overview
| ANNUALS | No CRACKER annuals were published. |
| COMPETITIONS | Odd Bods (issue nos. 4/5/6/7, winners/runners-up issue nos. 17/18)
Heads You Win (issue nos. 8/9/10/11, winners/runners-up issue nos. 22/23) Ask A Silly Question (issue nos. 12/13/14/15, winners/runners-up issue nos. 26/27) Lucky 13 / Miss Ghastly Geezer / Sandcastles (issue no. 33, winners/runners-up issue no. 41) Lucky 13 - Cracker Words (issue no. 36, winners/runners-up issue no. 45) A Cracker of a Puzzle (issue no. 37, winners/runners-up issue no. 46) Lucky 13 - Spot The Difference (issue no. 39, winners/runners-up issue no. 47) Lucky 13 - Spot The Shadow (issue no. 44, winners/runners-up issue no. 52) Treasure Tree / Cracker Bang / Chrismas Carols (issue no. 49, winners/runners-up issue no. 60) |
| COVER STRIP | None. The cover page was used to trail the comic's strips, or to tell a joke, or a combination of both. Similar to SPARKY comic around the same time. There, four non-strip cover pages interrupted Barney's run between issue nos. 481 (06/04/74) and 499 (10/08/74). From then until no. 528 (01/03/75) Barney only appeared seven times. A run of forty non-strip covers followed before another strip would grace the cover page - Some Mummies Do 'Ave 'Em (no. 568 - 06/12/75). |
| EVERY | Monday |
| FIRST AND LAST | The first edition of CRACKER appeared the week ending 18 January 1975, the last (no. 87) was dated 11 September 1976. Eight strips – Billy The Kid And Pongo, Dunder Ed, Ghastly Geezers Gallery, Iron Hand, Joe Soap, The Nutters, Simple Spyman and Young Foo - appeared in both issues. |
| FORMAT | The first 55 issues had 32 pages, the rest 28 pages, each around 11¼ x 8¼ inches (30 x 21 cms or 'A4'), glued, outside front and back pages full colour. With two exceptions, the middle two pages (16 & 17) were red/black and the rest black/white. The exceptions were in the two issues that contained eight-page pull-outs (nos. 33 & 49), where the two red/black pages appeared on pages 13 and 20. |
| FREE GIFTS |
Issue no. 1 Squeeze 'n' Squeak balloon Issue no. 2 The Cracker Bang Issue no. 3 Wheels and Squeals facts 'n' fun book Issue no. 4 Funny Face Maker |
| IF 'CRACKER' WAS STILL GOING... | ... the current issue would be 1951 (dated 2 June 2012). |
| PRICE | Each issue cost 6p. To have bought all the copies of CRACKER at the cover price would have cost £5.22. |
| RECORDS | SHORTEST RUN – Scrapjack -
The Wacky Wizard appeared in the last nine issues of
CRACKER. At eighteen pages
it also holds the record for LEAST
PAGE AREA
(this excludes Cracker Calendar with nine appearances/pages and the two Eight-page 'pull-outs' with sixteen pages). LONGEST RUN – Billy The Kid And Pongo, Iron Hand, Joe Soap, Simple Spyman and Young Foo appeared in every issue. LARGEST PAGE AREA – At 174½ pages Iron Hand takes this category by virtue of an extra half-page (in addition to its usual two pages) in issue no. 1. Young Foo was pipped into second place on 174 pages. |
| SUMMER SPECIALS | No CRACKER summer specials were published. |
| THE BEEZER | CRACKER ran for 87 issues before joining with its DC Thomson stable mate THE BEEZER in its old large-format version. The first issue of THE BEEZER AND CRACKER was No 1079 (18/09/76). The ‘new fun-chums’ BEEZER readers got to meet were Billy The Kid And Pongo, Iron Hand, Joe Soap, Young Foo, Jest A Minute, Little 'Orror, and Scrapper. The first four of these had been ever-presents in CRACKER. The CRACKER characters were given the four centre pages, entitled 'The Best Of Cracker'. This ran for 129 weeks to issue no. 1206 (24/02/79) before being replaced by 'The Best Of Plug', when that comic merged with THE BEEZER. Jest A Minute and Scrapper survived into 'The Best Of Plug', which ran for 109 weeks to issue no. 1314 (21/03/81), the last edition of the large format BEEZER. Scrapper reappeared the following week in the reduced sized ('A4') BEEZER to become the most enduring CRACKER character. His last appearance was in BEEZER issue no. 1701 (20/08/88), but his appearances in the preceding few weeks were limited. |
| XMAS | CRACKER issue no. 49 (20/12/75) was billed as 'The Christmas Cracker' (with a special eight-page pull out), but the following week's issue (with Santa on the cover) was in substance also a Christmas edition. |
There is an excellent article on Cracker
and its connections to other comics and
publishers on the 'Toonhound' website.
Click on 'Toonhound' logo, right, to see
(this will open a new window).