Classics from the Comics

''Classics from the Comics'' was a British comics magazine, published from March 1996 until October 2010. Published monthly, it was D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd's third all-reprint comic. It replaced ''

The Best of Topper ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

'' and '' The Best of Beezer'', which had reprinted old strips for some years. ''Classics from the Comics'' collected archive comic strips from eight comic titles – the still going ''

The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'', also known as ''Beano'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it became the world's longest-runn ...

'' and ''

The Dandy ''The Dandy'' was a British children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after '' Il Giornalino'' (cover dated 1 ...

'', and the defunct '' Beezer'', '' Topper'', ''

Nutty ''Nutty'' was a British comic magazine that ran for 292 issues from 16 February 1980 to 14 September 1985, when it merged with ''The Dandy''. Published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, ''Nutty'' was an attempt to create a more lively and chaotic co ...

'', ''

Sparky Sparky is a common nickname for people and animals. In the British Commonwealth, it can also be used to refer to an electrician. People * Sparky Adams (1894–1989), American Major League Baseball player * Sparky Anderson (1934–2010), American ...

'', '' Cracker'', and ''

Buzz Buzz may refer to: People *Buzz (nickname), a list of people * J. Buzz Von Ornsteiner (born 1967; aka ''Dr. Buzz''), American forensic psychologist and journalist Fictional characters *Buzz, a character in the 1987 American comedy movie '' Rev ...

''. During its later issues, adventure comics from the likes of '' The Victor'', ''

The Wizard Wizard, the wizard, or wizards may refer to: * Wizard (fantasy), a fictional practitioner of magic * Wizard (supernatural), a practitioner of magic Art, entertainment and media Fictional characters * Wizard (Archie Comics), a comic book supe ...

'', '' The Rover'', ''

The Hotspur ''The Hotspur'' was a British boys' paper published by D. C. Thomson & Co. From 1933 to 1959, it was a boys' story paper; it was relaunched as a comic in October 1959, initially called the ''New Hotspur'', and ceased publication in January 19 ...

'' and '' The Hornet'' were used. It also started using ''

Hoot! ''Hoot'' (; subtitled ''009'') is the third extended play by the South Korean girl group Girls' Generation. The extended play contains five songs and was released on 27 October 2010, by SM Entertainment. The album is listed by Gaon Album Chart a ...

'' shortly before it ended. The comic had 64 pages, which were prefaced with a contents page ("Classic Contents") and until 2007 were followed by an advert for the next month's issue, with the back cover showing original strips starring

Roger the Dodger Roger "the Dodger" Dawson is a comic strip character from the comic magazine ''The Beano''. He first appeared in his eponymous comic strip in 1953, and is one of the longest-running characters, known for his tactics of avoiding responsibility a ...

Little Plum Little Plum (full name revealed to be Little Plum Stealing Varmint) is a British humoristic western comics series about a little Native American, originally created by Leo Baxendale and published in the magazine ''The Beano''. Concept The epon ...

, Plug,

Beryl the Peril Beryl the Peril (or simply Beryl) is a fictional character created by David Law, the creator of Dennis the Menace, for issue 1 of '' The Topper'' comic (dated 7 February 1953) published by DC Thomson & Co. Limited. Like Dennis, she had black ...

amongst others, drawn by

Gordon Bell Chester Gordon Bell (born August 19, 1934) is an American electrical engineer and manager. An early employee of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) 1960–1966, Bell designed several of their PDP machines and later became Vice President of Engi ...

or Keith Reynolds. In 2006, the cover was redesigned to show "Classics from the Comics" with a roundel containing

Korky the Cat ''Korky the Cat'' is a character in a comic strip in the British comics magazine The Dandy. It first appeared in issue 1, dated 4 December 1937, except for one issue, No. 294 (9 June 1945) when Keyhole Kate was on the cover. For several deca ...

's head and the words Classics Collection, and a large illustration by

Ken H. Harrison Ken H. Harrison ( 1940) is a British comic artist best known for his work for DC Thomson. His credits include Robbie Rebel, Big Brad Wolf and Lord Snooty for ''The Beano'', The Hoot Squad for ''Hoot'' (later reprinted as The Beano's The Riot Squa ...

. The new editor started penning a letter to the readers on the contents page, and the advert and original strip on the inside and back covers were replaced by further reprinted strips, which are always Korky the Cat and Biffo the Bear. A small notice was published on all the pages, identifying which comic the strip comes from (Classic ''Beano'', Classic ''Dandy'', etc.). Near the end of each issue, a "Readers Requests" postal address was displayed, so readers could write to DC Thomson and request other archive strips to go in a future issue. Free gifts in the form of '' The Fun Size Beanos'' or ''The Fun Size Dandys'' were featured in early issues, plus free gifts originally given away with ''The Beano'' or ''The Dandy''. In July 2004 ''Classics from the Comics'' celebrated its 100th issue, revamping the front cover at the same time, changing the logo from a plain serif font to a sans-serif one with a 3-D effect. The August 2008 issue was a ''Beano'' special, featuring only characters from that 70-year-old comic. It featured the oldest (

Ping the Elastic Man ''Ping the Elastic Man'' (also named ''Here Comes Ping the Elastic Man'') was a British comic strip that appeared in ''The Beano''. It was about a boy who could stretch his limbs as if they were made of elastic and was created by Hugh McNeill. ...

and

Deep Down Daddy Neptune Deep or The Deep may refer to: Places United States * Deep Creek (Appomattox River tributary), Virginia * Deep Creek (Great Salt Lake), Idaho and Utah * Deep Creek (Mahantango Creek tributary), Pennsylvania * Deep Creek (Mojave River tributary), ...

, 1938), and most recent stories (specifically the picture of

Dennis Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is someti ...

Gnasher Gnasher () is a fictional comic strip character that appears in the British comic magazine ''The Beano''. He is the pet dog of Dennis the Menace, who meets him in 1968's issue 1362, and is also the star of three spin-off comic strips. Gnasher i ...

Wallace & Gromit ''Wallace & Gromit'' is a British stop-motion comedy franchise created by Nick Park of Aardman Animations. The series consists of four short films and one feature-length film, and has spawned numerous spin-offs and TV adaptations. The series cen ...

from the ''Beano'' printed only the previous day; the most recent actual story was "

Crazy for Daisy Crazy for Daisy was a British comic strip published in the magazine ''The Beano''. It was created and drawn by Nick Brennan and made its debut in issue 2865, dated 14 June 1997. It was part of an ongoing selection of six comic strips that were ...

" from 2003) ever used. For this issue, the usual Korky roundel was replaced with the logo from the ''70 Years of Fun'' collector's edition. 'D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd's ''Golden Years''/''60 Years''/''70 Years'' books, which are brought out each Christmas, are effectively ''Classic From the Comics annual, although they started in 1988, eight years before Classics launched. Despite a further 'retro' relaunch in the spring of 2010, ''Classics from the Comics'' ended that October, the final issue being number 175. {{Beano DC Thomson Comics titles Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom British humour comics 1996 comics debuts 2010 comics endings Magazines established in 1996 Magazines disestablished in 2010 Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom