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History Of The British Comic
A British comic is a periodical published in the United Kingdom that contains comic strips. It is generally referred to as a comic or a comic magazine, and historically as a comic paper. As of 2014, the three longest-running comics of all time were all British. British comics are usually comics anthologies which are typically aimed at children, and are published weekly, although some are also published on a fortnightly or monthly schedule. The two most popular British comics, ''The Beano'' and ''The Dandy'', were released by DC Thomson in the 1930s. By 1950 the weekly circulation of both reached two million.Armstrong, Stephen"Was Pixar's Inside Out inspired by The Beano?"''The Telegraph''. 27 July 2015 Explaining the enormous popularity of comics in British popular culture during this period, Anita O’Brien, director curator at London's Cartoon Museum, states: "When comics like ''The Beano'' and ''Dandy'' were invented back in the 1930s – and through really to the 1950s and ...
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Amalgamated Press
The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the largest publishing company in the world, AP employed writers such as Arthur Mee, John Alexander Hammerton, Edwy Searles Brooks, and Charles Hamilton (writer), Charles Hamilton. Its subsidiary, the Educational Book Company, published ''The Harmsworth Self-Educator'', ''The Children's Encyclopædia'', and ''Harmsworth's Universal Encyclopaedia''. The company's newspapers included the ''Daily Mail'', the ''Daily Mirror'', ''The Evening News (London newspaper), The Evening News'', ''The Observer'', and ''The Times''. At its height, AP published over 70 magazines and operated three large printing works and paper mills in South London.
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Raymond Briggs
Raymond Redvers Briggs (18 January 1934 – 9 August 2022) was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story '' The Snowman'', a book without words whose cartoon adaptation is televised and whose musical adaptation is staged every Christmas. Briggs won the 1966 and 1973 Kate Greenaway Medals from the British Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject. For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel named '' Father Christmas'' (1973) one of the top-ten winning works, which composed the ballot for a public election of the nation's favourite. For his contribution as a children's illustrator, Briggs was a runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1984. He was a patron of the Association of Illustrators. Early life Raymond Redvers Briggs was born on 18 January 1934 in Wim ...
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Garth (comic Strip)
''Garth'' was a comic strip in the British newspaper ''Daily Mirror'' that ran from 24 July 1943 – 22 March 1997. It belonged to the action-adventure genre and followed the exploits of the title character, an immensely strong hero who battled various villains throughout the world and in different eras.Maurice Horn, ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics''. New York: Chelsea House,1976. (p.274-5). It was widely syndicated in English-speaking countries. 1960s Australian fast bowler Garth McKenzie was nicknamed after its hero. Publication history Steve Dowling and Gordon Boshell were the originators of the Garth character. Dowling wanted to create a British adventure comic strip and took inspiration from the American comic strips ''Superman'', ''Flash Gordon'' and '' Terry and the Pirates''.Franco Fossati, "Garth", in ''I Grandi Eroi del Fumetto''. Rome : Gremese Editore, 1990 Dowling and Boshell hired 15-year-old John Allard to work on ''Garth'', who stayed with the strip for it ...
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Fred Bassett
''Fred Basset'' is a British comic strip about a male Basset Hound, basset hound. The cartoon was created by Scottish people, Scottish cartoonist Alex Graham (cartoonist), Alex Graham and published first in the ''Daily Mail'' on 8 July 1963. Fred's cartoon strips are renamed as ''Wurzel'' in Germany, ''Lillo il Cane Saggio'' (Lillo the wise dog) in Italy, ''Lorang'' in Norway, ''Laban'' in Sweden and ''Retu'', ''Pitko'' or ''Koiraskoira'' in Finland. Publication history ''Fred Basset'' has been published in the United Kingdom newspaper ''Daily Mail'', and latterly ''The Mail on Sunday'', from 1963 to the present. Alex Graham based Fred on his own dog Frieda and drew over 9,000 comic strips. Alex Graham died on 3 December 1991. Once the stockpiled 18 months' worth of Alex Graham cartoons had been published, they were continued in Graham's style with artwork by Michael Martin and Graham's daughter, Arran Keith, continuing the family link. They are new cartoons being published, ...
