The
‘COMIC RELIEF‘ backs are a parody of, and inspired
by, ‘RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT!‘ bizarre events.
The Ripley’s Believe It or Not! franchise was founded by Robert
Ripley, with non-sport, black & white newspaper panels starting
in 1919, all the way to current, full-colour versions, that oftentimes
stated the person’s name and the town/city & state that they resided
in. A trading card set was released in 1970 by the Fleer Corporation,
samples pictured above. There are twelve horizontal card layouts, with
boxed or blocked sections, and eight vertical card layouts, that resemble
the older page setup with less bordering. Collectors would eventually
see another, shorter version, for the Original Series 14 release.

“I
wrote and did roughs. I [also] did [the] finished art… although the
lettering and maybe the inking is by Gary Whitney based on my rough.
Gary and I did a weekly comic strip at that time… and Gary and I often
worked together. Sometimes I can’t tell us apart, drawing-wise. […]
I know Mark [Newgarden] did many “Would We Lie To You?” backs,
too. I don’t know if mine and his were part of the same series. You
can tell his… the color is more blended, and the black lines on mine
print a little sharper, since I did mine in 2 pieces, and Mark did his
in 1 piece.“
— JAY Lynch, per email, circa March 2003.

Per Lambiek Comiclopedia, Gary
Whitney was an underground comix artist. He contributed to Bizarre Sex
and Dope Comix at Kitchen Sink Press, and was also present at Artie
Romero’s Everyman Studios. He drew the ‘Phoebe & the Pigeon People’
comic strip (1978-1996), written by Jay Lynch for the Chicago Reader.
From 1990 on, Jim Siergey was assistant-inker.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 340a Half-Baked BETTY and 340b Rollin’ ROLANDA, showcases
the OS3 character artwork for card (92a MARVIN Gardens and) 92b Spittin’ SPENCER,
and the OS1 character for card (26a Slobby ROBBIE and) 26b Fat MATT, where the
name ‘MAT’ on the card back is missing one ‘T’. The spitter is seen off of his
plinth and free roaming, spitting out of a city building window, sans bird on
his head (there could’ve been a pigeon!). Naturally, spitting straight down is
not much of an accomplishment, not with gravity on your side, or rather, at your
bottom. Fatty MATTY is seen surrounded by a wall of pizzas, holding two pizza
slices, instead of his regular ice cream and candy, and has tomato sauce drippings,
rather than ice cream on his frontside. On average, an 18-inch large pizza weighs
between three-to-four pounds, depending on the toppings, the type of crust, etcetera.
On the ligth side, fifty-three large pizzas would roughly weigh 159 pounds (53×3),
and an adult human stomach, on average, can hold 8.8lbs (roughly four liters;
one liter in pounds; 2.2×4). “His LAST meal!” indeed, your stomach would
certainly split or “explode” at this acute gastric dilatation stage,
causing a tear or rupture.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 341a Juicy BRUCE and 341b Fruity RUDY, contains
the OS5 character artwork
for card (193a Shattered SHELBY and) 193b Cracked CRAIG. The cracked character
is showcased within a framed, horizontal mirror, rather than the familiar, vertically-framed
trading card. The mirror cracks are all somewhat similar, even with the missing
shards, dissecting the character in pretty much the same way, except the right-most
fragment doesn’t really contain a green eyeball. This very old superstition, of
breaking a mirror and having seven years of bad luck, may stretch back to ancient
Greece & the Roman Empire times. The Greeks believed that a reflection in
water (along with mirrors in future civilizations) revealed one’s soul that could
potentially be stolen. The Romans learned to manufacture these gods-observing
mirrored devices. Since the Romans believed that a body renewed itself every seven
years, your bad luck would eventually run out. Unfortunately, the GPK character
appears to have had more of a curse, lasting only one day, never to renew his
luck. Did his reflected image then disappear?

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 343a Con VIC and 343b AL Catraz, showcases
the OS1 character artwork for card (29a Bony JOANIE and) 29b Thin LYNN. The wasting-away-to-nothing
character is, non-metaphorically speaking, disintegrating as she listlessly stands
there on unstable feet. The white diaper has been ‘changed’ to yellow shorts,
as not to get lost within all of the white bones. As the comic points out, in
order to have a pimple, the character would need to have a layer of skin. Pimples
(aka spots or zits) develop when sebaceous (oil) glands within the epidermis
become clogged and infected, which can lead to swollen, pus-filled lesions.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 349a Polluted PERCEY and 349b Barnacle BILL, showcases
the OS6 character artwork for card (234a HARRY Canary and) 234b BURT Cage. The
character is seen with four protruding limbs poking out of a different bird cage,
planting ‘bird’ seed in a plowed field. Of course, birdseed is any type of plant
seed or blend of seed (often millet, hemp, sunflowers, etcetera…) for feeding
birds, and not giving rise to fledglings, but just seedlings. BURT definitely
got a taste for bird whilst stuck in that cage, but his ‘bird’-seed dreams were
dashed. Note the ‘Springfield’ listed for both IL and MA, much like Springfield
within The Simpsons cartoon show, “an average-sized, fictional city within
an unknown state in the United States”, there’s a Springfield community within
at least 34 states (some factoid sources say in all 50 states), but the common
name of Riverside actually has more.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 350a MISTY Suds and 350b AMELIA Airhead, showcases
the OS1 character artwork for card 27a Brainy JANIE (and 27b JENNY Genius). The
braniac character is seen sitting behind a Manhattan phone book, sporting a new
red ribbon. Since the usual highly-intelletual Brainy JANIE is apparently forgetful
when it comes to written-down telephone numbers, perhaps instead of memorizing,
she could have used one of those cord & phonebook covers that attached to
phonebooths back in the day, and attached it to her telephone nook area. NOTE:
the Topps Chewing Gum company originated in Brooklyn, where the character is from.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 352a HERMAN Hormone and 352b Turned-On RON, showcases
the OS6 character artwork for card (212a Upliftin’ CLIFTON and) 212b Air-Head
JED. The character is seen with his eyes closed and without his levitating ice
cream cone. The character may be speaking several of the most obsure languages
known to man: Xhosa, Pirahã, Sentinelese, Rotokas, Kawishana, Breton, Archi,
Belarusian, Catalan, Cornish, Pawnee, Taa, Paakantyi, Njerep, Ongota, Asturian,
Silbo Gomero, Klingon, Occitan, Koro, Michif, Ayapaneco, Taushiro, etcetera. Sir
Norbert Sturdley sounds like no Studley.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 353a Bazooka JOANNE and 353b Bubbly Babs, showcases
the OS6 character artwork for card 240a Radar RAY (and 240b EVE Droppin’). The
character is portrayed as more of an infant (still with his headful of yellow-yarn
hair), in a small crib-like bed, next to two other apparent newborns. The two
neighbours have a blue (usually assoicated with male) and pink (usually associated
with female) baby blanket, while RAY has a yellow baby blanket to match his earwax
& hair. The average weight of a new born baby is roughly 7lbs, so a 9.5lb
baby is quite big, especially if 7lbs is just the ears alone; 3.5lbs per ear!

