'The Legend Of...' Books

In 1997 and 1998, to tie in with the 60th anniversary of The Dandy and The Beano, D C Thomson produced two 'Legend Of' books, one for each comic. The Dandy's book came first of course, and there were two characters that they could have gone with (in my opinion) - the original cover star Korky the Cat or Desperate Dan. Rightly so, they chose the latter, and The Legend Of Desperate Dan was born.

A few months after the Dandy was created, the Beano hit the shelves, and a few months after Desperate Dan's book, Lord Snooty's was released! Unlike for the Dandy there was no other character they could have chosen from The Beano, all the other original characters had phased out over time. One option could have been Dennis the Menace, but he hadn't been in the Beano since the beginning (if you didn't already know this, he joined in issue #452, dated 17th March 1951).

Lord Snooty and his pals visit the Beano office.

Both books follow the same format. After a short history on the characters and the comics they appeared in, the books dive straight into the comic strips, showing strips from the first few issues and then randomly up until the present. Almost all of the strips are by Dudley Watkins, who is known to be one of D C Thomson's favourite artists, but there are a few strips by some of the later illustrators too.

These books are a great read, both of them contain material from very rare and hard to find comics, and I wouldn't be surprised if many of the strips are only reprinted here and nowhere else, especially the early issues and propaganda strips from the second world war. Originally they would have cost you a combined total of £11.25 (£5.50 for Dan's book and £5.75 for Snooty's), but now you can find them very cheap, the lowest I've found is 1p for the Lord Snooty book, and a pound for Desperate Dan. Here are the links:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Legend-of-Desperate-Dan-by-D-C-Thomson-Co-Ltd-Hardback-1997-/181122282109?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a2bbab27d

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Legend-Lord-Snooty-Pals/dp/0851166911/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366270547&sr=8-1&keywords=legend+of+lord+snooty

If you do buy the books, I'm sure you'll find them both a fascinating and entertaining read.

My Favourite Comic Strip!

I've read some great stories in comics since I bought my first comic many years ago, and there are many stories which have really stood out well with strong storylines and great artwork. However, my all time favourite strip dates back to an issue of The Beano from 7th September 1940. These were the war years, and in the comics of the time all the characters were fighting against the enemy - the Germans, to help Britain pull through and win the war! And it worked, without Pansy Potter, Podge, Barney Boko, Desperate Dan, Korky the Cat and Big Eggo (to name a few) on our side, how would we ever have won? The strip below is my favourite because of the fact that just five planes can lift up South Africa's Table Mountain, and just three for the Eiffel Tower - all thanks to Lord Snooty, with the help of artist Dudley Watkins! Enjoy!

Of course, this is just my opinion. What are some of your favourite strips?

The Five Greats - No. 1: Dudley Watkins

Although there are many fantastic cartoonists in British comics, there are five who are often considered the greats! The first of those is Dudley Dexter Watkins, who drew Desperate Dan, Oor Wullie, Lord Snooty and Biffo the Bear to name a few.

Watkins was born on the 27th Febuary 1907, and his first illustrated work, entitled 'Our Gymnasium Class' appeared in Boots staff magazine called The Beacon, in 1923.
But he quickly entered comics, and in 1925 Watkins was offered a 6 month trial at D.C. Thomson. He accepted of course, and that decision would change his life, as he remained working at DCT for the rest of his life! He was so highly regarded at Thomson, that he and Allan Morely were the only artists allowed to sign their work!

The first Oor Wullie!

The first Broons!

His most notable work is as the illustartor of The Broons and Oor Wullie, who both began life in the Fun Section of The Sunday Post on 8th March 1936. He would continue producing weekly strips for these characters until his death, but the strips still run today!

Dudley Watkins passed away on the 20th August 1969, leaving behind thousands of strips, which, like the other comic greats, still live on in memory!

Chrsistmas Beano - 1968

This is one of my favourite chrismas Beano comics, probably because it was one of my first. It sported a very nice cover by Dudley D.Watkins, but there had been better covers in the past, and there were better ones to come.

Inside Minnie the Minx celebrates christmas like anybody else her age would - waking up at 4:30AM and opens all her presents within ten minutes! A very funny story - I like the way the times are added in and it's only a minute between each box! Hilarious! On the second page shows a small advert for that year's Beril the Peril annual - which is strange as she didn't even appear in The Beano? Surely it would have been better if they'd advertised that years Beano annual so that kids could "hint" their parents for one? Art by Jim Petrie.

On the centre spread is a very nice, colouful Bash Street Kids story by David Sutherland - the most festive story in the comic!

Elsewhere in the comic Lord Snooty and his pals try to help Santa find them in the castle, but soon discover that he can't fit down the chimney! Art by Robert Nixon.

And finally, a very nice, funny christmas Dennis the Menace strip by Davy Law. My favourite part of the whole strip is in the last box where 'Sounds of festive whackings' is penetrating through the door!

You can read Dennis' first Christmas over on Kid Robson's blog:

http://www.kidr77.blogspot.com/2011/12/denniss-first-christmas.html

Happy birthday Dudley Watkins!

Unfortunatly I lost internet connection just before I could finish the countdown- but it was leading to Dudley's 104th Birthday. I'm sorry to say I lack internet time so I'll just upload the images that I was to write about! I'll try to get back to normal by next week! Terry Bave fans make sure you head over too http://whizzerandchipscomic.blogspot.com/ on the 10th March for the launch of a tribute page!