Pansy Potter is a British comic strip character from the magazine ''

The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it published its 4000th issue in August 2019. Popular and ...

''. She first appeared in ''Pansy Potter the Strong Man's Daughter'' issue 21 in 1938, and was first illustrated by Hugh McNeill.

Character background

As ''The Beano'' was in its early stages of development, its creator R. D. Low published a newspaper advert in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' asking for freelance artists to submit ideas for

DC Thomson DC Thomson is a media company based in Dundee, Scotland. Founded by David Couper Thomson in 1905, it is best known for publishing ''The Courier (Dundee), The Courier'', ''Evening Telegraph (Dundee), The Evening Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Pos ...

's new children's magazines. One was

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

-born Hugh McNeill, who would illustrate ''Puffing Billy'' and '' Ping the Elastic Man''. DC Thomson's collaborating process developed a comic strip about a strong girl named Bella under the title of "Biff Bang Bella", but would be changed shortly before the official strip was finalised.

Synopsis

Pansy Potter is the daughter of a strong man, and she has dark, spiky hair and wears a short-sleeved, collared dress. Her stories were comedic with the punchlines being about the casual use of her superhuman strength shocking everyone around her.

Publication history

Original run (1938-1947)

Potter debuted in ''Pansy Potter the Strong Man's Daughter'' in issue 21. McNeill illustrated her stories until he had to abandon his career to draw maps in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. '' Hairy Dan'' creator Basil Blackaller continued the series until sometime in 1944 and was succeeded by Sam Fair for three years. Fair's final story appeared in issue 325.

''In Wonderland'' era (1949-1955)

In 1949, Potter starred in a new funny strip that became a full-page spread on the back cover: ''Pansy Potter in Wonderland''. In the strip, Potter accidentally walks into Wonderland through a wishing well and meets characters from

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fr ...

s. ''The Beano'' celebrated its run by making it the first series on the back cover to be in colour. From issue 369, ''Pansy Potter in Wonderland'' had over 200 stories designed by James Clark. When Potter returned home, Clark continued creating her stories until the new ''Pansy Potter'' series ended in issue 652.

Third Run (1958)

Charles Grigg and Gordon Bell alternated between the revival over 3 years later in its 42-strip 1958 run.

''Sparky'' appearances

In the 1960s and 1970s Pansy Potter starred in her own comic strip in

's '' Sparky'' magazine. There were two series between issues 2 to 24, and 80 to 567. She would also appear in four of ''Sparky'' annuals.

1989–1993 ''Beano'' revival

Pansy Potter returned to ''The Beano'' in issue 2474 in 1989 this time drawn by Barry Glennard. This series continued until issue 2640 in 1993.

''Funsize Funnies''

Potter returned to ''The Beano'' in 2013 between issues 3666 and 3674 in the ''Funsize Funnies'' section, drawn by

Nigel Parkinson Nigel Parkinson (born February 7, 1952) is a British cartoonist who works for D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd and mainly draws for ''The Beano'' and ''The Dandy''. Biography Parkinson is the official artist for Dennis the Menace (UK), Dennis the Menac ...

. She returned for a second run later on, where she was drawn and written by Kev F. Sutherland. She cameos in ''Beano'' 2013 and 2019 annuals, as well as in the magazine's 80th anniversary crossover.

Sources

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{Beano Beano strips DC Thomson Comics strips Potter, Pansy Potter, Pansy Potter, Pansy Gag-a-day comics 1938 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1938 Potter, Pansy Potter, Pansy Potter, Pansy Comics set in the United Kingdom