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 356a Momma MIA and 356b Electric SHARI, showcases
the OS2 character artwork for card (52a Dirty HARRY and) 52b ROB Slob. Instead
of sitting within the character’s usual pigsty, the piggy is seen sitting within
a rare porcelain ‘pigpen’, within a body of clean water. A bath every six years,
that’s every 2,190th day… on average, 2/3 of Americans bathe daily, some other
countries shower two-three times a week. Even at a penny each, the snowflake collection
would get extremely pricey, and would drive a completist insane. Per rules &
regulations, the character for cards 49a Double HEATHER & 49b Schizo FRAN/FRAN
FRAN are still able to run for public office in Gary, Indiana, but the character
for cards 249a Many LENNY & Lotta CARLOTTA would not be able to.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 359a Kerosene KERRY and 359b Blazin’ BLAKE, showcases
the OS2 character artwork for card (44a SY Clops and) 44b One-Eyed JACK. The cyclops
character has apparently moved from a more remote island seascape to a more electricty-based
cityscape. Not entirely sure an Eyesore, NV location exists, but that singular
and circular washing-machine window pane could definitely cause an eyesore, as
opposed to sore eyes, since he only has one (now a blue colour, instead of brown).
We’ve heard of a smoked duck, but not really a smoking duck, unless your Howard
the Duck (1986). Another ‘BOB’ will show up on card #364.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 360a MARCUS Mucus and 360b Gun BERYL, showcases
the OS6 character artwork for card 248a HECTOR Collector (and 248b G.P.KAY). The
excessive collector is seen, looking extremely put-off, sitting amonst his 1 million
plus GPK collection pile, but as the humour comic states, ALL sticker cards are
of #84a JOE Blow from the OS3 release. Does HECTOR have really bad luck? Is he
only opening OS3 packs I wonder? Of course, a shady looking NORM less (more like
GORM-Less) character did not create GPK, nor is his name listed amoung the many
steam engine inventors.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 362a DOUG Food and 362b NICK Yick, showcases
the OS6 character artwork for cards 73a Gorgeous GEORGE and 73b Dollar BILL. The
card showcases BOTH twin characters facing each other, face-to-face, emphasizing
that GPK stickers come as twin cards A + B. The burger food chain may have paid
to have this ‘negative’ news advertised, because all news is good news, and they’ve
included a $1 off coupon to assist on sales… every consumer and collector likes
a coupon! Basically, pig latin is just the altering of words to create a ‘secret
language’, i.e. ‘pig latin’ would be igpay atinlay. Although pig latin
it is not spoken by pigs, it is estimated that 30% of English words
have Latin roots, so part of it would technically be made up of the Latin language.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 364a Sticky RICKY and 364b Gooey LOUIE, showcases
the OS1 character artwork for card 8a ADAM Bomb (and 8b Blasted BILLY). The character
is seen zapping a turkey leg and a potato, instead of holding his detonator. One
definitely doesn’t need a micro-wave when you have the power of an atomic fireball,
which causes a high-pressure wave, developing the outward blast effect. Technically,
Los Alamos is in the state of New Mexico, not Arizona, and is 210 miles from the
location of the first nuclear explosion testing site, with a plutonium implosion
device, on the plains of the Alamogordo Bombing Range, fka Jornada del
Muerto. The forename ‘Bob’ is extremely common, it would not be uncommon to come
across such a mug if your name was Bob.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 369a Scalped RALPH and 369b Bone-Head FRED, showcases
the OS6 character artwork for card (229a CLAIRE Stare and) 229b Bloodshot SCOTT
& for card 239a JERRY Atric (and 239b ABRAHAM Wrinklin’). Of course, these
comic backs are based on fibbery, and not facts, but one must be between the ages
of seventeen and forty-one in order to enlist in any Navy Officer programs. The
term ‘Aye, aye’ means ‘Yes, yes’ and originally came from the British Royal navy
centuries ago. “Aye, aye, captain (or ‘sir’)” is a response of affirmation
once an order is given. ‘Aye’ being a homonym of ‘eye’ (eyeballs), but with naturally
different meanings. NOTE: even though JERRY Atric might still have all of his
original teeth, they are all apparently not in his mouth.

