Odhams' line of "juveniles" (i.e., comics) were managed by Alf Wallace, who had been brought over from
Fleetway Publications (formerly
Amalgamated Press), both parts of the same
Mirror Group. Odhams competed for readers with
DC Thomson, publisher of such popular titles as
The Beano,
The Dandy, and
Commando. Wallace had been successful at Fleetway with his line of
War Picture Library comics, but had been unable to reverse the declining popularity of Odhams' other comics titles, including
Eagle,
Swift, and ''
Boys' World. and by early 1964, Eagle
was the only one left, having absorbed Swift
and Boy's World''. In 1964, Wallace recruited humour cartoonist
Leo Baxendale, who had worked for DC Thomson for many years, to create a new, energetic comics weekly. Although Baxendale was paid £8,000 in his first year at Odhams (adjusted for inflation, £140,000 in 2021 terms), he soon realized that there was little other security or money to pay contributors like
John M. Burns, Gordon Hogg,
Brian Lewis, and Dave Jenner (as Fleetway fought with Odhams for more resources from the parent Mirror Group).
Wham! debuted on 20 June 1964; in its early issues it featured both clear imitations of
The Beano strips — such as a clone of his
Bash Street Kids in the shape of
The Tiddlers — and new original strips — such as
Eagle Eye, Junior Spy and ''Georgie's Germs
, in which Baxendale attempted to break the mould of older strips by the use of bizarre humour, outrageous puns, and surreal plots. Of Wham!'
s initial lineup of strips, Baxendale created at least seven of them (including Danny Dare
; Eagle Eye, Junior Spy
; Footsie the Clown
; General Nitt and his Barmy Army
; Georgie's Germs
; Pest of the West
; and The Tiddlers''). Long before the
Fantastic Four joined the lineup,
John M. Burns'
Kelpie the Boy Wizard was the rare adventure strip in
Wham!, set in the days of
Camelot and
King Arthur. With the success of
Wham!, the next title in the line,
Smash!, debuted on 5 February 1966.
The Hulk became the first Marvel superhero to show up in an Odhams title when he debuted in
Smash! #16 (21 May 1966). The popularity of that strip led to
Wham! adding
Fantastic Four reprints beginning with issue #112 (6 August 1966). In late 1966, with two Odhams' titles featuring superheroes (and the third,
Pow!, on the way), the
Power Comics line was named, and the Power Comics logo was installed on the covers of
Wham! and
Smash! starting in early December 1966. As costs rose, however, the inevitable adjustment of content made
Wham! more like those comics it had been attempting to replace. In January 1968,
Wham! merged with
Pow! to become
Pow! and Wham!; that title soon enough merged into
Smash! The Power Comics line itself disappeared in late 1968 (although
Smash! continued), and, beginning 1 January 1969,
IPC Magazines (another member of the Mirror Group) took over publication of the remaining Odhams titles. ==Background==