time KRAZY hit the stands, I had abandoned comics in the pursuit of booze n birds, etc, and as a result I missed a comic with great potential: at least, looking at the examples I have only seen on the net.



Looks like a worthy experiment all-round.

Oh, come, now, aren't you going to show us the back cover?

Yes, Colonel Steve, as Rab says, Krazy was an attempt at something a bit different - a melding of Mad-style features and traditional British humour strips. Evidently this mix wasn't to the taste of sufficient comic consumers at the time.

Swirly, sorry, I should've thought to scan the back cover (I didn't even look at it, but presumably it has the traditional Krazy back-cover disguise), will do it tomorrow.

Actually, I was referring to Steve's Mad with the label "Warning! Do not look at the back cover of this magazine!"

swirlythingy wrote:Actually, I was referring to Steve's Mad with the label "Warning! Do not look at the back cover of this magazine!"

That's saved me a job, then!

Krazy was with out a doubt the best comic ever (IMHO ) it was so fresh and funny. I was shocked when it merged with Whizzer and Chips. I just don't get why it was not more popular.

It's never clear what the public wants, Pesterjohn: I fail to see the attraction of Harry Potter or Shrek, but these creations are clearly loved by millions.

Sorry Twirly but I have only just noticed your request to see the back cover. Actually its the back cover of the Mad Magazine hanging on the newsstand and not the actual magazine I have scanned. I probably have that particular issue as well but have no idea where it is stashed.

Speaking of mad there was a recent episode of NCIS (My all time favourite tv show) and the forensic lab were looking at the footprint left by a sneaker with a distinctive pattern Gibbs says "Does anyone read Mad Magazine?" and picks up the paper with the shoeprint on it and does a Mad fold-in with it - revealing a word (can't remember the word now but its immaterial). End of semi-whimsical anecdote.