Original
Final Artwork: JOHN POUND

Original Series
— two Puzzle Preview cards: 368a + 368b —
fourty-two Puzzle Piece cards (21×2; ‘a’ + ‘b’):
335, 336,
338, 342, 344, 345,
346, 347, 348, 351, 354, 355, 357, 358, 361, 363, 365, 366, 367, 370, 375.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 371a Grippin’ GRIFFIN and 371b REN Wrench, showcases
the OS1 character artwork for card (2a Junkfood JOHN and) 2b RAY Decay. The character
can still be seen with a death grip, holding onto his candy cane and ice cream
cone. A cavity, of course, is the decayed part of a tooth; the empty space within
the once solid tooth. With only two teeth, even if halved, each tooth would have
seventeen of these cavities, or cavernous holes… not much left for eating treats,
only the ability to lick, drink and suck. Per gums, the character may have lost
the other eighteen primary teeth, and should eventually get permanent teeth, around
six or seven years of age; additional teeth for future tooth decay.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 372a JACK Frost and 372b Window PAYNE, showcases
the OS6 character artwork for card 243a LEE Tree (and 243b Sherwood FOREST). The
character can be standing within a wooded area, without his rake or red bird.
It appears the character is more plantlike than he is human, since he seemingly
has more tree maladies than he does human ailmants. Officially called IP/Halley,
Halley’s Comet was named after English astronomer Edmond Halley by French astronomer
Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille. There is an OS7 card character (#286a) HALEY Comet
and an OS8 card character (318A) HALEY’s Vomit that parodies the IP/Halley nomenclature.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 373a DESI Island and 373b Marooned MAUREEN, showcases
the OS2 character artwork for card (67a Phony LISA and) 67b MONA Loser. The character
can be sitting, but in a full body pose, where the actual artwork and card image
only captures a bust (half-length) portrait-style painting. The Mona Lisa
(aka Monna/Madam Lisa) artwork was created between 1503—1506
by artist Leonardo da Vinci. The word is spelled with an extra ‘N’ in Italian,
in north Italian dialect, the derogatory or vulgar meaning is p***y, and also
stupid or idiot. NOTE: the name Sal P. Teracina may be a tribute to the late,
New Jersey born, artist Sal Terracina.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 374a Swiss KRIS and 374b Cheesy CHANDRA, showcases
the OS4 character artwork for card 136a Swollen SUE ELLEN (and 136b Bloated BLAIR)
& for card 155a Spikey MIKEY (and 155b Nailed NEIL). The dumbfounded
five-year old character is seen stupefied in heavy contemplation, over the penta-heavy
questions. If the cheeky character’s zip code is ‘55555’, she is most certainly
from the state of Minnesota, Carver County. Although I would think Spikey MIKEY
was originally from somewhere in India, he apparently moved to O.P. Kansas at
some point, and had fallen asleep on a similar bed of nails. Perhaps they were
afraid to wake him and waited those 45 days to pry him up.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 376a Retchin’ GRETCHEN and 376b Ill JILL, showcases
the OS4 character artwork for card 128a Sloshed JOSH (and 128b Low CAL); the image
can be found on the backside of 2015S1 GPK Wacky Packages card #46 Snoot Loops
as an Absolut Sweedish Vodka ad parody. The character can be seen still stuck
inside a soda-pop bottle. Not sure if one can hold their breath for 3yrs, 10mos
& 24 days… and can a bottle be returned not empty? Heavy carbonated drinks
can cause excessive belching & burps and potential gas, in the long run, perhaps
that’s why Sloshed JOSH resides in Flatulence, Michigan. I completed this page
in August 2023, fast approaching 40yrs of Bazooka gum being stuck in OS GPK packs!

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 377a Closet CLYDE and 377b Hooked HOWIE, showcases
the OS3 character artwork for card 93a DREW Blood (and 93b Bustin’ DUSTIN). The
character is seen in the same troubled, twisted & tied-up state. The character
has a few non-metaphorically speaking, broken bones added to the mix of knocked-out
teeth & noseblood spill below him, several more lumps & bumps added to
his noggin, and an extra plaster/adhesive bandage added to the bottom of his CPK
shoe. The write up mentions he has broken over 800 bones (instead of ‘has broken
bones 800x)… the human body is made up of 206 different bones, so the character
collectively has broken possibly ALL of his bones up to 4x each! The ‘G.P.K. Wrestling
Assn.’ title could very well be a name parody of the infamous WWF (World Wrestling
Federation) of the 80s and 90s. The passage references the word ‘MATCH‘
in two different ways, pertaining to either winning or losing a wrestling match
(= a sporting event) and a match[stick] (= the stem of a match, esp. a wooden
version); since this is singular, I’d imagine losing a match relating to a matchbox
and not a matchbook.

—
The comic back, for OS9 reverse
card 378a Empty EMMY and 378b RAGGED AGGIE, showcases
the OS6 character artwork for card (231a ASHLEY TRAY and) 231b BERNIE Burns. The
character can be seen standing completely upright, off of his regular desk, pretty
mobile, and moving around. Although not a comic speech bubble, the information
is located within the character’s billowing smokestack. The character doesn’t
technically smoke, not that we know of, where the cigarette is sitting within
his ashtray mouth, with the butt on the outside… so not sure what he might have
needed that match for, except to light up. There are around 250 matches
within a large matchbox containter, so it would take roughly 200 boxes to have
created this wooden matchstick Taj Mahal. I ponder if the surname for ‘Alvin Phleps’
is supposed to be spelled as ‘Phelps’.