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Desperate Dan
Desperate Dan is a wild west character in the now-defunct Scottish comic magazine '' The Dandy''. He made his appearance in the first issue which was dated 4 December 1937 and became the magazine's mascot. He is apparently the world's strongest man, able to lift a cow with one hand. The pillow of his (reinforced) bed is filled with building rubble and his beard is so tough he shaves with a blowtorch. The character was created by Dudley D. Watkins, originally as an outlaw or ‘desperado’ (hence his name), but evolved into a more sympathetic type, using his strength to help the underdog. After Watkins’ death in 1969, the cartoons were drawn by many other artists, principally Ken H. Harrison, though the Watkins canon was often recycled. When the Dandy became digital-only in 2012, the Desperate Dan strips were drawn by David Parkins. There is a statue of Dan in Dundee, Scotland, where his publishers, D. C. Thomson & Co. are based. History The strip was drawn by Dudley ...
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Dennis The Menace (UK)
''Dennis the Menace and Gnasher'' (originally titled ''Dennis the Menace'' and currently titled ''Dennis and Gnasher'') is a long-running comic strip in the British children's comic book, comic ''The Beano'', published by DC Thomson, of Dundee. The comic stars a boy named Dennis the Menace and his dog, an "Abyssinian wire-haired tripe hound" named Gnasher. The strip first appeared in issue 452, dated 17 March 1951, and on sale from 12 March 1951. It is the longest-running strip in the comic. The idea and name of the character emerged when the comic's editor heard a British music hall song with the chorus "I'm Dennis the Menace from Venice". The creation of Dennis in the 1950s had sales of ''The Beano'' soar. In issue 1678 (dated 14 September 1974), Dennis the Menace replaced Biffo the Bear on the front cover, and has been there until to issue 3961 (dated 17 November 2018). Coincidentally, on 12 March 1951, another comic strip named ''Dennis the Menace (U.S.), Dennis the Menace'' ...
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Dan Dare
Dan Dare is a British science fiction comic hero, created by illustrator Frank Hampson who also wrote the first stories. Dare appeared in the ''Eagle'' comic series ''Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future'' from 1950 to 1967 (and subsequently in reprints), and dramatised seven times a week on Radio Luxembourg (1951–1956). The stories were set in the late 1990s, but the dialogue and manner of the characters is reminiscent of British war films of the 1950s. Dan Dare has been described as " Biggles in Space" and as the British equivalent of Buck Rogers. Dan Dare was distinguished by its long, complex storylines, snappy dialogue and meticulously illustrated comic-strip artwork by Hampson and other artists, including Harold Johns, Don Harley, Bruce Cornwell, Greta Tomlinson, Frank Bellamy, and Keith Watson. ''Dan Dare'' returned in new strips in '' 2000 AD'' in 1977 until 1979 and in the relaunched ''Eagle'' in 1982 until 1994. The most recent mainstream story was a Dan Dare ...
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Charley's War
''Charley's War'' was a British comic strip set in World War I, written by Pat Mills and drawn by Joe Colquhoun. It was originally published in ''Battle Picture Weekly'' from January 1979 to October 1986. Though later parts of the story covered the Russian Civil War (and, in episodes written by Scott Goodall, the early part of World War II), Pat Mills has stated that Charley's story should end at the end of the First World War, and this has been reflected in the collections published by Titan Comics. Publishing history Described by Andrew Harrison as "the greatest British comic strip ever created", ''Charley's War'' tells the story of an underage British soldier called Charley Bourne. Charley joins the British Army during World War I at the age of 16, having lied about his age and told the recruiting officers that he was 18 (they conveniently overlook the fact that Charley gives his date of birth on his application form as 1900), and is quickly thrust into the Battle of the S ...
