Blinky is a British comic strip, created by Nick Brennan, and published in the comic book The Beezer and Topper from 1990 until 1994 and in The Dandy until 2007.
Blinky is a young boy with large, thick glasses through whom he sees a galaxy very different from the rest of the world, which often leads to chaos. His trusty sidekick, Yellow Dog, always seems to get caught up in Blinky's adventures, and is very keen to get rid of him. [1]
When Blinky first appeared in 1990, the design of the character seemed to be a younger version of an earlier Beezer comic strip called Colonel Blink . However, when The Beezer and Topper folded, and Nick Brennan began drawing the strip in January 1994, Blinky took on a new look that was now quite unlike Colonel Blink. The design was altered further over the next few years.
Following the relaunch in late 2007, Nick Brennan, the artist, left The Dandy, and so there were no Blinky strips being produced from then on. However, from issue 3438 in January 2008, the character has returned as reprints from the late 1990s. Nick Brennan came back in September 2011 with his strip Watch this Space.
The Beezer was a British comic that ran from 21 January 1956 to 21 August 1993, published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. Comic strips in The Beezer were a mix of irreverence, slapstick, and adventure; notable creators included Leo Baxendale, Gordon Bell, Paddy Brennan, David Law, Tom Paterson, Bill Ritchie, Dudley D. Watkins, Malcolm Judge, and John Geering.
The Topper was a UK comic published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd that ran from 7 February 1953 to 15 September 1990, when it merged with The Beezer.
The Dandy was a Scottish 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 and Detective Comics. From August 2007 until October 2010, it was rebranded as Dandy Xtreme.
Tricky Dicky is a British comic strip which debuted in the magazine Topper in December 1976 and was drawn by John Dallas. From 1979 to 1986 he was the cover star of the comic, succeeding Danny's Tranny and preceding Beryl the Peril. The strip survived the merger with the Beezer in 1990 and continued in The combined Beezer and Topper comic til it ended in 1993. The character later reappeared in The Beano.
The Numskulls is a comic strip in The Beano, and previously in The Beezer and The Dandy – UK comics owned by D.C Thomson. The strip is about a team of tiny human-like technicians who live inside the heads of various people, running and maintaining their bodies and minds. It first appeared in The Beezer from 1962 until 1979, drawn by Malcolm Judge.
Beryl the Peril is a fictional character created by David Law, the creator of Dennis the Menace, for issue 1 of The Topper comic published by DC Thomson & Co. Limited. Like Dennis, she had black and red apparel, and devilishly tormented her parents and other members of her community. Despite not having quite as many appearances as other DC Thomson characters such as Dennis the Menace or Desperate Dan, Beryl is still considered one of the classic characters which define the popularity of British comics.
Billy Whizz is a fictional character featured in the British comic The Beano, first appearing in issue 1139, dated 16 May 1964, when it replaced The Country Cuzzins. Billy, the title character, is a boy who can run extraordinarily fast. His speed often causes chaos yet at the same time his ability can prove useful. He also has a younger brother called Alfie Whizz of similar appearance. Alfie is usually shown as a normal boy but occasionally he is shown to be just as fast as his brother.
Gordon Bell was a British cartoonist, best known for humorous strips for D. C. Thomson's weekly comics, including "Pup Parade" in The Beano and "Spoofer McGraw" in Sparky.
Nick Brennan is a British cartoonist who works mainly for D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. He started drawing for the company in 1993, drawing a revival of Peter Piper from The Dandy, revived from The Magic Comic, but with a departure from Watkins' creation, with Peter instead sporting an Elvis-like hairdo and purple jumper.
Colonel Blink was a British comic strip, drawn by Tom Bannister in November 1958 for the majority of its run, with a few later strips being drawn by Bill Ritchie and Gordon Bell in the same style as Bannister. The strip was published in the comics magazine The Beezer. Denis Gifford in his Encyclopedia of Comic Characters (1987) attributes his creation to "Carmichael." His latest appearances were in the reprint Classics from the Comics series and the associated Beano and Dandy reprint annuals.
Paddy Brennan is an Irish comics artist who worked mainly in the UK, drawing adventure strips for D. C. Thomson & Co. titles. He was a freelancer, working six months of the year in Dublin and six months in London.
Ginger is a British comic strip series, introduced in the first issue of The Beezer in 1956. The character was the magazine's cover star until 1961, after which Pop, Dick and Harry took over the cover for a few years afterwards, but Ginger returned to the front cover in 1964.
The Fun Size Beano and Fun Size Dandy were small-format, full-colour children's comics, originally published four times monthly by DC Thomson and Co. Ltd between 1997 and 2010. They replaced the Beano and Dandy Comic Libraries, originally printed in red, white and black and published from 1982 to 1997. The Beano Comic Libraries lasted for 368 issues and their Dandy counterparts lasted for 344 issues. There were also comic library specials, The Beano Comic Library Specials being puzzle books and lasting for 87 issues (1988–1994) and the Dandy Comic Library Specials being cartoon books, featuring a number of single page comic strips and these lasted for 88 issues (1987–1994).
Colonel Crackpot's Circus was a British comic strip, published from 1960 until 1963 in The Beano. It was the first Beano comic strip drawn by Malcolm Judge, who later went on to draw Billy Whizz and Ball Boy for the same comic, as well as The Numskulls for The Beezer.
Adrian the Barbarian was a comic strip in the comic The Beezer, and later the merged Beezer and Topper, first introduced in 1989. It featured a boy who dressed as a barbarian with a magical sword. He lived in a very strange world where almost anything could happen, whether it be good or bad. Many inanimate objects gained life in the strip, for example a pile of coal for the fire turned into a man called Old King Coal. He appeared in The Beezer annual until the last one dated 2003.
Baby Crockett was one of the longest running comic strips that ran from The Beezer issue 34 to Beezer 1809. He continued in the merged Beezer and Topper until its demise in 1993, and would appear in all the Beezer annuals and summer specials until they ended in 2002. He also appeared in several of the Dandy Comic Libraries over the years.
Send for Kelly was a long running comic strip that first appeared in The Topper, originally drawn by George Martin.