User:Thetintinbloke/Whacky

Whacky was a strip in the British comic Cor!! and ran in the comic from its first issue in 1970 until October 1973 - some 6 months before the comic was merged with Buster. The strip started as a half page strip but proved popular and was given a full page several weeks later.

The strip is about a schoolboy who is called Whacky - because he is always getting whacked - later issues used the tag-line "He's always getting whacked" to emphasise the point. Most of the stories involve him getting into some sort of mischief - a lot of the time not through his own fault - and being punished at the end - usually being caned by his sadistic teacher Mr. Thwackery. At the time, the cane was still used in many British schools and coincided with the revival of the Jimmy Edwards TV show Whacko so this sort of behaviour was deemed perfectly innocent. Other times he would be punished at home by his parents. His lateness at school earned him the most whackings, but Mr. Thwackery would often engineer situations so he could find an excuse to whack him, which he would often revel in, as would his fellow school mates.

The strip ended in 1973 with Mr. Thwackery's retirement. A jubilant Whacky races out of school, convinced he won't be punished any more, however we follow him home where he kicks a football into his new neighbours garden - who happens to be Mr. Thwackery who duly chases the lad over fences, with Whacky exclaiming "Will it never end...?" The strip continued in the Cor!! summer specials and annuals that were still pubished into the early 1980's finishing with an appearance in the 1984 annual (published Christmas 1983) where Whacky walks into school to be greeted by a sign on the noticeboard exclaiming "No Whackings allowed". Mr. Thwackery manages to whack Whacky "by accident" (opening a door onto him and dropping a desk lid on him as he is bent over) before he manages to whack the headmaster by mistake. The final frame showing his teacher getting soundly whacked by the headmaster, with Whacky watching on...!!