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The Dandy Annual | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | D.C. Thomson & Co |
Schedule | Annual |
Format | Children's |
Genre | Comic strips |
Publication date | 1938–present |
No. of issues | 76 |
Main character(s) | Desperate Dan |
The Dandy Annual is the name of a book that has been published every year since 1938, to tie in with the children's comic The Dandy . As of 2023 [update] there have been 86 editions. [1] The Dandy Annual still continues to be published, even though the weekly comic ended in 2013. The annuals are traditionally published in July or August, in time for Christmas, and since 1965 they have had the date of the following year on the cover. Before then no date was given.
From 1938 to 1951 the annual was called The Dandy Monster Comic. The name changed to The Dandy Book in 1952 and continued, the year changing for each subsequent annual, until the release of the 2003 book in 2002 when it was renamed The Dandy Annual. Despite the comic's relaunch as Dandy Xtreme in 2007, the annual was still known as The Dandy Annual. This is likely because the annuals of the time were mostly made up of Dandy Comix, due to the topical nature of the magazine's Xtreme content.
In unison with the comic at the time, the front cover usually featured Korky the Cat. After Desperate Dan took over the front page in 1984, the annual cover reflected this by featuring both Korky and Dan until the release of the 1991 book in 1990 – which was the first ever Dandy Annual to not feature Korky on the front cover in any way. He has made several appearances since then, despite the main focus shifting to Dan.
In 2006, the original 1939 Monster Comic was reprinted as a facsimile edition in a collector's slipcase.
This information is necessary to identify older annuals which are not dated. If an annual is dated 1940, it would have been published in August 1939. Prices are in shillings and pence with one shilling equal to 5p.
The Dandy Monster Comic
The Dandy Book
From 1966 all books were dated.
The Dandy Annual
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.
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 comic compared to many on sale at the time.
Bananaman is a fictional character appearing in British comic books. Bananaman is a parody of traditional superheroes, being portrayed as a schoolboy who is transformed into a muscled, caped adult man when he eats a banana. The character originally appeared in Nutty as the back page strip in Issue 1, dated 16 February 1980 drawn by John Geering.
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.
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.
The Desperate Dan books, featuring the comic book character Desperate Dan, were published in 1954, 1978, 1990, 1991 and 1992. Since they were traditionally released in the autumn and in time for Christmas, all bar the first had the date of the following year on the cover.
The Topper Book was a comic book published from 1954 to 1994, to tie in with the children's comic The Topper. The first twelve editions were undated, and later books were published with the date of the following year on the cover, since they were traditionally published in the autumn and in time for Christmas.
Cuddles and Dimples is a British comic strip published in the comic book magazine The Dandy. It was first published in 1986. The stories' protagonists are two toddler brothers who like to cause double the trouble wherever they go. The artist when the strip first started was Barrie Appleby, who continued until 2004 with a strip by Gordon Bell in the 1994 annual and a sole strip by Nigel Parkinson in 2003, who took over the strip next year as part of the revamp at that time.
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 when Keyhole Kate was on the cover. For several decades he was the mascot of The Dandy. In 1984, after 47 virtually continuous years, Korky was replaced on the front cover by Desperate Dan.
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 and The Best of Beezer, which had reprinted old strips for some years.
Jak Hurley and Todd Nolan are two fictional comic strip characters from the UK comic The Dandy who rose to popularity as the comic's main strip after its re-launch in 2004. Originally known as simply Jak, both characters received equal billing after the popularity of Todd from readership.
Puss 'n' Boots was a British comic strip which ran in the UK comic magazine Sparky from 1969 to 1977 and later appeared in Topper and The Dandy. Most of the strips were drawn by John Geering. Some scripts were written by Morris Heggie, later to become editor of the Dandy.
The Magic Comic was a British comics magazine. It was the ill-fated third comics magazine from DC Thomson. It was aimed at a younger audience, with more emphasis on picture stories. The first issue was published on 22 July 1939. The comic ran for only 80 issues until 25 January 1941. Paper rationing resulting from the outbreak of the Second World War caused its demise. Its Editor Bill Powrie promised that 'the Magic' would return; however, he was killed in action in 1942.
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).
Nigel Parkinson is a British cartoonist who works for D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd and mainly draws for The Beano and The Dandy.
Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land was a British celebrity comics comic strip, published in The Dandy between 2010 and 2011, featuring a cartoon-version of comedian Harry Hill, his sidekick, Knitted Character, and often spoofed television celebrities.
Barrie Appleby is a British comics artist who works mainly for Scottish publisher D. C. Thomson & Co., drawing strips such as Dennis the Menace and Roger the Dodger for The Beano since the 1970s. He has also drawn Cuddles and Dimples for The Dandy, as well as strips for Nutty, Hoot, Monster Fun and Buster. He also drew Bananaman in the BEEB comic. In 1999, he took over Bananaman in the Dandy from John Geering. He returned for a short time to do Bananaman in 2008.
Charles Grigg more commonly known as Charlie Grigg was a British comic artist for DC Thomson. He was the artist of The Dandy cover strip Korky the Cat. He also drew Desperate Dan after the original artist, Dudley Watkins, died. In The Topper comic he drew Splodge, Willy Nilly, Foxy and Shorty Shambles.
The Dandy Annual 2023; Publisher: D.C. Thomson Grp; ISBN: 9781845359065