Comics

T h e   B e a n o
Launched in July 1937 and published by DC Thomson of Dundee. In September 1995, a copy of the first-ever Beano comic book sold at auction for almost $7,500, with the closest two losing bids both exceeding $5,000. Ten years earlier, a price guide (Book Collector, June 1985) had ranked the same comic at less than $100. 

Of course, annuals, assuming they escaped the carnage of the war, are somewhat more resilient than their weekly counterparts (hardbound covers versus simple paper and staples) and are nowhere near as costly simply because more have survived. The first Beano annual typically fetches just one-tenth the price of the first Beano comic book.

Biffo the Bear
A walking, talking, big-eared furball whose adventures have enthralled since the Second World War. Biffo remained the Beano cover character for thirty years until he was ousted by Dennis the Menace

Dennis the Menace
The crown prince of British comicdom. He has a pet dog (Gnasher), a pet pig (Rasher), and a lifelong foe named Walter the Softy. He has his own fan club, with membership drawn from all over the world. He has his own annual, he has appeared on a postage stamp, and he boasts an image as familiar to the British as the Statue of Liberty is to Americans.

Visiting the U.S. in his own 1962 annual, in fact, the Menace transforms Liberty in his own image: spiked, unruly, thick black hair; a red-and-black-striped sweater; an eternal gleam of imminent mischief; and a record of delinquency that makes his U.S. counterpart look like a featherweight. The British Dennis has appeared every week of every year for the past half a century, with a bumper shock of stories come Christmas.

Dennis made his initial appearance in The Beano on 17th March, 1951. The early Dennis was shorter and rounder than the more familiar character of later years, but his exploits were always as outrageous and usually ended in a well-earned spanking from his dad. At first his strips were only half a page and in black and white.

Grandpa

Roger the Dodger
A naughty but inventive bibliophile of eleven or twelve. Roger's personal library comprises volume after volume of homemade Dodge Books and diaries of every trick he has ever played to avoid getting out of an unpleasant situation - everything from going to the barber to shopping with his mother.

Roger first appeared in The Beano in mid April 1953. What Dennis the Menace did by heavy-handed methods, Roger did by cunning. Using an endless collection of "dodge" books, he spent his time attempting to avoid work. The end results were usually similar to those encountered by Dennis the Menace.

Little Plum

Minnie the Minx
A female Dennis the Menace. Minnie specialised in obliterating little boys by the dozen with scything punches. She was if anything more devastating to her surroundings than Dennis the Menace!

The Three Bears
The Nibblers

The Bash Street Kids
Began life on 13th February 1954 in a half-page strip entitled When the Bell Rings. The title was descriptive of the strip's content. A few small frames showed the rush from school as the home-time bell rang and then a large frame depicted that week's after-school activity; skating, gardening, etc. The frames were crammed with figures in every conceivable humorous situation. By mid 1954, the large frame set-up had changed to the more conventional strip format. By the end of 1955, the strip had been given a full page and its title was later changed to The Bash Street Kids.

T h e   D a n d y 
One of the most popular children's comics of all time, and the oldest still in publication, The Dandy was launched in December 1937 by DC Thomson of Dundee. The first Dandy annual appeared in time for Christmas 1938 as The Dandy Monster Comic. Korky the Cat appeared on the front page from the first issue until 1984 (when he was ousted by Desperate Dan).

Korky the Cat
Since the first issue of The Dandy, Korky has gone through thousands of contortions trying to get a free feed. In the early years he was thin and short, but by the early 1940s he had been humanised and was being plagued by hordes of mice who continually strove to make his life a misery.

Desperate Dan
Big whiskery brute who lived with his Aunt Aggie and used to break things constantly (due to his size and strength). Not really sure why he was 'desperate' save for necessity for tautological moniker . . ..

Many moments of merriment and mirth when Dan adapted oversize things to make daily implements for himself (EG: Power pylons and cable from the national grid to make himself an electric blanket) Had a naughty nephew and a naughty (and very ugly) niece who invariably had the last laugh which would make up for the belting Dan always gave them.

Whacko!
A tale of an armour-suited teacher set in mediaeval times where everyone said "ye" this and "ye" that. His class contained a witch and a wizard (and a roundhead!). The teacher in the armour was called simply "Teacher" and it was actually quite a violent strip (especially for The Dandy). Teacher always won in the end and beat or whipped the kids (Like you do . . .)

The Smasher
Dinah Mo
Winker Watson

Black Bob
A Lassie-like hound who assists his master in solving sundry rural mysteries

Cuddles and Dimples
Peter Pest

B e e z e r
Ginger
The Numskulls - Little guys in man's head - nose dept, ear dept. etc.
The Badd Lads
Colonel Blink - "The Short-Sighted Gink"
Black Bun - Anarchic rabbit always chased by farmer with shotgun
Pop, Dick and Harry - Dad with two naughty boys
The Hillys and the Billys - American yokels in endless battle
The Banana Bunch
The Gobbles - A family of vultures
Young Sid, the Copper's Kid - Sid with dozy cop father

T o p p e r
Beryl the Peril
Figaro
Uncle Bob
Foxy
Splodge, Last of the Goblins

S p a r k y
Puss 'n' Boots
Peter Piper
L Cars
Barney Bulldog
Spoofer McGraw
Hungry Horace
Keyhole Kate
I Spy
Pansy Potter
Klanky
Ali's Baba
Jumbo and Jet
Snip and Snap the Tearaway Terriers

B u z z
Fred the Flop
Skip and Jock

N u t t y

Blubba

Eagle (1950-1969)
Eagle had good-quality paper, full colour photogravure, excellent artwork and front-page hero Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future, the greatest astronaut of all time (by Frank Hampson) doing battle against the bald green alien Mekon. Up until this time comics had been aimed at both boys and girls, but a definite gender split began to open up with the Eagle which was the big daddy of boys' comics.

From its inception in 1950 through its incorporation into Lion in 1969 and on to its rebirth through the 1980s and early 1990s, Eagle went where no comic had ever gone before. Dan Dare was joined by the Foreign Legionnaire Luck o'the Legion, the James Bondesque Storm Nelson, the inept pirate Captain Pugwash, and many others.

Roy of the Rovers
The most successful comic book portrayal of a sportsman ever, Roy's career lasted from 1954 until 1993, during which he experienced every triumph and disappointment imaginable in his profession. The first Roy of the Rovers annual was published in 1958, and it, too, continued to appear into the 1990s, culminating with a 1994 Playing Years collection of reprints dating back to Roy's first ever comic appearance.

Today, hard-bitten soccer writers still invoke Roy's name to describe any young player who makes a dramatic impact early in his career. And unlike most other comic characters, good old golden Roy actually aged in a close approximation of real time.

Rupert the Bear
Less well-known on American shores than he is at home in England, this hairy denizen of Nutwood Forest has been delighting children since 1920, when he debuted in the Daily Express newspaper. The first annual appeared the following year; a second appeared under the title of The Monster Rupert Annual in 1931. This series ran every year until 1950, competing for much of that time with The Daily Express Rupert Annual, which debuted in 1936.

Beautifully drawn and gently narrated, these latter editions are the most fervently collected annuals today.