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Bash Street Kids
''The Bash Street Kids'' is a comic strip in the British comic magazine ''The Beano''. It also appeared briefly in The Wizard as series of prose stories in 1955. The strip, created by Leo Baxendale as ''When the Bell Rings!'', first appeared in issue 604. It became ''The Bash Street Kids'' in 1956 and has become a regular feature, appearing in every issue. From 1962, until his death in 2023, David Sutherland drew over 3000 strips in his time as illustrator. History Like many long-running UK comic strips, ''The Bash Street Kids'' is mostly frozen in the era when it began. It portrays Class 2B of the Bash Street School in Beanotown, where the teacher and headmaster wear gowns and the pupils sit at wood desks with inkwells. They are taught by a stereotypical "Teacher", whose wife is "Mrs Teacher". The characters were inspired by the view from the D. C. Thomson & Co. office windows, overlooking the High School of Dundee playground. According to Leo Baxendale, "In fact, the cat ...
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Andy Capp
''Andy Capp'' is a British comic strip created by cartoonist Reg Smythe, seen in the ''Daily Mirror'' and the ''Sunday Mirror'' newspapers since 5 August 1957. Originally a panel (comics), single-panel cartoon, it was later expanded to four panels. The strip is syndicated internationally by Creators Syndicate. The character is also licensed as the mascot for a line of snack foods (Andy Capp's fries). Characters and story *Andy (short for Andrew) Capp *Florrie "Flo" Capp (named after Florence Nightingale) *Chalkie White *Ruby "Rube" White *Percy Ritson, the rent collector *Jackie the barman/owner of the Rose and Crown Pub; *The Vicar *Flo's Mum (never seen) *Minor recurring characters include various constables, barmaids, barmen, referees, footballers, pub locals, door-to-door salesmen, debt collectors, job centre employees, and Guitar Bob. Andy is a working class, working-class figure who never actually works, living in Hartlepool, a harbour town in County Durham, in North ...
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Ally Sloper
Alexander "Ally" Sloper is the eponymous fictional character of the British comic strip ''Ally Sloper''. First appearing in 1867, he is one of the earliest characters in comic strips. Red-nosed and blustery, an archetypal lazy schemer often found "sloping" through alleys to avoid his landlord and other creditors, he was created for the British magazine '' Judy'' by writer and fledgling artist Charles H. Ross, and inked and later fully illustrated by his French wife Émilie de Tessier under the pseudonym "Marie Duval" (or "Marie Du Val"; sources differ). The strips, which used text narrative beneath unbordered panels, premiered in the 14 August 1867 issue of ''Judy'', a humour-magazine rival of the famous ''Punch''. The highly popular character was spun off into his own comic, '' Ally Sloper's Half Holiday'', in 1884. Artists The first illustrations were by Ross, then Tessier took over. When publisher Gilbert Dalziel re-launched the cartoon as ''Ally Sloper's Half Holiday'' ...
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Dez Skinn
Derek Graham "Dez" Skinn (born 4 February 1951) Miller, John Jackson"Comics Industry Birthdays" ''Comics Buyer's Guide'', 10 June 2005. Accessed 14 August 2010WebCitation archive is a British comic and magazine editor, and author of a number of books on comics. As head of Marvel Comics' operations in England in the late 1970s, Skinn reformatted existing titles, launched new ones, and acquired the BBC license for '' Doctor Who Weekly''. After leaving Marvel UK, Skinn founded and edited ''Warrior'', which featured key works by Alan Moore. Called by some the "British Stan Lee," Skinn is one of British comics' most influential figures. He has caused controversy in his career, specifically related to legal issues regarding his publishing new adventures of the 1950s character Marvelman, as well as charges of plagiarism about Skinn's 2004 book ''Comix: The Underground Revolution''. Fandom Skinn first came to prominence in the world of British comics fandom. As a teenager he contribu ...
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